Yemen, 2007

Allow me at the outset, Sir, to congratulate you on your

election as President of the General Assembly at its

sixty-second session. I am confident that, with your

wisdom and experience, you will lead our work to

success. I wish you every success. I also wish to

commend Her Excellency Sheikha Haya Rashed Al-

Khalifa, from the sisterly Kingdom of Bahrain,

President of the General Assembly at its sixty-first

session, for all her constructive and concrete efforts to

ensure the success and positive results of the

Assembly’s work.

The sixty-second session of the General

Assembly coincides with the sixtieth anniversary of my

country’s joining the United Nations, on 30 September

1947. The Republic of Yemen was one of the first

countries to realize the importance of participating and

interacting in an international forum that serves noble

human objectives, the reason for which this

Organization was established. We also became aware

of the role of the United Nations in safeguarding

international peace and security and in promoting

cooperation among Member States with the aim of

achieving prosperity for all societies.

On this occasion, I cannot fail to refer to the

transformations that the Republic of Yemen has

undergone since its inception on 22 May 1990, be it in

human development, freedoms, democracy or

protection of human rights. However, during the past

two years in particular we have had significant success

in establishing good governance and enlisting popular

participation in local council elections, and we have

embarked on an integrated ambitious programme for

economic, political, social, judicial and administrative

reform. This has come to be known as the National

Reform Agenda.

The presidential and local elections held in

September 2006, the transparency and fairness of

which were attested to by all international observers,

are evidence of the practice of democracy, freedom of

expression, peaceful change of government, political

pluralism, and decentralization in the management of

State affairs. Yemen has also granted local councils

broad authority. Several pieces of legislation to combat

corruption were passed by the Yemeni Parliament,

including the establishment of a Supreme Anti-

Corruption Commission. They deal with procurement,

tenders and bidding, and the establishment of an

independent Commission, financial disclosure for

public servants and basic reform in the judiciary. The

Government now seeks to amend the laws that govern

the press in order to remove all constraints.

Yemen has acceded to several international

agreements relating to the fight against corruption,

including the initiative of international transparency in

the mining and extraction industry sector.

Today the world is witnessing political changes in

Yemen: freedom of expression and of demonstration

for its citizens, accorded to them by the constitution

and by law. Even though some people have used these

freedoms to cause anarchy and violence, the

Government has dealt with them in consonance with

the constitution and the law.

I reiterate that my country abides by the approach

that it decreed for itself: democracy, political

pluralism, peaceful change of authority and recourse to

the ballot box as the best and only way for change. It is

worth recalling here that the Government of Yemen has

declared its intention to amend the constitution so as to

reduce the presidential term of office from seven to

five years and the term of office of Parliament

members from six to four years. It also intends to

amend the law pertaining to local administration, so

that governors would be elected directly, and to turn

local administration into local government, so that

more decentralization and participation in governance

can be realized.

As it moves along this path, Yemen faces several

challenges in the areas of development, poverty and

unemployment. These challenges compel Yemen to call

on other States and on international organizations to

help it overcome obstacles and to increase their

development aid to Yemen, especially as the per capita

assistance provided to the Yemeni individual does not

meet the internationally accepted standard.

No one today questions the existence of global

warming, the results of climate change that the world is

experiencing, or the damage that is being inflicted on

the environment. Hence, it is only natural to stress that

we should all assume our common responsibility to

contain the damage caused by some wrong-headed

policies and practices, given that the devastating

effects of such policies are evident to each and every

one of us. Over the past year we have seen floods,

hurricanes and global warming in many regions of the

world. The future has in store more catastrophes that

may affect or wipe out millions of people, especially in

the third world. Consequently, the poor would continue

to pay for the luxuries of the rich.

We would like to recall all the agreements

relative to the environment and the resolutions that

have been adopted at conferences to protect it. We

should therefore seek to contain the climatic changes

that result in desertification and flooding.

The tense situation in the Palestinian territories

and the violence the Palestinian people are facing from

the Israelis are matters that run contrary to the

provisions of the United Nations Charter, international

law, international agreements, the Universal

Declaration of Human Rights and the Fourth Geneva

Convention. While the Arabs in the past have been

criticized for not providing an Arab vision to put an

end to the Arab-Israeli conflict, they were indeed

surprised that, when they presented their own Arab

Peace Initiative, it was totally ignored by Israel and the

international community, in spite of all the elements

that would secure a comprehensive and just solution to

the conflict. Thus, it is our hope that the Arab follow-

up committee of the Arab initiative will have created a

positive atmosphere leading to an international

conference to be held under international supervision

to achieve peace in the Middle East. It is also our hope

that the United States of America will keep its promise

regarding the establishment of the Palestinian State on

national soil, with Holy Jerusalem as its capital, based

on the principles of total sovereignty, viability, and

return of refugees; and we hope that the solution will

be widened to include total Israeli withdrawal from the

Golan and the Sheba’a farms. We emphasize the

importance of the participation of all the parties

concerned in the international conference to be held

soon.

On this occasion, we call on our Palestinian

brothers to return to dialogue, to unite their positions,

to abide by the Arab Peace Initiative, to reorganize the

Palestinian house in accordance with the constitution

and Palestinian legitimacy. I refer here to the recent

Yemeni initiative to bring the Palestinian factions

together to serve the unity and ambitions of the

Palestinian people.

The Republic of Yemen welcomes Security

Council resolution 1770 (2007) on Iraq. From this

rostrum it calls on the international community to stand

with the elected Iraqi Government to extend its

authority, to put an end to sectarian violence, to control

all the armed militias and to face the terrorist elements

that seek to spread anarchy and undermine legitimate

resistance and efforts at national reconciliation. We

emphasize the necessity for dialogue among all the

national groups in Iraq in order to reach a common

vision that could restore Iraq’s security and stability

and its pioneering role in the region. The Republic of

Yemen calls on everyone to stop interfering in the

internal affairs of Iraq, to respect its unity and Arab

character, to put an end to the occupation of its lands

and to reject any plan to divide it.

Regarding the Sudan, we welcome its

Government’s acceptance of an expansion of the forces

and mandate of the African Union-United Nations

Hybrid Operation in Darfur. We support the efforts of

the Sudanese Government to restore peace in that

region in accordance with the security plan presented

by the Security Council, provided that the sovereignty,

territorial integrity and unity of the Sudan will never be

jeopardized under any pretext.

The Republic of Yemen blesses the reconciliation

agreement signed by the Somali factions in the

Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, which came about as a

result of African, Arab and international efforts. Yemen

calls on all international actors to provide further

assistance and support to the Transitional Federal

Government in a manner that would enable it to rebuild

Somalia. We emphasize the importance of providing

enough African peacekeeping forces to stabilize and

normalize the security situation in Somalia. That would

hasten the withdrawal of Ethiopian forces. As has

always been the case, the Republic of Yemen will

remain a partner in the reconciliation process,

supporting all the parties, rejecting any foreign

intervention in Somalia and emphasizing the need for

reconstruction in Somalia, with a view to enabling the

Transitional Federal Government to rebuild State

institutions.

The Republic of Yemen emphasizes the right of

countries to possess nuclear technology for peaceful

purposes. It continues to support a special General

Assembly declaration of the Middle East as a zone free

from all nuclear weapons and other weapons of mass

destruction, and resolutions demanding that Israel

abide by the Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of

Nuclear Weapons (NPT), in order to guarantee the

stability of the region and to prevent a nuclear arms

race there.

The Republic of Yemen emphasizes the

importance of achieving the Millennium Development

Goals (MDGs), adopted in 2000. We also support the

objectives set out in the Monterrey Consensus. My

country is convinced that the mobilization of financial

resources for development and the effective use of

those resources in developing countries and countries

in economic transition, are two crucial areas in which

true international partnership should be encouraged. It

is worth mentioning that the responsibility of creating

and managing development programmes is first and

foremost the responsibility of national Governments, in

accordance with their priorities, needs and

specificities, and in keeping with international

strategies stemming from the Millennium Development

Goals. This should take place in partnership with donor

countries and international organizations, and in

accordance with national goals and programmes

devoted to human development.

The Republic of Yemen wants the human being to

be the centre and goal of its development and has

placed the MDGs high among the priorities of its

policies and its five-year development plan for the

period 2006-2010. It has strenuously sought to take the

social, economic and environmental dimensions of

development into consideration. It has also involved

civil society organizations in implementing these

strategies. In addition, my country is working with

donor countries, international specialized agencies and

other institutions to implement our third five-year plan,

with the objective of alleviating poverty by supporting

small-scale programmes, expanding technical

education, enabling women, providing investment

services and opportunities and strengthening good

governance. This is an ambitious plan that requires

international support if it is to fully achieve its

objectives of bringing about a qualitative change in

human development in Yemen.

There have been difficulties, however, in the

implementation of this ambitious reform programme,

including frequent increases in the price of food stuffs,

such as wheat flour, which has affected the standard of

living of Yemeni citizens, placing increasingly heavy

burdens on them. Accordingly, it is incumbent on rich

States to consider how to deal with inflation in

international markets, so that countries’ efforts to

implement their reform programmes will not be

jeopardized and so that those countries can strike a

balance between the costs of reform on the one hand

and living standards, social peace and political stability

on the other.

In conclusion, allow me to express on behalf of

the Government of the Republic of Yemen our deep

thanks to the Secretary-General, His Excellency

Mr. Ban Ki-moon, for his sincere and strenuous efforts

at the helm of the Organization. We are confident that

he is capable of leading it with a view to bringing

about justice and fulfilling the principles and values of

the United Nations to which we all aspire. We look

forward to his continued leadership, especially in the

search for a just and comprehensive peace in the

Middle East.