United Arab Emirates, 2011

It is my pleasure to

take this opportunity to congratulate the President of

this session, who is the Permanent Representative of

our sister State of Qatar, for his election as President of

the sixty-sixth session of the United Nations General

Assembly. I am confident that his experience in

international political and diplomatic affairs will

contribute to the success of this session’s work. I wish

him every success. I also wish to commend his

predecessor, His Excellency Joseph Deiss, for his

outstanding leadership of the previous session of the

General Assembly. In addition, I would like to

congratulate His Excellency Mr. Ban Ki-Moon on the

renewed confidence in him and his reappointment as

Secretary-General of this international Organization for

a second term. I would also like to take this

opportunity to congratulate the Republic of South

Sudan for joining our international Organization as a

State Member of the United Nations, along with the

people of Libya for their Transitional National

Council’s taking Libya’s seat in the United Nations.

Addressing enormous international challenges

depends on the extent of consolidated and collective

work, with the participation of all States, including the

small and developing ones, in international decision-

making structures, institutions and mechanisms, based

on the principles of equality, justice and transparency.

My country has therefore undertaken extensive

preventive diplomatic efforts in order to contain the

tensions and disputes occurring in its surroundings and

beyond. The United Arab Emirates vigorously seeks to

enhance its humanitarian and economical programmes

to several developing countries, particularly to those

countries undergoing conflicts or natural disasters, in

addition to its other effective contributions to

peacekeeping operations, protection of civilians, and

re-building efforts. Those contributions represent our

significant partnership with several parties, and our

dedication to achieve the noble objectives of

maintaining and consolidating international peace and

security.

The solid strategic political approach adopted by

the United Arab Emirates is not limited to bilateral and

regional cooperation; it is also evident in the way we

handle all issues. My country seeks to establish peace

and security, eliminate tensions from the region and

enhance confidence-building measures. We apply the

same approach in dealing with the occupation by the

Islamic Republic of Iran of the three Emirate islands of

Abu Musa, and the Greater and Lesser Tumbs. Since

the illegitimate occupation of those islands in 1971, my

country has adopted a flexible diplomatic approach to

resolve this issue through peaceful means, either

through direct bilateral negotiations, or by referring the

11-51390 8

matter to the International Court of Justice. This has

been our approach throughout the last four decades.

However, the United Arab Emirates expresses its

deep concern over the lack of progress in direct,

regional and international contacts made so far with the

Islamic Republic of Iran with a view to reaching a

peaceful, just and permanent solution. The actions

taken by Iran with the aim of changing the legal,

physical and demographic situation of the islands are

null and void and have no legal effect whatsoever.

Those Iranian actions also constitute a violation of

international law, as well as of the United Nations

Charter. Therefore, we call on the Islamic Republic of

Iran to enter into serious and direct negotiations

between the two countries, or to refer the issue to the

International Court of Justice in light of its continuous

illegal occupation of the three islands, which are an

integral part of the territorial sovereignty of the United

Arab Emirates.

We have been closely monitoring the major

developments and complications surrounding the

Palestinian issue, which unfortunately resulted in

halting the efforts and chances of resuming peace talks.

It is time to resolve this issue in all its humanitarian,

legal and political aspects. The core of the solution for

this issue lies in the establishment of a full-fledged

sovereign State within the 4 June 1967 borders, with

East Jerusalem as its capital. Comprehensive and just

peace between Arab countries and Israel would greatly

assist in reducing tensions and deprive the voices of

extremism and violence from using this ongoing issue

as a major justifications for their extremism and

violence.

My country has been closely monitoring the

recent events in the brotherly Kingdom of Bahrain,

which have adversely affected its peace and stability.

While we are extending every required support to the

Kingdom of Bahrain, we denounce any external

intervention in Bahrain’s internal affairs.

We believe that the measures and good efforts

undertaken by His Majesty King Hamad bin Issa

Al Khalifa of Bahrain to promote national dialogue

among all segments of Bahraini society are important

steps that seek to maintain peace and stability in the

Kingdom, preserve civil peace, strengthen national

unity and pursue reforms and progress, in a manner

that will realize the hopes and aspirations of all the

people of Bahrain.

We emphasize that the sovereignty, security and

territorial integrity of the Kingdom of Bahrain are an

integral part of the security and stability of the Arabian

Gulf region, and also part of the responsibilities of the

Arab Gulf Cooperation Council in the region. All

members of the Council are keen to consolidate good

neighbourly relations with all States, based on the

principles of international law and other international

instruments.

The United Arab Emirates renews through this

international platform its full commitment to the

sovereignty, independence, territorial integrity and

national unity of Libya. We also stress our commitment

to Security Council resolutions 1970 (2011) and 1973

(2011) with regard to the protection of civilians. Since

the beginning of the Libyan crisis, we have focused on

the humanitarian assistance aspect and the protection

of civilians. We realized these goals within the efforts

of the international community. We will continue to

support Libya and its people in the upcoming

reconstruction phase. We believe that the honourable

people of Libya and its leadership are capable of

identifying the characteristics of next phase in order to

enhance Libya’s stature within the international

community and strengthen its development and

stability. To this end, my country calls on our

international partners to intensify their efforts to

release the remaining Libyan frozen assets.

My country has also made substantial direct

contributions for the reconstruction of Afghanistan, for

restoring peace and stability in the country and for

alleviating the suffering of its people. Success in this

regard will be a focal point in countering extremism,

militancy, and international terrorism in the Arabian

Gulf region. In addition, peace and security in

Afghanistan have a direct impact on regional security

and on the security of the Arab Gulf region. From this

platform, I call on all Afghani parties to cooperate in

achieving a process of comprehensive national

reconciliation and extending the control of the

Government over all Afghani regions. We also look

forward to the international conference on Afghanistan

to be held in Bonn next December.

Food security is one of the biggest challenges

facing the world today. It is estimated that in 2010

more than 900 million people worldwide suffered from

chronic hunger. The recent tragedy of famine in the

Horn of Africa has demonstrated the urgent need for

concrete efforts on the part of the international

9 11-51390

community to ensure protection for the most

vulnerable peoples in times of crisis.

In a serious discussion of the issue of food

security, we cannot overlook the significance of water

security, especially in view of the fact that agricultural

production consumes around 70 per cent of fresh water

resources globally. My country therefore deems it

important to include the issue of water scarcity and

security in future plans aimed at increasing food

production worldwide. Living as we do in a region that

suffers from a scarcity of water, we are more aware of

its importance, which prompts us to stress the need for

the international community to tackle this challenge

decisively and urgently.

In December, my country will celebrate its

fortieth anniversary. One of the major successes and

positive indicators of human development that we have

achieved has been the advancement and empowerment

of Emirati women. With the support of our leadership

and society, we have been able to arrive at the optimum

balance between our traditions and the demands of

development and participation required to build our

society. In this context, I would like to take the

opportunity commend the establishment of the United

Nations Entity for Gender Equality and the

Empowerment of Women (UN-Women). In support of

this newly established and promising entity, the United

Arab Emirates hereby announces its contribution of

$5 million to the UN-Women fund.

In conclusion, we hope that our deliberations at

this session of the Assembly will contribute to the

promotion and development of all forms of

understanding, solidarity and international cooperation

aimed at addressing the global issues on our agenda.