Algeria, 2014

I should like at the outset to express my satisfaction at

seeing Mr. Sam Kutesa, Minister for Foreign Affairs

of Uganda, an African neighbour, brother and friend,

presiding over this important session of the General

Assembly and to assure him of our full cooperation.

I should also like to hail his predecessor the outgoing

President of the General Assembly, Mr. John Ashe, and

to pay homage to Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon for

his work in driving forward the role and missions of the

United Nations.

The theme of the general debate focuses on the

future and the prospects for future generations. This

reminds us, on the eve of the global summit on the

post-2015 development agenda and of the seventieth

anniversary of the United Nations, of the urgency of

making a renewed commitment to multilateralism

founded on international law.

Given the persistence and varied manifestations of

the current crisis, we must have a comprehensive vision

in order to make the United Nations a builder of lasting

solutions to modern global problems. We are banking

on the hope that the new sustainable development goals

(SDGs) will contribute to bringing about a world that

makes it possible for us effectively to protect human

rights, guarantee the inclusive participation of all, and

ensure that everyone — particularly those living in

the forlorn regions in which 40 per cent of the poorest

people live — shares in prosperity.

That was the formulation expressed by the

Non-Aligned Movement (NAM) at the seventeenth

Ministerial Conference hosted by Algeria in May, in

reaffirming the relevance and importance of the right to

development and the pressing need to eradicate poverty,

which has been identified as a global challenge and a

central objective of the post-2015 development agenda.

Algeria is pursuing its efforts to reach a comprehensive

and ambitious agreement on the SDGs and on climate,

to include, in the case of the latter, desertification and

access to genetic resources. Furthermore, we must see

the implementation of commitments, whether they are

commitments made as official development assistance

or within the Monterrey Consensus, in the Doha

Declaration or at the United Nations Conference on

Sustainable Development.

At the United Nations, Algeria coordinates the

NAM working group on the revitalization of the

General Assembly. In that role, Algeria will continue its

efforts to ensure that the NAM working group, which

is the most representative in the international system,

assumes its full role. At the same time, Algeria will

continue to work with its partners in the African Union

Committee of Ten towards Security Council reform,

aimed at putting an end to the historical injustices

vis-à-vis the African continent, which wants, more

than anything, representation and legitimacy in the

Security Council. In that context, the strengthening of

cooperation and the multiform partnerships between

the African Union and the United Nations should be

encouraged, in particular in the context of the many

conflicts and crises that continue to afflict Africa and to

slow down the conclusion of its decolonization process.

From that perspective, the global review that

Mr. Ban Ki-moon is called upon to present in April

2015 on the question of Western Sahara, which pits the

Kingdom of Morocco against the Frente Popular para

la Liberación de Saguía el-Hamra y de Río de Oro,

must honour the United Nations doctrine in the matter

of decolonization, as well as stress the importance of

the relevant Security Council and General Assembly

resolutions. Algeria supports the inalienable right of

the people of Western Sahara to self-determination, as

has been well established, and in that regard Algeria

encourages the Secretary-General and his Personal

Envoy, Ambassador Christopher Ross, to intensify

their efforts to ensure the success of that effort to move

towards peace.

Algeria is a stakeholder in the common destiny of

the peoples of the Maghreb. Algeria’s own development

has been conceived and guided by the desire to

achieve the integration of the vast geopolitical space

of which it is at the very centre. The policy platform

on which President Bouteflika was re-elected and

the five-year plan of action of his Administration

hinge on a deepening of participative democracy, the

modernization of the judiciary, equal opportunities for

men and women, and good governance. The economic

effort has allocated significant public investment

in the sectors of agriculture, industry, energy, the

environment and tourism, and into the diversification

and modernization of the economy, all based on

objectives tied to competitiveness and a substantial

relaunching of growth. At the same time, Algeria

is working to promote development with mutually

beneficial strategic partners, based on respect for

sovereignty and a balance of interests, in order to bring

about opportunities for cooperation and the means of

tackling the challenges and threats of a transnational

nature. That cooperation excludes unilateral measures

such as the embargo imposed on Cuba.

The worrisome spread of the Ebola virus has been

declared by the World Health Organization (WHO)

to be a global health emergency, and that reminds us

tragically of the structural precariousness of human

security systems, as well as of the responsibility of

the international community in the treatment of health

problems that affect the poor, who have no means or

role in decision-making. Algeria adds its voice to that

of the Secretary-General in urging the United Nations

agencies and other donors, as well as non-governmental

organizations, quickly to provide the international

assistance needed by the African countries that have

been hit by that scourge.

That existential threat is yet another that Africa

must collectively take on in order to ensure its rebirth,

and brings with it challenges in the area of peace and

security. At the behest of the stakeholders in Mali,

Algeria is undertaking large-scale mediation between

the Malian Government and the movements in the north

of that country, working with a team that is representative

of Africa and the international community as a whole.

The adoption of a road map for negotiations in the

Algiers process and the declaration of a cessation of

hostilities have marked the effort towards the launching

of substantial negotiations since 1 September, with the

aim of achieving a comprehensive and definitive peace

accord. The launching of those negotiations has been a

source of satisfaction and coincides with the freeing of

two Algerian diplomats who had been held hostage for

nearly three years by a terrorist organization. I should

like to avail myself of this opportunity to pay homage

to the memory of our Consul in Gao and his assistant,

Tahar Touati, who lost their lives during their period of

captivity.

The situation in Libya, a sister nation, has continued

to deteriorate over the past three years. The twofold

Algerian initiative to implement a common plan of

action for all of the countries neighbouring Libya and

for launching an inclusive dialogue towards national

reconciliation, which would also seek to strengthen

State institutions, has made a valuable contribution

towards a collective, healthy step towards peace for the

Libyan people, which we very much wish for them.

The difficult state of affairs in our region requires

a stepping up of efforts in the fight against terrorist

groups in the Sahel and their established links to drug

trafficking networks and transnational organized

crime. In the global forum of the fight against terrorism,

Algeria will continue to cooperate, including in its

work as co-Chair of the Working Group on the Sahel,

and will focus on securing borders and on preventing

ransom-seeking abductions by terrorist organizations,

bearing in mind the recommendations from the Algiers

workshop in September 2013 and the relevant resolutions

of the General Assembly and Security Council.

In that spirit, Algeria notes with interest the results

of the high-level Security Council meeting on terrorism

and foreign combatants, convened on the initiative of

President Obama (S/PV.7272). We also take note of

the international mobilization against transborder

terrorism on a large scale, which is relevant to Iraq and

Syria. The execution of French citizen Hervé Gourdel

in Algeria underscores the need to strengthen the fight

against terrorism in all its forms.

The earth-shattering developments that affect the

lives of people in the Middle East add new questions

with regard to the uninterrupted role played by the

international community vis-à-vis the tragedy inflicted

upon the brotherly Palestinian people. The history of

humankind shows that armed conflicts give rise to

other conflicts and that only by working towards justice

within law and morality can we find lasting solutions.

The Palestinian question and the Syrian crisis must

be approached along those lines. I should also like to

avail myself of this opportunity to pay homage to the

efforts of my compatriot, Mr. Lakhdar Brahimi, and to

reiterate our support to his successor, Mr. Staffan de

Mistura.

The ninth Review Conference of the Parties to the

Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Weapons should

focus on the close, complementary nature of the

objectives of disarmament, non-proliferation of nuclear

weapons and the promotion of the peaceful uses of the

atom. Let there be no doubt that much remains to be

done when it comes to freeing the world of weapons of

mass destruction.

Algeria, as a member of the Human Rights Council,

is motivated by a strong sense of responsibility to

participate actively in the promotion of the universal and

interdependent nature of human rights. The President

of the Republic, His Excellency Mr. Bouteflika, and

the Algerian authorities are working hard to improve

the living conditions of Algerian citizens in many

different areas. We have laws that criminalize violence

against women and children, and we are strengthening

the protection of the rights of divorced women and

other legislative efforts that add to our political and

institutional success in supporting Algerian women.

We have been addressing such matters in our elected

bodies and our central Government.

The celebration in 2015 of the seventieth anniversary

of the United Nations should be an opportunity to

renew the commitment of all Member States to bring

new and stronger vigour, efficacy and credibility to

multilateralism. We have the joint responsibility to

work to establish a world that is safer and fairer and

shows more solidarity. This powerful juncture, at

which we bring together all of our peoples within the

fold of our founding values, should also be confirmed

by action. There are apprehensions, uncertainties and

challenges tied to fear and need, but if we face up to

them the United Nations will certainly live up to its

role as the last haven for the hope of humankind in a

better future.