Full text of HM the King's address to 65th session of UN General Assembly

HM King Mohammed VI addressed, on Monday, the 65th session of the UN General Assembly.
Here follows the full text of the address, read by Prime Minister Abbas El Fassi:

Praise be to God May peace and blessings be upon 
the Prophet, His Kith and Kin

Your Majesties,
Your Highnesses,
Your Excellencies,
Mr President,
Mr Secretary-General,

First of all, I should like to congratulate you, Mr President, on being elected to preside over the 65th session of the General Assembly of the United Nations, and to commend your predecessor, Dr Ali Triki, on having given fresh impetus to the proceedings of the General Assembly.
I also want to express my deep appreciation to the Secretary-General, who spares no effort to enhance the role of the United Nations Organization.

This session, which is being held ten years after the Millennium Summit, is an occasion for us to agree on a consensual vision to steer our joint action for the years to come, and also to reiterate our commitment to the three basic elements underlying that vision, namely security and stability, development and prosperity, and support for human rights and human dignity. These priorities make up the bedrock of the new international agenda.

This important meeting therefore provides a good opportunity for us to reassert our commitment to tackling these priorities, and to reiterate our determination to promote international cooperation and lay the groundwork for a new world where safety and solidarity prevail.

Morocco, which sees the United Nations Organisation as the symbol of universal values and international legitimacy, has worked untiringly to give
the Organization active support, to promote its principles and to contribute to the achievement of its objectives.

My country has also actively sought to ensure its national priorities are in line with the international agenda.

Mr. President,

Peace-keeping was the main reason behind the creation of the United Nations, which is playing a key role for all mankind.

From this rostrum, the Kingdom of  Morocco calls on the international community to increase its involvement and work for the settlement of all disputes - whether overt or latent - which strain relations between neighbouring states and hamper the indispensable integration of their economies, particularly in Africa.

To foster healthier relations in our Maghreb region, we submitted an Autonomy Initiative in 2007 with a view to bringing an end to the artificial dispute over the recovery, by Morocco, of its southern provinces.

This bold, innovative initiative has received the support of the international community and the Security Council, which have repeatedly described the efforts underlying it as serious and credible. They have also commended the steps taken by Morocco to facilitate the settlement of this dispute which heavily jeopardizes the Maghreb integration and the prosperity of the peoples of the five countries in the region. 

In this context, the Kingdom of Morocco calls on the other partners to seize this historic opportunity and engage in substantive negotiations under the auspices of the Secretary-General and his Personal Envoy, to whom we reiterate our sincere willingness to cooperate.
The need to free our region from the yoke of this dispute, which hampers our joint action, has never been greater, not only for us, but also for our strategic partners.

We therefore have to settle this dispute, given the numerous, pressing challenges facing us, especially with respect to security, in the Sahara and Sahel region and in the Mediterranean basin.

Mr. President,

Achieving peace in the Middle East is not an impossible goal, nor is the persistence of the conflict an inevitable fate. The only solution remains that of two states, living side by side, in peace and security.

The international community is therefore called upon to support the direct negotiation process taking place under the commendable auspices of the US Administration. This is a good opportunity to strive hard and achieve a final settlement in compliance with international legality and the relevant UN resolutions, and on the basis of a clear frame of reference, a comprehensive agenda and a specific timetable.  

As an active player in the peace process, Morocco is aware that negotiations have to address the issue of establishing a fully sovereign Palestinian state, with Al Quds Al Sharif as its capital, as well as the related thorny questions, and that for negotiations to succeed, unilateral actions must be avoided and settlement building must end, especially in Al Quds Al Sharif.

As President of the Al Quds Committee, I have consistently drawn the attention of the United Nations Organization and of the international community to the sensitivity of the issue of Al Quds Al Sharif and to the attempts to Judaize this holy city and obliterate its characteristics. Al Quds must remain a symbol of coexistence and concord between the monotheistic religions; a City of Peace and of coexistence between the Palestinian and the Israeli peoples.

Mr. President,

Two days ago, we took stock of the progress that has been made towards achieving the Millennium Development Goals. We agreed that a combination of crises and of consequences of climate change has clearly delayed the attainment of most of these goals in many developing countries, particularly in Africa.

With a population of more than 900 million people and natural resources abundant enough to ensure the continent’s self-sufficiency, Africa may well enjoy a steady growth rate. This potential notwithstanding, Africa largely remains on the sidelines when it comes to foreign direct investment flows, a trend which has been compounded further by the global economic and financial crisis.

The Kingdom of Morocco therefore proposes that the United Nations General Assembly should hold a high-level dialogue on investment in Africa.
Similarly, the magnitude of the challenges posed by globalization requires urgent, substantial reforms of the current global economic governance set-up as well as further mobilization to lay the foundations of a new, equitable, balanced and efficient environmental order that will enable us to safeguard our planet for the sake of current and future generations.

Mr. President,

The Kingdom of Morocco has made the irreversible decision to protect and promote human rights, using, to this end, a comprehensive strategy based on a participatory approach which lays special emphasis on human resource development and the promise of a dignified life, which are key elements in our endeavour to build a democratic society dedicated to development.

In this respect, Morocco has launched major projects and the substantial progress made towards expanding the scope of individual and collective freedoms, safeguarding human dignity and promoting the rights of its citizens - especially those of women, children and people with special needs - has been widely recognized.

Morocco has been deeply committed to protecting human rights since the establishment of the Human Rights Council and the setting up of its operating mechanisms. This commitment was recognized in March 2010, when Morocco was chosen as co-facilitator, at the UN General Assembly level, of the review process of this key UN institution, one of whose aims is to put human capital at the heart of human resource development and sustainable development.

Morocco will spare no effort to achieve this goal and to help develop a shared, responsible vision on the true values of human rights, a vision which excludes empty slogans and tendentious manipulation of lofty objectives.

Ladies and Gentlemen,

The world still has a long way to go before states and peoples learn to accept diversity and make it a source of spiritual, cultural and civilizational enrichment. More than a necessity, dialogue among civilizations has become a priority.
It is of the utmost importance that the United Nations Organization becomes the standard bearer of a culture of peace, tolerance and mutual understanding; that it serves as a catalyst for a new form of cooperation which is based on solidarity and dedicated to achieving the dignity and well-being of all people.

Thank you.

Wassalamu alaikum warahmatullah wabarakatuh.

*****

 HM King Mohammed VI addressed, on Monday, the Summit on the Millennium Devepment Goals held September 20-22 in New York.
 Here is the full text of the address:

Praise be to God, 
May peace and blessings be upon  the Prophet, His Kith and Kin

Mr. President,
Your Majesties,
Your Excellencies,
Your Highnesses,
Mr. Secretary-General,
Ladies and Gentlemen,

It gives me great pleasure to attend this High-level Plenary Meeting of the General Assembly on the Millennium Development Goals. I should like, first, to pay tribute to Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon for making development issues a top priority in the United Nations Organization’s program of action.

Ten years ago, we adopted the Millennium Declaration as a common, consensual agreement to ensure human, globally consistent sustainable development. The question on everyone’s mind today is: What specific goals have been achieved under this historic Declaration?

In a spirit of responsibility and frankness, we should use this meeting to pause and make an objective assessment of what has been accomplished, determine the obstacles that need to be overcome, and devise the strategies needed to achieve the MDGs by the year 2015.

This momentous challenge calls for responsibilities to be shouldered collectively, not only by our partners among the developed countries, that have to honour their obligations with respect to financing development projects, but also by developing nations, that have to ensure MDGs take centre stage in their national policies.

This is precisely the course of action Morocco has embarked on. In 2005, we launched the National Initiative for Human Development.

The Initiative rests on an inclusive, consultation-based approach, participatory democracy, a system of governance founded on close proximity to the citizens, as well as on a deep, active involvement of the actors concerned in the Initiative’s projects, which seek to address shortcomings in social development efforts by creating jobs and income-generating activities.

Thanks to this bold initiative and to the in-depth reforms, sectoral plans and major projects it has triggered, Morocco has made much headway towards the accomplishment of the Millennium Development Goals, particularly with respect to fighting poverty, precariousness and social exclusion, and improving people’s living conditions in both urban and rural areas, especially by ensuring widespread access to electricity and drinking water.

Concurrently, a compulsory medical insurance scheme has been set up, together with a health cover plan to assist needy people.

The Kingdom of Morocco has also made a sovereign decision with respect to gender equity in family, health, school and job market issues. There has been noteworthy progress in this domain. The representation and active participation of women in political institutions and in public life have also been significantly enhanced.

The policy to make primary education accessible to all has resulted in 93 percent of children aged 6 to 11 being enrolled at school. Furthermore, in 2008, we adopted an emergency response plan to speed up the reform of our education and training system.

Given the importance we attach to the environmental dimension in development projects, we have been able to take successful measures with respect to protecting the environment and combating climate change.

Similarly, and in order to promote sustainable development through the optimal use of clean, renewable energy sources, we have launched a ground-breaking solar energy plan as well as an integrated program for wind power production.

Through these two projects, Morocco will be able to generate 42 percent of its energy needs from clean, renewable sources.

Mr. President,

The common commitment we made at the Millennium Summit has changed the lives of millions of people who are now enjoying their rights to education, health, employment and a dignified life.

However, can the conscience of mankind remain indifferent to the plight of more than one billion people who continue to suffer from hunger, and to the millions of children who die annually from malnutrition as well as from diseases and epidemics for which treatment is both available and affordable?

Certainly not. Such a bitter reality simply cannot be tolerated. Not only is it inconsistent with the aims of the revealed religions, of democracy and of international conventions, but it also contradicts the lofty human ideals of brotherhood, solidarity and justice. Sadly, this situation is also being exploited to foment hatred and fuel extremism.

To promote a global partnership based on solidarity, Morocco has made human development and the achievement of the Millennium Development Goals the central part of a practical, innovative South-South cooperation policy, especially with respect to sister African nations.

I believe a firm political commitment made by all our countries and supported by a global, specific partnership mechanism, with a clear implementation timetable, provides the best guarantee for achieving the Millennium Development Goals.

At the same time, we need to anticipate potential problems and start thinking about the broad lines of our action beyond 2015, so as to ensure the continuity of our endeavours and be prepared to meet new challenges.

We should do this through collective action to strengthen the foundations of a global, harmonious, solidarity-based system to promote sustainable human development, in which efficient, equitable governance should play a key role so that we may offer upcoming generations a dignified life and build a future of peace, stability, progress and prosperity for all.
Thank you.

Wassalamu alaikum warahmatullah wabarakatuh.