Tunisia, 2010

First,

Sir, I warmly congratulate you and the friendly Swiss

Confederation on your election as President of the

General Assembly at its sixty-fifth session, and wish

you every success in your noble mission. We are

convinced that your great political and diplomatic

experience will provide the best conditions for the

success of this session and enrich its contents. This will

help achieve the objectives and aspirations we all

cherish, especially as regards the theme of the general

debate: “Reaffirming the central role of the United

Nations in global governance”.

I take this opportunity to renew my congratulations

to Mr. Ali Abdussalam Treki and to the sisterly Great

Socialist People’s Libyan Arab Jamahiriya, for his

valuable efforts as President at the sixty-fourth session,

his deep knowledge of international affairs and his

wise approach in dealing with crucial, complex and

delicate issues, thus serving the interests of our peoples

and nations and enhancing the role of the General

Assembly in international relations.

I also wish to express my great respect to Mr. Ban

Ki-moon, the Secretary-General, for his commendable

efforts at the head of the Secretariat to further enhance

the position of our prestigious Organization and

promote its performance, so that it can meet the many

challenges posed on the international scene. In this

context, Tunisia reaffirms its support for all the efforts

of the Secretary-General, and of the United Nations in

general, to promote peace, stability, security and

development in all countries of the world.

Tunisia highly values the important historic step

made during the previous session in the process of

reforming the United Nations. I refer to the adoption of

resolution 64/289, which reaffirms the importance we

all attach to the development of the United Nations

system and the promotion of complementarity between

its activities and programmes. That applies especially

to those pertaining to women, for whom a new unified

Entity has been created to deal with all issues related to

gender equality and the empowerment of women. I

take this opportunity to renew our congratulations to its

head, Ms. Bachelet. We wish her every success.

Under the leadership of President Zine El Abidine

Ben Ali, Tunisia attaches crucial importance to these

issues. Women, in fact, have a strategic role in our

civilizational project, and are considered a partner in

making all our national choices. Tunisia strongly believes

that democracy cannot be built, and comprehensive

development cannot be achieved, without the active

involvement of women in public life, and that promoting

society to higher levels depends on enhancing the

conditions of women in all fields. This conviction

stems from our vision of human rights in their

comprehensiveness, inseparability and complementarity.

The prestigious status that Tunisian women enjoy

today is confirmed by figures and indicators pertaining

to human development and women’s involvement in all

fields. They now represent 30 per cent of the country’s

working population. They hold 30 per cent of decision-

making positions and other positions of responsibility.

They represent 33 per cent of the judicial corps —

judges and lawyers — and 42 per cent of the medical

corps. In higher education, girls account for 60 per cent

of the total number of students. In the legislative

branch, women’s presence has been reinforced to reach

30 per cent in the Chamber of Deputies and 16 per cent

in the Chamber of Advisers.

It is indeed a source of pride for Tunisia to be

ranked first internationally in terms of fighting

violence against women and guaranteeing their right to

free movement and ownership of property, to be ranked

first in the Arab world in terms of offering women

opportunities for economic participation, and to be

ranked first in Africa in terms of women’s per capita

income.

The Tunisian presidency of the Arab Women

Organization (AWO), in the person of Tunisia’s first

lady, is in line with that approach. Mrs. Leila Ben Ali

7 10-55276

has endeavoured to spread the culture of gender

equality, to further improve the condition of women in

Arab societies, to allow them to enjoy their rights and

accomplish their duties, and to preserve their dignity. All

this, in fact, constitutes a civilizational and strategic stake

and an integral part of the concept of Arab national

security and human security in all its dimensions.

As part of the various pioneering initiatives and

activities of the Arab Women Organization, Tunisia

will next month host the third AWO Conference, with

the theme “The Arab woman, a partner in sustainable

development”.

Since the change of 7 November 1987, Tunisia

has adopted a comprehensive and balanced development

policy based on the inseparability of the economic and

social dimensions, a policy that reconciles the

requirements of an economy based on the principles of

profitability and efficiency and an equitable social

policy in which there is no room for exclusion or

marginalization, guaranteeing a decent life for all

citizens.

The electoral programme of President Zine El

Abidine Ben Ali for the 2009-2014 term of office,

“Together we meet the challenges”, and the five-year

development plan for the period 2010-2014 have both

made a reality of those choices, reflecting a

determination to further enhance the process of

democracy and pluralism, to move political life in

Tunisia towards further modernity and continuous

reform, and to launch a new process of development

based on the economy of knowledge and intelligence.

As part of that ambitious, future-oriented plan,

Tunisia has attached crucial importance to youth as the

pillar of the present and the builder of the future,

through regularly organizing national youth

consultations to explore the concerns, expectations and

views of young people. The results of those

consultations are taken into consideration in preparing

development plans. Furthermore, Tunisia proclaimed

2008 the Year of Comprehensive Dialogue with

Tunisian Youth. That event, with massive participation

by different youth categories, was crowned with the

adoption of a Youth Pact signed by all the national

organizations concerned and the elite of Tunisian youth.

Keen on consecrating this policy at the

international level and on involving the world

community in supporting it, our country launched

during the previous session of the General Assembly an

initiative to proclaim 2010 International Year of Youth,

to consolidate the position of youth in all societies of

the world, youth being at the forefront of the forces of

progress embracing noble universal values. Tunisia

expresses its deep pride over Member States’

unanimous support for this initiative, which the

General Assembly adopted in resolution 64/134.

Tunisia also takes pride in the fact that on

12 August the Secretary-General himself chaired the

launch of the festivities celebrating the International

Year of Youth; he did so at Headquarters, in the presence

of hundreds of representatives of the world’s youth.

Tunisia calls on all Governments, international

and regional organizations, and youth institutions, to

establish adequate plans of action, programmes and

activities to celebrate the International Year of Youth in

a way that makes a reality of its motto, “Dialogue and

mutual understanding”, and leads to the adoption of an

international pact to bind the world’s youth to common

universal values. I take this opportunity to express

Tunisia’s appreciation for the initiatives of Turkey,

Singapore and Mexico in organizing important

international youth events last August.

Throughout its modern history, Tunisia has

remained committed to the principles and values of

peaceful coexistence, good-neighbourliness, fraternity

and mutual support. It has tirelessly endeavoured to

promote relations of fraternity, friendship and cooperation

with all peace-loving countries, and has invariably

advocated peace, security and justice in the world.

Since the change of November 1987, Tunisia has

given particular attention to the promotion of relations

of fraternity and cooperation with Arab Maghreb

countries, based on its strong belief in the unity of

destiny and the inevitability of Maghreb integration.

While reaffirming its adherence to the Arab Maghreb

Union as a historic gain and an irrevocable strategic

choice, Tunisia is committed to pursuing efforts jointly

with sisterly Maghreb countries to realize the aspirations

of the Maghreb peoples for complementarity,

integration and solidarity. This commitment stems from

a deep common civilizational, historic and geographic

belonging, and is imposed by the successive economic

fluctuations and the deep and ever-accelerating

changes taking place in our world today in all political,

social and cultural fields.

At the Arab level, Tunisia will firmly pursue its

efforts to promote joint Arab action and establish solid

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foundations for an efficient inter-Arab economic

complementarity.

Tunisia has continuously played an efficient role

in dealing with Arab causes, in the forefront of which

is the Palestinian cause, through its firm and

unwavering position supporting the brotherly

Palestinian people at all stages of their legitimate

struggle, and calling for a fair, durable and

comprehensive solution that can put an end to the

suffering of our Palestinian brothers and allow them to

recover their legitimate national rights and establish

their independent State on their land.

In this context, Tunisia expresses its deep concern

about the situation in the Middle East, as a result of

Israel’s disrespect for international legality and the

basic principles of the peace process, its persistence in

the settlement policy and its attempts to obliterate the

Arab-Muslim identity of the city of Al-Quds Al-Sharif.

Tunisia expresses its hope that the resumption of

direct peace talks, launched on 2 September in

Washington under the sponsorship of the United States,

will meet the legitimate aspirations of the brotherly

Palestinian people.

We also call on all the influential parties on the

international scene, particularly the Quartet, to act to

bring Israel to adhere to the requirements of peace, on

the basis of international legality, the principles of the

peace process, and the Arab Peace Initiative, and in

accordance with a specific time schedule that covers all

the relevant main points.

Tunisia also reiterates its call for an end to the

Israeli occupation of the Syrian Golan and the remaining

occupied Lebanese territories, in accordance with

international legality, so that all the peoples of the region

can enjoy security and peace, and devote their efforts

to construction and development for a better future.

Moreover, Tunisia hopes that the efforts made

will promote peace and security in Iraq, Yemen, the

Sudan and Somalia, within a climate of unity and

national harmony.

Tunisia attaches particular importance to its

belonging to Africa, based on its belief in the

importance of its integration in its geographic

environment and the expansion of the fields of

cooperation and solidarity with sisterly African

countries. Since the 7 November change, our country

has endeavoured to realize this policy by reaffirming

its commitment to the principles of the African Union,

and continuously supporting all initiatives aimed at

promoting the continent, achieving development for its

peoples, and preserving its potentialities, within a

climate of security and stability.

Tunisia has spared no effort to contribute to the

promotion of peace and security in the African

continent, through participating in United Nations

peacekeeping operations, supporting conflict-

prevention mechanisms, and continuously acting for

the eradication of hotbeds of tension.

Moreover, our country has continuously called on

African countries to play an active role and to find

adequate solutions to their problems through activating

the central organ of the Mechanism for Conflict

Prevention, Management and Resolution, the first

regional experience of preventive diplomacy, then

through the African Peace and Security Council, which

has helped re-establish stability in a number of sisterly

African countries.

We reaffirm Tunisia’s support for all the efforts of

the African Union, which proclaimed 2010 the Year of

Peace and Security in Africa, so that peace and stability

would reign all over the continent, which is a

responsibility of the international community as a whole.

In line with those principles and with the

Millennium Development Goals (MDGs), Tunisia calls

on developed nations to act promptly to meet the needs

of the African continent and of developing countries in

general, by using the existing international and

regional mechanisms to ensure decent living standards

for African peoples.

I take this opportunity to stress the need to

activate the World Solidarity Fund, created by the

General Assembly in 2002, upon Tunisia’s initiative, to

serve as an efficient international mechanism for

sustainable development, capable of achieving the

MDGs, particularly the Goal of reducing the poverty

rate by half by 2015.

At the Euro-Mediterranean level, Europe is

currently an essential partner of Tunisia in various

fields. Our country has time-honoured historic relations

with Europe. Yet we consider that our relations still

need to be further enhanced and developed, through an

equitable, solidarity-based partnership that rests on

mutual respect and is in line with our strategic and

civilizational choices in terms of political reform and

9 10-55276

economic, social and cultural development. This will

strengthen the ties of cooperation and solidarity, and

help reduce disparities between the countries and

peoples of the two shores of the Mediterranean. On the

basis of those principles Tunisia supported the

establishment of the Union for the Mediterranean, a

promising initiative that can create a new dynamism in

Euro-Mediterranean relations, promote a positive

interaction to meet the coming challenges, and enhance

security and stability in our Mediterranean region.

Tunisia is endeavouring to respond positively to

the huge changes occurring on the international scene,

by developing the mechanisms of consultation and

cooperation with all the American and Asian countries.

Our country attaches great importance to the promotion

of its relations with large regional blocs in the

American and Asian continents, so as to enrich

cooperation and explore new fields for a strong

partnership serving mutual interests. In this context, at

the end of this year Tunisia will host the Japan-Arab

Economic Forum. It will also host, in 2012, the Fifth

Ministerial Meeting of the China-Arab Cooperation

Forum.

Tunisia is also keen on promoting rapprochement

with South American countries, within an Arab or

African framework.

The values of mutual support and solidarity,

which constitute the pillar of our country’s policy and

orientation, and which have now become a deeply-

anchored tradition, demand that we give immediate

assistance to countries stricken by natural disasters,

which cause thousands of deaths in many countries of

the world. Tunisia has responded promptly to the

urgent calls by the Secretary-General to help disaster-

stricken countries, such as Pakistan, which was

recently ravaged by floods, and Haiti, which early this

year was hit by a devastating earthquake, in which

Tunisia and the United Nations lost one of their

eminent diplomats, known for his great competence

and generous devotion, the late Hédi Annabi, head of

the United Nations Stabilization Mission in Haiti.

Today, the world urgently needs to adopt an

efficient policy to protect the environment, so as to

spare humanity the adverse consequences of climate

change, which over the past three decades has caused

the international community huge economic losses.

The Assembly is certainly aware that climate

change has a serious impact on stability in many

countries, given the many problems caused, especially

by global warming, drought and floods, and the resulting

degradation of harvests and scarcity of water resources.

Once again, Tunisia underlines the need to accelerate the

pace of international talks on climate change, while

giving priority to human interests over economic

benefits, so as to reach an agreement guaranteeing that

a minimum of measures will be taken to meet the huge

challenges posed by climate change, particularly in the

developing and the least developed countries.

Tunisia calls for the establishment of a decisive

intervention programme to help remedy the effects of

climate change and the problems it causes in terms of

ecosystems, farming policies, and international food

security in general. In this context, Tunisia reiterates its

support for the African position and underlines the

importance of helping African countries to face the

effects of climate change. Tunisia commends the

attention given by Japan and Korea to this issue. We

hope that the forthcoming Mexico summit will produce

positive results that can help achieve the objectives in

this vital field.

At the present session the Assembly has devoted

a large part of its agenda to the evaluation of our

countries’ achievements in the implementation of the

MDGs, five years before 2015. Implementing the

Goals and meeting the challenges resulting from the

new world order, with the deep changes that it has

generated, require that we step up action to embody the

principles of the Charter in international relations, and

to anchor the culture of dialogue and the values of

tolerance, civilizational communication and solidarity

among peoples.

Tunisia reaffirms its determination to continue

actively contributing to joint international action to

find adequate, fair and durable solutions to current

problems, through joining in all efforts based on

dialogue, mutual respect, consensus and mutual

support within the framework of the United Nations.

That is the ideal framework for international action to

promote security, peace and stability in the world, so

that our peoples can apply all their efforts and capacities

for comprehensive and sustainable development and for

realizing their legitimate aspirations for prosperity and

a decent standard of living.

The current international situation can only

strengthen our adherence to the United Nations and its

founding principles, and bolster our determination to

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reaffirm its central role in meeting challenges and to

confer more efficiency on its activities and programmes,

given its pivotal role in global governance.

In this regard, Tunisia hopes that Member States

will reach the largest possible consensus for

introducing the necessary reforms into the United

Nations system, especially as regards the composition

of the Security Council, and for giving more

transparency and efficiency to the Organization’s

performance; that is in addition to further enhancing

the role of the General Assembly, which includes all

the Member States, and that of the Economic and

Social Council.

To conclude, I once again wish all success to the

Assembly at the current session, at which we hope it

will make constructive recommendations that serve all

the peoples of the world, promote peace and stability,

offer wider prospects for progress and prosperity, and

help meet challenges with confidence and efficiency.