Mauritania, 2003

On behalf of the Islamic Republic of Mauritania, I

should like to convey to you, Sir, our warmest

congratulations on your election as President of the

General Assembly at its fifty-eighth session. I am

convinced that your great wisdom and wealth of

experience will guarantee the success of our work. I

would also like to thank your predecessor, Mr. Jan

Kavan, former Deputy Prime Minister and Minister for

Foreign Affairs of the Czech Republic, who guided the

work of the previous session with great skill and

ability.

I would also like to express congratulations and

great appreciation to the Secretary-General,

Mr. Kofi Annan, and all his associates, for their

outstanding and tireless efforts to achieve the noble

ideals of our Organization. I would also like to express

our satisfaction with the action taken since the previous

session of the General Assembly, in particular the

meeting in New York of the Commission on

Sustainable Development, which addressed measures

and priorities envisaged for implementing

recommendations of the Monterrey Conference on

Financing for Development, the decisions of the

Johannesburg Summit and the Millennium

Development Goals.

I note particularly the efforts to facilitate access

for poor countries to quality medicines to combat

endemic diseases.

The hideous murder of Mr. Sergio Vieira de

Mello, Special Representative of the Secretary-

General, together with a number of his closest

associates, in the terrorist attack on the United Nations

headquarters in Baghdad profoundly shocked and

distressed us. The increase of terrorism and its

consequences in terms of fear and human and material

destruction require the international community to step

up consultations, cooperation and coordination and

strengthen efforts to tackle the dangers that threaten all

humankind.

Achieving the objectives of development,

security and stability hinges strongly on how

effectively we handle the challenges of extremism and

terrorism. My country, while stating its commitment to

relevant Security Council resolutions, reiterates its

absolute and firm condemnation and denunciation of

violence and terrorism in all its forms and reaffirms its

support for all regional and international efforts and

initiatives to combat this scourge.

Given the global nature of terrorism, the fight

against it must necessarily be global in nature and be

underpinned by an intellectual and cultural dimension

based on the complementarity of civilizations and

absolute rejection of any clash or conflict between

them.

We also must not overlook the impact of

imbalance in the development levels of rich and poor

countries, since poverty and social, scientific and

technological under-development are primary causes of

tension and sources of violence and extremism.

There can be no doubt that maintenance of peace

and security around the world requires a greater role

for the United Nations and the strengthening of

international law. My country therefore notes with

satisfaction the acceptance by the Palestinian Authority

and the Israeli Government of the road map as

submitted by the Quartet. This framework offers a

fresh opportunity to establish a just and lasting peace in

the interest of all peoples of the region, ensuring the

restoration of the legitimate rights of the Palestinian

people, including the right to establish an independent

State with Jerusalem as its capital, pursuant to the

decisions of the Madrid Conference, the principles of

land for peace and Security Council resolutions 242

(1967), 338 (1973) and 425 (1978).

My country stresses the importance it attaches to

the demand that Israel withdraw from the occupied

Arab territories and that negotiations be resumed

immediately, as the only way towards peace and

security in the Middle East.

On the question of Iraq, we welcome the

establishment of the new transitional Iraqi

Government, while stressing our concern for the

independence of that fraternal country, its sovereignty,

the safety and security of its people and its territorial

integrity.

Regarding the question of the Western Sahara,

Mauritania supports the steps taken by the Secretary-

General and his personal envoy, Mr. James Baker,

aimed at seeking a permanent solution that guarantees

stability in the region and enjoys the agreement of all

parties.

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As regards the positive developments in the

Lockerbie crisis, we express our satisfaction at the

solution reached between the Libyan Arab Jamahiriya

and the parties concerned. We also welcome the lifting

of sanctions against Libya by the Security Council.

Regarding the African continent, we welcome the

establishment of African Union institutions and organs

which will help resolve conflicts in the continent and

respond to the aspirations of African peoples to

progress and development. We also wish to express our

satisfaction with the New Partnership for Africa's

Development (NEPAD), which is aimed at enhancing

regional cooperation in order to achieve economic

integration in the continent. We are also pleased by the

support given to this initiative by our development

partners.

The Islamic Republic of Mauritania, under the

leadership of the President of the Republic,

Mr. Maaouya Ould Sid' Ahmed Taya, is peaceably

pursuing its course towards progress and development,

inspired by the comprehensive and coherent vision of a

societal project that meets national aspirations and

offers real prospects for social advancement,

modernization and openness within the context of a

State governed by law, justice and equality.

That strategy focuses on combating ignorance and

illiteracy, and on spreading scientific and other

knowledge by promoting books and reading as part of a

large-scale national programme entitled Knowledge

for all', launched by His Excellency the President of

the Republic, to which, over the past few years, 3 per

cent of the State budget has been allocated annually.

That leading-edge programme, regarded around the

world as one of the best cultural projects, involves in

its first stage the establishment of 1,000 libraries in

major population centres, particularly in rural areas,

equipped with books and reference works relating to

various fields of professional, cultural and social life.

This significant network of cultural institutions is

striving to instil the habit of reading among all

segments of society and within all age groups. It also

helps to disseminate a civic spirit to promote sound

thinking, combat ignorance illiteracy and

professional and cultural ignorance in order to

strengthen and supplement the efforts made in that area

by the competent agencies. The implementation

execution of that programme follows a participatory

approach that offers the populations concerned and

civil society organizations a basic monitoring and

follow-up role. All the major societal forces have

mobilized under the programme, and our citizenry

understands its scope and the importance.

By opting for that strategic approach, our country

is embracing a vision in which human dignity, freedom,

equality and social justice, the consolidation of noble

human values, the preservation of safety and security

and social peace around the world and comprehensive,

fair and balanced development are all noble objectives

that can be achieved or maintained only through the

total eradication of ignorance, illiteracy and cultural

and intellectual underdevelopment.

The basic focuses of this strategy also include the

protection of women's rights as a dynamic factor of

society, and increasing the participation of women in

the various fields of national life. The same is true of

childhood development and the protection of the rights

of children. In that context, appropriate legal

instruments have been promulgated and a policy of

development has been built around those priorities,

which have accelerated the pace of human and social

development indicators.

It has been possible through substantive reforms

to launch private enterprise and to create a favourable

climate for investment, despite the impact of the

current world economic situation. The national strategy

to combat poverty has made it possible to improve the

living standards and conditions of the population, with

the widespread provision of basic social services such

as health, education, water, energy and

telecommunications. It should be noted that those

results could not have been achieved without a climate

of security and stability promoted by a regime of

pluralistic democracy that has eliminated all forms of

exclusion, opened the path to effective citizen

participation, promoted all individual and collective

freedoms and given particular attention to the

promotion of human rights.

The United Nations Charter reflects the common

aspirations of the peoples of the world to achieve their

fundamental objectives, including safeguarding

international peace and security. The profound changes

in the international scene call for the revision of the

structural organization of the United Nations, in order

to adapt it to the new realities and in keeping with its

objectives. In that regard, it would seem pertinent to

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reconsider the system of representation within the

Security Council.

We sincerely hope that the international

community will pool its efforts to enhance international

solidarity and build a new international order based on

law and justice, one that safeguards peace and security

and guarantees a decent life for all.