Tunisia, 2008

I wish

at the outset to sincerely congratulate you, Sir, on your

election as President of the General Assembly at its

sixty-third session. We are convinced that your

diplomatic ability and skill will help us to ensure the

success of this session and to attain the objectives to

which we all aspire. I should also like to thank

Mr. Srgjan Kerim for his excellent work and his

valuable contributions to the smooth conduct of the

previous session. Our sincere thanks go also to the

Secretary-General, Mr. Ban Ki-moon, for his generous

efforts to promote the work of the Organization and to

enhance its performance in addressing various issues of

importance to our countries and peoples.

The choice of the main theme of this year’s

general debate — the impact of the global food crisis

on poverty and hunger in the world — reflects the

importance of that issue and the growing awareness

among all countries of its seriousness and of the need

to work together to find effective solutions to reduce

its impact and repercussions on national economies,

particularly those of developing and poor countries,

and on the increasing rates of poverty and hunger

throughout the world.

In that context, the central role played by the

United Nations is of crucial importance in addressing

those issues and in striving to achieve a better balance

in international relations and greater solidarity, justice

and equality. That requires that we enhance the

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Organization’s reform process and strengthen its

capacity to keep abreast of international developments.

In recent years, the world situation has been

characterized by increasingly swift change, which has

disrupted international balances and undermined

prevailing development formulas. It has also created

many problems and difficulties that have clearly

affected the economies and development processes of

many countries. In addition, it has weakened their

capacity to make progress and increased their

vulnerability. Furthermore, the world has recently

witnessed serious economic problems, in particular an

excessive rise in oil and basic food prices, which has

threatened world food security and reduced the

purchasing power of individuals, thus hampering the

achievement of the goals and approaches set at the

Millennium Summit. If we are to address this grave

situation, we must step up international efforts by

adopting development strategies based on the noble

human aspects of world solidarity. In that context,

Tunisia has called on international financial institutions

and other organizations that specialize in economy and

trade to establish and implement agricultural and

production policies that guarantee the availability of

food, which is a fundamental right enshrined in

international human rights instruments.

I should like to take this opportunity to reiterate

our call for intensified efforts to operationalize the

World Solidarity Fund, endorsed by the General

Assembly in 2002 (resolution 57/265) on the initiative

of Tunisia as a mechanism to address the issues of

poverty and privation in the world and to reduce

disparities among peoples.

In order to keep abreast of the profound changes

on the international scene and the new realities they

have produced in international relations, along with the

various challenges and complexities those changes

represent, we must act to strengthen the capacity of the

United Nations to act more efficiently. We must also

endeavour to reform the Organization, develop its

structures and enhance the role it is expected to play to

ameliorate the current international situation and turn

globalization into a process that helps to guarantee

peace and development for all peoples.

In that context, Tunisia supports all efforts and

initiatives aimed at establishing new frameworks and

mechanisms for action that can help to find collective

solutions to common challenges in the vital fields of

security, peace, development, the environment and

food security, as part of an appropriate approach to

international relations founded on the complementarity

between peace, security and development. However,

that should be accompanied by strengthened

multilateral action on the basis of cooperation,

solidarity and a constructive dialogue among all

countries.

Despite efforts to contain it, the heightened

problem of terrorism in the world strengthens our

belief in the need to unify the international approach to

fighting that scourge and finding adequate solutions to

it. Since the early 1990s, Tunisia has warned the

international community against the dangers of

terrorism and has called for the adoption of a

comprehensive and efficient approach that takes into

consideration the root causes of the scourge. Today, we

renew the call of His Excellency President Zine El

Abidine Ben Ali to convene an international

conference under the auspices of the United Nations to

develop an international code of conduct for the fight

against terrorism to which all parties shall commit

themselves.

Climate change and the resulting intensification

of the problems of desertification, drought and the lack

of drinking water pose a threat to all humankind today

and are a source of great concern to all. While

affirming the close link between the environment and

development and the crucial importance of promoting

cooperation and solidarity to respond to the challenges

in that regard, we should like to emphasize the need to

include concerns about the potential effects of climate

change, particularly in the African and Mediterranean

regions, among the international community’s

priorities, as called for in the Tunis Declaration

adopted by the International Solidarity Conference on

Climate Change Strategies for the African and

Mediterranean Regions, which was held in Tunisia in

November 2007.

We would also like to reiterate the need to

mobilize the necessary financial resources to promote

research into climate monitoring and meteorology and

the development of natural disaster early warning

systems, in addition to the need to invest in reducing

the greenhouse gas emissions that cause global

warming.

We are convinced that the success of

development efforts and the strengthening of

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cooperation among our countries depend on providing

a secure and stable international environment.

Obstacles to success in that effort include the

intensification of tensions and conflicts and the

persistence of unresolved problems. In that regard, we

reaffirm Tunisia’s commitment to the values of peace

and to the principles of international legality as the

path to achieving just and lasting solutions to pending

international issues. We also renew our determination

to promote the values of moderation, tolerance and

mutual respect in relations among countries and

peoples and to establish bridges of communication and

dialogue among all civilizations, cultures and religions.

In that context, while reaffirming Tunisia’s

position in support of our Palestinian brothers and their

just cause as a people, we renew our call to the

international community, especially its most influential

members and the Quartet, to increase their efforts to

bring Israel to end its aggressive practices and

settlement activities. We call on them to intensify their

work to reinvigorate the peace effort and to facilitate

the resumption of negotiations between Palestinians

and Israelis on the basis of the relevant international

terms of reference, the Arab Peace Initiative and the

results of the Annapolis Conference, with the aim of

achieving a just, lasting and comprehensive solution to

the Palestinian question.

Such a solution would guarantee that the

Palestinians regain their legitimate national rights and

establish an independent Palestinian State on their

national territory. It would also guarantee the

withdrawal of Israel from all occupied Arab territories,

including Syrian and Lebanese land. That solution

would also provide security and stability for all the

peoples of the region.

We also call for joint regional and international

efforts to address the deterioration of security and

humanitarian conditions in Iraq and to help the

brotherly Iraqi people to restore security and stability

so that they may devote their energies to reconstruction

efforts while preserving their national and territorial

unity.

We wish to take this opportunity to express our

satisfaction with the recent positive developments in

our sisterly country of Lebanon, namely, the election of

the country’s President and the establishment of a

Government of national unity. We trust that our

Lebanese brothers will further strengthen that process

in order to preserve Lebanon’s security and stability.

Since the change of 7 November 1987, and under

the wise leadership of President Zine El Abidine Ben

Ali, President of the Republic of Tunisia, we have

succeeded in accomplishing remarkable achievements

in every area, due to substantial reforms that have

strengthened the democratic process, promoted

mechanisms to protect human rights and culture and

consecrated public freedoms. Those reforms have

enabled us to expand the scope of consultation and

participation by the various sectors of civil society in

identifying major trends and determining crucial

national options within the framework of the rule of

law and respect for institutions.

Those reforms have also made it possible to

achieve many of the Millennium Development Goals,

which has led to the improvement of living standards

and the well-being of all segments of Tunisian society.

Those achievements reflect the sound development

choices and approaches implemented in Tunisia, which

have allowed us to reach a high position on the list of

countries with the highest human development

indicators. That has earned Tunisia the respect of

international financial institutions and the specialized

agencies of the United Nations.

In its various development plans, Tunisia has

continued to work for development and modernization

in order to strengthen its capacity to keep up with

international changes and actively contribute to

building a world of peace and security and to make

international relations more balanced and based on

solidarity.

Based on its desire to achieve a higher level of

integration at the regional and international levels,

Tunisia is working to expand its participation in

regional and international organizations and to develop

political relations with friendly countries. It also

endeavouring to expand and diversify its scope of

cooperation with them so as to establish an effective

partnership based on mutual respect and common

interests. In that regard, Tunisia firmly believes that the

Arab Maghreb Union is a strategic and crucial choice

for all peoples of the region. In cooperation and

coordination with the other friendly Maghreb

countries, we are sparing no effort to speed up the

establishment of the Union.

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Tunisia is also eager to promote joint Arab action

and to enhance its ability to interact with regional and

international bodies in order to address the changes

taking place in the region and to contribute to the

promotion of the reform and modernization process in

the Arab world, in conformity with the decisions of the

2004 Arab summit held in Tunis.

With regard to Africa, Tunisia is contributing to

the achievement of peace and security in the continent

by participating in United Nations peacekeeping

operations and by developing economic relations with

friendly African countries. Based on our belief in the

importance of joint African action and the fact that the

African Union is the ideal framework to address the

continent’s problems and achieve the integration to

which our peoples aspire, Tunisia reaffirms its strong

determination to pursue the process decided within the

framework of the African Union to establish and

operationalize its institutions, enhance its role in the

resolution of conflicts and promote the development

process in Africa.

With regard to Europe, Tunisia attaches strategic

importance to its relations with the European Union

(EU) and is continuing to work to develop those

relations on the basis of a solidarity-based partnership

with EU countries on the basis of dialogue, cooperation

and mutual respect. The building of a Euro-

Mediterranean cooperation framework is one of

Tunisia’s priorities and a tenet of its foreign policy.

Tunisia has therefore supported every initiative and

mechanism that contributes to the promotion of peace,

solidarity and development in the Mediterranean

region — including the Barcelona process, the 5+5

Dialogue, and the Mediterranean Forum.

Tunisia was among the first countries to welcome

the French initiative on the establishment of the Union

for the Mediterranean. We are convinced that the future

of that initiative depends upon an effective partnership

that guarantees the active participation of the countries

of the southern Mediterranean in establishing the

foundations of the Union and in the taking of decisions

of concern to the region.

Meeting the challenges posed by the new

international situation and the profound changes taking

place on the world scene requires us all to step up

efforts to further entrench the noble universal

principles and humanist values on which the United

Nations was founded. It also requires perseverance in

enhancing the process of United Nations reform to

make its work more efficient and to ensure its active

contribution to providing optimum international

conditions that can help us find collective solutions to

common challenges and current international issues,

respond to our peoples’ aspirations for stability, and

provide the appropriate conditions for prosperity and

well-being in an environment of cooperation and

solidarity-based development.