Yemen, 2010

Mr. President, on behalf of the Government of Yemen,

I am pleased to express to you our warm

congratulations on your assumption of the presidency

of the General Assembly at its sixty-fifth session. We

are confident that your abilities and wisdom, Sir, will

lead to the success of this session in fulfilment of its

desired goal.

I also wish to refer with appreciation and pride to

the good work of Mr. Ali Abdussalam Treki, the

previous President of the General Assembly, and

congratulate him for his tireless efforts that led the

previous session to a successful conclusion, not the

least of which was his participation in the High-level

Plenary Meeting of the General Assembly on the

Millennium Development Goals (MDGs).

We also wish to thank His Excellency Mr. Ban

Ki-moon, Secretary-General of the United Nations, for

his continuous efforts to reform our Organization and

increase its role in the humanitarian and development

fields and in the achievement of international peace

and security.

The Republic of Yemen is witnessing complex

development and political, social and environmental

challenges. A number of factors and circumstances

have led to their formation, including the international

financial crisis, with its negative effect on the Yemeni

economy, and a decline in our progress towards the

achievement of the MDGs. There is a severe shortage

of available resources owing to the low production and

low price of oil, on which the Government depends as

a main source of income, representing 75 per cent of its

general income. There has also been a decline in

remittances from expatriates and in tourism, in addition

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to overpopulation, paucity of water resources, and

limited contributions from development partners for

funding anti-poverty programmes and providing decent

standards of living for our citizens.

Yemen’s pro rata share of official development

assistance (ODA) is the lowest of the least developed

countries in the world. With a view to achieving

economic development and conducting financial and

economic reforms, my country has recently concluded

an agreement with the International Monetary Fund to

implement a programme that will lead to financial

straightening out of the budget deficit and stem the

progressive decline in Government level of support for

fuel in a manner that would contribute to alleviating

the general budgetary burden falling on the State.

A number of administrative, financial and

judiciary reforms have been adopted, as have efforts to

combat corruption and to apply decentralization of

power. My Government is now trying to develop its

fourth five-year development plan for the years 2011-

2015. We have started a political dialogue with

opposition parties in order to find agreement on how to

address all the challenges faced by Yemen. We have set

up election laws and introduced a number of

constitutional reforms, called for the formation of a

National Unity Government, in preparation for

conducting parliamentary elections next April.

Last week, there were a number of meetings in

New York on a new initiative regarding cooperation

with Yemen, under the name of Friends of Yemen.

Participants included representatives of the Gulf

Cooperation Council, the European Union, the five

permanent members of the Security Council, along

with Turkey, Jordan and Egypt, as well as international

donor funds and institutions. The purpose of the

meeting was to garner support for our efforts to

achieve development and combat extremism, terrorism

and piracy. We are confident that this cooperation will

strengthen our security capabilities to carry out our

development plans, reinforce our ability to combat

terrorism and protect sea lanes in the Gulf of Aden and

the southern part of the Red Sea from piracy and

protect our borders.

Among the challenges Yemen has faced are the

difficult political developments following a rebellion in

the Governorate of Sa’dah, which has complicated the

Government’s efforts at achieving national peace and

reconstruction. This rebellion, in addition to six wars

imposed on Yemen, have caused the displacement of

tens of thousands of citizens and forced the

establishment of refugee camps in coordination with

international relief organizations. The conflict came to

an end once the rebel group accepted the six conditions

that the Government posed, including the release of a

great number of prisoners and agreeing to the Doha

Accords, the time frame and implementation of which,

as sponsored by sisterly Qatar, we are in the process of

carrying out. The Government has responded by

peacefully reaching out to the rebels, while upholding

the principle of sovereignty and the rule of law

throughout the country. The country upheld the right to

confront any groups that violate the Constitution and

the rule of law, or that practise terrorism, violence or

sabotage.

My country is also suffering from the terrorist

activities of Al-Qaida, which has been carrying out

new operations, such as assassinating leaders in our

security sector. It is trying to entrench its position on

the Arabian Peninsula by cooperating with opponents

to Yemeni unity, such as the southern secessionists,

who call for secession in defiance of the will of the

majority of the Yemeni people. They also support

subversive elements in Sa’dah, in service of the

interests of Al-Qaida, and seek to spread instability and

anarchy in the country through their terrorist activities

targeting Yemen, the region and the rest of the world.

Our security apparatus has managed to make

headway in arresting many terrorists and aborting their

operations. These terrorists now live in a state of fear

and are unable to carry out their terrorist plans. As a

complement to the efforts to liquidate Al Qaida, there

remains a pressing and important need to build and

foster national abilities and coordinate intelligence and

security activities.

Experience has proven that outside interference

designed to combat terrorism further compounds the

situation and paves the way for local sympathy for

terrorist groups. Yemen is an effective partner with the

international community in combating terrorism. Our

success today in waging pre-emptive strikes against

Al-Qaida requires that the international community

take a strong stand by providing us with its full

backing and support.

Since its assumption of the chairmanship of the

Group of 77 and China, the Republic of Yemen has

enthusiastically and willingly tried to reach consensus

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on a number of issues of interest to the Group and that

will maintain the unity and solidarity of the Group and

further its relations with the developed countries.

Recently, Yemen led the difficult negotiations to arrive

at the outcome document of the High-level Plenary

Meeting of the sixty-fifth session of the General

Assembly on the Millennium Development Goals

(resolution 65/1), which contains a work programme

for the coming five years. Yemen’s leadership of the

Group enabled it to achieve much of the South’s

agenda, which serves the interests of all developing

countries. It is leading other, highly complex

negotiations on conventions having to do with the

environment and climate change.

We are proud to have chaired the meetings of the

Group of 77 and China on the United Nations

Framework Convention on Climate Change. Our

effective participation in the work of the relevant

committees has led to a compromise and middle

ground that we hope will lead to the success that has

thus far remained out of reach.

We must focus on the suffering of more than

20 million Pakistanis caused by the recent floods,

calling on the international community, particularly the

super-Powers, to shoulder their responsibilities towards

the Pakistani people as well as their responsibility

vis-à-vis the impact of climate change in the future and

its potential destructive effects. We call upon all

Member States to responsibly stand by the sisterly

Government of Pakistan with a view to alleviating the

suffering of its internally displaced persons.

I would like to take this opportunity to extend our

warmest condolences to the Governments and peoples

of States that have recently been affected by natural

disasters, particularly Pakistan, China, the Russian

Federation and Haiti.

It is, of course, a fact that the Arab-Israeli

conflict threatens international stability and security.

The history of efforts to solve this conflict shows

clearly that Israeli recalcitrance and the Israeli

Government’s settlement policies, as well as its refusal

to abide by the internationally legitimate resolutions

and the Arab Peace Initiative or ensure the legitimate

rights of the Palestinians are the main barriers to the

achievement of peace.

The international community, in particular the

main sponsors of the peace talks and especially the

United States, should give Israel one last chance to

abide by all of the resolutions, previous agreements

and calls relating to the promulgation of peace in

addition to the establishment of a sovereign Palestinian

State on its soil and the cessation of settlement-

building. Furthermore, if Israel continues to reject

peace, the Security Council should impose a solution to

the conflict in accordance with relevant resolutions of

international legitimacy and under Chapter VII of the

Charter. Israel must also accede to the Treaty on the

Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons and enter into

serious talks with the International Atomic Energy

Agency aimed at making the Middle East a region free

from weapons of mass destruction and to assert the

right of States in the region to the peaceful use of

nuclear technology.

Despite the numerous meetings of the Security

Council and the International Contact Group on

Somalia, the situation in Somalia remains dangerous

and threatening to the security and stability of the

region. It is regrettable that, given the growing piracy

phenomenon, its expansion and its threat to

international navigation, the international community

has not taken effective steps to support the temporary

Somali Government, enable it to build its State and

institutions, support its security capacity and army and

support the African peacekeeping force. This has made

the Somali Government and people feel embittered,

having witnessed the non fulfilment by the

international community of its commitments and

obligations to the Somali Government.

Yemen bears the burden of the outflow of

thousands of refugees from the Horn of Africa, most of

whom are from Somalia. We are well aware of the

effects of the security, political and humanitarian

situation in Somalia on Yemen and the region. The

United Nations and the Security Council in particular

should shoulder their responsibility to restore security

and stability to Somalia.

Here, we acknowledge the efforts of the Sudanese

Government to bring about the success of dialogue

with the opposition forces, and we commend the Qatari

mediation efforts to achieve peace in Darfur and the

Comprehensive Peace Agreement with the South.

Dialogue is the only means to maintain the unity of the

Sudan and achieve security and stability there. We call

upon all Sudanese parties to shoulder their

responsibilities and to effectively participate in the

dialogue in a manner that fulfils the high national

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interests of the Sudanese people and retains their social

integrity and unity.

We call for the revocation of the International

Criminal Court warrant against his Excellency

President Omer Al Bashir, since this does not respect

the sovereignty of the State and impedes efforts to

achieve peace in the Sudan.

The parliamentary elections in Iraq reflected the

Iraqi people’s support for the democratic option and

the Iraqi Constitution. We are confident that they will

employ dialogue to solve all of their differences and

avoid all sectarian and factional conflicts and disputes.

We are hopeful that the Iraqi national leadership will

agree to the formation of the Government and put Iraq

on the road towards development, construction and

stability.

The Republic of Yemen hosted a ministerial

meeting of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations

at the beginning of last month. At that meeting, it was

reiterated that it was necessary to strengthen

cooperation among its member States in the fields of

trade, investment, tourism, culture and education,

fisheries; and efforts to combat epidemics, natural

disasters, the challenges of climate change and piracy

on the high seas.

We also hosted the extraordinary ministerial

meeting of the Sana’a Forum for Cooperation,

emphasizing the need to achieve security and stability

in the Horn of Africa and the south of the Red Sea, and

to combat extremism, piracy and terrorism in the Horn

of Africa and the Arabian Sea.

We have hosted these and other ministerial and

regional meetings based on our desire to achieve

collective cooperation in order to maintain peace and

security among the peoples of the region and the

world, in accordance with the lofty goals of the United

Nations.

Despite all the appeals to achieve the Millennium

Development Goals (MDGs) and the humanitarian

themes included in the Goals, the international

situation, which has been affected by the financial

crisis, the fluctuation of energy prices and natural

disasters leading to increases in the price of crops and

other foodstuffs, has dissuaded developed countries

from fulfilling their obligations to assist and support

the least developed countries. There is fear that the

specified time frame for achieving the MDGs will pass

and the developed countries will not fulfil their

obligations towards the developing and least developed

countries.

In Yemen, we have positively dealt with these

Goals in accordance with our limited capacity. Our

Government has adopted a national strategy to

eradicate poverty. This has been reflected in our

national development plans. We are trying our best,

with the cooperation of the international community, to

implement this strategy. Our Government has taken a

number of measures to increase the allocation of

budgetary funds for education and to build more

schools as well as to enhance the educational cadres,

developing primary education, encouraging education

for girls and widening the scope of adult illiteracy

reduction. We are trying to improve gender equality

and the empowerment of women to participate in

political life. We have provided health care for mothers

and children, spreading cultural and health awareness.

This has led to low infant mortality rates. We have

conducted health campaigns to eliminate epidemics

and the spread of AIDS.

Yemen suffers from scarce water resources and

overpopulation, which adversely affect the

sustainability and soundness of the environment. We

have therefore made national plans to study the

situation, better understand the problems, and protect

the environment as part of our national plans for

development.

We have spent a great deal on imposing the rule

of law and on combating terrorism and other

subversive elements. We have taken in more than

700,000 refugees from the Horn of Africa, which has

limited our expenditure on development and poverty

reduction, on improving the standards of living of our

citizens, on providing employment for our youth, on

improving education and health care and on the

achievement of the MDGs. We therefore call on our

friends, partners, international donors and international

organizations and financial institutions to help us

combat terrorism. They must fulfil their obligations

and extend the necessary support to Yemen to help us

achieve sustainable development and the

socio-economic and political stability to which we

aspire.