Mauritania, 2013

I am particularly pleased to present our warmest

congratulations to the President on the occasion of

his election to preside over the General Assembly at

its sixty-eighth session. I am convinced that he will

spare no effort to strengthen the gains made and to

firmly establish international peace and security, so

as to create an international system in which all of

mankind enjoys well-being, stability and progress. The

President’s experience and political skills in heading

his country’s Mission for over a decade are also factors

that make him a natural leader during this session.

I should also like to praise the efforts of his

predecessor, Mr. Vuk Jeremi., and commend him for

his interest in the problems of the African continent and

his efforts to strengthen the principle of dialogue as an

effective tool for consultation and the role of the rule of

law and good governance.

I would also like to thank the Secretary-General,

Mr. Ban Ki-moon, for his unflagging efforts in the

service of international peace and security and his

focus on climate change issues and the fight against

famine and deadly diseases, as well as on realizing the

Millennium Development Goals.

Last June, in the important speech that the

President delivered to the General Assembly on the

occasion of his election to preside over the sixty-eighth

session (see A/67/PV.87), he outlined his ambitious

programme of action, which takes into account the

participation of women, youth and civil society in

the post-2015 development agenda, the role of South-

South cooperation, the role of human rights and the

rule of law, and the role of information technology and

communication in the proposed development agenda.

Those are important topics, and we thank him for

including them.

Over the past two decades — in step with the Human

Development Report — some developing countries have

experienced substantial economic change. However, the

majority of developing countries, especially the least

developed ones, remain very far from achieving the

Millennium Development Goals. On the threshold

of 2015, it behoves us today to implement plans and

programmes that take into consideration the failures

of the past and the challenges of the future and to

effectively prepare the post-2015 development agenda.

In that regard, we call upon the wealthy countries

of the world to live up to their promises regarding

the financing of development programmes in those

developing countries that have such pressing needs.

We also call upon those countries to implement an

appropriate policy, under the supervision of the United

Nations specialized agencies and in cooperation with

the international financial institutions, that will be

based primarily on the following: support for health

and education systems; debt forgiveness; the transfer

of the necessary technology; the improvement of

North-South trade; the removal of customs duties on

exports from the developing countries, especially the

least developed countries, to the markets of the North;

the promotion of South-South cooperation, which will

probably strengthen economic cooperation between

group members; the establishment of new international

mechanisms that will be charged with overseeing

regional complementarity, strengthening South-South

relations, as underscored in the aforementioned Human

Development Report, which will facilitate the sharing

of know-how, lessons learned and technology transfer

between those countries.

Under the leadership of the President of the

Republic, Mr. Mohamed Ould Abdel Aziz, our

Government is working to improve the standard of

living of our citizens, despite our limited resources.

In order to attain that objective, the Government

has pursued a rigorous educational policy, based on

compulsory and widespread primary education and the

strengthening of a modern secondary education with

free higher education in several different fields. Basic

schooling is now available in almost all of our villages

and cities. That was made possible thanks to the

Government policy of limiting anarchic urbanization

by merging numerous villages.

With regard to secondary education, all the

departments throughout the country now have middle

schools and many have high schools. That has allowed

the children of people living in remote villages to

continue their secondary schooling. High schools

reserved for the most promising students were also

established to take advantage of their talents and steer

them towards specializations that meet the needs of the

labour market. Higher education took a large qualitative

step forward. A university campus has just been

completed in Nouakchott. An Islamic studies university

has been opened in the interior of the country, as well as

four specialized schools of higher education, including

the School of Mines, the Polytechnic, the School of

Agricultural Training and Public Works. The Faculty

of Medicine has been strengthened and endowed with

the means necessary to cover the shortfall in medical

personnel in our country, in addition to the creation

of four medical schools to train nurses and senior

technicians.

Health, which goes in line with education, is a major

challenge for developing countries and the African

continent in particular. Given that, our Government

has allocated an important percentage of its budget for

that vital sector and has created national programmes

to fight against such deadly diseases as AIDS, malaria

and tuberculosis. In that connection, we have created

four new fully equipped hospitals in various parts of

the country, in addition to 70 primary-care clinics.

We must also note the construction of a specialized

oncology hospital, which is considered to be among the

most sophisticated in the region. The health-care sector

also works closely with United Nations specialized

agencies in organizing ongoing vaccination campaigns

for children under 5 years of age.

As with most developing countries, our country

depends on imports of basic goods from the global

market, which weighs heavily on our balance sheets,

especially since the prices of such products are subject

to fluctuations in the world market. Aware of that, our

Government has pursued an economic and financial

policy that would alleviate the effects generated from

outside. Our agricultural sector has therefore been

able, thanks to the policy, to fulfil 60 per cent of the

country’s rice needs and 37 per cent of its need for other

grains. Wheat crops, which were recently introduced,

have begun to produce.

In that context, a sugar-cane cultivation project was

launched to make sugar available locally. Generally,

our Government has worked tirelessly in all sectors to

ensure that its citizens can live in dignity. A free-trade

zone has been created in Nouadhibou — the economic

capital of the country and the third-largest city in

population — which will transform the region into an

important economic centre benefiting the country and

the region as a whole.

In order to strengthen good governance and the

fight against corruption, the Inspector General and the

Court of Auditors have been revitalized since President

Mohamed Ould Abdel Aziz took office. Significant

funds in some sectors have been poorly managed,

but have been reimbursed to the State. Civil servants

have been made accountable for the poor allocation of

certain resources. Agreements were reached to end the

no-bid contract system. The lack of competitive bidding

has undermined equity among the various economic

drivers of national and international markets.

Transparency now prevails in the recruitment

of civil servants — thanks to competitive

examinations — fostering equality among men and

women and providing hope to young people. Merit-

based candidate selection is now possible, leading to an

end to nepotism and favouritism.

The Government’s austerity policy, including its

reduced administrative budget and increased investment

budget, has contributed to the self-financing of the

majority of the country’s development projects. The

policy has also led to reduced unemployment, which

now hovers around 10 per cent. The policies have also

contributed to an increased growth rate, which should

attain, according to current forecasts, more than 6 per

cent by the end of the year. We have also been preparing

for municipal and legislative elections slated for the

end of the year. That will strengthen good governance

and allow our citizens to participate in the process of

defining the country’s future, and setting political and

economic priorities for our country.

Our foreign policy is solidly based on a concern

for strengthening good-neighbourly relations and

non-interference in the internal affairs of States.

We will work with our Maghreb region — Arab and

African — with a sense of duty towards international

relations and issues so as to disseminate a culture of

peace, encourage dialogue and the resort to wisdom,

and facilitate the role of diplomacy as a means of

resolving conflicts and avoiding or ending war.

President Mohamed Ould Abdel Aziz, who has not

wavered in exerting his utmost efforts, as the Head of

the African Union Peace and Security Council, to find

solutions to certain conflicts in the African continent,

including in Côte d’Ivoire, Libya and Mali. He has

played a very important role, through his presence at

subregional and international summits, focusing on

peace and security around the world.

For a number of years, the African Sahel region has

been subjected to all types of cross-border organized

crime, including drug trafficking, arms trafficking,

illegal immigration and kidnapping. We reiterate our

call to the international community to support the

States of the region in tackling those dangers, which

have recently threatened the very existence of a States

Members of the United Nations. That clearly shows

that the States of the Sahel cannot tackle the scourge

on their own.

Based on its sense of duty, the Islamic Republic

of Mauritania, which has stood by Mali since the

beginning of the crisis, quickly opened its borders

to our Malian brothers and sisters who were seeking

refuge in our territory. We have provided and continue

to provide shelter for those individuals. Our capital,

Nouakchott, over many months hosted a series of

negotiations between the Malian provisional authorities

and the Azawad groups, which led to the signing of the

Ougadougou accords, thus facilitating the preparations

for the presidential elections. We take this opportunity

to express our sincere congratulations to the people of

the sister nation of Mali and the hope that the changes

will lead to a new era of well-being, security and

progress.

Our country strongly condemns the horrific

terrorist attack on the Kenyan capital, Nairobi, which

cost the lives of dozens of individuals.

For more than two years, certain countries of the

Arab region have experienced instability owing to the

so-called Arab Spring. Our country, respectful of the

principle of non-interference in the internal affairs

of other States, expresses its full solidarity with the

peoples of those countries.

With deep concern and worry, we are following the

most recent developments in the Syrian Arab Republic.

We invite all stakeholders to refrain from violence

and any escalation of violence and, instead, to follow

the logic of dialogue, aimed at finding a peaceful

solution so as to spare the brotherly Syrian people from

suffering and tragedy. At the same time, with respect

to the preservation, territorial integrity and sovereignty

of the Syrian territory, it is our hope that the mission

of Mr. Lakhdar Brahimi, Joint Special Representative

of the United Nations and the League of Arab States

on the Syrian crisis, will achieve success. It is our firm

hope that a swift solution can be found that will bring

an end to the bloodshed, destruction of infrastructure

and economic devastation in sisterly Syria.

We hope that the people of Egypt, Yemen, Libya and

Tunisia can quickly conclude their transition periods

and build democratic institutions that will guarantee

the rights and dignity of their citizens in an atmosphere

of well-being and prosperity.

Our country pays close attention to the situation

in Western Sahara. We reaffirm our support for the

endeavours of the Secretary-General and his personal

envoy in their search for a definitive, lasting, fair and

comprehensive solution that is acceptable to both parties.

Such a solution would bolster peace and security in the

region and facilitate the building of a prosperous Arab

Maghreb that is in step with the legitimate aspirations

of its people.

The Arab-Israeli conflict is considered a source of

hostility and a threat to peace and security in a vital

and critical region of the world. It remains so in spite

of the legal framework and general conditions for the

settlement of that dispute that have been established

over the years by a series of Security Council and

General Assembly resolutions. Those foundations were

recently further backed by the Arab Peace Initiative

based on the land-for-peace principle. In spite of all of

that, the conflict continues, as it has done for too long.

We welcome resolution 67/19, of 29 November

2012, whereby the General Assembly granted Palestine

the status of non-Member observer State in the United

Nations. We hope that that resolution will mark the

beginning of a new era that will see justice done for the

Palestinian people and their rights restored through the

establishment of their independent and sovereign Sate

along the 4 June 1967 borders, with East Jerusalem as

its capital. That would put an end to the suffering of the

Palestinian people, which dates back to the inception of

our Organization.

Based on the need to ensure justice, credibility and

equity in the relations between the two parties to that

conflict, and out of respect for the relevant resolutions

and decisions under international law, the international

community should live up to its historic responsibilities

with regard to Palestine. We reiterate our condemnation

of the ongoing blockade against the Gaza Strip, and

we condemn the massacres perpetrated by the Israeli

war machine against Palestinian civilians and the

destruction of their facilities. We welcome efforts,

most recently by the United States Administration,

seeking the resumption of negotiations between the two

parties. We hope that those efforts will contribute to the

realization of the Palestinian people’s simplest right:

the establishment of their independent State.

The commitments made by the international

community through the United Nations will go

unrealized if the people of the world are unable to fulfil

their potential for development, especially in developing

countries, to live lives of dignity and freedom, and to

enjoy justice and equality — the very lofty principles

for which our Organization was created. These are the

only guarantees of our success.