ASSISTANT SECRETARY-GENERAL KHALED KHIARI
BRIEFING TO THE SECURITY COUNCIL ON
COOPERATION BETWEEN THE UNITED NATIONS AND THE LEAGUE OF ARAB STATES
New York, 23 January 2025
Mister President,
Members of the Security Council,
Thank you for the opportunity to highlight our long and multifaceted cooperation with the League of Arab States, a key regional organization that will mark the 80th anniversary of its founding in March.
I take this opportunity to congratulate His Excellency, Mr. Aboul Gheit, Secretary-General of the League, ahead of this auspicious occasion.
We meet today in the early days of the ceasefire and hostage release deal in Gaza. This critical and long-awaited agreement offers a ray of hope, a long-overdue moment that provides much-needed relief for Palestinians in Gaza and for the hostages reunited with their loved ones.
Egypt, Qatar and the United States of America have all made significant efforts to broker the agreement. The United Nations is now doing its part to ensure the rapid scaling up of the humanitarian relief. We must all work together to ensure its success.
In this regard, UNRWA must be enabled to carry out its mandate, as adopted by the General Assembly, in all its areas of operation. We again commend the League of Arab States for its vocal support of this vital UN agency.
The United Nations Secretary-General remains deeply concerned about the continuing violence in the occupied West Bank, particularly the ongoing large-scale military operation in Jenin, which has reportedly resulted in Palestinian casualties.
The League has always supported the Palestinian people, including through its efforts to rally international support for a ceasefire.
The international community has a shared responsibility to support efforts toward a just and lasting resolution of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.
A negotiated two-state solution remains the only viable path to ensuring peace, security, and coexistence for both Israelis and Palestinians.
As Syria seeks to chart a new course following the fall of the Assad government, Special Envoy Pedersen continues his close engagement with the League and its Member States to coordinate support for a Syrian-led and Syrian-owned inclusive political process, based on the key principles of Security Council resolution 2254 (2015).
The UN stands ready to do everything it can to support the Syrian people to realize their legitimate aspirations.
In Lebanon, the election of a President after a vacuum of more than two years and the appointment of a Prime Minister can pave the way to ensuring the country’s security and stability. The United Nations stands ready to support the government of Lebanon, once formed, in its reform and reconstruction efforts.
We also commend the role played by the League of Arab States in contributing to the cessation of hostilities between Lebanon and Israel through tireless advocacy and engagement.
In Yemen, political progress has stalled amidst Houthi attacks on commercial and merchant vessels in the Red Sea and on Israel. We hope that the ceasefire and hostage deal will lead to de-escalation in the region.
Looking forward, the support of regional partners – including the League of Arab States – will be crucial to promote de-escalation, rebuild trust and move towards a UN roadmap for a comprehensive and inclusive political settlement of the conflict in Yemen.
The political deadlock persists in Libya and the fragile status quo risks being destabilized through unilateral actions.
To help break the status quo, UNSMIL recently launched an inclusive, intra-Libyan political initiative to take the country to elections.
In this regard, the League is an important partner for the United Nations and is well positioned to rally and demonstrate collective Arab support for Libyan-led and Libyan-owned solutions to the political deadlock through the UN-facilitated process.
Finally, we remain extremely concerned about the situation in Sudan, which continues to deteriorate. The fighting is devastating the lives of Sudanese civilians, threatening the future of the country and increasingly impacting a region already beset by deep fragility, conflicts and displacement.
Diplomatic efforts must be intensified to finally bring an end to the conflict.
Personal Envoy Lamamra is working tirelessly to support mediation efforts and promote dialogue to bring an end to the war.
We commend the efforts of the League, including in bolstering multilateral coordination by convening the first iteration of the Consultative Group on Sudan in June last year.
Mister President,
While the situation in the Middle East remains fragile and several key conflicts continue unabated, the ceasefire in Gaza, the cessation of hostilities in Lebanon and developments in Syria together represent an opportunity for significant positive change in a region that has been in acute crisis for far too long.
The extreme challenges across the Middle East come at a time when the international system has been struggling.
Climate change, inequality and other global issues continue to grow increasingly intense, often exacerbating the conflicts themselves or risking others being drawn towards disaster.
In September last year, Member States came together to bolster our joint efforts to strengthen multilateralism and restore trust in our institutions. With the Pact for the Future, they reaffirmed the importance of the United Nations and called for a recommitment to international cooperation based on respect for international law.
Our cooperation with the League, in line with Chapter VIII of the Charter, itself is an important aspect of implementing the Pact. As highlighted last July at our biennal United Nations – League of Arab States General Cooperation Meeting, our strengthened cooperation extends across all pillars.
In this context, we look forward to the League’s hosting of our sixteenth sectoral meeting, on the theme of “Cooperation in the field of women’s rights and child protection in armed conflict” later this year.
In recent years, the UN has supported the League on the Youth, Peace and Security agenda, efforts that have culminated in the landmark Arab Regional Youth, Peace and Security Strategy and work towards a draft action plan for its implementation.
Implementing the strategy is an investment in the future of the entire region.
In a region where young women and men constitute as much as 60 per cent of the population, listening to their voices and offering them opportunities are vital steps that can help strengthen peace and stability.
Mister President,
The League of Arab States was founded in March 1945, several months before our own organization was established in October of that year. We have since enjoyed a strong partnership based on robust cooperation for decades, and we see this continuing far into the future.
We commit to continue our partnership with the League of Arab States to augment our joint efforts to improve the lives of people across the Arab region and beyond.
Thank you. Shukran