Morocco, 2013

I

would first like to congratulate you warmly, Sir, on

your election to the presidency of the General Assembly

at its sixty-eighth session, and to renew our support

for and highlight the efforts that Secretary-General

Ban Ki-moon has made at every level to enable our

Organization to fulfil its role and responsibilities in

dealing with the challenges of today’s world.

We commend your choice of theme for our debate,

Sir, “The post-2015 development agenda: setting

the stage”, which is very relevant and enables us to

exchange views. From this rostrum, we pay tribute to

the Secretary-General’s tireless efforts to integrate the

Millennium Development Goals into the Organization’s

strategic objectives. We hope that are our deliberations

will help to strengthen international consensus on

pursuing the complete and integrated fulfilment of our

commitments and on formulating a road map with clear

directions and specific goals for the post-2015 period.

Morocco, while itself a stable country, is part of the

Sahel-Sahara region, which is highly unstable — hence

the importance for the Kingdom of Morocco of the

situation in the brotherly country of Mali and the

dangerous challenges it has been dealing with recently.

We congratulate our Malian and African brothers and

the international community on the success of the

recent elections there and the progress Mali has made

in achieving stability. The international community

should continue to support it at every level. The visit of

His Majesty King Mohammed VI to Mali to participate

in the investiture ceremony for the new President of

Mali afforded an excellent opportunity for Morocco

to renew its wholehearted commitment to supporting

Mali’s security, unity, stability and development. In

his speech, King Mohammed said that the solutions to

other security crises demonstrated that the crisis in Mali

required an approach that went beyond mere security.

That is why we support a three-pronged approach. The

first dimension would be educational and ideological

and would aim at spreading a culture of moderation

and centrism and instituting a dialogue between the

two peoples and their States, leading to the launching

of cooperation in Islamic affairs and the training of

500 mosque imams to be sent to Mali.

The second dimension would consist of

development, with emphasis on bringing developing

countries together, particularly countries stricken by

drought and poverty, among other problems and crises,

and empowering their people, as well as strengthening

their capacity to achieve progress and development.

That is why we have launched development programmes

in coordination with Mali and other countries in the

region.

The third key thrust would be the humanitarian

dimension. Security crises provoke unspeakable

suffering for individuals and countries. Mali has seen

tens of thousands of refugees leave the country and go

to neighbouring countries, which is why it is important

that there be a coordinated regional approach. In

Bamako, the capital of Mali, we established a country

hospital to relieve the suffering of the people in that

area.

With respect to the Great Lakes region, the Kingdom

of Morocco welcomes the signing of the Peace, Security

and Cooperation Framework Agreement, which will

greatly facilitate the real settlement of the crisis in the

Democratic Republic of the Congo, which has gone on

for too long. We hope that all parties will respect the

Framework Agreement and that they will honour their

commitments and pledges and support the international

community’s efforts to establish a peace process, while

respecting the sovereignty and territorial integrity of

the Democratic Republic of the Congo.

Those challenges are part of various crises that we

see occurring in the Sahel and Saharan regions. The

Secretary-General has deployed many efforts along

those lines. We are pleased with the high-level dialogue

on the Sahel that he organized on the margins of the

General Assembly for the second consecutive year,

as well as the visit he hopes to make to the region,

accompanied by a representative of the World Bank.

We hope that the United Nations integrated strategy

for the Sahel will be finalized. Once again, Morocco

reiterates that it will participate in all efforts to protect

the countries of the Sahel and the Sahara in order to

strengthen stability, security and development in the

region.

Morocco reaffirms once more the need to set up

initiatives for the Atlantic coast States, given their

security, political, economic and social interrelationship

and the challenges that obtain. We believe that

stability and security in the region go beyond regional

frameworks. We are therefore talking about a Sahel-

Moroccan space for the purpose of maintaining stability

in the region.

We condemn the recent terrorist attacks in Kenya.

We would ask the international community for greater

efforts to bolster security and stability in that region.

The second issue that concerns us and the rest of

the international community is Syria. In that respect,

we commend the international community and the

Security Council for adopting resolution 2118 (2013),

on the Syrian chemical weapons programme, and

the announcement of the date of 15 November for

the holding of the “Geneva II” Middle East peace

conference in order to stop the violence in Syria and

reach a political solution through dialogue that would

maintain the territorial integrity of Syria and the

stability of its neighbours. In that regard, I would like

to thank the Secretary-General for his efforts. I would

also like to thank the Secretary-General of the League

of Arab States, the League itself, its member States

and Joint Special Envoy Mr. Lakhdar Brahimi for the

joint efforts they have made during this period with

regard to the shedding of Syrian blood, the agreeing

on a resolution and the reaching of a solution prior to

Geneva II, with a view to putting an end to the crisis

in Syria.

We would like to reaffirm once again the

importance of the humanitarian aspect of the crisis.

There are 2 million refugees and tens of thousands

of displaced persons, and thousands have been killed

or wounded. This is the degree of suffering that the

international community is called upon to reduce. The

Kingdom of Morocco and its King have paid particular

attention to the humanitarian dimension, which is

why we established a rural hospital in Jordan a year

and a half ago to provide health services to our Syrian

brothers.

It is well known that Morocco has been involved in

the establishment of a Maghreb Union. Now is the time

for coming together regionally, not for isolation. It is the

time for cooperation and openness, not for unilateralism.

Therefore, we are reactivating the Maghreb Union

project in order to fulfil the hopes of the peoples of

the five Maghreb countries and to help them to achieve

stability, prosperity and sustainable development.

His Majesty the King has called for a promising and

ambitious Maghreb Union, and the Secretary-General

has made a similar appeal. The Maghreb Union would

implement peace and stability by taking a number

of initiatives, including a joint mediation initiative

undertaken with neighbourly Spain, pursuant to the

appeal by the General Assembly in favour of mediation.

The Kingdom of Morocco answered the call by launching

the initiative and establishing partnership agreements

between Moroccan and Spanish mediation centres to

provide training and invite the participation of other

countries in the region. The initiative was launched in a

spirit of rapprochement, dialogue and cooperation and

to promote mediation, which is important not only to

stop conflicts when they have broken out but also to

prevent them from occurring in the first place.

The Kingdom of Morocco’s decision to protect

human rights is irreversible. It is part of a comprehensive

strategy and relies on an approach that favours the

participation and advancement of people and the

protection of their dignity within the framework of a

development-focused democratic model. Morocco has

therefore launched a number of projects and workshops,

as well as major reforms, and made tremendous

progress in broadening the sphere of individual and

collective rights and freedoms, of preserving human

dignity and of strengthening the protection of the rights

of its citizens, especially the rights of women, children

and persons with special needs.

In its amended 2011 Constitution, the Kingdom

of Morocco dedicated a chapter to respect for human

rights as they are recognized internationally. Morocco

has always desired to preserve a balance between

its international and national commitments and

priorities. As a founding member of the Human Rights

Council, Morocco has participated effectively and

constructively in the formulation and implementation

of the institutional texts of the Council, in particular

the universal periodic review. When it was decided

to take another look at the rules and mechanisms in

2011, Morocco was given the task of conducting the

negotiations on them. At the same time, the Kingdom

of Morocco enjoyed positive cooperation with the

various institutions and mechanisms and interacted

with their recommendations, in particular the universal

period review, treaties and special measures, whose

assessments Morocco continues to welcome, facilitate

and answer with its observations. Morocco hopes to

gain the Assembly’s support for its candidacy for the

Human Rights Council for the period 2014-2016, in

order to further contribute to strengthening the role of

the Council and to ensure the effectiveness necessary

for its operation.

In that connection, we have recently launched

an initiative relating to immigration, especially

illegal migration. Morocco wished to establish other

mechanisms for refugees in connection with how we

address the issue and rights of immigration, especially

illegal migration, and asylum. A few days ago, a new

statute on immigration was enacted and the right

to asylum, so as to give new rights and documents

to political refugees. All of this is a very important

development for our country.

I would like also to touch on the key issue of the

territorial integrity of Morocco and the issue of the

Moroccan Sahara. For several years now our authorities

have followed the diligent efforts of the Secretary-

General and the Security Council to resolve the Sahara

issue. Morocco complies with all Security Council

resolutions and has acted in good faith with respect to

those resolutions and to the efforts of the Secretary-

General. The most recent resolutions called for a

new round of negotiations among the parties so as to

achieve a sustainable political solution accepted by all.

Morocco therefore launched an initiative on autonomy,

a practical and moderate solution that enjoyed the

support of many countries friends of Morocco as well

as of several regional organizations. Unfortunately,

however, the other parties involved, committed to their

30-year stance and proposals, did not allow progress to

be made in the political process. I reiterate that Morocco

is committed to working effectively and in good faith

with the Secretary-General and his Personal Envoy in

all their efforts and with the Security Council in order

to implement the successive resolutions adopted by the

Security Council.

Finally, on behalf of the Kingdom of Morocco, I

wish to say that with the approach of the seventieth

anniversary of the founding of the Organization, we

reaffirm our sincere commitment to its principles and

to the active mobilization of our efforts so as to update,

empower and strengthen it, given that it is the unique

and optimal framework for meeting current and future

challenges.