Mauritania, 2009

I should like at the outset, on behalf of the

Islamic Republic of Mauritania as well as on my own

account, to congratulate you, Sir, on your election to

preside over the General Assembly at its sixty-fourth

session and to wish you every possible success in your

serious and noble mission. I have a great deal of

confidence that your efforts will bear fruit and enable

the Organization to continue to achieve the success

attained under the presidency of your predecessor,

Father Miguel d’Escoto Brockmann.

I should also like to convey my gratitude and

appreciation to Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon for the

efforts he has devoted to consolidating peace and

security throughout the world, to achieving the

Millennium Development Goals and to promoting the

fight against climate change.

This session is being held at a time when my

country is extricating itself from a political and

institutional crisis that lasted for a few months and was

resolved, with the help of the efforts of the

International Contact Group on Mauritania, through a

consensus reached by the political parties of

Mauritania and enshrined in the Dakar Accord. This

agreement provided for the elaboration of an electoral

agenda supervised by a Government of national unity

in which minority parties in Parliament enjoy half of

the number of seats, including among the sovereign

ministries, such as the Ministries of Home Affairs,

Information, Defence and others.

The normalization of the constitutional process

led to the election of Mr. Mohamed Ould Abdel Aziz as

President of the Islamic Republic of Mauritania. He

received 53 per cent of the votes during the first round

of the elections held on 18 July and all national and

international observers attested to the transparency and

fairness of this election.

On behalf of the Islamic Republic of Mauritania,

I convey my special gratitude to the International

Contact Group, and especially to the President of the

African Union, the Leader Muammar Al-Qadhafi, who

was one of the first to call for a domestic solution, thus

enabling Mauritanian stakeholders to normalize the

political situation in their country. I also convey my

gratitude to His Excellency Abdoulaye Wade, President

of the brotherly country of Senegal, who accompanied

the signing of the Dakar Accord and ensured its

follow-up implementation.

Mauritania, under the presidency of

Mr. Mohamed Ould Abdel Aziz, is determined to

consolidate democracy and institutions and uphold the

rule of law in a spirit of calm and stability, thereby

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providing for the progress and well-being of the people

of Mauritania.

Aware of the need to integrate peoples and States,

Mauritania reiterates its attachment to the Arab

Maghreb Union as a strategic choice for the people of

the region. It also affirms its attachment to joint work

within the framework of the League of Arab States, as

well as its commitment to the African Union and to

United Nations purposes and principles,

We reiterate our support for efforts aimed at

reforming the United Nations, especially the expansion

of the Security Council, where a permanent seat should

be granted to the African continent and another to the

Arab Group, whose people make up more than 11 per

cent of the world population.

The tremendous efforts undertaken during the

sixty-third session of the General Assembly are

praiseworthy, whether we are referring to the Doha

Review Conference or the conference on the world

financial and economic crisis and its impact on

development. Despite these commendable efforts, the

world continues to be wracked by a stifling financial

crisis that has undermined development efforts,

especially in the least developed countries (LDCs). The

impact of the financial crisis on the economies of the

LDCs is disastrous. While the rich countries of the

North have achieved economic and social progress

during these past few years, the least developed

countries will face many obstacles that will have an

impact on programmes aimed at achieving their

Millennium Development Goals.

The international community must act rapidly to

confront this disaster that threatens the global

economic order. It must take concrete measures aimed

at restoring confidence, achieving economic progress

and creating jobs. Commerce, trade and investment

must be revitalized to provide the necessary financing

to poor countries and to maintain achievements made

thus far in the fight against poverty and in

strengthening the role of the United Nations

Development Programme in countering the economic

crisis and its adverse impact on development.

In this respect, we urge rich countries to fulfil the

commitments made in London in early April towards

financing development in developing countries, and

their pledges to allocate $1 trillion to revitalize the

global economy, including $50 billion devoted to the

low income countries. I pay tribute to all of those steps

from this rostrum.

The economic, social and environmental

dimensions of development are all closely interlinked.

For that reason we call upon all countries to fight

against climate change. My country is one of the ten

countries most affected by global warming, which

could lead to a rise in sea level. Here, we request that

industrialized States limit their greenhouse gas

emissions. We also welcome the meeting on climate

change that was convened by the Secretary-General

and await the outcome of the international conference

on climate change to be held in December in

Copenhagen, with great interest.

My country follows the issue of the Western

Sahara with great interest and reaffirms its backing for

the efforts of the Secretary-General and his Special

Envoy aimed at finding a final solution to this issue,

which would strengthen security and stability in the

region.

The Arab-Israeli conflict is a source of ongoing

tension and a threat to international peace and security

in a sensitive and vital region of the world. For that

reason, we support peace efforts aimed at finding a

solution to the conflict that will, on the one hand,

guarantee the brotherly Palestinian people all of their

rights, including the establishment of an independent

Palestinian State, with East Jerusalem as its capital,

and the right to live in peace and security side by side

with Israel; and on the other hand, will restore all

occupied Arab territories, including the Syrian Golan

and the Lebanese Sheba'a farms.

Turning to the situation in the Sudan, we wish

here to underscore our categorical rejection of the

International Criminal Court’s arrest warrant for the

Sudanese President, because it undermines peace

efforts under way in that country and runs counter to

international norms.

The culture of peace, tolerance, justice and

respect for peoples and civilizations is the best possible

way to uphold international peace and security.

Outstanding issues are still without an available

solution; the chasm between the rich and the poor and

the turbulent international economic infrastructure

have led to tension, extremism and terrorism. Here I

reaffirm that the Islamic Republic of Mauritania rejects

terrorism in all its forms and manifestations and

reiterates its commitment to Islamic values, which

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reject violence and extremism and call for tolerance

and fraternity. We believe that it is the duty of the

international community to consider seriously the

causes of this phenomenon and to devise ways to

confront it and eradicate it once and for all.

Fulfilling the commitments that the international

community made in creating this Organization will

only be possible if all peoples and all countries share

the available resources and possibilities for successful

development, and if the policies of the countries of the

North are rooted in a vision of dignified, free and equal

existence for all. In my view this is the only way to

reach the objectives that this Organization was created

for.