Kuwait eyes better UN, Arab League cooperation
NEW YORK:
The State of Kuwait said Friday it was looking forward to foster institutionalized cooperation between UN Security Council and Arab League, similar to that between UNSC on one side, and EU and African Union on the other. This came by Bader Al-Munayyekh, Kuwait’s Deputy Permanent Representative to the UN, at a UNSC session where president of the Organization of Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) was briefing the council.
Kuwait, through its UNSC membership, was keen on seeing Arab League Secretary General briefed the Security Council on a yearly basis just like the OSCE President was doing, he said. Italian Foreign Minister Angelino Alfano, whose country holds rotating OSCE presidency, was briefing the UNSC.
OSCE annual briefing, said AlMunayyekh, reaffirmed the European organization’s commitment to boost cooperation with the UN with the objective of maintaining international peace and security.
The UN is in need of support of regional organizations particularly amidst growing armed conflicts around the world, he said.
“It has become obvious that regional and sub-regional organizations are the best bodies, with less financial cost and manpower, to explain the real nature of conflicts,” said Munayyekh. These organizations, he added, were also more capable of analyzing information related to regional peace and security.
The Kuwaiti diplomat said Arab countries, particularly those overlooking the Mediterranean, and OSCE shared common concerns and challenges like illegal immigration, human trafficking, transnational organized crime, terrorism, extremism and racism. They also share hatred against foreigners and religions, said Munayyekh, who reaffirmed that violent extremism and terrorism posed threat to all values and cultures, not excluding any faith, gender, race or nationality.
“Violent extremism compel us to boost our cooperation and double our efforts to confront these challenges, as Kuwait is keen on promoting effectiveness of international cooperation in the face of violent extremism and terrorism, by compliance with relevant Security Council resolutions,” he said.
The State of Kuwait, he went on, was keen on increasing cooperation with UN counter-terrorism strategy including UN Secretary General’s plan to prevent violent extremism. OSCE is the largest regional security organization geographically because it encompasses European, Asian and Mediterranean countries, “which is adding a great value towards ... international peace and stability,” he said.
Munayyekh explained pre-conflict criteria included early-warning, preventive diplomacy and scaling down intensity of conflict to contain it, with the objective of reaching a peace resolution and restoring peace. He hoped OSCE succeed in solving the conflicts in Nagorno-Karabakh, Georgia, the Balkan and Eastern Ukraine, and that all parties complied with relevant UN resolutions and solve their differences through dialogue. —