UN General Assembly
2001

﻿I am delighted to be able to congratulate you, Sir, on behalf of the delegation of the Islamic Republic of Mauritania, on your election to the presidency of the fifty-sixth session of the General Assembly. We are certain that your experience and wisdom will indeed guarantee success at this session. I also avail myself of this opportunity to express my gratitude to your predecessor, Mr. Harri Holkeri, for his skilful and distinguished guidance of the work of the past session. This is also an opportunity for me to extend our heartfelt congratulations to the Secretary- General and the entire United Nations staff on their tireless efforts to achieve the noble objectives of our Organization. Those efforts have quite rightly been recognized by the Nobel Academy, which decided to award the 2001 Nobel Peace Prize jointly to the Secretary-General and the United Nations. This distinction reflects the most striking recognition of the efforts undertaken by our Organization to strengthen international peace and security. It also constituted recognition of the personal merits and contributions of the Secretary-General, Mr. Kofi Annan. Moreover, the