Opening Remarks by the Director-General of UNOG to United Nations–League of Arab States General Meeting

It is a distinct pleasure to welcome you all to the Palais des Nations and to open, on behalf of the United Nations Secretary-General, this regular General Meeting of cooperation between the United Nations and the League of Arab States and its system of organizations and agencies. Allow me to extend a special welcome to the delegation of the General Secretariat of the League of Arab States, led by H.E. Ambassador Ahmed Ben Helli, Under-Secretary-General for Political Affairs. We greatly appreciate that you can be with us on this occasion.

The United Nations Office at Geneva plays a significant role in the maintenance of relations with regional organizations in the European context, in particular through the 'Tripartite' process, together with the Council of Europe and the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe. Now we are pleased to have this opportunity to support the United Nations' wider efforts to intensify links with partners in other regions.

Chapter VIII of the United Nations Charter provides extensive opportunities for cooperation between the United Nations and regional organizations, and the Security Council has long acknowledged the vital role of our regional partners in consolidating peace agreements and enhancing peace and stability. Over the years, the United Nations has forged solid ties with the League of Arab States, including through these general coordination meetings. We look forward to reinforcing this longstanding relationship for the realization of our common goals and objectives, in accordance with the latest General Assembly resolution on the cooperation between our two organizations.

As the comprehensive agenda before you and the wide participation in this meeting show, our cooperation continues to broaden and deepen. It is aimed at strengthening international peace and security, including through our exchanges on disarmament matters. In this regard, the United Nations stands ready to assist the League of Arab States in building capacity in the areas of conflict prevention, conflict resolution and the monitoring of elections. At the same time, our collaboration aims at alleviating poverty, addressing food security, promoting growth and advancing trade, which is all of vital importance in our collective efforts to realize the United Nations Millennium Development Goals. And our exchanges also embrace science and technology, social and humanitarian matters. I have no doubt that the working group discussions on these issues will help to take this critical dimension of our cooperation forward.

Our collaboration is a tool for channelling practical, developmental and humanitarian support as well as for coordinating responses in international crisis situations. As recent developments in the Middle East, Iraq, Lebanon, Sudan and Somalia have shown, a coordinated and effective response from the international community during a crisis – as well as before and after its most acute phase – is of the utmost importance. A harmonized approach, in particular through the exchange of information and the sharing of experience and best practice, is required. Fruitful and mutually beneficial contacts contribute to the resolution of problems of concern to both of our organizations.

During the political crisis in Lebanon, the Secretary-General strongly supported the League of Arab States initiative and proposal to find a solution. Likewise, the United Nations fully supports the Doha Agreement, brokered by the leadership of Qatar and the League of Arab States, which brought an end to the Lebanese crisis.

The United Nations-League of Arab States cooperation on Iraq focuses primarily on the establishment and functioning of the Expanded Regional Dialogue process launched in Sharm el-Sheikh in May 2007. It continues through the activities of the three working groups (on security, refugees and energy) and regular ministerial meetings held in Istanbul and Kuwait. The United Nations has also worked closely with the League of Arab States on the launch and implementation of the International Compact with Iraq. United Nations programmes and agencies carry out a multitude of activities with their counterparts in the League of Arab States system of institutions. The United Nations Environment Programme, the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees, the Department for Economic and Social Affairs of the United Nations, the United Nations Children's Fund, the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations and the United Nations Department of Public Information – to mention only a few who are represented here today – continue to build on the outcome of joint projects.

Our shared challenge is to improve this coordination and practical cooperation and to build complementarity, while avoiding duplication and competition at the field level and at headquarters. In this respect, enhancing the quality of cooperation is as important as expanding the areas of collaboration, and I hope that the exchanges over the coming days will generate further proposals and ideas on how to reinvigorate and energize our collaboration along these lines. Together, we can identify areas for qualitative improvements for the benefit of our two organizations and the people whom we serve.

I wish you success in your meeting.