At the outset, it is my pleasure to express my warmest congratulations to His Excellency Mr. Antonio Guterres on his reappointment to a second term as Secretary-General. I am confident in the success of the great efforts and endeavours that he is making to reform and steer the Organization in the service of peace and security. I also extend my congratulations to His Excellency Mr. Abdulla Shahid on his assumption of the presidency of the General Assembly at its seventy-sixth session. I wish him every success in his noble tasks. I would also like to extend my deepest gratitude and thanks to His Excellency Ambassador Volkan Bozkir, Permanent Representative of the sisterly Republic of Turkey, for the great efficiency and professionalism with which he managed the previous session of the General Assembly.
This session is being convened for the second successive year at a time when our world is being subjected to a health crisis brought about by the spread of coronavirus disease (COVID-19) pandemic and its variants amid increasing ramifications and challenges. The statistics are frightening. Infections worldwide have reached the terrifying number of approximately 250 million, while deaths have exceeded 5 million, which is also a terrifying number as compared to the toll at this time last year.
As for the other economic, social and humanitarian challenges and consequences of the crisis, they are even more serious than those of the health crisis itself at the global level, but even more acute and dangerous in developing and poor countries due to the fragility of their economies and their inability to endure crises of this kind — and for such long periods — which greatly threaten the lives of the people in those countries.
The measures taken by the world to date to address the pandemic and its repercussions are below expectations and not up to the crisis yet. That requires that we all redouble and coordinate our efforts to enable developing and poor countries to access vaccinations in sufficient quantities. They must get help to boost their technical capabilities to speed up the pace of vaccination, on the one hand, and to contain the economic, social and humanitarian damage of the crisis, on the other hand.
In that context, and from this rostrum, we reiterate the call made by His Excellency President Mohamed Ould Cheikh El Ghazouani at several regional and international occasions for the complete and definitive cancellation of the external debt of countries of the African continent in order to enable them to overcome the economic impacts caused by the novel coronavirus disease pandemic.
Guided by President El Ghazouani, the Government of the Islamic Republic of Mauritania has adopted many measures that made it possible to limit the spread of the pandemic and mitigate its effects on the population, especially the most vulnerable. The most important measures taken include launching extensive vaccination campaigns throughout the national territory, with the rate of vaccination shortly standing at 15 per cent of the entire population; imposing preventive measures on all national territory, which are strictly monitored; providing basic commodities to the local market, preventing speculation in them and reducing their prices, which rose globally due to the pandemic; providing essential medicines with fixed prices; bearing the burden of health insurance of 120,000 households, which is about 600,000 people from among the poor and vulnerable groups; and providing direct financial aid for thousands of vulnerable and poor households affected by the economic recession due to the crisis.
The convening of this General Assembly session represents an opportunity to study ways to raise the performance of our Organization to achieve the Sustainable Development Goals, which aim to address the major challenges related to the environment, climate, health, education, security, stability and development. From that standpoint, His Excellency President Mohamed Ould Cheikh El Ghazouani announced a holistic economic revitalization plan, which seeks to address the negative effects and overcome the challenges and constraints of the COVID-19 pandemic. It is an integrated economic programme aimed at achieving the necessary conditions for a new economic recovery that gives the private sector the space and incentives to play a key role. The programme seeks to create more job opportunities and conditions for an optimal use of our natural resources in the fields of agriculture, animal development, mining and fisheries. Among the main themes of the programme are strengthening infrastructure that supports growth; strengthening the capacities of the social sectors and supporting demand; upgrading and supporting the productive sectors to achieve food self-sufficiency; supporting the formal and informal private sectors; combating desertification and drought; and supporting employment opportunities.
The programme is being implemented in parallel with other programmes within the Government’s plan, launched by the General Delegation for National Solidarity and Fight against Exclusion, which aims to combat various forms of fragility and to ensure universal access to basic services, such as electricity, drinking water, health and education, combating poverty and promoting social solidarity.
Work is also being done to train and equip young people with the necessary skills to enable them to enter the labour market and contribute to the development of the national economy, as well as to enable women to play their role by involving them strongly in political life and the conduct of public affairs. Work is also under way to consolidate the principle of the separation of powers and the independence of the judiciary, to consolidate national unity and strengthen social cohesion and to moderate political life through extensive consultations with various national actors, building the rule of law and freedoms and laying the foundations of good governance.
In terms of security and the fight against terrorism, in cooperation and consultation with our regional partners, the Government of the Islamic Republic of Mauritania has strived to develop an effective and efficient strategy to combat terrorism and the various forms of extremism as part of a comprehensive approach that takes into account the security aspects, religious dialogue and the economic and social dimensions in order to neutralize terrorism and dry up its sources of financing, while taking into account strict respect for human rights.
During Mauritania’s presidency of the Group of Five for the Sahel, the Coalition for the Sahel was launched at the Nouakchott summit in June 2020. That framework aims to broaden support to the Sahel countries, which in recent years have experienced a drastic deterioration in the security situation, forced migration, climate change and signs of an acute food crisis.
This year, unfortunately, due to the significant lack of rainfall and its spatial dispersion, the already structural food crisis is likely to worsen. In the Sahel, about 14 million people are suffering from food shortages, while 29 million are in need of emergency humanitarian assistance.
As its current Chair, my country considers the Great Green Wall for the Sahara and the Sahel initiative to be of critical importance for the future of its 11 member States and for the living conditions of their peoples.
The upcoming twenty-sixth session of the Conference of the Parties to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change should be an opportunity to mobilize partners to realize the commitments made in Paris in January in to meet the glaring needs of the peoples of the Sahel, who are desperate in the face of the vicious spiral of an unpredictable climate and growing insecurity. The transition — and I would say, above all, access — to clean and cheaper energy is fundamental in that respect.
In that context, it is the moral obligation of our international partners to help the Sahelian States meet those challenges. But it is also clear that the political leaders of our subregion must uphold their promises of good governance and the promise to ensure a return to constitutional order to better meet the aspirations of their citizens and improve their living conditions, namely, in fragile areas.
The Government of the Islamic Republic of Mauritania stresses its unwavering support for all just causes throughout the world and in all international forums. From this rostrum, my country reaffirms the right of the Palestinian people to live in dignity and sovereignty in an independent and viable State with East Jerusalem as its capital, in accordance with the Arab Peace Initiative and relevant international resolutions and in the framework of a two-State solution, namely, two States living side by side in peace and stability.
My country also reaffirms its commitment to its unwavering position regarding the conflict in the Western Sahara. We have not taken any particular side; we maintain excellent relations with all. We support the United Nations efforts and all the relevant Security Council resolutions aimed at achieving a lasting solution agreed upon by all. In that context, my country urges the Secretary-General to appoint without delay a special envoy to resume the process that came to a halt two years ago following the resignation of the former envoy.
My country also reiterates its support for international efforts to successfully conclude the transitional period in sisterly Libya and guarantee its unity and territorial integrity.
My country also reaffirms the need to make serious efforts to reach a political solution that maintains the unity and independence of the sisterly Syrian Arab Republic, the dignity of its people and its right to live in security and peace.
Finally, my country reiterates its support for the legitimacy of brotherly Yemen. We call for a peaceful solution to the conflict pursuant to the Gulf Cooperation Council Initiative and relevant Security Council resolutions.