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United Nations A/64/PV.12 General Assembly Official Records Sixty-fourth session 12th plenary meeting Monday, 28 September 2009, 3 p.m. New York President: Mr. Ali Abdussalam Treki ........................... (Libyan Arab Jamahiriya) The meeting was called to order at 3.10 p.m. consensus reached by the political parties of Mauritania and enshrined in the Dakar Accord. This Agenda item 8 (continued) agreement provided for the elaboration of an electoral agenda supervised by a Government of national unity General debate in which minority parties in Parliament enjoy half of The President (spoke in Arabic): I call on Her the number of seats, including among the sovereign Excellency Ms. Naha Mint Mouknass, Minister for ministries, such as the Ministries of Home Affairs, Foreign Affairs and Cooperation of the Islamic Information, Defence and others. Republic of Mauritania. The normalization of the constitutional process Ms. Mint Mouknass (Mauritania) (spoke in led to the election of Mr. Mohamed Ould Abdel Aziz as Arabic): I should like at the outset, on behalf of the President of the Islamic Republic of Mauritania. He Islamic Republic of Mauritania as well as on my own received 53 per cent of the votes during the first round account, to congratulate you, Sir, on your election to of the elections held on 18 July and all national and preside over the General Assembly at its sixty-fourth international observers attested to the transparency and session and to wish you every possible success in your fairness of this election. serious and noble mission. I have a great deal of On behalf of the Islamic Republic of Mauritania, confidence that your efforts will bear fruit and enable I convey my special gratitude to the International the Organization to continue to achieve the success Contact Group, and especially to the President of the attained under the presidency of your predecessor, African Union, the Leader Muammar Al-Qadhafi, who Father Miguel d’Escoto Brockmann. was one of the first to call for a domestic solution, thus I should also like to convey my gratitude and enabling Mauritanian stakeholders to normalize the appreciation to Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon for the political situation in their country. I also convey my efforts he has devoted to consolidating peace and gratitude to His Excellency Abdoulaye Wade, President security throughout the world, to achieving the of the brotherly country of Senegal, who accompanied Millennium Development Goals and to promoting the the signing of the Dakar Accord and ensured its fight against climate change. follow-up implementation. This session is being held at a time when my Mauritania, under the presidency of country is extricating itself from a political and Mr. Mohamed Ould Abdel Aziz, is determined to institutional crisis that lasted for a few months and was consolidate democracy and institutions and uphold the resolved, with the help of the efforts of the rule of law in a spirit of calm and stability, thereby International Contact Group on Mauritania, through a This record contains the text of speeches delivered in English and of the interpretation of speeches delivered in the other languages. Corrections should be submitted to the original languages only. They should be incorporated in a copy of the record and sent under the signature of a member of the delegation concerned to the Chief of the Verbatim Reporting Service, room U-506. Corrections will be issued after the end of the session in a consolidated corrigendum. 09-52604 (E) *0952604* A/64/PV.12 providing for the progress and well-being of the people low income countries. I pay tribute to all of those steps of Mauritania. from this rostrum. Aware of the need to integrate peoples and States, The economic, social and environmental Mauritania reiterates its attachment to the Arab dimensions of development are all closely interlinked. Maghreb Union as a strategic choice for the people of For that reason we call upon all countries to fight the region. It also affirms its attachment to joint work against climate change. My country is one of the ten within the framework of the League of Arab States, as countries most affected by global warming, which well as its commitment to the African Union and to could lead to a rise in sea level. Here, we request that United Nations purposes and principles, industrialized States limit their greenhouse gas emissions. We also welcome the meeting on climate We reiterate our support for efforts aimed at change that was convened by the Secretary-General reforming the United Nations, especially the expansion and await the outcome of the international conference of the Security Council, where a permanent seat should on climate change to be held in December in be granted to the African continent and another to the Copenhagen, with great interest. Arab Group, whose people make up more than 11 per cent of the world population. My country follows the issue of the Western Sahara with great interest and reaffirms its backing for The tremendous efforts undertaken during the the efforts of the Secretary-General and his Special sixty-third session of the General Assembly are Envoy aimed at finding a final solution to this issue, praiseworthy, whether we are referring to the Doha which would strengthen security and stability in the Review Conference or the conference on the world region. financial and economic crisis and its impact on development. Despite these commendable efforts, the The Arab-Israeli conflict is a source of ongoing world continues to be wracked by a stifling financial tension and a threat to international peace and security crisis that has undermined development efforts, in a sensitive and vital region of the world. For that especially in the least developed countries (LDCs). The reason, we support peace efforts aimed at finding a impact of the financial crisis on the economies of the solution to the conflict that will, on the one hand, LDCs is disastrous. While the rich countries of the guarantee the brotherly Palestinian people all of their North have achieved economic and social progress rights, including the establishment of an independent during these past few years, the least developed Palestinian State, with East Jerusalem as its capital, countries will face many obstacles that will have an and the right to live in peace and security side by side impact on programmes aimed at achieving their with Israel; and on the other hand, will restore all Millennium Development Goals. occupied Arab territories, including the Syrian Golan and the Lebanese Sheba'a farms. The international community must act rapidly to confront this disaster that threatens the global Turning to the situation in the Sudan, we wish economic order. It must take concrete measures aimed here to underscore our categorical rejection of the at restoring confidence, achieving economic progress International Criminal Court’s arrest warrant for the and creating jobs. Commerce, trade and investment Sudanese President, because it undermines peace must be revitalized to provide the necessary financing efforts under way in that country and runs counter to to poor countries and to maintain achievements made international norms. thus far in the fight against poverty and in The culture of peace, tolerance, justice and strengthening the role of the United Nations respect for peoples and civilizations is the best possible Development Programme in countering the economic way to uphold international peace and security. crisis and its adverse impact on development. Outstanding issues are still without an available In this respect, we urge rich countries to fulfil the solution; the chasm between the rich and the poor and commitments made in London in early April towards the turbulent international economic infrastructure financing development in developing countries, and have led to tension, extremism and terrorism. Here I their pledges to allocate $1 trillion to revitalize the reaffirm that the Islamic Republic of Mauritania rejects global economy, including $50 billion devoted to the terrorism in all its forms and manifestations and reiterates its commitment to Islamic values, which 2 09-52604 A/64/PV.12 reject violence and extremism and call for tolerance effects of global recession and economic turbulence and fraternity. We believe that it is the duty of the and to limit the impact of the crisis on those in greatest international community to consider seriously the need. Once again, the United Nations provides a causes of this phenomenon and to devise ways to framework for the development of collective responses confront it and eradicate it once and for all. and solutions. Fulfilling the commitments that the international The summit of world leaders hosted by Secretary- community made in creating this Organization will General Ban Ki-moon in New York last week on only be possible if all peoples and all countries share climate change displayed the strength of international the available resources and possibilities for successful commitment on this issue. The Secretary-General has development, and if the policies of the countries of the been a powerful advocate of collective action to tackle North are rooted in a vision of dignified, free and equal this major threat to our planet and our future existence for all. In my view this is the only way to generations. It now falls to us, the Member States, to reach the objectives that this Organization was created redouble our efforts to ensure a successful outcome to for. the Copenhagen Conference in December. The President: I now call on His Excellency The promise that the United Nations embodies to Mr. Peter Power, Minister of State for Overseas tackle all these global threats can only be realized Development of Ireland. through continuing efforts to make this a stronger and more effective Organization.
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