Kuwait, 2013

At the outset, it is with pleasure that I extend,

on behalf of the Government and people of the State of

Kuwait, our sincere congratulations to Mr. Ashe and

to his country, Antigua and Barbuda, upon his election

as President of the General Assembly at its sixty-

eighth session. We are certain that his vast experience

in international affairs will enable him to conduct the

deliberations of this session wisely and ably, and we

wish him success in that endeavour. We extend our

thanks to Mr. Vuk Jeremi. for his great efforts as

President at the previous session.

I should also like to pay tribute to the tremendous

and tireless efforts by Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon

in leading the Organization and disseminating its lofty

message and in seeking to maintain international peace

and security, in fulfilment of the aspirations of the

States and peoples of the world for a better world that

guarantees a life of dignity for all human beings.

The State of Kuwait condemns the acts of terrorism

committed in a shopping centre in Nairobi on Saturday,

21 September. We extend our sincerest condolences to

the people and Government of Kenya and to the families

of the victims. We also underscore again our support

for Bahrain and all of the measures being undertaken

there to strengthen security.

The maintenance of regional and international peace

and security occupies a position of great importance

among the priorities of the foreign policy of the State

of Kuwait, based on its principles and objectives, the

Charter of the United Nations and the provisions of

international law, which call for the building of bridges

of confidence, good-neighbourly relations, mutual

respect and non-interference in the internal affairs of

States, as well as for the promotion of the concepts

of peaceful coexistence and the pursuit of peaceful

settlements to conflicts and disputes.

In November 2012, the State of Kuwait celebrated

the fiftieth anniversary of the adoption of its

Constitution, which was the result of a distinctive

experience reflecting relations between ruler and

subject. It evolved in a historically seamless manner

into a democratic mechanism involving popular

participation. That process has embodied the essence

and values of political growth based on a commitment

to working for peace, as well as developing and

strengthening relations with neighbouring countries

in accordance with the principles of mutual respect,

common interests and rising above the wounds of the

past in order to chart a better future for the region and

the world.

In that context, I would highlight our bilateral

relations with the Republic of Iraq and to commend the

efforts of the Iraqi Government to fulfil its international

commitments to the State of Kuwait, in implementation

of the relevant Security Council resolutions. Our

bilateral relations have developed in positive and

tangible ways through communications at the highest

level between the leadership of both countries. We

have overcome our past differences and are looking to

the future to strengthen and develop future bilateral

relations for the welfare and interests of the peoples of

both countries.

We also look forward to genuine cooperation

with the Republic of Iraq in order to find the remains

of missing Kuwaitis and third-country nationals and

undertake a serious search for the national archives

of the State of Kuwait, in implementation of Security

Council resolution 2107 (2013). That resolution was

adopted following the understanding reached to transfer

follow-up responsibility for these matters from the

High-level Coordinator on the issue of the repatriation

or return of all Kuwaiti and third-country nationals or

their remains to the United Nations Assistance Mission

for Iraq. In this regard, we commend the efforts of

the Secretary-General and his concern to accelerate

the closure of these two issues, discover the fate of

the remaining missing persons and put an end to their

families’ suffering.

More than two and a half years have passed since

the eruption of the crisis in Syria. This crisis is more

than a humanitarian disaster; it is fast approaching the

definition of a catastrophe, with the increasing numbers

of victims and missing persons, both internally and

externally, and the recurring scenes of bloodshed,

violence, destruction, oppression and violation of

the most basic principles and values of humankind.

The scale of the crisis has become an obstacle to any

possible solution that could contain it, despite the great

and continued efforts at the regional and international

levels. The Security Council has been faced with a

historic and decisive responsibility: to start taking

serious and tangible steps to ensure solutions that can

guarantee an end to the bloodshed of the brotherly

Syrian people, achieve their demands and restore

security and stability in their country.

In January 2013, in response to the suffering of the

Syrian people owing to the exacerbation of the crisis

and its destructive consequences, the State of Kuwait

hosted an international donors conference to support

the humanitarian situation in Syria. This conference

achieved the desired results, and pledges surpassed

the targeted amount of $1.5 billion, of which the State

of Kuwait contributed $300 million. This amount has

been disbursed in full to a number of United Nations

bodies and agencies, which converted it into emergency

relief assistance to the Syrian people, inside and outside

Syria. The State of Kuwait would like to thank all

countries that participated in the donors conference.

Their participation reflected their care and concern

regarding the deteriorating humanitarian situation in

Syria.

We all recognize that the maintenance of peace and

security is the key that opens the doors to a dignified

life, prosperity and human creativity. This is because

factors such as development, in all its economic, social,

environmental, political and cultural aspects, cannot

take place when peace and security are lacking or

ebbing.

Turning to the Middle East region, Palestine is still

facing chronic challenges that have disrupted the vision

of a future based on development and regional and

international cooperation. The political and security

conditions in the region have also been disrupted by

the lack of confidence created by Israel’s continued

policy of building illegal settlements on occupied

Palestinian lands, its continued siege of the Gaza Strip

and the detention of thousands of Palestinians and their

imprisonment in subhuman conditions, in contravention

of the most basic rules of international humanitarian

law. Such practices reached their peak after Palestine

received Observer State status in the Organization.

In this regard, we reiterate that only the international

community will be able to find the difficult formula for

peace. We value in this respect the ongoing efforts of

the United States of America to achieve a breakthrough

in the peace process and hope that persistent efforts and

pressure on Israel will make it accept the resolutions of

international legitimacy.

At the regional level, concerning Iran’s nuclear

programme, the State of Kuwait supports the ongoing

efforts to peacefully resolve this issue in a manner a

that will preserve the right of the Islamic Republic

of Iran and all countries in the region to use nuclear

energy for peaceful purposes under the supervision and

monitoring of the International Atomic Energy Agency

(IAEA). We also call upon the Islamic Republic of

Iran to cooperate fully with international efforts and

work on implementing the relevant Security Council

resolutions. We also call on Iran to cooperate with the

IAEA and implement its resolutions to find a definitive

solution to this crisis, which had cast it shadow on this

region for many years, given rise to doubts and created

an atmosphere of instability and tension.

This year, the State of Kuwait celebrated the

fiftieth anniversary of its membership in this enduring

Organization. Ever since then, and driven by its belief

in the importance of common international action, it has

sought to provide highly effective support to many of

the agencies, bodies and entities of the United Nations

system. This is particularly true in view of the growth

and increase in challenges facing the Organization at

all levels and putting the international community,

represented by the United Nations, to the test, a test of

international will and global partnership in facing these

challenges.

The adoption of the Millennium Development

Goals (MDGs) represented a major shift in the ability

of the United Nations to mobilize the global will to

eradicate poverty and achieve sustainable development,

thus clearly expressing how ambitious the will of the

international community really is and the feasibility of

this global partnership.

However, major new challenges have emerged

that are related either to security disruptions resulting

from instability and the violations of human rights

that accompany them, or to the steady environmental

deterioration that threatens our world, together with

other serious and urgent challenges. This requires the

international community to take up the inevitable task

of rethinking our preparations for a comprehensive and

ambitious development plan.

We must complement the efforts aimed at achieving

the MDGs by formulating new goals and incorporating

them in the post-2015 development plan. This will enable

us to take a quantum leap towards a renewed global

partnership that will complete the process under way

on the scientific bases of the Millennium Declaration

(resolution 55/2) and the principles and outcome of the

United Nations Conference on Sustainable Development

(resolution 66/288, annex) held in Brazil. It should help

our peoples, to whom those goals represent the hope of

creating an ideal world and a better life, particularly in

the least developed countries or those still recovering

from wars and conflicts. In this respect, we refer to

the importance of the international community paying

careful attention to supporting the foundations of

development in order to achieve security and stability

in Somalia and Afghanistan.

While the State of Kuwait is considered a

developing country, it has been independent since

1961 and given a great deal of attention to providing

financial and material assistance to the developing

and least developed countries, through many different

mechanisms and initiatives. The Kuwait Fund for Arab

Economic Development is a central Kuwaiti institution

firmly committed to implementing its promises and

policies on international cooperation and assistance to

needy people by on the ground. Since its establishment,

and having outgrown its regional Arab scope, the Fund

has expanded its activities and development assistance

to Asian, African and Central and Latin American

countries.

In that regard, the State of Kuwait has provided

provisional funding of $500 million to the Republic

of Yemen for development projects in the 2012-2014

provisional programme. The contribution seeks

to support a peaceful transition of power pursuant

to the Gulf Cooperation Council initiative and its

Implementation Mechanism, which are aimed at

ending the crisis in Yemen, re-establishing security

and stability there, and rehabilitating the development

sectors in order to fulfil the legitimate aspirations of

the Yemeni people to live in peace and security through

the consolidation of democracy and good governance.

The State of Kuwait, through its great interest in

promoting and intensifying regional and international

multilateral activities by reviewing cooperation and

coordination measures in many important and political

fields, has hosted many regional and international

summits, meetings and conferences. All haved focused

on a multiplicity of issues, challenges, hopes and

aspirations and supported initiatives aimed at creating

better conditions for the peoples of the region and the

world.

In order to expand that approach, built on

coordination and a spirit of entrepreneurship, in

November the State of Kuwait will host the third

Arab-African Summit under the theme “Partners

in Development and Investment”. We hope that

this initiative will achieve results that deepen the

foundations of Arab-African cooperation and open

new horizons in the name of stability, development

and cooperation between the people and countries of

these two regions. The State of Kuwait will also host

the thirty-fourth session of the Supreme Council of the

Cooperation Council for the Arab States of the Gulf

in December, as well as the twenty-fifth Summit of

League of Arab States in March 2014.

In conclusion, I reiterate the commitment of the

State of Kuwait to the international multilateral system

and to the purposes and principles of the Charter of the

United Nations, as well as its belief in the importance

that all States fulfil the obligations to which they

have committed in international agreements and

conferences. That will help in the search for just and

equitable solutions to the global threats and challenges

confronting us in order to achieve the lofty objective of

maintaining international peace and security.