Kuwait, 2011

At

the outset, let me say that it is my pleasure to

personally extend to you, Mr. President, on behalf of

the Government and the people of the State of Kuwait,

my most sincere congratulations on your unanimous

election as President of the sixty-sixth session of the

General Assembly. Your election represents an

acknowledgement and an appreciation of the prominent

stature of the fraternal State of Qatar, which has strong

and distinct links and relations with my country,

Kuwait. I am confident, Sir, that you will conduct the

work of this session in a manner conducive to ensuring

its success.

We also would like to pay tribute to the efforts of

your predecessor, Mr. Joseph Deiss, on his outstanding

presidency and his successful conduct of the work of

the previous session.

We congratulate His Excellency Mr. Ban

Ki-moon on his reappointment as Secretary-General

and wish him continued success.

We were pleased to see the accession by the State

of South Sudan to the United Nations. Kuwait

recognized the State of South Sudan on the first day of

its independence. We are confident that the

Government and the brotherly people of South

Sudan — a people with whom we are proud to have a

strong relationship — will achieve security, stability

and economic development for their country.

There is no doubt that our Organization is

growing more important by the day. Over the past six

decades, the international arena has been the scene of

numerous events and developments that have had a

direct impact on international peace and security. As

the most legitimate, credible and independent

multilateral international mechanism, the United

11-50865 22

Nations has remained a safe haven for Member States

seeking solutions to questions, problems and crises.

There is a general conviction that no one country

alone, no matter how powerful and capable, can face

the dangers of terrorism, the proliferation of weapons

of mass destruction, climate change, epidemics,

organized crime or any challenges that do not respect

or recognize geographic or national borders.

Recently, the role of the United Nations has

expanded significantly. This is particularly true in

connection with the humanitarian disasters that we

have witnessed, whether man-made or natural. The

latest example was the famine affecting the Horn of

Africa as a result of drought and violence. The United

Nations has been able to mobilize humanitarian aid and

to provide humanitarian assistance to those in need.

Those actions have alleviated the suffering and saved

the lives of millions.

The growing importance of the United Nations in

our world today requires the improvement and

strengthening of its capabilities. We must enhance its

performance. This will require measures and steps to

reform its major bodies, including the General

Assembly, the Security Council and the Economic and

Social Council, as well as develop their functions and

responsibilities to enable those bodies to carry them

out efficiently and effectively. It is therefore incumbent

upon all States Members of the United Nations to

support the Organization, commit to implementing its

resolutions and provide it with the needed financial

resources, in a timely manner without any conditions.

In the final analysis, the power of the United Nations is

but a reflection of the support that Member States

provide in pursuance of its lofty objectives and the

fulfilment of its needs.

We have witnessed with great concern the

developments and events in the Middle East region,

such as will lead to more deterioration in its security

and stability. The use of force and the acts of violence

that have claimed the lives of thousands must cease so

as to prevent further bloodshed. The legitimate

demands of peoples for the implementation of serious

and prompt political, economic and social reforms

must be heeded. In that respect, the State of Kuwait

supports all efforts calling for dialogue, understanding

and the rejection of violence.

The State of Kuwait attaches great importance to

consolidating and developing its relations with its

neighbours on firm and solid grounds, based on mutual

respect and common interests, as well as to promoting

these relations to a level that meets the aspirations of

the peoples of the region. In this context, the State of

Kuwait supports the calls made on the Islamic

Republic of Iran to take serious and genuine

confidence-building measures, to abide by the

resolutions of international legitimacy, to cooperate

with the International Atomic Energy Agency so as to

dispel fears and doubts surrounding its nuclear

programmes, and to cooperate positively in resolving

the dispute over the occupied Emirati islands according

to the principles and rules of international law.

This year, the State of Kuwait celebrated the

fiftieth anniversary of its independence and the

twentieth anniversary of its liberation from the Iraqi

Saddami occupation. That liberation was truly

considered one of the most salient successes of the

United Nations in its efforts to deter aggression and

eliminate its effects, based on the principles of the

Charter and the resolutions of international legitimacy.

In November, Kuwait will also celebrate the

fiftieth anniversary of its Constitution, which codified

the democracy that has become an integral part of the

State of Kuwait since its establishment. That is

considered one of the most outstanding achievements

of the people and Government of Kuwait. Those are all

historic occasions for a small peace-loving country that

believes in the principles and purposes of the United

Nations Charter and international law.

Our country relies in its relations with other

States on respect for the principles of sovereignty,

independence and non-interference in the internal

affairs of others, as well as the settlement of all

disputes by peaceful means. The State of Kuwait also

seeks to overcome its painful memories by establishing

strong relations of cooperation, mutual respect and

good-neighbourliness with the brotherly Republic of

Iraq. We deeply hope that development and stability

will prevail there, and that further progress will be

achieved in Iraq’s efforts to enforce security and

rebuild the economy, which was destroyed by the

former regime’s aggressive and expansionist policies.

We reaffirm our commitment to providing all forms of

support to help Iraq implement its remaining

international obligations under the relevant Security

Council resolutions and regain its role in the regional

and international sphere.

23 11-50865

More than six decades have elapsed and the

United Nations remains incapable of finding a solution

to the Palestinian question and of putting an end to the

Israeli occupation of Arab territories. Worse, the

suffering of the Palestinian people only increases with

the years. Their economic and social conditions

worsen, settlements expand, their lands are confiscated,

their water is stolen, their homes and land are besieged,

their movements are restricted and their sons and

daughters are imprisoned. Most troubling of all is that

the international community stands idly by, a passive

spectator to Israel’s unchanging practices and policies,

despite the fact that those policies not only violate the

most rudimentary rules of international law and

resolutions of international legitimacy, but undermine

any chance to achieve peace.

Israel’s inhumane practices against our brothers

in Gaza — such as the totally unjustified blockade and

the deliberate destruction of infrastructure, despite

continued international condemnation, to name but

two — are a glaring example of Israel’s indifference to

its obligations and world public opinion. The

international community is therefore called upon to

pursue its efforts to bring pressure to bear on Israel so

that the Palestinian people enjoy their right to self-

determination.

The Palestinian State must be established, with

East Jerusalem as its capital, and the Israeli occupation

of all the Arab territories it has occupied since 4 June

1967, including the Syrian Golan, must end. Israel

must also cease its continued violations of the

sovereignty of Lebanon and withdraw from all its

occupied territories. We wish to renew once again our

full commitment and support to the bid and endeavours

of the Palestinian Authority to obtain membership in

the United Nations as an independent, sovereign and

full Member State.

The State of Kuwait welcomes the international

reports issued by the United Nations and its agencies

concerning the Millennium Development Goals

adopted at the 2000 Millennium Summit and the status

of their achievement. We can all be proud of the

accomplishments in reducing the number of persons

infected with HIV/AIDS and providing medication to

greater numbers of infected people, as well as progress

in fighting other communicable diseases, such as

malaria and tuberculosis. However, despite those

accomplishments, much remains to be done, since

these accomplishments are unevenly distributed among

States. Many indicators confirm that some States will

not be able to achieve the Millennium Development

Goals by 2015.

That could be attributed to a number of causes,

the most obvious of which is the ongoing global

economic and financial crisis and its negative impact

on the majority of States, large and small, rich and

poor. However, developing countries, especially the

least developed, have suffered most because of the

weakness and vulnerability of their economies. Their

economic growth has faltered and the volume of their

exports fallen, while unemployment rates have risen.

At the same time, the prices of food and basic

commodities have risen, exacerbating the economic

and social impact of the crisis.

No sooner had the world started to recover from

the economic crisis than the symptoms of another

began to emerge, threatening once again the growth of

the global economy. That new crisis is exemplified in

the sovereign debt of the United States and a number of

European countries. The international community must

forge ahead in restructuring the international financial

institutions in order to ensure their sustainability,

improve their ability to perform their duties effectively

and efficiently, and make them more representative of

and fair to the countries that need their support.

The world today is in dire need of a just, fair and

balanced global trading system that bridges the

enormous gap between States, ensures mutual benefit

and assists in integrating the economies of poor

countries into the global economic system. Developed

countries must also fulfil their commitments and

increase their official development assistance to the

level of 0.7 per cent of their gross domestic product, as

agreed internationally.

In that context, the State of Kuwait will spare no

effort to provide emergency humanitarian assistance to

States stricken by natural disasters or to respond to

appeals by the United Nations or its agencies to

alleviate the suffering of the peoples of such States. We

believe in the importance of the role of the United

Nations in the field of humanitarian assistance, and the

State of Kuwait has therefore increased its voluntary

contributions to a number of international

organizations and specialized agencies, such as the

Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for

Refugees, the United Nations Central Emergency

11-50865 24

Response Fund and the International Committee of the

Red Cross.

Although the State of Kuwait is a developing

country, since its independence in 1961 it has followed

a special policy in support of developing countries and

least developed countries by extending a helping hand

and providing humanitarian and development

assistance when and as needed. More than 100

countries throughout the world have benefited from

that assistance, which exceeds $15 billion.

The Emir of the State of Kuwait has launched

several initiatives, including the decent living

initiative, the initiative to support and encourage small

and medium-size projects, and the initiative to develop

and rebuild eastern Sudan, with a view to alleviating

the suffering in many countries affected by the increase

in the prices of food and energy, as well as those whose

economies have been affected by the global financial

crisis and have witnessed increased unemployment and

poverty. Many countries have benefited from those

initiatives.

The United Nations has convened numerous

international conferences and adopted many

resolutions, agreements and statements. It has united

our visions, guided our endeavours and mobilized our

resources and our potential so as to consolidate our

common work to combat corruption, strengthen the

rule of law and good governance, ensure respect for

human rights, and empower women and bolster their

role in society, inter alia.

We look forward to a more effective international

role within the context of the Alliance of Civilizations

initiative, in order to intensify dialogue between

various civilizations, religions and cultures;

disseminate the values of tolerance, moderation and

mutual respect; and reject any expression of violence

or extremism, which undermine our potential to work

together to spread the culture of peace and abide by the

lofty purposes and principles enshrined in the Charter

of our Organization.