It gives me pleasure to read out the statement of His Excellency Mr. Mohamed Ould Abdel Azia, President of the Islamic Republic of Mauritania, on the occasion of the convening of the seventy-second session of the General Assembly.
“First, I would like to express our sincere congratulations to His Excellency Mr. Miroslav Lajčák and to his friendly country, Slovakia, on his election as President of the General Assembly at its seventy-second session. I would also like to express my deep appreciation for Mr. Peter Thompson and his valuable efforts during his presidency of the seventy-first session. I would also like to greatly commend the tireless and noble efforts of His Excellency the Secretary-General, Mr. António Guterres, in leading our Organization and in the service of international peace and security.
“The theme of our session, “Focusing on people: Striving for peace and a decent life for all on a sustainable planet”, is a appropriate choice in a world witnessing great challenges. In that regard, Mauritania plays a pivotal role in the maintenance of international peace and security in the Sahel and the Sahara regions through a comprehensive approach based on openness, dialogue, professionalism and firmness. Our efforts have been crowned with success against terrorist groups after fierce battles in 2010 and 2011.
“In spite of an extremely complex regional situation, experts have noted that Mauritania has succeeded in dealing with terrorism and extremism. We have developed our security and defence capabilities in record time, with due attention to individual and collective rights and with extreme care for the least fortunate of society. That has been achieved by adopting a policy of sustainable development. Reporters Without Borders noted improvement over three successive years of continuous progress at the Arab and regional levels. We have also established a policy of dialogue, while ensuring the freedoms of expression, demonstration and organization, as well as human rights, after the so-called Arab Spring that swept over certain Arab countries.
“We have succeeded in establishing a political dialogue with the majority and the opposition since 2011 and introduced substantive legislative and organizational reforms, thereby empowering Mauritanian women and establishing the value of citizenship and goodwill for all. We have also promoted good governance and comprehensive dialogue with the opposition, civil society and independent persons, and since September and October 2016 we have succeeded in further establishing our democracy, the rule of law and the organization of public resources.
“Our region faces grave dangers in terms of climate change, terrorism, organized crime, drugs, illegal weapons and illegal migration. Mauritania has improved its legal framework in accordance with international rights and standards, established 14 agreements and protocols relating to terrorism, and created an open dialogue with Salafists and religious extremists in order to rehabilitate and reintegrate them into society.
“Our efforts have helped us achieve a high standing in the ranking by Australia’s Institute for Economics and Peace, and we have succeeded in fighting drug-trafficking, being, on a list of 12 States prepared by the United States State Department, the only one that has succeeded in dealing with the issue. We have also succeeded in dealing with illegal migration. According to the statistics of the International Organization on Migration, we reduced the number of illegal migrants from 36,000 in 2006 to zero in 2014. We have hosted more than 60,000 refugees so far and have been commended for our efforts in that regard.
“Mauritania has played a leading role in the establishment of the Group of Five for the Sahel, which also includes Mali, the Niger, Burkina Faso and Chad. We host the secretariat of this regional organization, where together we coordinate our actions in the areas of security and development. The organization has set out many joint programmes and projects that have gained great interest from our international partners. The five members of the Group have also established a Joint Force and have coordinated their military and security operations with the headquarters located in Mali.
“The issue of human rights holds great importance in our national policy. Since 2012, slavery has been criminalized, and our legal codes have been strengthened to deal with the vestiges of slavery throughout the country. We have also set out a road map that includes 29 recommendations on fighting terrorism. In accordance with the relevant documents of the United Nations, we established a social security agency that deals with the issue and assists all those who have suffered from it across the country.
“We have also resolved the issues that Mauritanian refugees face regarding repatriation and marginalization, making it possible for them to have a decent life and reintegrate into society, as well as providing them with them employment opportunities and enjoyment of their rights.
“The large majority of the countries participating in the Universal Periodic Review of human rights have commended Mauritania and its policies. Mauritanian women have acquired great importance in the country and have been the subject of several initiatives to enable them to be present in all sectors and compete freely in fields that were previously monopolized by men, as well as participate adequately in political and social life. We have worked to enable Mauritanian women to join regional and international organizations by proposing their candidatures, and we have had considerable success in becoming a member of certain important United Nations committees.
“With a view to establishing justice and equality for all people, we have introduced major reforms in our legal codes to guarantee the independence of the judiciary, to fight corruption and bribery and to promote transparency. This has allowed Mauritania to rank high among 26
African countries in this field, according to a study prepared by the International Monetary Fund.
“In view of our important strategic position, we have striven to follow an economic investment policy that guarantees the rights of the investor, with a view to attracting foreign investment. We were awarded 16 points in Doing Business, prepared by the World Bank for 2016-2017, and are among the five countries in the world experiencing the highest rate of improvement.
“Crowning the credibility of the country at the regional and continental level has been our chairing of the African Union (AU), following our chairing the AU Peace and Security Council. During our mandates we have striven to participate in reaching peaceful solutions to the crises in Côte d’Ivoire, Libya, Mali and Burundi. We have also participated positively in solving the crisis in The Gambia, and we strive continuously to assist other countries in overcoming their crises. We presided over the League of Arab States in 2016, organizing the summit meeting in Nouakchott for the first time.
“With regard to the Palestinian cause, Mauritania calls upon the Assembly to work for the establishment of an independent Palestinian State with Jerusalem as its capital, in accordance with the Arab Peace Initiative, the Madrid principles and other relevant international resolutions.
“We also call for the settlement of the crisis in Yemen by supporting the legitimacy represented by President Abdrabbuh Mansour Hadi, and we welcome every effort by the United Nations in that crisis. With regard to Libya, we call upon all parties concerned to redouble their efforts to stand up to armed groups and restore stability and security to that country. We also urge all parties concerned to make every effort to reach a settlement to the Syrian crisis.
“Climate change is a great challenge facing us all in terms of sustainable development, particularly in the Sahel and Sahara area. We have experienced the phenomenon of the migration of sand dunes, which has destroyed huge agricultural areas and grazing lands. We have prepared appropriate policies to deal with that problem and have invested in the use of renewable sources of energy. We have been commended. for our efforts in that regard, as one of the few African countries using renewable energy sources,
“Mauritania hosts the headquarters of the Great Green Wall, an ambitious project over 7,000 kilometres long and 15 kilometres wide, connecting the Atlantic coast of West Africa to the Red Sea in the East, benefiting 11 countries of the region. We also welcomed the historic 2015 Paris Agreement on Climate Change and hope that all parties will uphold their commitments.
“The reform of the United Nations and the adaptation of its bodies to deal with new challenges — particularly the Security Council, which is responsible for international peace and security — have become an urgent necessity. We support every effort in that regard.
“There is no doubt that the establishment of justice and the spreading of a culture of peace and tolerance among people and the renouncing of terrorism, extremism and violence would encourage and help establish peace and security and realize sustainable development in the world.
“The Islamic Republic of Mauritania calls upon all Member States to work together for a world that enjoys multilateralism and respects the principles of the United Nations with a view to establishing peace, stability and security in which people live peacefully together.”


At the outset, I would like to convey our sincere congratulations to you, Mr. President, on your election to preside over this session of the General Assembly.
Today, all eyes rightly turn to the United Nations, whose mission has never been so essential. That is why we must pursue the reform process started years ago, in order to better adapt our Organization to modern reality so that it can effectivelyattain the goals enshrined in the founding Charter of the United Nations. In that connection, I welcome the vision and leadership of Secretary-General António Guterres. I hope that under his able leadership, the Organization can honour the commitments and initiatives aimed at improving living conditions for everyone on our planet and enabling the United Nations to confront global threats and prevent and resolve conflicts.
The Republic of Haiti fully supports any initiative that reduces international tensions, defuses crises and achieves peaceful settlements to disputes. We believe that the United Nations must act in the context of conflict prevention. The Republic of Haiti has always spoken out against the proliferation of nuclear weapons and firmly condemns any tension generated by the desire to possess and produce nuclear weapons.
In the Middle East, the Syrian crisis continues to shock our universal conscience. In this very Hall, numerous resolutions have been voted on calling for an end to that inhumane tragedy, which has left countless dead. The prevailing status quo in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, punctuated by intermittent violence, will obviously not produce a solution.
The Republic of Haiti calls for an honourable exit from the present situation that can benefit our brother people of the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela, and urges all the parties involved to engage in dialogue and negotiation.
The successful negotiated outcome of the conflict in Colombia shows that it is not armed confrontation and blind violence that resolve disputes. May the victory in Colombia serve as an example to us all.
The Republic of Haiti, true to its ideals of peace, dialogue and friendliness among peoples, would very much like to see a window of opportunity offered to the Republic of China on Taiwan, so that it can participate in the major decisions that we, the Member States, have adopted to improve the human condition on planet Earth.
As I address the Assembly for the first time, I recognize our immense responsibility for addressing the environmental challenges and threats confronting the planet. The Republic of Haiti is committed to the environmental dimension of sustainable development. As an island State, Haiti is determined to strengthen its resilience in the face of the natural disasters that affect the Caribbean region every year. The Haitian people are making tremendous efforts to recover from the damage caused by Hurricanes Matthew and Irma.
Similarly, the unprecedented scale of destruction by consecutive hurricanes inflicted on our sister Caribbean countries, including Antigua and Barbuda and Dominica, as well as parts of Texas and Florida in the United States of America, shows the adverse effects of global warming on our planet. In that regard, the Republic of Haiti would like to express its solidarity with the victims in general and the people of the Caribbean in particular. We also stand with the victims of natural disasters and the people and the Government of Mexico.
In that regard, my country attaches particular importance to the fulfilment of commitments under the Paris Climate Agreement, especially since the prospects for sustainable development are shrinking in the wake of environmental crises and climate degradation. We therefore hope that major greenhouse-gas-emitting countries will contribute the necessary resources for the effective implementation of the Paris Agreement. We firmly believe that we must honour the pledge to equip the most vulnerable countries with the means to help them make the energy transition to renewable energies and bolster their resilience to the adverse effects of climate change.
In the Caribbean, and in Haiti in particular, the latest events have reminded us of the extent to which climate change affects our countries. And at the same moment, the spectacular power of Hurricane Maria threatens us again. But the fact is that what happens to us is not fated, but is rather a result of human beings’ actions on their environment, which we have a shared responsibility to repair. The victim countries, including the Republic of Haiti, do not have the spare resources to respond adequately to the tragic consequences of climate change.
I call for an increase in insurance coverage for hurricanes and other natural disasters. The small Caribbean countries, with severely limited economic resources, need an insurance system that is proportionate to the threat. To that end, in January 2018, when Haiti assumes the presidency of the Caribbean Community, we intend to organize a regional conference to set up an inter-State commission to agree on an appropriate strategy. It will be a logical follow up to Haiti’s call at the fifth summit of the Global Platform for Disaster Risk Reduction, held in Cancún, Mexico, in May, for the creation of a regional fund to finance programmes to mitigate the effects of natural disasters in the region. The fund would be financed based on a percentage of the gross domestic product of the affected countries and by developed countries that emit greenhouse gases. Haiti would like to take this opportunity to appeal to States Members of the United Nations that are affected by climate change to take this approach as well.
This year unquestionably marks a break with the instability that has been such an obstacle to the development of the Republic of Haiti. Since my accession to the presidency on 7 February, my Administration has worked to consolidate democracy and the rule of law by making efforts to create conditions conducive to socioeconomic development and political and social stability.
First, the Haitian Government has been uncompromising in tackling corruption — overbilling for public contracts, misuse of State property and cheques made out to fictitious employees, all facilitated by corrupt individuals who, through such despicable crimes, steal the fruits of education from the children of the Haitian people. Corruption, in all of its forms, plagues and atrophies the economy. It has deeply weakened our political foundation and destabilized the country’s social fabric.
Corruption is a crime against development. The millions of dollars spent Haiti in recent decades were sometimes channeled into contracts that destabilized the national economy to our people’s detriment. It is therefore high time that official development assistance and our domestic resources served the interests of the entire Haitian nation. Corruption deprives the Haitian Government of the resources it needs to provide basic services to the population. If it is not stopped but rather continues to spread, it will fuel political and social instability. It deprives the vast majority of Haitians of adequately distributed electricity, a quality education for their children, clean drinking water and social and economic opportunities. With the aim of reversing this devastating trend, the new Haitian leadership is waging a determined struggle against corruption.
As regards the public administration, the Government is working on five priorities based on the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development. We are working with Parliament to strengthen our republican institutions in order to provide citizens with better access to public services. This policy has been given tangible form through the Caravan of Change, a strategy aimed at providing electricity 24 hours a day through clean energy. We are looking to manage groundwater, irrigate agricultural land and tend to our rivers, which, if not cared for, pose an environmental threat. We are also striving to overcome our housing deficit and to provide 12,000 more classrooms throughout the country.
With regard to the rule of law, measures currently under way aim to guarantee the independence and increase the effectiveness of our judicial apparatus. We are strengthening our fight against corruption, contraband and impunity. We are reinforcing public security by continuously improving and building the capacities of the Haitian National Police. At the same time, we are remobilizing Haiti’s armed forces, which are working in accordance with a new development framework and strictly in line with the Constitution.
The international community has been supporting national and public security in Haiti for 13 years, and with every national disaster, friendly countries have had to come to the aid of the Haiti people, showing why we need a strong defence force and why Haiti, following the departure of the United Nations Stabilization Mission in Haiti (MINUSTAH), will gradually establish a military force to accomplish three key mandates.
We will first create an engineering unit able to contribute to major public-works projects and intervene promptly following natural disasters. Secondly, we will launch an aviation unit for training young people in aeronautical mechanics and pilots able to fly helicopters in the wake of natural disasters; and thirdly, we will have a medical unit able to care for the victims of natural disasters and residents of the most remote areas of our country.
On the economic front, despite our lack of national resources, the Government is mobilizing all levers at its disposal to get the economy back on a path to growth. This year, through a legislative agenda based on the joint efforts of the political parties, we have enacted eight of nine laws geared to improving the business climate. Similarly, through its dynamic policies, my Administration is taking necessary if politically controversial measures to get Haiti’s economy back on a path to growth and to create decent jobs, particularly for young people concerned about their futures. In that regard, our human resources management office is working in a framework of State reform, through public examinations, to recruit 12,000 young civil servants in order to give new impetus to the growth and development of public administration, and will be replacing civil servants who are on the brink of retirement.
We are determined to provide other alternatives and opportunities, particularly to the most vulnerable sectors of our society, to ensure that they are not tempted to leave the country, sometimes putting their lives in danger, in search of better living conditions. Haiti cannot continue to see its young people flee in search of opportunities, driven by the corruption and the destruction of national institutions that have
significantly widened the gap between citizens and the State.
We wish to thank all friendly countries of the region who have taken in Haitian migrants and will therefore contribute actively to international efforts in 2018 to adopt a global compact for safe, orderly and regular migration.
The Haitian Government has undertaken efforts to give its agricultural sector new momentum through the Caravan of Change. All of the country’s departments will benefit from the public authorities’ efforts to develop their potential for social and economic development. In one area of Artibonite, and in the South, in Grand’Anse and Les Nippes, we have already launched a strategy whereby the once moribund State will relaunch long- neglected but essential work. We intend to do our all to halt the accelerated degradation of the environment and make Haiti more resilient to climate change, improve basic essential public infrastructure, increase the provision of basic services, and stimulate the private sector and foreign direct investment.
What is really at stake here, and what is crucial, is creating an enabling environment for strong, sustained and inclusive growth that will create jobs. Our long- term goal is to make Haiti a magnet for investment. The Haitian people are acutely aware that they are primarily responsible for taking ownership of and organizing the country in a sovereign fashion. All our endeavours at the economic level are focused on making rational use of our scant resources and doing everything we can with them.
While we are deeply grateful to the United Nations for its commitment to Haiti, I would be remiss if I did not recall two lamentable situations that have arisen from its presence in our country. On the one hand, we have seen odious acts of sexual exploitation and violence committed by certain peacekeepers or other members of United Nations staff; and on the other, we have witnessed the introduction of a cholera epidemic into Haiti. The harmful consequences of these demonstrations of international solidarity imply, as the United Nations has already recognized, a moral obligation to enact measures to provide the resources necessary to eliminate cholera in Haiti.
Improving the health-care system, including by eradicating cholera, is a priority of the Haitian Government. Despite the recent progress, the number of victims stands at approximately 10,000 and, regrettably, continues to grow. There are tens of thousands of cholera orphans. The time has therefore come for the United Nations to truly live up to its noble ideals, based fundamentally on respect for human rights, by assuming its full responsibility for remedying a situation that has done serious harm to the Haitian people. It is high time that the United Nations honoured the commitments it has made under the new approach to fighting the cholera epidemic recommended by the Secretary-General and approved by the General Assembly. We therefore align ourselves with the urgent appeal launched by Secretary-General António Guterres to establish a trust fund to fully implement the two components of this new approach.
We also welcome the decision taken by the General Assembly to reallocate $40.5 million from the MINUSTAH budget for 2015-2016 to the fight against the epidemic. We would like to see other international partners follow that example. We want to ensure that the sick receive adequate care, that the victims and their children get due compensation, and that drinking water and sanitation systems in Haiti are developed under the auspices of the National Directorate for Drinking Water and Sanitation.
The Republic of Haiti is resolutely committed to making progress and strengthening the rule of law. Of course, these objectives remain works in progress. The new leadership of Haiti will spare no effort to foster the great transformations necessary to bring the State out of its traumatic and painful lethargy. The Haitian Government is working tirelessly to ensure the safety and well-being of its people. These are vital prerequisites for achieving the Sustainable Development Goals.
Political stability is the most important of all public goods, as I said in my election campaign. In that regard, I intend to continue the dialogue I began last week on building robust institutions in the political sphere, a dialogue in which almost all the political parties in Parliament and all local authorities took part. Moreover, in the coming weeks, my Administration will begin a national consultation in all sectors with a view to achieving the stability required to undertake a programme of economic and social development over the next 25 years at least.
Economic, political and social stakeholders in Haiti are aware of the overriding obligation they have to promote social peace in order to fulfil the destiny that has been reserved for our noble and great nation, a cradle of liberty, equality and fraternity, the Republic of Haiti.


On behalf of the delegation of the Kingdom of Morocco, I would like to congratulate Mr. Miroslav Lajčák on his election to preside over the General Assembly at its seventy-second session and to wish him every success in his noble task. We would also like to commend his predecessor, Mr. Peter Thomson, for his excellent work and the successes that his presidency brought.
We would like to reiterate our support for the efforts of Secretary-General Guterres to reform the United Nations and its mechanisms on the political, economic and security fronts. The proposed reforms create new dynamics, giving new momentum to the Organization’s activities and strengthening the principles enshrined in the Charter of the United Nations. We would also like to express the support of the Kingdom of Morocco for the road map that the Secretary-General has proposed for mediation and preventive diplomacy in the settlement of disputes by peaceful means, building on efforts to maintain peace, realize sustainable development and combat terrorism. Our world today is at a crossroads that is having a direct effect on our collective efforts to achieve sustainable development, strengthen peace and security and lay the foundations of cooperation, and I would therefore like to address three relevant issues.
First, there can be no doubt that while walls between nations have come down and the numbers of victims have diminished, there have emerged new threats to security, such as terrorism, extremism, separatist movements and climate change, that are no less dangerous than previous ones. It is clear that while globalization has greatly boosted the international economy, it also triggered the economic and financial crisis that led to increased unemployment and poverty and deepened social differences within States.
Secondly, while information technology has witnessed great developments, including expanded networks and growing numbers of users, some terrorist organizations have sought to use those developments to undermine security and stability, threaten the peace of individuals and erode development efforts, while still others have used them to advance their criminal enterprises. This situation, which gives a glimpse of the future of our world, is very threatening because we are unable to foresee what is coming. We therefore have to reform our collective working mechanisms in order to improve their predictive capacities.
Thirdly, there are those who believe that they have the ability and resources to fend for themselves against these difficulties. However, the Kingdom of Morocco believes that only an effective, multilateral global organization can resolve the collective problems that we are all facing.
We can no longer look at Africa as a burden on the international community. We Africans do not believe that our continent has ever been a burden on the world, despite the misunderstandings and unfair rulings and judgements that exist. Africa has yet to take its proper place on the world’s agenda, which cannot be based on the numbers of conferences dedicated to it, related agenda items taken up or resolutions adopted. The continent’s problems cannot be addressed through the mere provision of assistance. Given its varied natural and human resources — including approximately a billion young people — its fertile lands and abundant water, Africa has enormous potential.
Thanks to the foresight of His Majesty King Mohammed VI, over the past two decades Morocco has made South-South cooperation the basis of its foreign policy, reflecting the King’s view that such cooperation represents a promising foundation for the efforts of the international community. Morocco has adopted a realistic approach to forging partnerships and is supplying human resources and technological know-how to assist African countries in their efforts. In an address to the people of Morocco on 20 August 2016, His Majesty emphasized that Morocco does not view Africa as a market for the sale and promotion of Moroccan products or as a source of quick profits, but as a forum for joint action to save the region and develop African cities. That is why we have sought to establish partnerships with a number of African countries aimed at supporting economic growth and integration and providing jobs and security. That was not a decision fuelled by opportunism but a historic commitment emerging from the King’s deep understanding of the continent, as he expressed at the twenty-eighth session of the Summit of the African Union when he said, “Africa is my continent. Africa is my home”.
With the same commitment and determination, Morocco will continue to shoulder its responsibility within the African Union as a founding member of its precursor, the Organization of African Unity, and as a committed partner that has never disappointed the African continent but rather has always defended it in regional and international forums. We are always eager to serve Africa and realize its ambitions and objectives. Morocco is committed to multilateralism and to finding the right answers to problems, based on the international community’s three important areas of responsibility — migration, climate change and the fight against terrorism and extremism — and attested to by the confidence that the international community has placed in Morocco, which bases its approach on aligning its national priorities with those on the United Nations agenda and on sharing its experience with African partners.
As Chair of the Global Counter-Terrorism Forum, Morocco, along with the Netherlands, works to strengthen national and regional cooperation and to share its experience in combating terrorism with its African brothers and partners by sharing information and expertise, as well as through religious training programmes that reject all forms of intolerance and extremism and that have reached hundreds of thousands of imams and leaders, men and women, of various African nationalities, at centres such as the Institute of Mohammed V and the Mohammed VI Foundation for African Ulema.
Morocco co-chairs the Global Forum on Migration and Development, which seeks to develop proposals that are not limited to security issues but are also informed by the development and human aspects of migration. We hope those efforts will be included in the global compact on migration to be adopted by the United Nations in 2018. Within the African Union, King Mohammed will be presenting a concept paper on developing a joint African approach to migration and its root causes. Morocco has also developed a strategy for activating a process that can help African citizens south of the Sahara fully enjoy their economic and social rights.
With regard to climate change, Morocco presided over the twenty-second session of the Conference of the Parties to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change, held in Marrakech in November 2016. Qualitative changes were made during the session in translating the Paris Agreement on Climate Change into practical measures, as well as the adoption of the Marrakech Declaration, which states that efforts to achieve development and sustainable development represent a high-level political commitment that should be honoured with a balanced and cooperative approach that meets the needs of least developed countries and developing nations.
Africa is at the heart of Morocco’s interests in this regard. His Majesty chaired the first African summit on climate change, which resulted in an ambitious and balanced action plan that reflects the continent’s commitment to shouldering its responsibilities with regard to international efforts. At the national level, Morocco has adopted an ambitious policy for addressing the effects of climate change, particularly where renewable energy is concerned. It should reduce our energy needs by 42 per cent by 2020 and 52 per cent by 2030, as well as lowering our carbon dependency. It should also attract promising international investment in the development of clean energy.
Since the 1960s, the Kingdom of Morocco has been committed to the United Nations cause in deploying peacekeeping forces in Africa. We have contributed to those international forces by sending military units totalling 6,000 soldiers to six countries — Angola, the Congo, Somalia, Côte d’Ivoire, the Democratic Republic of the Congo and the Central African Republic, where there are currently more than 1,600 Moroccan military personnel. I would like to express Morocco’s deep concern about the irresponsible attacks that have recently been made on international peacekeepers. Such attacks trample on United Nations values and should be considered war crimes whose perpetrators should be brought to justice. The Kingdom of Morocco shares the Organization’s concern about such attacks and therefore requests that the Secretariat take appropriate measures to protect peacekeepers in conflict zones. Today, we need a new approach to peacekeeping operations, making troop-contributing countries central to their decision-making in a way that is based on the values of the United Nations.
The Palestinian question was one of the first just causes taken up by the United Nations following its inception, yet no solution has been found to date, nor is any agreement in sight, despite the tremendous efforts made by the international community, especially the current United States Administration. The Kingdom of Morocco, whose King Mohammed VI chairs the Al-Quds Al-Sharif Committee of the Organization of Islamic Cooperation, reiterates its rejection of any attempts aimed at changing the historical and legal status of the Holy City and the Al-Aqsa Mosque and renews its calls to the Israeli authorities to cease such practices.
The Arab Maghreb is still dealing with the difficult issues that have resulted from the lack of political cooperation and the vulnerable security situation produced by the crisis in Libya. This raises questions for the parties that are still dealing with past conflicts, such as in the Moroccan Sahara. If the international community wishes to achieve a peaceful settlement based on consensus, and if the Moroccan initiative for self-rule there is to gain more support, the parties in the region involved in that dispute should abandon their two-faced discourse and assume their responsibilities. Morocco would like to emphasize its readiness to work in honestly and transparently with the Secretary- General and Mr. Horst Köhler, his Personal Envoy for Western Sahara, in order to reach a peaceful settlement that can maintain Morocco’s territorial integrity and sovereignty, based on the self-rule initiative.
Morocco is also developing a policy to enable the people of the Moroccan Sahara to rule themselves and thus to enable North-West Africa to mitigate the dangers of separatism, Balkanization, extremism and terrorism. In that context, we would like to call the Assembly’s attention to the terrible situation in the Tindouf refugee camps and urge the international community to put pressure on the host country to allow the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees to respond to the Secretary-General’s call and register everyone in the camps.


On behalf of the Government and the people of the Republic of the Marshall Islands, I have the honour to convey warm greetings to the General Assembly. I congratulate His Excellency Mr. Miroslav Lajčák on his election as President of the General Assembly at its seventy- second session. I am proud that his predecessor from the Pacific, His Excellency Mr. Peter Thomson, will continue his service to the United Nations as the Special Envoy of the Secretary-General for the Ocean.
I also extend the condolences of my Government for the destruction and tragic loss resulting from the recent disasters in Mexico, the United States, Antigua and Barbuda, Cuba, Haiti, the Bahamas, Dominica and the territories of the United States and British Virgin Islands, Puerto Rico, St. Barthélemy, Anguilla, Turks and Caicos and other islands.
The United Nations stands strong as the only place that all of us in the world have to confront our darkest challenges together. Even if the present moment appears uncertain, we must all remain confident and committed to ensuring that the Organization will speak for those who might not otherwise have their voices heard.
Recent events with regard to North Korea and its growing nuclear threat must serve as a clear mandate for strong, urgent global cooperation and effective action. The Marshall Islands is a small island nation in the Pacific, and we wish only peace, security and stability for the world. We cannot ignore this sudden and obvious threat to the territory of Guam, our closest neighbour, friend and home to some of our citizens. The threat posed to Guam is a threat to the wider Pacific Islands region, and we express our concern about the challenges these actions have posed to peace, security and cooperation across the wider Pacific Rim.
The highest levels of the Government of the Marshall Islands vociferously condemn the nuclear test of 3 September and related actions. There is no need for debate: these actions are clear violations of Security Council resolutions and seriously challenge the international disarmament and non-proliferation regime based on the Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons. I am appalled that the Marshall Islands, of all countries, is again facing the very real threat of an atmospheric nuclear test over the Pacific Ocean.
The Republic of the Marshall Islands condemns these test efforts not just for its own security, but because we know the impacts first-hand. The 67 nuclear tests conducted in my country between 1946 and 1958 have produced a burdensome legacy that we hope no other nation or people will ever have to bear. These tests were conducted when my country was under the tutelage of the United Nations Trusteeship Council, which was charged with our welfare and well- being. When the Marshallese leaders travelled to New York to present two petitions to urgently halt nuclear tests in 1954 and 1956, the United Nations responded with Trusteeship Council resolutions 1082 (XIV) and 1493 (XVII), which are the only times any United Nations organ has ever specifically authorized nuclear tests. The consequences of this ignorance were — and are — beyond horrific.
Our people and environment have suffered as no other people should. The impacts of this legacy today remain stark and present challenges, passed from one generation to the next: from mother to daughter, father to son. This is why, in 2012, the United Nations Special Rapporteur on the implications for human rights of the environmentally sound management and disposal of hazardous substances and waste outlined the clear human rights implications and responsibilities which we affirm. I thank the Secretary-General for his statement to the Chair of the Pacific Island Forum on 14 August 2016, in which he said that
“finding a solution to this issue is critical for the future of the Republic of the Marshall Islands”,
assuring us that relevant United Nations entities stand ready to respond to requests for assistance.
Recent events should be creating far greater political resolve to curb and ultimately eliminate global nuclear threats. In this regard, the Republic of the Marshall Islands supports those nations that are now able to accede to the Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons in so doing, and we will continue to add our own voice in all forums, including in the Comprehensive Nuclear-Test-Ban Treaty Organization and the Review and Extension Conferences of the Parties to the Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons.
We are committed to a closed and inclusive examination of our own participation in the Nuclear- Ban Treaty by listening closely to our stakeholders and affected citizens, taking into account any possible implications for our common security relations. It will always remain our fervent hope that such weapons of mass destruction shall never again be tested or unleashed upon the world and that all nuclear-armed nations will find the necessary political will to disarm.
Earlier this year, my country experienced the tragic loss of our one-time Minister and climate ambassador, Mr. Tony de Brum, and I wish to express my gratitude to those who have conveyed their condolences. Ambassador de Brum once said that for the Marshall Islands,
“[w]e are suffering the result of climate change and of the nuclear legacy and we have had nothing to do with either... In either case, people have to choose to end this world, this universe. You can either do it slowly with climate change, or you can press a button and blow it up. And neither is justified”.
Just across from the United Nations, in the East River, there sits Belmont Island. It is a small, raggedy little outcrop only 1 metre tall. This island in New York must now serve as a reminder for the world’s diplomats that if they ever see it vanish beneath the rising sea, then they must also know that they have lost the Marshall Islands in the Pacific.
Climate change is real, and no credible scientist could ever make it otherwise. But what we see with our own eyes, in our low-lying islands, reveals a real present and growing threat to our own survival and security as a nation and as a State Member of the United Nations. We welcome the entry into force of the Paris Agreement, which stands as a truly robust, ambitious and long-term agreement. We must not allow our confidence in each other to be thrown off by road bumps in the short term.
We urge the ratification of and full participation in the Kigali Amendment to the Montreal Protocol, which is the legacy of the personal drive of the late Minister-in-Assistance to the President of the Marshall Islands, Mr. Mattlan Zackhras, who suddenly and tragically passed away last month. At the end of a long night of negotiations last year, the late Minister said that when the Amendment was adopted he would be proud to call on all Marshallese children because he knew that the Kigali Amendment could mean the difference between whether they would have a country — and a future — or not.
We strongly support the leadership of our Pacific island neighbour, Fiji, as the incoming President of the Conference of the Parties to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change, and we hope that in its care and with its leadership, the parties will adopt a strong set of rules. The Paris Agreement is only as strong as the political confidence that stands behind it. It is beyond imperative that, even in such early moments, committed nations start the challenging task of pushing ourselves to do even more. Even with our limited resources, the Marshall Islands is committed not only to implementing the Agreement, but also to exploring where our own action on energy can be strengthened. We must match our own ambitions with respect to emissions with stronger approaches and closer bilateral work.
The Republic of the Marshall Islands strongly agrees with the widespread call from the large and growing chorus of our fellow Member States for a more effective and efficient United Nations. It is beyond necessary. We support the Secretary-General taking action under his own authority to continue to initiate practical but powerful efforts to reduce duplication and improve delivery. It is a question not only of the use
17-29813 11/28 of public funds, including our own, but also of all of us improving our ability to achieve our full potential and making clear progress in the attainment of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). We cannot do it alone, and we cannot do itwith an international architect that, however good its intentions, has frequently lost the focus needed to help us make the connections between international forums and our local communities.
Before we engage in an impossible fight over resources, we must first examine the use of our resources already at hand. Our small in-country team often struggles with gaining access to seasoned international staff who can help us learn to navigate the system. The United Nations Development Programme Resident Coordinator for the Marshall Islands actually resides in another nation nearly 3,000 kilometres away. Our Resident Coordinator, who is fully dedicated to her mission, is also charged with being a coordinator for eight other remote island nations, one of which she is a resident of. We must re-examine the management decisions that led to such an outcome. Without stronger focus from the United Nations system, small island developing States could face serious barriers to their ability to implement the SDGs.
The Ocean Conference on the implementation of SDG 14, which took place last June, stands as a watershed moment of political will. But the good words uttered in those forums too often fall short when it comes to making global and regional decisions on oceans and fisheries. The Pacific small island developing States have sounded the alarm on the state of the world’s oceans, which everyone has heard, but perhaps the alarm is not loud enough. As parties to the narrow agreement and beyond, we in the Pacific have the potential to effect a profound change in the role of the market in order to dramatically strengthen our own economic trajectory and boost global food security along the way. The United Nations system itself must do far more to help us focus on these transformative opportunities. And even if some of our partners are still slow to rise with us, the marketplace is already leading the way.
What the Pacific region is doing for tuna by ensuring our participation while promoting sustainable practices, we are also doing with the wider oceans. Increasingly our political partners will come to realize that our political support depends not just on the pressure they apply, but on how willing they are to follow our lead on sustainable oceans and fisheries issues. While it may be our own Pacific economic and environmental survival at stake, it is also a great incentive for the rest of the world to know that two thirds of our planet’s surface is no longer in peril.
No one is to be left behind when it comes to the SDGs or to complying with the Charter of the United Nations. Therefore, we should consider that the exclusion of Taiwan from the United Nations and its related agencies has created major challenges for both the Government and the people of Taiwan in the pursuit of their fundamental right to participate. As is the case for my nation, Taiwan is an indispensable partner for the international community, including for our own receipt of humanitarian aid, medical assistance, disease prevention, environmental protection, anti-terrorism and transnational-crime prevention. Practical approaches could allow us to work through existing controversies in order to achieve the global benefits of universal participation, including in the International Civil Aviation Organization, the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change and the World Health Organization.
Security Council resolution 2758 (1971) has been misused to justify the people of Taiwan’s exclusion from the United Nations. As a result, we are missing an important opportunity to cooperate with a proactive contributor to peace and the common global good. The United Nations, I believe, can and must do better.
In conclusion, these may be trying times, and the challenges of the world are severe, but it is in such adversity that true character is defined. And if an effective United Nations was ever truly needed, it is now. We must look outward to embrace the community of nations rather than look inward at our own self-interest to the detriment of others. Multilateral engagement must be our guiding light as we move towards a more effective and efficient United Nations.


It gives me great pleasure to congratulate His Excellency Mr. Miroslav Lajčák on assuming the presidency of the General Assembly at its seventy-second session. We wish him every success in his mandate. I also wish to express my appreciation to His Excellency Mr. Peter Thomson for his valuable efforts in managing the affairs of the General Assembly during the seventy-first session. I also take this opportunity to commend the efforts of His Excellency Secretary-General António Guterres to strengthen the role of the United Nations.
Maintaining regional and international peace and security is a priority in the foreign policy of the State of Qatar, which bases its principles and objectives on the Charter of the United Nations and the rules of international law. It calls for constructive cooperation among States, mutual respect and non-interference in internal affairs, as well as good-neighbourliness and the promotion of peaceful coexistence, while pursuing peaceful means to settle disputes.
The issue of settling disputes by peaceful means is still being addressed as an episodic and non-binding proposal. Perhaps the time has come to impose dialogue and negotiation as a basis for resolving disputes by concluding an international convention on settling disputes between States by peaceful means.
In that context, and after major events such as the Second World War, Rwanda and Burundi and the Balkan conflicts in the past century, the danger of the impunity of perpetrators of crimes against humanity and crimes of genocide has returned to threaten humankind by becoming the rule rather than the exception, because international legitimacy is subjected to political pressure, the interests of parties and the dictation of force on the ground, which maintain that the law of force is able to supersede the force of law.
In our view, major Powers should not range between two extremes: the direct occupation of countries to impose the occupier’s will and policy, or standing idly by as an observer who does nothing with regard to wars of genocide and crimes against humanity perpetrated by fascist, despotic regimes, or to continuous repression by an occupying State of the people under occupation.
Lately there has been a growing sense that people under repression face their fate alone, as if the international arena were governed by the law of the jungle and the countries under threat had to stand on their own through help from their alliances and relations, in the absence of a system to implement the provisions of international law and binding conventions and charters.
We commend the President for the theme chosen for this session, that is, “Focusing on people: Striving for peace and a decent life for all on a sustainable planet”. In that context, I call upon the Government of the Republic of the Union of Myanmar and the international community to assume their legal and moral responsibility and take the measures necessary to stop the violence against the Rohingya minority, provide them with protection, repatriate the displaced to their homeland, prevent sectarian or ethnic discrimination against them and ensure that they have their full legitimate rights as full-fledged citizens. We urge all States to provide humanitarian assistance to the Rohingya.
Every time I stand here, I speak in favour of constructive international cooperation, just peace and the rights of peoples under occupation, those who are subjected to crimes against humanity and those who are under siege. This time I stand here while my country and my people are subjected to a continuing and unjust blockade, imposed since 5 June by our neighbouring countries. The blockade involves all aspects of life, including intervention by those countries to sever family ties. At the moment Qatar is successfully managing its life — its economy, development plans and its outreach to the wider world — thanks to sea and air routes that those countries do not control.
The blockade was imposed abruptly and without warning, prompting Qataris to consider it as a kind of betrayal. It seems that those who planned and implemented it had envisaged that their action would cause a shocking and direct impact that would bring the State of Qatar to its knees and cause it to capitulate to a total guardianship imposed upon it.
What is worse, those who schemed for the blockade found it necessary to rely on fabricated quotes attributed to me, which they posted on the Qatar News Agency website after hacking it. The controlled media of those countries were ready to launch an all-out campaign of incitement, prepared in advance, in which all values, morals and norms were breached, while a torrent of lies infringed upon the truth. Funds are still being spent unsparingly on the machine faking news and disseminating fabrications in the hope of fooling people by distorting the truth with plain lies.
Despite the exposure of the hacking and falsification of quotes by the Amir of a sovereign State, the blockading countries did not back down or apologize for lying, but rather intensified their campaign, in the hope that the blockade would cause a cumulative effect on the economy and the society of my country, after it failed to have any direct impact. The perpetrators of the hacking and the falsified quotes have committed an assault against a sovereign State. The crime was deliberately committed for political aims and was followed by a list of political declarations, which contravene sovereignty. They caused worldwide astonishment.
This disgraceful act has once again raised international questions about digital security, cybercrime and electronic piracy. It has also revealed the anxiety in many public and official circles around the world over the absence of clear-cut international legislation and institutions to govern this dangerous and vital field, or to punish the perpetrators of transnational crimes. It is high time to take steps in this regard. We are ready to mobilize our potential to serve in such a joint effort.
The countries that imposed the unjust blockade on Qatar have intervened in the internal affairs of the State by putting pressure on the citizens through food, medicine and family ties, with a view to forcing them to change their political affiliation so as to destabilize a sovereign country. Is this not one of the definitions of terrorism?
This illegal blockade was not confined to the economic field and to breaching the World Trade Organization agreement, but went beyond that to violate human rights conventions by arbitrary measures that have caused social and religious harm to thousands of citizens and residents of the countries of the Gulf Cooperation Council by violating the basic human rights to work, education and the freedom of movement and the right to private property.
However, things did not stop at that point, as the blockading countries went on to persecute their own citizens on their own territories and to impose penalties of imprisonment and fines on them for the mere expression of their sympathy with the State of Qatar, even on social media. That was unprecedented, and it violates the human rights conventions and agreements that guarantee the right to the freedom of opinion and expression.
There are countries that not only attack a neighbouring country so as to dictate its foreign policy and media policy, but also believe that having a lot of money qualifies them to put pressure on other countries and blackmail them to participate in their aggression, while they are supposed to be held accountable internationally for what they have committed.
The countries that imposed the blockade on the State of Qatar are interfering in the internal affairs of many countries and accuse all those who oppose them, domestically or abroad, of terrorism. Thus they are harming the war on terror, while at the same time opposing reform and supporting the tyrannical regimes in our region, in whose prisons terrorists are born.
We were not alone in being taken by surprise by the imposition of the blockade, as many countries whose leaders have questioned its motives and reasons were also surprised. The blockading countries have promised all those who asked them about the reasons for the blockade to provide them with evidence of their absurd anti-Qatar allegations and fabrications, which keep changing according to the identity of the person being asked. Everyone is still waiting for evidence, which has not arrived and will not arrive — because it does not exist. On the contrary, those allegations contradict the considerable evidence about Qatar’s contribution to the fight against terrorism, which is recognized by the entire international community.
The State of Qatar has fought terrorism, and the entire international community bears witness to that.
It is still fighting terrorism and will continue to do so. It stands in the camp of those who are fighting by security means and believes that it is necessary to fight terrorism ideologically as well. Qatar goes beyond that to participate in drying up its sources by providing education to 7 million children around the world, so that they do not fall prey to ignorance and radical ideas.
We have refused to yield to dictation by pressure and blockade, and our people will not be satisfied with anything less. At the same time, we have taken an open attitude towards dialogue without dictation and have expressed our readiness to resolve differences through compromises based on common undertakings. Resolving conflicts by peaceful means is one of the priorities of our foreign policy. I renew here the call for an unconditional dialogue based on mutual respect for sovereignty. I highly value the sincere and appreciated mediation that the State of Qatar has supported since the beginning of the crisis, which was initiated by my brother, His Highness Sheikh Sabah Al-Ahmad Al-Jaber Al-Sabah, Amir of the sisterly State of Kuwait. I also thank all the countries that have supported this mediation.
Allow me on this occasion to express here my pride in my Qatari people, along with the multinational and multicultural residents of Qatar. The people have withstood the conditions of siege, rejected dictation with resolve and pride, insisted on the independence of Qatar’s sovereign decision and strengthened its unity and solidarity, while maintaining their refined manners and their progress despite the fierceness of the campaign launched against them and their country.
I reiterate my thanks to the sisterly and friendly countries that recognize the significance of respecting the sovereignty of States and the rule of international law, while also appreciating their stance of remaining supportive of the Qatari people during this crisis.
Terrorism and extremism are among the most serious challenges facing the world. Countering them requires us all to carry out concerted action against terrorist organizations and their extremist ideology, in order to maintain security for humankind and stability for the world. Governments worldwide have no choice but to cooperate in dealing with the threat of terrorism as a security issue, but halting the spread of terrorism and extremism can be achieved by addressing its social, political and cultural root causes. We must also be careful not to use the fight against terrorism as an umbrella to cover reprisals or the shelling of civilians.
The fight against terrorism and extremism was and will continue to be a top priority. That is affirmed by the effective participation of the State of Qatar in regional and international efforts to implement the measures included in the United Nations Global Counter-Terrorism Strategy, adopted in 2006, and all the Security Council resolutions and measures related to countering terrorism and its financing.
We have also participated in international coalitions and regional organizations and nurtured bilateral relations with the United States of America and many countries of the world. The State of Qatar will continue its regional and international efforts in this regard and will develop them further.
While reaffirming our condemnation of all forms of extremism and terrorism, we reject the tackling of this phenomenon using double standards, according to the identity of the perpetrators, or linking terrorism with a particular religion, race, civilization, culture or society.
The issues facing the Middle East continue to pose the greatest threat to international peace and security due to the vital importance of that region to the world. Israel still stands in the way of achieving a lasting, just and comprehensive peace and rejects the Arab Peace Initiative. The Israeli Government maintains its intransigent approach and strategy to create facts on the ground through expanding settlement construction in the occupied territories, Judaizing Jerusalem and restricting the performance of religious rituals in the Al-Aqsa Mosque, which is a serious, provocative act. It also continues to impose its blockade on the Gaza Strip.
The international community must give high priority to the resumption of peace negotiations on the basis of ending the Israeli occupation of the Arab territories within a specified time frame, and to reaching a just, comprehensive and vital settlement, in accordance with the two-State solution, agreed upon by the international community and based on the resolutions of international legitimacy and the Arab Peace Initiative. A settlement will be achieved only through the establishment of an independent Palestinian State on the basis of the 1967 borders, with Jerusalem as its capital. I renew my appeal to my Palestinian brothers to achieve national reconciliation, consolidate their positions and speak with one voice when confronting the dangers and challenges facing the Palestinian question on the future of the Palestinian people.
The international community is unable to find a solution to the Syrian crisis despite its consequences and serious repercussions for the region and the world. Political efforts continue to falter due to conflicting international and regional interests, which serve to protect those against whom we are supposed to stand united. The international community has relinquished its legal and moral responsibilities, including the implementation of its decisions, and has succumbed to the logic of force. What is required is serious work to reach a political solution to the Syrian crisis in a way that meets the aspirations of the Syrian people to justice, dignity and freedom, and to maintain the unity and sovereignty of Syria, in accordance with the decisions of the Geneva I Conference on Syria. Qatar will spare no effort in providing support and assistance to alleviate the humanitarian suffering of our Syrian brothers and to implement our humanitarian pledges within the framework of the United Nations.
The international community has given up the task of protecting civilians. Will it also hesitate to find war criminals accountable? Their impunity will have dire consequences for the situation in Syria and the region, and would affect the behaviour of future dictatorships towards their peoples in the absence of any deterrent.
Turning to the Libyan question, Libya’s national consensus, which would preserve its unity, sovereignty and social fabric and restore its stability, could be achieved by means of combining domestic and international efforts. We must all intensify our efforts and support the Government of National Accord, which has been established with the support of the United Nations, in its effort to restore stability and to counter terrorism and its grave consequences. The State of Qatar has supported international mediation efforts and will support them in future in order to meet the aspirations of the Libyan people.
Concerning the fraternal country of Iraq, we support the efforts of the Iraqi Government to achieve security, stability and the unity of the territory and people of Iraq. We commend the achievements of the Iraqi people in their fight against terrorism. We reaffirm our support to promote their victory by helping the people of Iraq to realize their aspirations for equality among all its citizens and to restore Iraq’s role at the regional and international levels.
Concerning Yemen, we affirm the importance of maintaining Yemen’s unity, security and stability and ending the state of infighting and war, while adopting dialogue, a political solution and national reconciliation as a basis for ending this crisis and implementing Security Council resolution 2216 (2015). We call on the international community to facilitate the access of humanitarian assistance to various Yemeni regions. The State of Qatar supports the efforts of the United Nations Special Envoy for Yemen to end the crisis and realize the aspirations of the brotherly Yemeni people to attain unity, security and stability.
In order to achieve security and stability in the Gulf region, we reiterate the call that we have made before from this rostrum for a constructive dialogue between the Gulf Cooperation Council countries and Iran on the basis of common interests, the principle of good-neighbourliness, respect for State sovereignty and non-interference in the internal affairs of other States.
In the framework of international efforts to address humanitarian crises, the State of Qatar continues to contribute to the international response to the growing humanitarian needs of the world at large. We have increased our financial contributions to the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) so as to enable the Organization to implement its programmes and provide humanitarian relief to those in need worldwide.
The State of Qatar ranks third on the list of major donors to OCHA in 2017. We continue to provide support to countries facing challenges in implementing their development plans. It is worth mentioning here that the State of Qatar ranked first in the Arab world and 33rd in the world in the field of human development. This proves the effectiveness of our humanitarian and development policy. We look forward to achieving the Sustainable Development Goals, which we all have committed to achieve.
In conclusion, we reiterate that the State of Qatar will spare no effort in strengthening the role of the United Nations and and efforts to achieve what the international community seeks, bringing peace and security and promoting human rights and advancing development. Qatar will remain, as is always the case, a safe haven for the oppressed, and we will continue its mediation efforts to find just solutions in conflict zones.


I have the honour to address the seventy-second session of the General Assembly on behalf of His Excellency Mr. Filipe Jacinto Nyusi, President of the Republic of Mozambique, who could not attend this gathering owing to other commitments at home. Allow me therefore to start by conveying President Nyusi’s good wishes for a successful session of the Assembly, which is the highest forum for global political and diplomatic dialogue.
I would like to take this opportunity to join the speakers who preceded me in congratulating you, Sir, on your unanimous election to preside over the General Assembly at its seventy-second session. I assure you of the full commitment of Mozambique to contributing to the realization of the goals we have all envisaged to achieve during this important session. We trust that your gifted leadership and diplomatic experience will add value to our endeavours and contribute to the success of the work of this session.
I wish equally to congratulate your predecessor, His Excellency Mr. Peter Thomson of Fiji, for his stewardship and commitment to fulfilling the agenda at the last session of the General Assembly.
A special word of appreciation goes to His Excellency Mr. Antonio Guterres, the Secretary- General, for the vision and leadership he has displayed in this, his first year in office. We believe that he is steering the Organization onto the right path in order to enhance its efficiency and effectiveness as it serves us, the Member States, in our quest to deliver on the ambitious goals we have set for our peoples. Only a strong and vibrant United Nations system can ensure that the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development and its goals will deliver societies that are more inclusive, peaceful and prosperous than ever, without compromising the very existence of our planet.
Two years after we pledged our commitment to the Sustainable Development Goals, the world remains confronted with multiple and complex challenges that threaten to constrain the gains we made in fostering global peace and stability, stall and reverse the advances made in fostering social and economic wellbeing of our peoples, and cause irreversible damage to our planet. We therefore welcome the theme chosen for this session by the President of the General Assembly, namely, “Focusing on people: Striving for peace and a decent life for all on a sustainable planet”, as it allows this body to reflect in a timely manner on how best to address the challenges before us. This reflection in a multilateral forum such as the General Assembly is essential if we are to coordinate and consolidate our approaches as we strive individually and collectively to deliver on the 2030 Agenda.
The renewed focus on people should serve as a universal impetus for all the development actors to translate into practice actions that promote peace and the well-being of all humankind. It is worth recalling that our resolve is to make the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development a framework that brings together the collective will to transform people’s lives in a sustainable way by lifting them from poverty and promoting human dignity without neglecting peace, which is a critical factor in the attainment of sustainable development, based on the interplay of the economic, social and environmental pillars.
As we strive to accomplish these goals, we are challenged to find the ways and means to honour the commitments undertaken in the Addis Ababa Action Agenda, the Sendai Framework for Disaster Risk Reduction and the Paris Agreement on Climate Change. Only joint and complementary efforts in those three domains will enable us to build the necessary resilience at the national, regional and international levels commensurate with the challenges before us and in line with our aspiration of leaving no country behind.
The challenges we faced and the experiences we gained in the implementation of other globally agreed development goals in the past underline the need for greater commitment from our development partners to scale up and honour their assistance and for funding pledges made to support climate resilience, mitigation and adaptation, as well as disaster-prevention efforts in developing countries. This support is of paramount importance to mitigating the effects of climate variability, whose devastating effects have been laid bare in the last two months in several States Members of this body.Furthermore, it is also clear that a robust and efficient United Nations system, together with a strong partnership between the Organization and the regional bodies, can play a catalytic role in accelerating national development and strengthening democratic political systems and institutions that can lead to more inclusive and peaceful societies. In that vein, we support the ongoing efforts undertaken by the Secretary-General to reform and reposition the United Nations development system with a view to making it more responsive to the development needs of its Members.
The overwhelming challenges of our times require bold and determined political will to achieve the results we seek. Mozambique reaffirms its unequivocal commitment to the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development, since focusing on people has always been at the core of Mozambique’s national development agenda. Accordingly, we have aligned our national development agenda to include the three dimensions of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development, which are now reflected in the five pillars of our national five-year plan, namely, consolidating national unity, peace and sovereignty; developing human and social capital; promoting employment, productivity and competitiveness; developing economic and social infrastructures; and ensuring sustainable and transparent management of natural resources and the environment.
Mozambique has created a multi-stakeholder national reference group that encompasses Government, civil society, the private sector and international cooperation partners for the management of the Sustainable Development Goals and is promoting capacity-building for its implementation, monitoring and evaluation. In the effort to consolidate national unity, peace and sovereignty, our focus on people leads us to strive to ensure that lasting peace and stability is a reality to all Mozambicans. Durable peace and stability therefore ranks as an overarching priority in our national agenda, as it is a crucial factor for the development and promotion of lasting human security in the broadest sense. Accordingly, the Government of Mozambique, under the leadership of President Filipe Jacinto Nyusi, is striving for an inclusive dialogue with all political actors and civil society through both formal and informal mechanisms, including the Parliament. This inclusive approach is also used to engage Mozambicans in the conceptualization and implementation of the national development agenda.
Furthermore, our focus on people envisages not leaving anyone behind, which is one of the guiding precepts of our universal agenda. Therefore, particular attention is given to policies and strategies aimed at the protection and the full enjoyment of human rights, the promotion of gender equality and equity as well as the empowerment of women and youth, who constitute the majority of our people. Mozambique believes that our focus on people, peace, a decent life and a sustainable planet also requires a regional dimension, particularly in the context of a globalized world.
We are therefore encouraged by the contributions that regional and international multilateral mechanisms have made to prevent and manage conflicts and to promote peace and stability, in particular those under the Southern African Development Community, the African Union and the Community of Portuguese-speaking Countries, to which we are proud to belong. We believe that mechanisms that promote peace and prosperity should also constitute a strong platform of action aimed at fostering dialogue among civilizations, an unquestionable tool in the promotion of a culture of tolerance, peaceful coexistence and a sustainable world. We pledge to continue to play our role in these endeavours.
Our resolve to focus on people entails that we address with a sense of urgency the root causes of the increase in unregulated migration and the massive flows of refugees, two dimensions of the human crises that we are confronted with in modern times. This regrettable reality is in great part a consequence of a succession of unresolved crises or poorly settled conflict situations in relation to which the international community bears a responsibility. In that connection, we risk achieving an ineffective and fragile peace if the international community remains focused on short-term and ad hoc measures that leave scope for the recurrence of the same intractable problems at a later stage. The international community should come together to redouble efforts and to build consensus to prevent the senseless loss of lives. We need to adopt measures to reduce people’s vulnerabilities, complemented by actions that address the complex and structural causes of these mass movements, such as conflicts and political, social and economic exclusion.
A focus on people on a sustainable planet also requires urgent attention to climate change. Today more than ever before, the challenges posed by the adverse impact of climate change are noticeable. Everyday we are confronted by the destructive impact of climate change, challenging those who continue to harbour doubts about the effects of human activities on the environment and on the climate. The recent devastating effects of the hurricanes, the mudslides and the earthquake that affected millions of people in the Caribbean region, the United States of America, Sierra Leone and Mexico are vivid reminders of the scale of the natural disaster threats we face.
I would like to seize this opportunity to convey to the affected people and countries a message of solidarity and sympathy on behalf of the people and the Government of Mozambique. The great human losses and the destruction of infrastructure as a result of the scale and ferocity of these storms prove once again that, beyond our convictions, we need to reflect and to act as a common front to face the menaces arising from climatic change. To that end, we reaffirm the importance of the Paris Agreement on Climate Change as an instrument to strengthen the much-needed partnerships for adaptation and mitigation measures.
The positive dynamics generated by the major development commitments made by the international community in 2015 have been overshadowed by the worrying signs of the eruption of political instability, the prevailing inter- and intra-State conflicts, particularly in Africa and the Middle East, the rising tensions in the Korean peninsula, as well as by the recurrence of acts of terrorism and of violent extremism. These challenges to peace and stability threaten to reverse the development gains registered over the recent decades and to hinder our development efforts as we chart the way forward.
Therefore, it is our hope that the ongoing peace initiatives as well as the measures to curb the recruitment and finance of terrorist groups will result in opportunities to further promote peace and development, as well as to strengthen human rights and to build more inclusive societies. Only through constructive dialogue and peaceful means and solutions can we secure durable peace and stability in our world. To that end, we would like to emphasize the importance of strong democratic institutions at the national level, the impact of regional cooperation and the role of the United Nations.
As we gather in this great Hall, the world is once again facing the threat of the dangers posed by the proliferation of nuclear weapons, which have become the most dangerous existential threat that humankind faces in the twenty-first century. As a country with a Constitution that values the principle of the universal disarmament of all States and negotiated solutions to international conflicts, as well as the peaceful use of nuclear energy, Mozambique notes with great concern the escalation of tension and the risk of nuclear confrontation that is unfolding on the Korean peninsula. The catastrophic impact of a nuclear conflict demands a more restrained approach based on dialogue, skilful diplomacy and the political will to de-escalate and to fully comply with the relevant Security Council resolutions. More than anything else, the resolutions signal our collective disapproval of the course of events in that part of the world.
The lack of progress in the decolonization of Western Sahara, the sole African country still to exercise the right to self-determination, continues to be a cause for grave concern to Mozambique. Regrettably, all the efforts deployed by the United Nations, the African Union and other actors to bring about an accepted settlement aiming to grant the people of Western Sahara their inalienable right to self-determination and independence has not yielded results. We would like to seize this opportunity to call upon the Security Council, the General Assembly and the international community to exercise their responsibility by implementing their own resolutions, particularly regarding the principle of self-determination and right of freedom, as well as to support the African Union and its Special Envoy to Western Sahara, Mr. Joaquim Chissano, former President of Mozambique.
The principle of self-determination and the right to freedom should also be a reality for the Palestinian people. To that end, it is imperative that the relevant Security Council resolutions be implemented. We believe that the solution relies on the two-State principle of Palestine and Israel coexisting side by side, in peace and security.
Mozambique has followed with great interest the efforts of Cuba and the United States of America to stabilize the diplomatic relations between these two neighbouring countries, an important step towards the normalization of bilateral relations and bringing to an end the economic, commercial and financial embargo imposed by the United States of Americaagainst Cuba. In that context, we note with concern the latest developments and appeal to the United States of America to put an end to the economic, commercial and financial embargo, for it hinders the socioeconomic development of Cuba and the Cuban people. Therefore, Mozambique once again associates itself with the overwhelming majority of countries in this Hall to demand the immediate termination of this unilateral coercive measure.
We live in a world confronted by challenges that demand global responses. The relevance of the United Nations, the lodestar of multilateralism, over the past 72 years of its existence has always rested in its ability to reform and reinvent itself to respond more suitably to the challenges of the continuously changing world that it serves. Therefore, Mozambique supports the Secretary-General’s efforts to pursue reform of the United Nations system in order to make it fit for purpose, and commends his demonstrated desire to fully consult and seek consent of the United Nations membership at each stage of the process.
In addition to the ongoing reforms, we also need to urgently accelerate Security Council reform, another element that will contribute to reaffirming the role of the United Nations in the quest for sustainable solutions to the peace and security challenges facing humankind. The difficulties stemming from the lack of consensus among members to initiate text-based negotiations to complete the reform of the Security Council constrain our ability to open a new window of opportunity that would enhance the credibility of the organ by making it more representative of the current reality. The Security Council is one of the fundamental pillars of the success of the implementation of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development.
I would like to conclude by reiterating the unconditional commitment of the Government of Mozambique to continuing to engage, in partnership with the United Nations and fellow Member States, in the search of sustainable solutions to the problems that affect the humanity. History has shown us that humankind thrives best when we, the peoples, are able to share, collaborate, cooperate, engage in dialogue and care.
The General Assembly will always be the platform where we renew our commitment and rededicate ourselves to the noble ideals on which this great Organization was founded — to save succeeding generations from the scourge of war and to promote social progress and better standards of life in larger freedom. Let us all stay loyal to these lofty ideals enshrined in the Charter of the United Nations and work together to transform our world.


Each year, as a community of nations, we gather together to reaffirm the possibilities and potential arising from our resolve that finding solutions to the many challenges facing our planet can best be achieved through our collective action and shared dialogue and by striving for peace and a decent life for all peoples.
On behalf of the Government and the people of the Republic of Trinidad and Tobago, I am honoured and delighted to address the Assembly today. I extend heartfelt congratulations to Mr. Miroslav Lajčák on his election as President of the General Assembly at its seventy-second session. We are confident that he will discharge his mandate with efficiency and impartiality for the benefit of all nations. He has the support of our delegation.
I also seize this opportunity to convey thanks and best wishes to His Excellency Mr. Peter Thomson, former President of the General Assembly, for his hard work, commitment and leadership during the seventy- first session.
Once again, I extend congratulations to His Excellency Mr. António Guterres on his assumption of the position of Secretary-General. We wish to encourage and commend his direction and guidance in steering us forward.
From shifting weather patterns to global warming to sea-level rise, the impacts of climate change are global in scope and unprecedented in scale. In our region, we have witnessed the catastrophic effects of Hurricanes Irma, Jose and Maria, which have undoubtedly changed forever lives in several of our Caribbean countries, leaving some islands almost uninhabitable and resulting in many untimely deaths. The recent earthquake in Mexico and hurricanes in the United States ought to be counted within the realm of the recent global disasters.
Trinidad and Tobago, which is in the southernmost part of the Caribbean, was spared from the ravages of these hurricanes. It is with empathy that I extend, on behalf of the Government and the people of Trinidad and Tobago, heartfelt condolences to our Caribbean family. We are forever mindful that, given our spirit of resilience, we will rebuild that which was lost. Trinidad and Tobago stands in solidarity with the affected countries and will continue to assist with relief efforts. However, rebuilding will require resources, as well as the cooperation and collaboration of the international community, because we simply cannot do it alone.
The Government of Trinidad and Tobago joins with other Caribbean Community Governments in expressing our gratitude for the tremendous generosity and support provided in face of the region’s most urgent need. Our thanks and appreciation also go out to the Caribbean Disaster Emergency Management Agency (CDEMA), the region’s first responder. However, CDEMA will need additional resources and funding to enable it to do even more to facilitate its immediate responses to natural disaster.
In the face of the recent natural catastrophes, how can one deny the scientific findings that climate change is real and that it is here and indeed upon us? The events of the past months in the Caribbean remind us all once more that small island developing States (SIDS) remain at the forefront of the impact of climate change. We cannot by any means continue with the same approach, as nature’s fury holds no prejudice. Yet, in the light of their categorization as high-income countries under the outdated formula of gross domestic product per capita, Caribbean countries will not qualify for aid and development assistance in their time of need.
I join my Caribbean colleagues in calling for a multidimensional approach that takes into consideration real national needs and priorities and takes these extraordinary circumstances into account in order to provide access to development assistance, aid and debt relief as the Caribbean region collectively embarks together on the arduous task of recovery, rehabilitation and reconstruction.
In order to achieve human and global sustainable development, we must treat unmitigated climate change and global temperature rise as a priority issue. Trinidad and Tobago is doing its part and remains committed to achieving the overarching objectives of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change and the Paris Agreement on Climate Change. Through our nationally determined contribution, Trinidad and Tobago has indicated its intention to reduce by December 2030 greenhouse-gas emissions in its public- transportation sector by 30 per cent, in comparison with 2013 levels.
Trinidad and Tobago has therefore framed its national development plan for the period 2016-2030, entitled Vision 2030, with a thematic focus of “Many hearts, many voices, one vision”, in keeping with the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development. In this context, we have mapped our national development goals in accordance with global priorities and the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). Trinidad and Tobago and the United Nations signed the Multi-country Sustainable Development Framework in April. We acknowledge and thank the United Nations Development Programme for its assistance with these activities.
We are also pleased that the recently completed quadrennial comprehensive policy review has initiated a recalibration of the United Nations development system. This would better support developing countries, including SIDS, in the implementation of the programmes of action, including the SIDS Accelerated Modalities of Action (SAMOA) Pathway and the 2030 Agenda. In alignment with the quadrennial comprehensive policy review and the Secretary- General’s reform proposals, Trinidad and Tobago remains committed to ensuring that the United Nations development system adopts a more flexible and tailored approach to sustainable development assistance to assist countries in implementing the SDGs in a focused, coordinated, coherent and cost-effective manner.
Oceans cover three quarters of the Earth’s surface and contain more than 95 per cent of the Earth’s water. It is therefore indisputable that promoting the conservation and sustainable use of oceans, seas and marine resources is of critical importance to sustainable development and the survival of all humankind. Trinidad and Tobago welcomes the progress achieved at the recently concluded Oceans Conference in June and the adoption of the historic call for action, as well as the commitments and actions to be taken by Member States to safeguard the health of the oceans through the implementation of SDG 14.
As a small island developing State, Trinidad and Tobago is highly vulnerable to the unprecedented rate of loss of marine biodiversity and the impacts of unsustainable practices on the marine environment. Consequently, we welcome the adoption of the recommendations of the Preparatory Committee established pursuant to resolution 69/292, on the development of a legally binding instrument under the United Nations Convention on the Law of the sea on the conservation and sustainable use of marine biological diversity of areas beyond national jurisdiction. Notably, this agreement will seek to address existing regulatory and legal gaps and ensure that the resources of our oceans are properly conserved and managed for the benefit of present and future generations
After two years of having the Preparatory Committee and about 10 years of negotiations, we believe that the time is long overdue for us to translate words into action. Trinidad and Tobago therefore looks forward to the convening of an intergovernmental conference in 2018 to consider the recommendations of the Preparatory Committee on the elements and to elaborate the text of an international legally binding instrument under the Convention.
The Constitution of Trinidad and Tobago protects the human rights and fundamental freedoms of all citizens and residents without discrimination based on race, origin, colour, religion or sex. Our Government accords high priority to achieving gender equality and the empowerment and advancement of women, who are pivotal to the achievement of the SDGs. In the words of the Secretary-General, “Women’s rights are indeed human rights”. One cannot overstate the importance of protecting the rights of women and ensuring their full participation on an equal basis with men.
In placing women at the forefront of our development, it should be noted that a Trinidad and Tobago national is one of two women who sit on the Commission on the Limits of the Continental Shelf, which comprises 20 members. With regard to the advancement of girls, the Parliament of Trinidad and Tobago recently passed the Miscellaneous Provisions (Marriage) Bill. This bill provides for outlawing child marriage in Trinidad and Tobago by raising the legal age of marriage to 18 years.
We are currently witnessing unprecedented levels of displacement in the world. According to the United Nations High Commission for Refugees, approximately 65.5 million people have been forced to flee their homes. This amounts to nearly 22.5 million refugees. The Government of Trinidad and Tobago considers it important to develop ways to effectively manage migration and to take the necessary steps to enable the process of mainstreaming migration into development planning. We have therefore sought to make the necessary policy changes and to participate in projects and training in order to develop the necessary tools to mainstream migration into development planning.
Trinidad and Tobago was among the 122 States that voted in favour of the Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons, which was adopted on 7 July. The Treaty is particularly significant as it is the first multilateral legally binding instrument for nuclear disarmament to have been negotiated in 20 years. We look forward to the convening of the high-level conference on nuclear disarmament by 2018. As a small island developing State, Trinidad and Tobago actively participated in the negotiations to prohibit nuclear weapons, as it is acutely aware of the destructive force of these weapons of mass destruction to, inter alia, human life, the environment, food security, infrastructure and economic growth.
In view of the continued prevalence and negative effects of illegal small arms and light weapons, including the issue of curbing such weapons and its ammunition, Trinidad and Tobago has played leading roles in a number of United Nations initiatives, such as the Arms Trade Treaty. The proliferation of small arms and light weapons has contributed significantly to violence and instability in our region. The Arms Trade Treaty remains a key priority for Trinidad and Tobago as it seeks to regulate the illegal transfer of small arms and light weapons and ammunition.
I wish to reiterate to the Assembly the Government of Trinidad and Tobago’s unequivocal commitment and unceasing call for an end to the economic, commercial and financial embargo against Cuba. We remain optimistic that there will be a diplomatic solution to finding an end to this long-standing issue and that in good faith the economic, commercial and financial embargo imposed against Cuba, which significantly challenges its achievement of sustainable development, will be lifted soon.
We remain fully committed to the purposes and principles of the Charter of the United Nations, and in particular to the principles of the sovereign equality of States, non-intervention and non-interference in their internal affairs and freedom of trade and navigation. To this end, Trinidad and Tobago consistently supports subregional, regional and international efforts to promote constructive dialogue to bring about the cessation, sooner rather than later, of the economic, commercial and financial embargo against Cuba.
Adherence to the rule of law is important to the achievement of Sustainable Development Goal 16, which seeks to promote the rule of law at the national and international levels and to ensure equal access to justice for all, as it is one of the pillars for promoting sustainable development.
Trinidad and Tobago, as a democratic society, adheres to the rule of law and the protection of all human rights and fundamental freedoms. As such, we uphold the importance of the International Criminal Court (ICC) to promoting the rule of law, encouraging respect for human rights and achieving sustainable peace and development, in accordance with international law and the principles of the Charter of the United Nations. As a country which has been credited as one of the forefathers of the ICC through the pioneering work of the late Arthur N. R. Robinson, former Prime Minister and President of Trinidad and Tobago, we remain resolute in our commitment to supporting the mandate of the ICC and its primary objective to help put an end to impunity for the perpetrators of the most serious crimes of concern to the international community, as well as to prevent such heinous crimes.
In conclusion, Trinidad and Tobago is particularly pleased with the President’s choice of theme for the seventy-second session, “Focusing on people: Striving for peace and a decent life for all on a sustainable planet”. We believe that these concerns and issues are timely and necessary, especially as we are faced with increasing humanitarian challenges, threats to international peace and security, as well as the environment. In harmony with the global vision for multilateralism, we are committed to working together collectively to find enduring and sustainable solutions to global disparities, poverty, rising inequality, protracted conflicts and other challenges facing the world today. We must all do our part in this noble endeavour for the good of humankind.