The Sultanate of Oman’s statement to the 76th Session of the United Nations General Assembly

His Excellency Sayyid Badr Albusaidi, the Foreign Minister, delivered the Sultanate of Oman’s statement at the General Debate of the 76th Session of the United Nations General Assembly, in Arabic. Translation of which is as follows:

Excellency President Abdulla Shahid,

We are pleased to begin our speech by expressing to you and your friendly country, the Republic of Maldives, our congratulations on your election as President of the seventy-sixth session of the United Nations General Assembly. We have complete confidence in your capacity to run this session with competence and skill.

We are also pleased to extend to your predecessor, His Excellency Volkan Bozkir of the friendly Republic of Turkey, our warmest appreciation for his efforts during his presidency of the previous session.

We would like also to register our appreciation for the efforts of Secretary-General António Guterres, wishing him every success in his second term, and emphasising the Sultanate of Oman’s continued cooperation with him and with all member states to achieve the noble goals of the United Nations, foremost of which is the maintenance of international peace and security.

Mr. President

Crises and challenges are also opportunities for nations to test their readiness and enhance their capabilities. Despite the great challenges and changes imposed by the “Covid-19” pandemic on our daily lives, it did not discourage us, thanks to God, in our resolve to confront it, address its repercussions and work to recover from its impacts.

In the Sultanate of Oman, the availability of vaccines has had a significant impact in strengthening our national efforts to address this pandemic and to consolidate hope for its elimination and a gradual return to normal life. Through preventive measures and the national immunisation campaign covering all the targeted age segments, my country was able to curb the spread of the epidemic, reduce the number of infections, deaths and the rate of hospitalisation. This enabled the return of economic, social and commercial activities to normal as well as the opening of all sorts of travel, while taking the necessary preventive and precautionary measures.

As we continue our efforts to tackle this pandemic, we call on the international community to strengthen cooperation and solidarity. We also call upon vaccine producing and donor countries to do their utmost to ensure the equitable distribution of the vaccines to all countries and peoples, especially those in the less developed regions, which suffer from limited medical facilities and capabilities, in order to achieve international cooperation and societal interdependence and to ensure decent life for people everywhere.

We seize this opportunity to offer a word of sincere appreciation and admiration to those in charge of the health systems, especially frontline staff, in all countries of the world and in international organisations for the tremendous efforts and huge sacrifices they are making for the sake of all humanity.

Mr. President, under the wise leadership of His Majesty Sultan Haitham bin Tarik, the Sultanate of Oman, continues to adhere to the main fundamentals and principles of its foreign policy, embodied in the policy of good neighbourliness, non-interference in the internal affairs of others, respect for international laws and norms, support for cooperation between countries and the enhancement of opportunities for dialogue among them. This is an expression of our conviction that resolving differences in the spirit of harmony and tolerance is a mark of our human civilisation and one that leads to better and lasting results than may be achieved by conflict and strife. Words are more powerful than the sword.

We, in the Sultanate of Oman, are part of this interconnected world, with whose people we share common interests and destiny. We are pleased with what pleases the world and regret what is harmful to it. Therefore, we strive with all our energies and capabilities to contribute to the advance of peace at all regional and international levels. We are committed to our position of clarity, frankness and objectivity. We are also firm in our adherence to our values and principles and to a balanced and constructive approach in dealing with all issues.

From this standpoint, my country supported and welcomed the positive developments, which resulted from Al-Ula summit that was held in the brotherly Kingdom of Saudi Arabia and the success of reconciliation efforts led by the brotherly State of Kuwait.

We also affirm our support for the just Palestinian cause and the Palestinian people’s demands for independence and the establishment of their independent state with East Jerusalem as its capital, in accordance with international law, relevant Security Council Resolutions and the Arab Peace Initiative.

Regarding the Yemeni crisis, my country will go ahead with its persistent efforts and will continue to work with the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, the UN envoy, the US envoy for Yemen, and the concerned Yemeni parties, with the aim of ending the war through reaching a comprehensive and permanent ceasefire on all sides, a full resumption of humanitarian efforts, to provide for the needs of the brothers in Yemen, especially medicine, healthcare, food, fuel and housing. We add our voice to all who believe in the inevitability of reaching a comprehensive political settlement to the existing crisis, in a manner that restores to brotherly Yemen its security and stability, the return of normal life and preserves the security and interests of the countries of the region.

We would also like to express our hope that the Vienna talks over Iran’s nuclear programme will lead to results that achieve the desired consensus among all parties, because we strongly believe that this will be in the interest of the region and the entire world.

We have followed, like the rest of the world's countries, the recent developments in Afghanistan. Here, we would like to express our hope that all Afghan parties work towards reconciliation and prioritising the higher interests of the Afghan people and their aspiration for security, stability, economic and social development as well as building positive relations with neighbouring countries and the international community.

Mr. President, my country condemns terrorism in all its forms and manifestations and, at the same time, supports all efforts and strategies aimed at eradicating this worrying scourge, which contradicts religious and human values and ethics and threatens security and stability in the whole world.

The Sultanate also calls for ending threats to international maritime trade and for full adherence to treaties, agreements and international law to ensure freedom of maritime navigation in a manner that secures the flow of trade between countries and enhances opportunities for economic growth. We appeal to all member states to fulfil their commitments made through relevant treaties and disarmament agreements, in particular those that concern nuclear weapons and other weapons of mass destruction, in order to secure global stability.

Mr. President, my country has sought to translate its international commitment to achieving the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals 2030, by integrating its three dimensions (economic, social and environmental), its 17 goals into the Sultanate’s development strategies and plans, and we view it as a major component of Oman’s Vision 2040 and its executive plans.

We are fully aware that the road to sustainable development remains a long and difficult one, and that achieving the commitments we have made depends on our ability to face challenges, all of which requires joint international and regional cooperation. We recognise, in this respect, that a renewed commitment to social justice serves as the real foundation for work on both national and international policy. Here, we welcome and support investment and economic diversification programmes, which are among the key priorities of the development plans in the Sultanate of Oman, which contribute to maximising and disseminating benefits and opportunities to both our partners and society.

The Sultanate of Oman, like other countries of the world, pays great attention to the risks of climate change, which affect environmental, agricultural, infrastructure and economic systems. To counter climate change and limit its increasing negative effects, the Sultanate of Oman has implemented the draft National Strategy for Adaptation and Mitigation of Climate Change, which includes reports on the expected impacts on the most important development sectors and appropriate adaptation measures. My country has recently submitted the second Nationally Determined Contributions Report to reduce greenhouse gas emissions as part of its commitments to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC).

The world has been witnessing new transformations brought about by scientific and technological progress, which makes it incumbent upon us all, once again, to emphasise the importance of strengthening the global partnership in this field, in order to maximise the benefits to be gained from advanced technologies and keep pace with them, within the sustainable development goals and to confront the challenges of our age, foremost among them are those which threaten the climate.

Mr. President, there is no doubt that women have a great role to play alongside men in building a social fabric that ensures the proper upbringing of young people upon whom the hopes of nations rest. You are well aware that young people are the hope of the present and the mainstay of the future and it is upon them that all countries rely for their development. Therefore, it has been essential for governments to place young people among their highest priorities and to provide everything that would advance their capabilities. I emphasise my country's commitment to enabling women and the youth to acquire all possible capabilities and knowledge for their active participation in the process of construction, development, innovation and prosperity.

In conclusion, Your Excellency the President, the international community faces pressing issues that must be addressed with international cooperation to reach the stability, harmony and prosperity as aspired to by humanity. Hence, we believe that consolidating the true concept of partnership and common destiny among all peoples and societies is the most appropriate means to achieve these aspirations, and to maximise the esteemed status that the United Nations cherishes and seeks to sustain.

Thank you for your kind attention.

God’s peace, mercy and blessings be with you

This is an unofficial English translation of the original Arabic text. To view the official Arabic text click here …