Muhammed Jallow, Vice-President of The Gambia, urged all Member States to reaffirm their commitment to the noble principles of the UN Charter.  The UN used its convening power and preventive diplomacy via the Peacebuilding Commission to support his democratically elected Government, which assumed office in 2017.  Since then, it has pursued “the path of inclusive development, peace and respect for fundamental rights and freedoms”.  Its reforms include the enactment of the Special Prosecutor’s Office Act, 2024, to handle international crimes and serious rights violations, he stressed. “For the first time, we now have an anti-corruption act to institute an anti-corruption commission,” he added.

He called on the Security Council to fulfil its responsibility towards resolving the unrest in Africa and elsewhere. Referring to the 2030 Agenda deadline, he noted that the realization of its goals and milestones appears to be profoundly remote.  “The plight of the Palestinians remains unresolved, with its people continuing to face alarming difficulties under dire humanitarian conditions,” he said.  He called for a two-State solution and “a State of Palestine within the 1967 borders, with Al-Quds Al-Sharif as its capital”.

He urged Morocco, Algeria, Mauritania and Polisario to work towards a realistic, pragmatic and sustainable political solution based on compromise.  The Gambia continues to stand with China on its One China policy and reiterates the call for lifting the economic embargo against Cuba.  He also supported the Common African Position on reforming the Security Council, as Africa’s under-representation in the permanent and non-permanent categories of the Security Council is a historical injustice that urgently must be corrected.