S/PV.4284 Security Council

The Security Council will now begin its consideration of the item on its agenda. The Security Council is meeting in accordance with the understanding reached in its prior consultations. Members of the Council have before them the report of the Secretary-General on the situation concerning Western Sahara, document S/2001/148. Members of the Council also have before them document S/2001/165, which contains the text of a draft resolution prepared in the course of the Council’s prior consultations. I should like to draw the attention of the members of the Council to document S/2001/155, which contains the text of a letter dated 21 February 2001 from Algeria. It is my understanding that the Security Council is ready to proceed to the vote on the draft resolution (S/2001/165) before it. If I hear no objection, I shall now put the draft resolution to the vote. There being no objection, it is so decided.

There were 15 votes in favour. The draft resolution has been adopted unanimously as resolution 1342 (2001). The Security Council has thus concluded the present stage of its consideration of the item on its agenda. (spoke in French) Since this is the last public meeting of the month, I wish to extend to all the members of the Security Council and to all delegations our sincerest thanks for their efforts in assisting the Tunisian presidency of the Council at all stages of the implementation of the programme we proposed for this month. It is a rather short month, but one that has been filled every day by important issues and during which we have held consultations and discussions and taken decisions of great interest and significance. Together with my colleagues here and thanks to their help and cooperation, we have had an overview of the important issues under discussion. We have had the good fortune and honour of meeting with many decision-makers, from whom we have obtained first- hand information that has been of enormous assistance to us in correctly assessing the situations under consideration and in taking the necessary decisions. I wish to thank all my colleagues for having participated in the debate we proposed on the subject of peace-building. I also wish to thank the experts who worked on the final document, which, in an admirable consensus, demonstrated the importance we all attach to peace-building in all its phases. On behalf of my delegation, I also wish to thank the Secretariat and all the Departments that once again displayed their traditional unfailing readiness to provide us with very useful and detailed information. We also extend our thanks to the entire team led by Mr. Stephanides, which was there to initiate us long before our presidency, for their advice, professionalism, discipline and willingness to work 24 hours a day, weekends included. It is a veritable hive of activity whose work, perfectly synchronized with that of the presidency, and, above all, whose useful and high- quality output one can fully appreciate only when one occupies this seat. As for the interpreters, they have been wonderful. They have been able to convey our thoughts, the nuances of our words and even our emotions with unfailing faithfulness and rigour. We extend our thanks to all of them in all six languages. We have brought Africa to the Council. Members have heard its voice. They have heard its cries of pain and its aspirations to a better future. I urge members always to give Africa their attention. It is fully entitled to rise from its troubles. I wish every success to the delegation of Ukraine, which will be assuming this seat in the coming hours. Ukraine, like us, will appreciate members’ fullest cooperation. Finally, I should like once again to reiterate our thanks to Ambassador Soderberg, who has been our friend throughout the past three years and who, through her participation and spirit of cooperation, has given us all the cooperation we have always enjoyed from the United States. We thank her once again as she prepares to leave her post in the Security Council.