What this week at the UN means for the Middle East and the Maghreb

There are few better opportunities for diplomats, politicians and journalists to gain real insight into the priorities and concerns of individual UN Member States than attending the UN General Assembly in New York. Tradition dictates that Brazil takes the Podium first, followed by the host country of the UN, the United States. The global media descends – for the first two or three days at least – in order to catch the speeches and interventions of the most powerful Member States. This often means – since every Member State has its moment in front of the General Assembly – that some of the speeches from leaders of smaller nations that take place later in the week tend to receive less attention. On one famous occasion, the Permanent Representative of Bhutan got up to make his speech with the memorable words that; ‘Since everything that I was going to say, has been said, I will sit down’. On another occasion, the then Cuban leader, Fidel Castro managed to break the record for the longest speech ever from the GA platform.

This year, as the Middle East stands on the precipice of full-scale war, more attention was given by the media than usual to key figures, such as King Abdullah of Jordan, who warned UN Member States that the situation in Israel/Palestine and Lebanon was more volatile than it had been at any time in recent memory. The King urged an immediate ceasefire both in Lebanon and Gaza. For decades Jordan has walked a tight rope as a neighbour of Israel and with a majority Palestinian population now sorely aggravated by what is happening in Gaza and just across the River Jordan in the West Bank. 

The Prime Minster of Morocco, Aziz Akhannouch, also addressed the crisis in the Middle East when he took to the famous green marble podium. He said that the situation was unprecedented and that the King of Morocco, Mohammed VI, was calling for the urgent delivery of food and medical aid to Gaza. Earlier in the week, the UK based charity and other prominent NGOs had reported that over 83% of food aid is being prevented by the Israelis from entering the territory. According to the Prime Minister, there was an urgent need ‘combat extremist tendencies on both sides’ and that the ’Two State solution with East Jerusalem as the capital of the Palestinian State is the only way forward’. He added that ‘without a political plan there would be serious consequences and tragedy’ and that Morocco also wished to make it clear that there was ‘Total solidarity with Lebanon which is experiencing direct aggression’.  

Morocco’s Prime Minister also focussed on other key developments affecting the Maghreb; pointing to the fact that his country; ‘has turned towards the Atlantic to bolster collaboration, because Morocco wants to see the Sahel become an integrated trading area’. He also pointed to the fact that climate change was affecting the whole World; ‘but some of the greatest challenges are in Africa, which is most affected by climate change, despite being a minor contributor to it’. And looking ahead, the Prime Minister summarised by pointing out that his country believed in ‘Multi-lateralism to its core. The problems that Morocco faces – in common with many other developing countries can only be addressed by being able to tackle security, debt and development at the same time and working with organisations such as the United Nations. But clearly for all of this to happen there needed to be fundamental reform of organisations such as the World Bank and the IMF, because innovative financial development structures had to be out in place’. 

*Mark Seddon is a former Speechwriter to UN Secretary-General Ban ki moon & former Adviser to the Office of the President of the UN General Assembly