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STATEMENT OF THE STATE OF KUWAIT

DELIVERED BY

HIS HIGHNESS SHEIKH JABER AL MUBARAK AL HAMAD AL SABAH

PRIME MINISTER OF THE STATE OF KUWAIT

BEFORE

THE SIXTY-EIGHTH SESSION OF THE UNITED NATIONS

GENERAL ASSEMBLY

GENERAL DEBATE

UNITED NATIONS HEADQUARTERS — NEW YORK

WEDNESDAY, 25 SEPTEMBER 2013

In the Name of Allah — The Merciful, The Compassionate

Mr. President,

The peace and blessings of God be upon you.

It pleases me, at the outset, to extend in the name of the government and people of the State of Kuwait our sincere congratulations to you and to your friendly country, Antigua and Barbuda, on your election as President of the 68th Session of the General Assembly. We are certain that your vast experience in international affairs will enable you to conduct the deliberations of this session wisely and ably, and wish you success in this endeavor.

We also would like to extend our thanks to his Excellency Mr. Vuk Jeremic for the efforts he exerted during his presidency of the past session.

In this regard, I would also like to pay tribute to the tremendous efforts exerted by His Excellency the Secretary-General of the United Nations Mr. BAN Ki-moon in leading this organization, and disseminating its lofty message to maintain international peace and security, in fulfillment of the aspirations of the states and peoples of the world, to a better world that guarantees a dignified life for all human beings.

Mr. President,
Your Excellencies,
Ladies & Gentlemen,

The maintenance of regional and international peace and security, is of great importance among the priorities of the foreign policy of the State of Kuwait, based in its principles and objectives, as it is, on the Charter of the United Nations, and the provisions of international law, calling for building bridges of confidence, good neighbourly relations, mutual respect, and non-interference in the internal affairs of states, as well as to promote the concepts of peaceful coexistence; and the pursuit of peaceful means to settle conflicts and disputes.

In November of last year, the State of Kuwait celebrated the 50th Anniversary of the adoption of its Constitution, which was the result of a distinguished experience reflecting the relation between the ruler and the ruled, which has evolved, in a historically smooth manner, into a democratic exercise and popular participation. This has embodied the essence and values of political growth, based upon peace and working for peace, as well as developing and strengthening relations with neighbouring countries in accordance with the principles of mutual respect, common interest and rising above the wounds of the past, in order to chart a better future for the region and the world.

In this context, I would like to mention our bilateral relations with the Republic of Iraq, and commend the efforts of the Iraqi Government to fulfill its international commitments towards the State of Kuwait, in implementation of relevant Security Council resolutions. Through communications at the highest level between the leaderships of both countries, our bilateral relations have developed positively and tangibly by overcoming past differences between the two countries, and looking forward to strengthen and develop future bilateral relations for the welfare and interest of the peoples of both countries.

We also look forward to a genuine cooperation with the Republic of Iraq to find the remains of missing Kuwaitis and third country nationals, and to a serious search for the national archives of the State of Kuwait, in implementation of Security Council resolution 2107 (2013) that resulted from the understanding reached to transfer follow-up responsibility on these matters from the United Nations High Level Coordinator for missing Kuwaiti nationals and property, to the United Nations Assistance Mission in Iraq (UNAMI).

In this regard, we commend the efforts of the Secretary-General of the United Nations and his concern to accelerate the closure of these two issues and unravel the fate of the rest of the missing persons, and putting an end to the human sufferings of their families.

Mr. President,

More than two and a half years have passed since the eruption of the crisis in Syria. This crises has exceeded the description of a humanitarian disaster, and is fast approaching the description of a catastrophe, with the increasing numbers of victims and multiplying numbers of missing, and internally and externally displaced persons, coupled with recurring scenes of blood, violence, destruction, oppression and violation of the most basic principles and values of humanity. Those dimensions of the crisis have become an obstacle to any impending solutions that can contain this crisis, despite the great and continued efforts exerted on the regional and international level. This has faced the Security Council with a historic and decisive responsibility, to start taking serious and tangible steps to ensure finding solutions that can guarantee an end to the bloodshed of the brotherly Syrian people, achieve their demands, and restore security and stability in their country.

In response to the suffering of the Syrian people; as a result of the exacerbation of the crisis and its destructive consequences; the State of Kuwait hosted last January, an international donors conference to support the humanitarian situation in Syria. This conference achieved its desired results, after the pledges surpassed the targeted amount of 1.5 billion dollars of which the State of Kuwait contributed 300 million dollars. This amount has been paid in full to a number of United Nations bodies and agencies, which turned it into emergency relief assistance to the Syrian people, inside and outside Syria. The State of Kuwait would like to thank all the countries that participated in the donors conference. Their participation reflected their care and concern over the deteriorating humanitarian situation in Syria.

Mr. President,

Prime Minister of Kuwait Addresses General Assembly (UN Photo/Paulo Filgueiras)

We all recognize that the maintenance of peace and security is the main entry to the rest of the doors leading to a dignified life, prosperity and human creativity. It is because factors like development in all its economic, social, environmental, political and cultural aspects cannot function where peace and security are lacking or ebbing.

Turning to the Middle East region, where Palestine is still suffering from chronic challenges, that had disrupted the vision of its future based on development, and regional and international cooperation, in addition to the disruption of political and security conditions in the region, due to the lack of confidence created by Israel’s continued policy of building illegal settlements on occupied Palestinian lands, its continued siege of the Gaza Strip, and the detention of thousands of Palestinians and their imprisonment in sub-human conditions, that contravene the most basic rules of International Humanitarian law, such practices have reached their peak after Palestine gained the status of Observer State in this Organization.

In this regard, we reiterate that only the international community has the capability to achieve the difficult formula of peace. We value in this respect the ongoing efforts of the United States of America to achieve a breakthrough in the peace process, hoping that persistent efforts and pressure on Israel will make it accept the resolutions of international legitimacy.

At the same regional level, concerning Iran’s nuclear program, the State of Kuwait supports the ongoing efforts to peacefully resolve this issue, in a manner that will preserve the right of the Islamic Republic of Iran and all the countries in the region, to use nuclear energy for peaceful purposes under the supervision and monitoring of the International Atomic Energy Agency. We also call upon the Islamic Republic of Iran to cooperate fully with international efforts and work on implementing the relevant Security Council resolutions, and to cooperate also with the I.A.E.A. and implement its resolutions to escape this crisis, which had cast it shadow for many years on this region, and gave rise to doubts and created an atmosphere of instability and tension.

Mr. President,

The State of Kuwait celebrated this year its 50th Anniversary of joining this inveterate organization, ever since then, and driven by its belief in the importance of common international action, it had been keen on providing highly effective support to many agencies, bodies and organizations of the United Nations system, in view of the growth and increase of challenges at all levels, putting the international community, represented by the United Nations, before a real test of the international will and the global partnership in facing these challenges.

The adoption of the Millennium Development Goals has represented a major shift in the ability of the United Nations to mobilize the global will to eradicate poverty and achieve sustainable development, thus clearly expressing the scope of success of the will of the international community and the feasibility of the global partnership. However, the emergence of new major challenges that are related either, to security disruptions resulting from instability and violations of human rights that accompany them, or to challenges related to steady environmental deterioration that threatens our world, together with other serious urgent challenges, dictates upon us, as an international community, the inevitable task of rethinking the preparation of a comprehensive and ambitious development plan, to complement the efforts aimed at achieving the MDG’s, by formulating and incorporating them, in a manner that coincide with the post 2015 development plan, in order to make a quantum leap towards a renewed global partnership that will complete building on the scientific bases of the Millennium Declaration, and the principles and outcome of the Earth Summit held in Brazil (Rio+20). This should help the peoples, to whom those goals represented hope in creating an ideal world and a better life, particularly in the Least Developed Countries, or those still recovering from wars and conflicts. In this respect, we refer to the importance of the international community paying careful attention to support the foundations of development, in order to achieve security and stability in Somalia and Afghanistan.

While The State of Kuwait is considered as one of the developing countries, it has since its independence in 1961, given a great deal of attention to providing financial and material assistance to the developing and least developed countries, through numerous mechanisms and initiatives. The Kuwait Fund for Arab Economic Development is considered one of the main bodies that express the firm and consistent approach of the State of Kuwait in translating its promises and policies regarding the importance of international cooperation, and assistance to needy people, into actual applications on the ground. After its establishment, and having outgrown its regional Arab scope, the Fund expanded its activities and development assistance to Asian, African, as well as Central and Latin American countries.

In this domain, the State of Kuwait has provided a provisional financial contribution in the amount of 500 million dollars for the Republic of Yemen to fund the development of projects in the provisional program for the period 2012-2014. This contribution is designed to support the implementation of the peaceful transition of power according to the Gulf States Initiative and its execution mechanism aimed at ending the crisis in Yemen, and reestablishing security and stability therein, as well to rehabilitate the development sectors for achieving the legitimate ambitions and aspirations of the Yemeni people, to live safely through the consolidation of democracy and a state of efficient official institutions.

Mr. President,

The State of Kuwait, through its immense interest in promoting and intensifying regional and international multilateral action, being one of the main tributaries to review the aspects of cooperation and coordination in many vital and political fields, hosted many regional and international summit, meetings and conferences, that addressed and focused on many issues, challenges, hopes and aspirations, in support of initiatives aimed at creating better conditions for the peoples of the region and the world.

By expanding this approach built on coordination, and the spirit of entrepreneurship, the State of Kuwait will host this coming month of November, the 3rd Arab-African Summit under the theme “Partners in Development and Investment,” which we hope will culminate in results that deepen the foundations of Arab-African Cooperation, and open new horizons that serve stability, development and cooperation between the people and countries of these two groupings.

The State of Kuwait will also host the 34th Session of the Supreme Council of the Cooperation Council for the Arab States of the Gulf, in the coming month of December, as well as the Arab League 25th regular summit meeting in March 2014.

In conclusion, I cannot but assert the adherence of the State of Kuwait to the international multilateral system, and to the principles and purposes of the United Nations Charter, as well as its belief in the importance and the necessity of the fulfillment of all states their obligations and responsibilities that they have committed to in international agreements and conferences. This will contribute to finding just and equitable solutions to the global threats and challenges, in order to achieve the loftier objective, namely the maintenance of international peace and security.

Thank you.