A/70/PV.13 General Assembly

In accordance with the decision taken at its 2nd plenary meeting, on 18 September 2015, the General Assembly will hear a presentation by the Secretary-General of his annual report on the work of the Organization (A/70/1), under agenda item 109. I give the floor to the Secretary-General.

The seventieth session of the General Assembly has opened with a towering achievement: the adoption of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development (resolution 70/1), including 17 inspiring Sustainable Development Goals. Our aim is clear. Our mission is possible. And our destination is in our sights — an end to extreme poverty by 2030, a life of peace and dignity for all. What counts now is translating the promises on paper into change on the ground. We owe this and much more to the vulnerable, the oppressed, the displaced and the forgotten people in our world. We owe this to a world where inequality is growing, trust is fading and impatience with leadership can be seen and felt far and wide. We owe this to, in the memorable words of the Charter of the United Nations, “succeeding generations”. In this year in which we mark the seventieth anniversary of the United Nations, we must heed the call of the Charter and hear the voices *1529265* 15-29265 (E) of “We the peoples”. That is how we can overcome the grim realities of the present and seize the remarkable opportunities of our era. (spoke in French) The Millennium Development Goals enabled hundreds of millions of people to leave poverty behind. Now we are poised to continue the job while reaching higher, broader and deeper. The new framework does not just add goals. It weaves the Goals together, with human rights, the rule of law and women’s empowerment as crucial parts of an integrated whole. The global Goals are universal. Here in the Assembly, the world’s leaders have committed to leave no one behind and to first reach those farthest behind. The momentum can help us conclude a robust agreement on climate change in December in Paris. Remarkable changes are under way to reduce harmful greenhouse gas emissions. I have seen vast solar-power installations bringing a new energy future into being. There is wind in the sails of climate action. Yet it is clear that the national goals submitted by the Member States will not be enough. We face a choice: either raise our ambitions or risk raising temperatures above the 2°C threshold, which science tells us we must not cross. Reaching the Sustainable Development Goals means organizing ourselves better. Let there be no more walls or boxes; no more ministries or agencies working at cross-purposes. Let us move from silos to synergy, supported by data, long-term planning and a will to do things differently. (spoke in English) Financing will be a key test. I welcome the Addis Ababa Action Agenda and the renewed pledge by developed countries to invest 0.7 per cent of gross national income in official development assistance. Aid works, but few countries have met that target. I salute those that have and urge others to follow their example. Climate finance will be crucial. I urge developed countries to meet the agreed goal of $100 billion per year by 2020. We must also get the Green Climate Fund up and running. The world continues to squander trillions in wasteful military spending. Why is it easier to find the money to destroy people and the planet than it is to protect them? Succeeding generations depend on us to finally get our priorities right. Suffering today is at heights not seen in a generation; 100 million people require immediate humanitarian assistance. At least 60 million people have been forced to flee their homes or their countries. The United Nations has asked for nearly $20 billion to meet this year’s needs  — six times the level of a decade ago. United Nations humanitarian agencies and our partners are braving difficult conditions to reach people. Member States have been generous, but demands continue to dwarf funding. The World Humanitarian Summit, to be held in May 2016 in Istanbul, will be a critical moment to reaffirm solidarity and explore how to better build resilience and address emergencies. But the global humanitarian system is not broken; it is broke. We are not receiving enough money to save enough lives. We have about half of what we need to help the people of Iraq, South Sudan and Yemen, and just a third for Syria. Our response plan for Ukraine is just 39 per cent funded. And the appeal for Gambia, where one in four children suffers from stunting, has been met with silence. Numbers this low raise suffering to new highs. People need emergency assistance, but what they want even more is lasting solutions. They may appreciate a tent, but they deserve to go home. Our aim is not just to keep people alive, but to give them a life, a decent life. Lebanon, Jordan and Turkey are generously hosting several million Syrian and Iraqi refugees. Countries across the developing world continue to host and receive large numbers of refugees despite their own limited means. People are on the move as never before — in the Americas and the Sahel, in the Mediterranean and the Andaman Sea. These flows raise complex issues and rouse strong passions. Certain touchstones must guide our response: international law, human rights, basic compassion. All countries need to do more to shoulder their responsibilities. I commend those in Europe that are upholding the European Union’s values and providing asylum. At the same time, I urge Europe to do more. After the Second World War, it was Europeans seeking the world’s assistance. On 30 September, I will convene a high-level meeting, aimed at promoting a comprehensive approach to the refugee and migration crisis. We must crack down on traffickers and address the pressures being faced by countries of destination. We must combat discrimination. In the twenty-first century, we should not be building fences or walls. But above all, we must look at root causes in countries of origin. Syrians are leaving their country and their homes because of oppression, extremism, destruction and fear. Four years of diplomatic paralysis by the Security Council and others have allowed the crisis to spin out of control. The responsibility for ending the conflict lies first and foremost with the Syrian warring parties. They are the ones turning their country into ruins. But it is not enough to look only within Syria for a solution, The battle is also being driven by regional powers and rivalries. Weapons and money flowing into the country are fuelling the fire. My Special Envoy is doing everything he can to forge the basis for a peaceful settlement. It is time now for others, primarily the Security Council and key regional actors, to step forward. Five countries in particular hold the key: the Russian Federation, the United States, Saudi Arabia, Iran and Turkey. But as long as one side will not compromise with the other, it is futile to expect change on the ground. Innocent Syrians pay the price of more barrel bombs and terrorism. There must be no impunity for atrocious crimes. Our commitment to justice should lead us to refer the situation to the International Criminal Court. In Yemen, 21 million people — 80 per cent of the population — need humanitarian assistance. All sides are showing disregard for human life, but most of the casualties are being caused by air strikes. I call for an end to the bombings, which are also destroying Yemeni cities, infrastructure and heritage. Here, too, the proxy battles of others are driving the fighting. I once again urge the parties to return to the table, negotiate in good faith and resolve the crisis through dialogue facilitated by my Special Envoy. Let me be clear: there is no military solution to this conflict. We must also guard against the dangerous drift in the Middle East peace process. With settlements expanding and incitement and provocations on the rise, it is essential for Israelis and Palestinians to re-engage and for the international community to pressure the parties to do so. The world can no longer wait for leaders to finally choose a path to peace. Daesh, Boko Haram and Al-Shabaab remain major threats, especially to the women and girls who have been systematically targeted. The world must unite against the blatant brutality of these groups. We must also counter the exclusion and hopelessness on which extremists feed. Moreover, States must never violate human rights in the fight against terror; such abuses only perpetuate the cycle. Early next year, I will present to the General Assembly a plan of action on how to counter violent extremism and terrorism. I commend the landmark nuclear agreement between the Islamic Republic of Iran and the P5+1 countries. Dialogue and patient diplomacy have paid dividends. I hope this spirit of solidarity among the permanent members of the Security Council can be demonstrated in other conflict areas, such as Syria, Yemen and Ukraine. Let us build on the recent agreements in South Sudan and finalize the agreement in Libya, and spare those countries further suffering. Now is the time for renewed dialogue to address continuing tension on the Korean peninsula. I call on the parties to refrain from taking any action that may increase mistrust, and I urge them to instead promote reconciliation and efforts towards a peaceful, denuclearized peninsula. I am ready to support inter-Korean cooperation. We also need to step up our work for the well-being of the people of the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea. I am deeply troubled by growing restrictions on media freedoms and civil society across the world. It is not a crime for journalists, human rights defenders and others to exercise their basic rights. We must preserve the space for civil society and the press to do their vital work, without fear of attack and imprisonment. Democratic backsliding is a threat in too many places, as leaders seek to stay in office beyond their mandated limits. We see rallies and petitions being engineered to look like the spontaneous will of the people. Those manufactured groundswells of support only lay the groundwork for instability. I urge leaders to abide by the constitutional limits on their terms. (spoke in French) Collectively, these crises have stretched to the limits the vital tools available to us for conflict resolution and for humanitarian response. Earlier this month, I put forward my vision for strengthening United Nations peace operations (A/70/357), building on the recommendations of an independent panel. Our peacekeeping operations and political missions need enhanced capabilities and clear political objectives. We need a renewed commitment to prevention, stronger regional partnerships and sustained engagement on peacebuilding. And we must unlock the potential of women to advance peace, as envisaged in Security Council resolution 1325 (2000). I hope the General Assembly will act promptly, as a signal of its strong commitment to this effort. People today, and succeeding generations, need us to make the most of this opportunity for comprehensive progress. (spoke in English) Founded in a fractured world, the United Nations brought hope that collective action could avoid another global catastrophe. Over the past 70 years, we have helped to liberate millions of people from colonialism and supported the successful struggle against apartheid. We have defeated deadly diseases, defended human rights and deepened the rule of law. This and more we have done, but that is far from enough. We are living through a time of severe testing, but also one of great opportunity. Today, we are more connected than ever, better informed than ever and have better tools than ever. The recipes for positive change are on the table; the ingredients for success are in our hands. We continue to reform the United Nations, although we know we must do much more, both managerially and politically. We can draw strength from the empowerment of women, but we still need to step it up for gender equality on the way to Planet 50-50. I am inspired by the world’s young people, who make up half the world’s population and whose voices we must integrate more fully in decision-making everywhere. I am impressed with the way all of us can unite behind vital causes, like the 2030 Agenda. One year ago, when we gathered for the general debate, the Ebola crisis in West Africa was claiming lives daily. Families were being devastated. Fear was rife. Forecasts suggested frightening losses in the months ahead. Today, thanks to collective action by communities and their Governments and others all around the world, cases of Ebola have declined dramatically. The outbreak is not over, and we must remain vigilant. But the response is working, with lessons pointing to a safer future for all. When we stand together, there is no limit to what we can achieve. Three days ago, young people from many nations stood together in the balcony of this Hall. They asked for one thing above all: change. There is nothing we can say to the world’s children that can convince them the world needs to be the way it is. That means we must do everything we can to close the gap between the world as it is and the world as it should be. That is the mission of the United Nations. Let us work together to make this world better for all, where everybody can live with human dignity and prosperity. I thank those present for their leadership.

I thank the Secretary-General for his statement.

I shall now deliver a statement in my capacity as President of the General Assembly at its seventieth session. On Friday, the Heads of States and Governments approved the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development (resolution 70/1), a genuinely transformative decision epic in its analysis and revolutionary in its ambition, a decision that once again proved the universal relevance and value of the United Nations. Now, we face the even more daunting task of transforming our vision into action. Our ambition will be realized only in a world of peace and security and respect for human rights, not in a world where investment in armament and wars increasingly absorbs and destroys a huge share of the resources we have committed to invest in sustainable development. It will not be realized in a world where war, poverty, hunger, deep inequalities and poor governance are drivers of ever-growing waves of refugees and uncontrolled human migration, and where all these elements count heavily among the causes of conflicts, which in turn affect and uproot many more people. Governments will also succeed in implementing this great agenda only with the continued and expanding participation of all stakeholders  — parliamentarians, leaders of regions, cities and local communities, civil society, youth, religious communities and trade unions, business and academia worldwide. And the great goals of the United Nations will be fulfilled only when we realize that global interdependency is more pronounced than ever before. So, too, is the urgency for joint global action. With the Millennium Development Goals, we have over the past 15 years cut the number of extremely poor people by half. With the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), however, we acknowledge that eradicating poverty in all its forms is possible only with a much more complex transformation of the entire global economy, the environment and social structures. We realize that we cannot rely only on the traditional growth model of the past 15 — or the past 70 — years. Incredible and unsustainable inequality in income, wealth and access to resources and to quality education and health services must be overcome. We underline more vigorously than ever that equal rights and opportunities for girls and women are crucial preconditions for a sustainable future everywhere. We recognize that each and every person has a legitimate demand for a decent life. But as the number of people on our planet has tripled since I was born nearly 70 years ago, we must meet this demand without further depleting the natural resources that we pass on to new generations. We acknowledge also that people in developed countries cannot continue to consume and produce in the manner they are used to and that billions of hardworking people elsewhere on their road to prosperity should not simply adopt the same behaviour as that of today’s rich countries. To build a sustainable global infrastructure over the next 15 years, trillions of dollars need to be to invested. The least developed countries can do this only when rich countries live up to their long-standing commitments of a minimum of 0.7 per cent of their national income in development assistance. National Governments can fund their share of the investment required only by fighting corruption and building efficient State tax systems. A much stronger international cooperation must ensure that rich companies and rich individuals pay taxes where they earn their money and are no longer able to evade payment in tax havens. Finally, we must realize that a huge share of the investment in a better future must come from private sources, such as companies, capital investors and pension funds. Therefore, it is crucial that Governments create a framework for markets that makes green investment the obvious, safer and better investment, not only for humankind and the longer perspective, but for business now. It is due time for far-reaching decisions to bring an end to devastating conflicts and to start investing big in sustainable development. Action is needed now. If we fail, we run the overwhelming risk of unmanageable and inescapable damage to the political, social, ecological and climate balance of our planet. If we fail, the SDGs will never be reached, because the resources needed will be swallowed up in addressing crises and conflicts. If we fail to stop climate change, the consequences will be catastrophic. Further hundreds of millions of people will be forced away from their habitats. Historically, migration has brought huge benefits to the global community. But large-scale, uncontrolled migrations have the potential to destabilize societies, leading to conflicts far more damaging than those we are not able to deal with in an orderly and humanitarian fashion today. We live in paradoxical and transformational times. Never before has such a large share of humankind enjoyed so good a life, yet never before have we been at greater risk of fundamentally disrupting the basic living conditions on our small globe. And while a larger part of humankind lives in peace and has done so for longer periods than earlier in human history, the follies of war and self-destruction have increased in the Middle East, in parts of Africa and once again in Europe, creating unfathomable humanitarian catastrophes and more refugees than at any time since the end of the Second World War. Tensions between major powers are increasing, as are investments in all kinds of armaments. Vast arsenals of nuclear, chemical and biological weapons still exist, and disarmament negotiations in Geneva have been stalled for years. Four weeks ago, I visited Hiroshima and was once again confronted with the horrors of nuclear war. We must remember that at this very moment all too many nuclear warheads are still on high alert, and we have not eliminated the risks of nuclear conflicts by mistake. First of all, therefore, we need to rebuild confidence and scale back these risks. We must  — here in the United Nations, here in this very Hall — make an extraordinary effort to break all the vicious cycles. We must act in accordance with the agreed understanding behind the 2030 Agenda by recognizing the strong linkages between development, peace and security, and respect for human rights, and we must take specific actions to make progress in each of these areas. This will be the central focus of the seventieth session of the General Assembly and my presidency. I will offer my strong support to new ideas on how to strengthen global peace and security, from the role of women to conflict prevention, mediation and settlement; from United Nations peace operations to the overall peacebuilding architecture and Security Council reform. It is my sincere hope that the United Nations will develop a more direct role in reconciliation and peacebuilding, including in conflicts where we have failed until now, and that we will move forward in our common efforts to prevent vicious radicalization and fight the evil of terrorism. With parties living up to their promises, the nuclear agreement between Iran and the five permanent members of the Security Council, Germany and the European Union can be a very important contribution to avoiding nuclear proliferation. Impatiently we await the day when major and regional Powers also join forces to stop the senseless and horrifying bloodshed in and around Syria and, in doing so, address the root causes of the refugee crisis. I am sure we all wish that this day would come very soon and want to contribute the most we can to such an outcome. I am sure that Member States, building on our great 2030 Agenda, will increase their efforts to make human rights a reality for all people without discrimination, from fundamental rights, such as safe access to food, clean water, quality health and education services and decent work, to civil and political rights, such as freedom of expression and association; from the rights of migrants and indigenous peoples to those of women, children and persons with disabilities. We must also advance efforts to strengthen good governance and the rule of law. As President of the General Assembly, I will support Member States in their ambitions for revitalization and reform, including a new, more transparent process for the selection of the next Secretary-General. This seventieth anniversary of the United Nations must be a defining year to confirm and invigorate the universal values that we the peoples agreed upon in the Charter. No one shall be left behind, because, as the Norwegian author Nordahl Grieg wrote: “Noble is mankind, the earth is rich. If there is need and hunger, it is by deceit.” Before giving the floor to the first speaker for this morning, I would like to remind members that the list of speakers for the general debate has been established on the agreed basis that statements should be no longer than 15 minutes to enable all the speakers to be heard at a given meeting. Within this time frame, I would like to appeal to speakers to deliver their statements at a reasonable pace so that interpretation in the six official United Nations languages may be provided properly. I would like also to draw attention to the decision taken by the General Assembly at previous sessions, namely that the practice of expressing congratulations inside the General Assembly Hall after a speech has been delivered is strongly discouraged. In that connection, after delivering their statements, speakers are invited to exit the Hall through room GA-200, located behind the rostrum, before returning to their seats. May I take it that the General Assembly agrees to proceed in the manner outlined during the general debate of the seventieth session?

Finally, I should like to draw the attention of members to the fact that, during the general debate, official photos of all the speakers are taken by the Department of Public Information. Members interested in obtaining those photos are requested to contact the Photo Library of the United Nations. Address by Ms. Dilma Rousseff, President of the Federative Republic of Brazil

The Assembly will now hear an address by the President of the Federative Republic of Brazil.

On behalf of the General Assembly, I have the honour to welcome to the United Nations Her Excellency Ms. Dilma Rousseff, President of the Federative Republic of Brazil, and to invite her to address the Assembly. President Rousseff (spoke in Portuguese; interpretation provided by the delegation): It is a privilege to address the General Assembly this year as the United Nations celebrates its seventieth birthday. My first remarks are to congratulate you, Mr. President, on having been chosen to preside over the Assembly. I reiterate, in particular, Brazil’s support for your willingness to put in place measures that will ultimately strengthen the Organization’s development agenda. Seventy years have passed since the San Francisco Conference. On that occasion, the international community sought to build a world founded on international law and on the pursuit of the peaceful resolution of conflicts. Since then, we have seen progress and setbacks. The decolonization process has evolved remarkably, as can be seen from the composition of the Assembly. The United Nations has since expanded its initiatives and incorporated into the development agenda the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development (resolution 70/1) and the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). In other words, it is addressing issues related to the environment, poverty eradication, social and economic development and access to quality services, while issues related to urban life, gender, women and children, and race have all gained priority on the agenda. However, the Organization has not achieved the same success in addressing collective security challenges, even though they were at the origin of the Organization and at the centre of its concerns. The proliferation of regional conflicts, some of which have the potential to be highly destructive, and the spread of terrorism, which kills men, women and children, destroys our common heritage and displaces millions of people from their long-established communities, demonstrate all too well that the United Nations is currently being severely tested. One cannot be complacent in the face of barbaric acts such as those perpetrated by the so- called Islamic State and other associated groups. The situation today explains, to a large extent, the refugee crisis currently facing humankind. A substantial proportion of the men, women and children who desperately brave the waters of the Mediterranean and wearily make their way along the roads of Europe come from the Middle East and North Africa, from countries whose State institutions have been dismantled by military actions undertaken in contravention of international law, thereby opening space for the proliferation of terrorism. The deep sense of indignation caused by the picture of a dead Syrian boy on the beaches of Turkey and by the news of the 71 persons asphyxiated inside a truck in Austria should be translated into unmistakable acts of practical solidarity. In a world where goods, capital, information and ideas flow freely, it is absurd to prevent the free flow of people. Brazil is a host country, a welcoming country, one that is made up of people from around the world. We have received Syrians, Haitians, men and women, just as we have provided shelter for more than a century to millions of Europeans, Arabs and Asians. We are an open society. We welcome refugees. We are a multi-ethnic country, where differences coexist. We know all too well the importance of differences, which ultimately make us stronger, richer and more diverse culturally, socially and economically. The disquieting backdrop I have just described demands that we reflect on the future of the United Nations and requires that we act resolutely and quickly. We need a United Nations that is capable of promoting lasting international peace and of acting swiftly and effectively during crises, regional and localized conflicts and in response to any crimes against humanity. We can no longer delay, for example, the creation of a Palestinian State that coexists peacefully and harmoniously with Israel. Similarly, the expansion of settlements in the occupied territories cannot be tolerated. In order to give the United Nations the central role it is rightfully entitled to, a comprehensive reform of its structures must be carried out. The Security Council must be expanded in its permanent and non-permanent member categories in order to become more representative, legitimate and effective. Most Member States do not want a decision on this matter to be postponed forever. We hope that the current session will enter into history as a turning point in the trajectory of the United Nations and that it will yield concrete results in the long, and so far inconclusive, reform process of the Organization. In our region of the world  — where peace and democracy reign — we welcome the re-establishment of diplomatic relations between Cuba and the United States of America, which puts an end to a dispute stemming back to the Cold War. We hope that this process will be completed with the end of the embargo currently imposed on Cuba. We also celebrate the recent agreement reached with Iran, which will enable that country to develop nuclear energy for peaceful purposes and to restore the hope of peace to an entire region. Together, the countries of Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa have launched a new development bank, which will assist in expanding trade and investment and will also possibly help to achieve the Sustainable Development Goals. The 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development (resolution 70/1) outlines the future we want. The 17 Sustainable Development Goals reaffirm the basic tenet of the United Nations Conference on Sustainable Development, that is, it is possible to grow, include, preserve and protect. They establish universal targets and stress the need for cooperation among people and a shared path for humankind. The 2030 Agenda requires global solidarity, determination from each one of us and a commitment to tackling climate change, overcoming extreme poverty and creating opportunities for all. In Paris, next December, we must strengthen the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change by ensuring that its provisions are fulfilled and its principles respected. The obligations we take on in Paris should be ambitious in scope and nature and should include financial and technological support to developing countries and small island States, in line with the principle of common but differentiated responsibilities. Brazil is making a substantial effort to reduce greenhouse gas emissions without jeopardizing its development. We continue to diversify the renewable sources in our energy mix, which is among the cleanest in the world. We are also currently investing in low- carbon agriculture. We have reduced deforestation in the Amazonian region by 82 per cent. A sense of ambition will continue to guide our actions. In this spirit, I announced yesterday at the United Nations Brazil’s intended nationally determined contribution, which is to reduce its greenhouse gas emissions by 43 per cent by 2030, with 2005 as the baseline year. During this period, Brazil intends to put an end to illegal deforestation and to reforest 12 million hectares, to recover 15 million hectares of degraded pasture lands and to integrate 5 million hectares of crop, livestock and forest. In a world where the share of renewable energy accounts for only 13 per cent on average of the overall energy mix worldwide, we intend to derive 45 per cent of our domestic energy mix from renewable sources. To that end, we will pursue a share of 66 per cent for hydropower in our electricity generation output and a share of 23 per cent for renewable energy, including from wind, solar and biomass sources, in electrical energy generation. We will also seek an increase of about 10 per cent in energy efficiency and will add a share of 16 per cent of ethanol fuel and other sugarcane-derived biomass sources to our energy mix. Brazil is thus contributing decisively to the global efforts to implement the recommendations of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, which has established a limit of no more than 2°C on temperature increases for this century. We are one of the few developing countries to set an absolute emissions reduction target. Our intended nationally determined contributions include actions to increase environmental resilience and reduce the risks associated with the negative effects of climate change for the poorest and most vulnerable populations, with an emphasis on gender issues, workers’ rights and the rights of indigenous, former black slave and traditional communities. We recognize the importance of South-South cooperation in the global efforts to counter climate change. Allow me to stress that, since 2003, social and income transfer policies have helped lift over 36 million people out of extreme poverty. Last year, Brazil was officially removed from the World Hunger Map. This is a testament to the effectiveness of our so-called zero-hunger policy, which has now evolved to become Sustainable Development Goal 2. In the transition to a low-carbon economy, it is important to ensure dignified and fair conditions for workers. Sustainable development requires us to commit to the promotion of decent work, the generation of quality jobs and guaranteed opportunities for all. Our efforts to eradicate poverty and promote development must be collective and global in scope. In my country, however, we know that the end of extreme poverty is only the beginning of a long journey marked by new gains. For six years, we have been working to prevent the impact of the world crisis that began in 2008 in the developed world from overwhelming our economy and our society. During those six years, we have adopted a comprehensive set of measures, including reducing taxes, expanding credit, strengthening investment and stimulating household consumption. We have increased employment opportunities and income levels in that period. This effort has now come to an end owing to both domestic fiscal constraints and external conditions. The slow recovery of the world economy and the end of the ”commodity super cycle” have negatively affected our economic growth. Currency devaluation and recession pressures have triggered inflation and a substantial reduction in tax revenue, leading to restrictions in public finance. Brazil does not have any serious structural problems, however. Our problems are limited to the current circumstances. In order to address this situation, we are rebalancing our budget and have substantially reduced public expenditures and even investments. We have realigned prices. We are adopting measures to permanently reduce spending. We have proposed drastic spending cuts and we are redefining our sources of revenue. All of these initiatives are aimed at reorganizing the fiscal framework, reducing inflation, consolidating macroeconomic stability, boosting confidence in the economy and ensuring the resumption of economic growth with income distribution. The Brazilian economy is today stronger, more solid and more resilient than it was a few years ago. We are in a position to overcome the current difficulties as we advance on our path towards development. We find ourselves at a moment of transition to another cycle of economic expansion, one that has greater depth and is more solid and long-lasting. In addition to the fiscal and financial rebalancing actions and providing incentives for exports, we have also adopted measures to encourage investments in infrastructure and energy. In Brazil, the process of social inclusion has not been interrupted. We hope that inflation control and the resumption of economic growth and credit availability will help to further expand household consumption. This is the basis for a new development cycle, led by an increase in productivity and the generation of more investment opportunities for businesses and more job opportunities for citizens. The gains we have achieved over the past few years have been reached in the environment of our strengthened and deepened democracy. Thanks to an effective legal framework and vigorous democratic institutions, the functioning of the State is being firmly and impartially examined by the judiciary and the governmental agencies in charge of investigating, assessing and punishing any misconduct. The Brazilian Government and society do not and will not tolerate corruption. Brazil’s democracy grows stronger when its authorities recognize the limits imposed by the law as their own limits. We Brazilians desire a country where the law represents the limit. Many of us fought for that, precisely when laws and rights were being violated during the military dictatorship. We desire a country where governmental authorities conduct themselves strictly according to their duties, without ever succumbing to excess; where judges try and judge cases freely and impartially, without any pressure whatsoever, independent of political passion and without ever compromising on the presumption of the innocence of any citizen. We desire a country where the clash of ideas takes place in a civilized and respectful environment. We want a country where the freedom of the press is one of the cornerstones of the freedom of speech and of the expression of different positions, namely, the rights of all Brazilians. Legal sanctions must be applied against all those who have committed illicit acts, bearing in mind the need to uphold the principle of due process. Those are the very foundations of our democracy. In that regard, I wish to avail myself of a recent quote by my friend José Mujica, former President of Uruguay. He said: “Democracy is not perfect, for we are not perfect. However, we must defend it in order to improve it and not deny it”. Allow me to state for the record that Brazil will continue on the path of democracy and will never relinquish the achievements for which we have so greatly struggled. I would like to take this opportunity to reiterate that Brazil welcomes citizens from around the world, with open arms, for the 2016 Summer Olympic and Paralympic Games to be held in Rio de Janeiro. We look forward to welcoming each and every one. It will be a unique opportunity to promote sport as a key instrument for peace, social inclusion and tolerance in the fight against racial, ethnic and gender discrimination. It will also be an opportunity to promote the rights and inclusion of persons with disabilities, one of the top priorities of my Government. One last point is that a few days ago, here at United Nations Headquarters, the murals entitled War and Peace by the Brazilian artist Candido Portinari, which were donated to this Organization by the Government of my country in 1957, were re-inaugurated. Those works of art denounce violence and poverty and further urge the people of the world to seek mutual understanding and tolerance. They stand as a symbol of the ultimate responsibility of the United Nations, namely, to prevent armed conflict and promote peace, social justice and the eradication of hunger and poverty. Portinari often stated that “there is no great work of art that is not identified by the people surrounding it”. The message of the murals remains timely and topical. It speaks not only to the victims of wars, but also to the refugees who risk their lives on fragile boats in the Mediterranean and to all of the anonymous people who turn to the United Nations seeking protection, peace and well-being. We hope that, as we walk into the premises of the United Nations and gaze upon those very murals at the entrance, we may be capable of hearing the voices of the people we represent and of working persistently to ensure that their calls for peace and progress are met. After all, those were the very ideals that were present 70 years ago at the foundation of the United Nations Organization, this major accomplishment of humankind.

On behalf of the General Assembly, I wish to thank the President of the Federative Republic of Brazil for the statement she has just made.

The Assembly will now hear an address by the President of the United States of America.

On behalf of the General Assembly, I have the honour to welcome to the United Nations His Excellency Mr. Barack Obama, President of the United States of America, and to invite him to address the Assembly. President Obama: Seventy years after the founding of the United Nations it is worth reflecting on what the members of this body, working together, have helped to achieve. Out of the ashes of the Second World War, having witnessed the unthinkable power of the atomic age, the United States has worked with many nations in the Assembly to prevent a third world war — by forging alliances with old adversaries; by supporting the steady emergence of strong democracies accountable to their people and not to any foreign Power; and by building an international system that imposes a cost on those who choose conflict over cooperation, an order that recognizes the dignity and equal worth of all people. That has been the work of seven decades. That is the ideal that this body has, at its best, pursued. Of course, there have been too many times when, collectively, we have fallen short of those ideals. Over the seven decades, terrible conflicts have claimed untold victims. But we have pressed forward, slowly, steadily, to make a system of international rules and norms that are better and stronger and more consistent. It is that international order that has underwritten unparalleled advances in human liberty and prosperity. It is that collective endeavour that has brought about diplomatic cooperation among the world’s major Powers and buttressed a global economy that has lifted more than a billion people from poverty. It is those international principles that have helped constrain bigger countries from imposing their will on smaller ones and have advanced the emergence of democracy and development and individual liberty on every continent. That progress is real. It can be documented in lives saved, agreements forged, diseases conquered and mouths fed. And yet we come together today knowing that the march of human progress never travels in a straight line, that our work is far from complete and that dangerous currents risk pulling us back into a darker, more disordered world. Today we are seeing the collapse of strongmen and fragile States breeding conflict and driving innocent men, women and children across borders on an epic scale. Brutal networks of terror have stepped into the vacuum. Technologies that empower individuals are now also exploited by those who spread disinformation, suppress dissent or radicalize our youth. Global capital flows have powered growth and investment, but they have also increased the risk of contagion, weakened the bargaining power of workers and accelerated inequality. How should we respond to those trends? There are those who argue that the ideals enshrined in the Charter of the United Nations are unachievable or out of date, a legacy of a postwar era not suited to our own. In effect, they are arguing for a return to the rules that applied for most of human history and that predate this institution — the belief that power is a zero-sum game, that might makes right, that strong States must impose their will on weaker ones, that the rights of individuals do not matter and that in a time of rapid change, order must be imposed by force. On that basis, we see some major Powers assert themselves in ways that contravene international law. We see an erosion of the democratic principles and human rights that are fundamental to this institution’s mission. Information is strictly controlled and the space for civil society restricted. We are told that such retrenchment is required to beat back disorder; that it is the only way to stamp out terrorism and prevent foreign meddling. In accordance with that logic, we should support tyrants like Bashar Al-Assad, who drops barrel bombs to massacre innocent children, because the alternative is surely worse. This increasing scepticism of our international order can also be found in the most advanced democracies. We see greater polarization and more frequent gridlock, with movements on the far right, and sometimes the left, that insist on stopping the trade that binds our fates to other nations or calling for the building of walls to keep out immigrants. Most ominously, we see the fears of ordinary people being exploited through appeals to sectarianism, tribalism, racism or anti-Semitism; appeals to a glorious past before the body politic was infected by those who look different or worship God differently — a politics of us versus them. The United States is not immune to this. Even as our economy is growing and our troops have largely returned from Iraq and Afghanistan, we see in our debates about America’s role in the world a notion of strength that is defined by opposition to old enemies, perceived adversaries  — a rising China or resurgent Russia, a revolutionary Iran or an Islam that is incompatible with peace. We see arguments that the only strength that matters for the United States is bellicose words and shows of military force, and that cooperation and diplomacy will not work. As President of the United States, I am mindful of the dangers that we face. They cross my desk every morning. I lead the strongest military that the world has ever known, and I will never hesitate to protect my country or our allies, unilaterally and by force where necessary. But I stand before the Assembly today believing in my core that we, the nations of the world, cannot return to the old ways of conflict and coercion. We cannot look backwards. We live in an integrated world, one in which we all have a stake in one another’s success. We cannot turn back those forces of integration. No nation here in the Assembly can insulate itself from the threat of terrorism, the risk of financial contagion, the flow of migrants or the danger of a warming planet. The disorder we see is not driven solely by competition between nations or by any single ideology. If we cannot work together more effectively, we will all suffer the consequences. That is true for the United States as well. No matter how powerful our military, how strong our economy, we understand the United States cannot solve the world’s problems alone. In Iraq, the United States learned the hard lesson that even with hundreds of thousands of brave, effective troops and trillions of dollars from our Treasury, it cannot by itself impose stability on a foreign land. Unless we work with other nations under the mantle of international norms, principles and law that offers legitimacy to our efforts, we will not succeed. And unless we work together to defeat the ideas that drive the various communities in a country like Iraq into conflict, any order that our militaries can impose will be temporary. Just as force alone cannot impose order internationally, I believe in my core that repression cannot forge the social cohesion that nations need to succeed. The history of the last two decades proves that in today’s world, dictatorships are unstable. The strongmen of today become the spark of revolution tomorrow. You can jail your opponents, but you cannot imprison ideas. You can try to control access to information, but you cannot turn a lie into truth. It is not a conspiracy of United States-backed non-governmental organizations that exposes corruption and raises the expectations of people around the globe  — it is technology, social media and the irreducible desire of people everywhere to make their own choices about how they are governed. Indeed, I believe that in today’s world, the measure of strength is no longer defined by the control of territory. Lasting prosperity does not come solely from the ability to access and extract raw materials. The strength of nations depends on the success of their people  — their knowledge, innovation, imagination, creativity, drive and opportunity — and that, in turn, depends on individual rights, good governance and personal security. Both internal repression and foreign aggression are symptoms of a failure to provide that foundation. Politics and solidarity that depend on demonizing others, that draw on religious sectarianism, narrow tribalism or jingoism, may at times look like strength in the moment, but over time their weakness will be exposed. And history tells us that the dark forces unleashed by this type of politics surely make all of us less secure. Our world has been there before. We gain nothing from going back. Instead, I believe that we must go forward in pursuit of our ideals, not abandon them at this critical time. We must give expression to our best hopes, not our deepest fears. This institution was founded because men and women who came before us had the foresight to know that our nations are more secure when we uphold basic laws and norms and pursue a path of cooperation rather than conflict. And strong nations, above all, have a responsibility to uphold that international order. Let me give a concrete example. After I took office, I made it clear that one of the principal achievements of the United Nations — the nuclear non-proliferation regime  — was endangered by Iran’s violation of the Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons. On that basis, the Security Council tightened sanctions on the Iranian Government, and many nations joined us to enforce them. Together, we showed that laws and agreements mean something. But we also understood that the goal of sanctions was not simply to punish Iran. Our objective was to test whether Iran could change course, accept constraints and allow the world to verify that its nuclear programme would be peaceful. For two years, the United States and our partners, including Russia and China, stuck together in complex negotiations. The result is a lasting, comprehensive deal that prevents Iran from obtaining a nuclear weapon while allowing it to access peaceful energy. If the deal is fully implemented, the prohibition on nuclear weapons is strengthened, a potential war is averted and our world is safer. That is the strength of the international system when it works the way it should. That same fidelity to international order guides our responses to other challenges around the world. Consider Russia’s annexation of Crimea and further aggression in eastern Ukraine. America has few economic interests in Ukraine, and we recognize the deep and complex history between Russia and Ukraine. But we cannot stand by when the sovereignty and territorial integrity of a nation is flagrantly violated. If that happens without consequence in Ukraine, it could happen to any of the nations gathered here today. That is the basis of the sanctions that the United States and our partners impose on Russia. It is not a desire to return to a cold war. Now, within Russia, State-controlled media may describe those events as an example of a resurgent Russia — a view shared, by the way, by a number of United States politicians and commentators who have always been deeply sceptical about Russia and seem to be convinced that a new cold war is in fact upon us. And yet look at the results. The Ukrainian people are more interested than ever in aligning with Europe instead of Russia. Sanctions have led to capital flight, a contracting economy, a fallen rouble and the emigration of more educated Russians. Imagine if, instead, Russia had engaged in true diplomacy and worked with Ukraine and the international community to ensure that its interests were protected. That would be better for Ukraine, but also better for Russia and better for the world, which is why we continue to press for this crisis to be resolved in a way that allows a sovereign and democratic Ukraine to determine its future and control its territory. This is not because we want to isolate Russia — we do not — but because we want a strong Russia that is invested in working with us to strengthen the international system as a whole. Similarly, in the South China Sea, the United States makes no claim on territory there. We do not adjudicate claims. But like every nation gathered here, we have an interest in upholding the basic principles of freedom of navigation and the free flow of commerce, and in resolving disputes through international law, not the law of force. So we will defend those principles, while encouraging China and other claimants to resolve their differences peacefully. I say this while recognizing that diplomacy is hard, the outcomes are sometimes unsatisfying and it is rarely politically popular. But I believe that leaders of large nations in particular have an obligation to take those risks, precisely because we are strong enough to protect our interests if and when diplomacy fails. I also believe that to move forward in this new era, we have to be strong enough to acknowledge when what we are doing is not working. For 50 years, the United States pursued a Cuba policy that failed to improve the lives of the Cuban people. We changed that. We continue to have differences with the Cuban Government. We will continue to stand up for human rights. But we address those issues through diplomatic relations, increased commerce and people-to-people ties. As those contacts yield progress, I am confident that our Congress will inevitably lift an embargo that should not be in place any more. Change will not come overnight to Cuba, but I am confident that openness, not coercion, will support the reforms and the better life that the Cuban people deserve, just as I believe that Cuba will find its success if it pursues cooperation with other nations. Now, if it is in the interest of major Powers to uphold international standards, that is even more true for the rest of the community of nations. Look around the world. From Singapore to Colombia to Senegal, the facts show that nations succeed when they pursue an inclusive peace and prosperity within their borders and work cooperatively with countries beyond those borders. That path is now available to a nation such as Iran, which, as of this moment, continues to deploy violent proxies to advance its interests. Those efforts may appear to give it leverage in disputes with its neighbours, but they fuel sectarian conflict that endangers the entire region and isolates Iran from the promise of trade and commerce. The Iranian people have a proud history and are filled with extraordinary potential. But chanting “Death to America” does not create jobs or make Iran more secure. If Iran chooses a different path, that will be good for the security of the region, good for the Iranian people and good for the world. Of course, around the globe, we will continue to be confronted with nations that reject these lessons of history  — places where civil strife, border disputes and sectarian wars give rise to terrorist enclaves and humanitarian disasters. Where order has completely broken down, we must act, but we will be stronger when we act together. In such efforts, the United States will always do its part. We will do so mindful of the lessons of the past — not just the lessons of Iraq, but also the example of Libya, where we joined an international coalition under a United Nations mandate to prevent a slaughter. Even as we helped the Libyan people bring an end to the reign of a tyrant, our coalition could have and should have done more to fill a vacuum left behind. We are grateful to the United Nations for its efforts to forge a unity Government. We will help any legitimate Libyan Government as it works to bring the country together. We also have to recognize that we must work more effectively in the future, as an international community, to build capacity for States that are in distress before they collapse. That is why we should celebrate the fact that, later today, the United States will join with more than 50 countries to enlist new capabilities — infantry, intelligence, helicopters, hospitals, and tens of thousands of troops  — to strengthen United Nations peacekeeping. These new capabilities can prevent mass killing and ensure that peace agreements are more than words on paper. But we have to do it together. Together, we must strengthen our collective capacity to establish security where order has broken down and to support those who seek a just and lasting peace. Nowhere is our commitment to international order more tested than in Syria. When a dictator slaughters tens of thousands of his own people, that is not just a matter of one nation’s internal affairs. It breeds human suffering on an order of magnitude that affects us all. Likewise, when a terrorist group beheads captives, slaughters the innocent and enslaves women, that is not a single nation’s national security problem. It is an assault on humankind as a whole. I have said before and I will repeat: there is no room to accommodate an apocalyptic cult like the Islamic State in Iraq and the Levant (ISIL), and the United States makes no apologies for using our military, as part of a broad coalition, to go after them. We do so with a determination to ensure that there will never be a safe haven for terrorists who carry out these crimes. We have demonstrated over more than a decade of relentless pursuit of Al-Qaida that we will not be outlasted by extremists. While military power is necessary, it is not sufficient to resolve the situation in Syria. Lasting stability can take hold only when the people of Syria forge an agreement to live together peacefully. The United States is prepared to work with any nation, including Russia and Iran, to resolve the conflict. But we must recognize that after so much bloodshed, so much carnage, there cannot be a return to the pre-war status quo. Let us remember how this started. Al-Assad reacted to peaceful protests by escalating repression and killing that, in turn, created the environment for the current strife. And so Al-Assad and his allies cannot simply pacify the broad majority of a population that has been brutalized by chemical weapons and indiscriminate bombing. Yes, realism dictates that compromise will be required to end the fighting and, ultimately, stamp out ISIL. But realism also requires a managed transition away from Al-Assad and to a new leader, and an inclusive Government that recognizes there must be an end to this chaos so that the Syrian people can begin to rebuild. We know that ISIL  — which emerged out of the chaos of Iraq and Syria — depends on perpetual war to survive, but we also know that they gain adherents because of a poisonous ideology. Part of our job, together, is to work to reject such extremism that infects too many of our young people. Part of that effort must be a continued rejection by Muslims of those who distort Islam to preach intolerance and promote violence. It must also involve a rejection by non-Muslims of the ignorance that equates Islam with terrorism. This work will take time. There are no easy answers to Syria, and there are no simple answers to the changes that are taking place in much of the Middle East and North Africa. But so many families need help right now; they do not have time. That is why the United States is increasing the number of refugees whom we welcome within our borders. That is why we will continue to be the largest donor of assistance to support those refugees. Today we are launching new efforts to ensure that our people and our businesses, our universities and our non-governmental organizations can help as well, because in the faces of suffering families, our nation of immigrants sees itself. Of course, in the old ways of thinking, the plight of the powerless, the plight of refugees, the plight of the marginalized did not matter. They were on the periphery of the world’s concerns. Today, our concern for them is driven not just by conscience, but should also be driven by self-interest. Helping people who have been pushed to the margins of our world is not mere charity; it is a matter of collective security. The purpose of this institution is not merely to avoid conflict; it is to galvanize the collective action that makes life better on this planet. The commitments we have made to the Sustainable Development Goals speak to this truth. I believe that capitalism has been the greatest creator of wealth and opportunity that the world has ever known. But from big cities to rural villages around the world, we also know that prosperity is still cruelly out of reach for too many. As His Holiness Pope Francis reminds us, we are stronger when we value the least among these and see them as equal in dignity to ourselves and our sons and our daughters. We can roll back preventable disease and end the scourge of HIV/AIDS. We can stamp out pandemics that recognize no borders. That work may not be on television right now, but as we demonstrated in reversing the spread of Ebola, it can save more lives than anything else we can do. Together, we can eradicate extreme poverty and erase barriers to opportunity. But this requires a sustained commitment to our people so farmers can feed more people, so entrepreneurs can start a business without paying a bribe, so young people have the skills they need to succeed in this modern, knowledge-based economy. We can promote growth through trade that meets a higher standard, and that is what we are doing through the Trans-Pacific Partnership — a trade agreement that encompasses nearly 40 per cent of the global economy, an agreement that will open markets while protecting the rights of workers and protecting the environment that enables development to be sustained. We can roll back the pollution that we put in our skies and help economies lift people out of poverty without condemning our children to the ravages of an ever-warming climate. The same ingenuity that produced the Industrial Age and the Computer Age allows us to harness the potential of clean energy. No country can escape the ravages of climate change. And there is no stronger sign of leadership than putting future generations first. The United States will work with every nation that is willing to do its part so that we can come together in Paris to decisively confront this challenge. Finally, regarding our vision for the future of the Assembly, my belief in moving forward rather than backwards requires us to defend the democratic principles that allow societies to succeed. Let me start from a simple premise. Catastrophes like what we are seeing in Syria do not take place in countries where there is genuine democracy and respect for the universal values this institution is supposed to defend. I recognize that democracy is going to take different forms in different parts of the world. The very idea of a people governing themselves depends upon government giving expression to their unique culture, their unique history, their unique experiences. But some universal truths are self-evident. No person wants to be imprisoned for peaceful worship. No woman should ever be abused with impunity, no girl should be barred from attending school. There should be freedom to peacefully petition those in power without fear of arbitrary laws. These are not ideas of one country or one culture. They are fundamental to human progress. They are a cornerstone of this institution. I realize that in many parts of the world there is a different view — a belief that strong leadership must tolerate no dissent. I hear it not only from America’s adversaries, but  — privately, at least  — I also hear it from some of our friends. I disagree. I believe a Government that suppresses peaceful dissent is not showing strength. It is showing weakness and it is showing fear. History shows that regimes that fear their own people will eventually crumble, but strong institutions built on the consent of the governed endure long after any one individual is gone. That is why our strongest leaders, from George Washington to Nelson Mandela, have elevated the importance of building strong, democratic institutions over a thirst for perpetual power. Leaders who amend constitutions to stay in office only acknowledge that they failed to build a successful country for their people, because none of us lasts forever. It tells us that power is something they cling to for its own sake rather than for the betterment of those whom they purport to serve. I understand that democracy is frustrating. Democracy in the United States is certainly imperfect. At times it can be dysfunctional. But democracy — the constant struggle to extend rights to more of our people, to give more people a voice — is what allowed us to become the most powerful nation in the world. It is not simply a matter of principle; it is not an abstraction. Democracy, inclusive democracy, makes countries stronger. When opposition parties can seek power peacefully through the ballot, a country draws upon new ideas. When a free media can inform the public, corruption and abuse are exposed and can be rooted out. When civil society thrives, communities can solve problems that Governments cannot necessarily solve alone. When immigrants are welcomed, countries are more productive and more vibrant. When girls can go to school, get a job and pursue unlimited opportunities, that is when a country realizes its full potential. That is what I believe is America’s greatest strength. Not everybody in America agrees with me. That is part of democracy. I believe that the fact that one can walk the streets of this city right now and pass churches and synagogues and temples and mosques where people worship freely; the fact that our nation of immigrants mirrors the diversity of the world — one can find people from everywhere here in New York City — the fact that in this country everybody can contribute, everybody can participate no matter who they are or what they look like or whom they love — that is what makes us strong. I believe that what is true for America is true for virtually all mature democracies. That is no accident. We can be proud of our nations without defining ourselves in opposition to some other group. We can be patriotic without demonizing someone else. We can cherish our own identities  — our religion, our ethnicity, our traditions  — without putting others down. Our systems are premised on the notion that absolute power will corrupt, but that people, ordinary people, are fundamentally good and value family and friendship, faith and the dignity of hard work. And with appropriate checks and balances, Governments can reflect that goodness. I believe that is the future we must seek together — to believe in the dignity of every individual, to believe we can bridge our differences and choose cooperation over conflict. That is not weakness; that is strength. It is a practical necessity in our interconnected world. Our people understand this. Think of the Liberian doctor who went door to door to search for Ebola cases and to tell families what to do if they show symptoms. Think of the Iranian shopkeeper who said after the nuclear deal, “God willing, now we will be able to offer many more goods at better prices”. Think of the Americans who lowered the flag over our embassy in Havana in 1961, the year I was born, and who returned this summer to raise that flag back up. One of those men said of the Cuban people, “We could do things for them, and they could do things for us. We loved them”. For 50 years we ignored that fact. Think of the families leaving everything they have known behind, risking barren deserts and stormy waters just to find shelter, just to save their children. One Syrian refugee who was met in Hamburg with warm greetings and shelter said, “We feel there are still some people who love other people”. The people of our United Nations are not as different as they have been told. They can be made to fear; they can be taught to hate, but they can also respond to hope. History is littered with the failure of false prophets and fallen empires who believed that might always makes right. That will continue to be the case. We can count on it. But we are called upon to offer a different type of leadership, a leadership strong enough to recognize that nations share common interests and people share a common humanity. And, yes, there are certain ideas and principles that are universal. That is what those who shaped the United Nations 70 years ago understood. Let us carry that faith forward into the future, for it is the only way we can ensure that the future will be brighter, for my children and for everyone’s children.

On behalf of the General Assembly, I wish to thank the President of the United States of America for the statement he has just made.

The Assembly will now hear an address by the President of the Republic of Poland.

On behalf of the General Assembly, I have the honour to welcome to the United Nations His Excellency Mr. Andrzej Duda, President of the Republic of Poland, and to invite him to address the Assembly President Duda (spoke in Polish; interpretation provided by the delegation): I congratulate the President of the General Assembly at its seventieth session, Mr. Mogens Lykketoft, on his election to that honourable office. I wish to assure you, Mr. President, of Poland’s full support for your actions. Peace and law: those are the two key words that enable us to understand and appreciate the importance of the United Nations over past 70 years in the world’s history. Peace and law, two words without which it is impossible to imagine the coexistence of nations, different ethnic groups and the followers of the various religions. Peace and law: they are beautiful and important concepts, but extremely fragile ones that we need to take care of and to cultivate unceasingly. We Poles know full well that peace is not to be taken for granted. Less than one month ago, it was incumbent on me, as President of the Republic of Poland, to deliver a speech at the commemoration of the seventy-sixth anniversary of the outbreak of the Second World War. At dawn on 1 September 1939, the invasion of Nazi Germany against my home country was unleashed. Seventeen days later, on 17 September 1939, we received a blow from the other side, when the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics attacked Poland, and Poland vanished from the map. However, the Poles are a proud nation, and they did not give up, because what they love, above all, is freedom. That is why they fought, to the end, on the side of the free world. The Second World War, the greatest and bloodiest in the history of humankind, caused the whole of Europe, East and South-East Asia, North Africa, the Middle East and all the oceans to plunge into the dark reign of crime, barbarity and suffering. International law fell, as one of the first victims of the war back then. The next victim was human rights, starting from the fundamental right to live and ending with the rights of soldiers in combat, the rights of civilians crushed under bombing raids and the rights of refugees. The scale of terror, destruction and lawlessness committed during those days put the international community to a serious test. The need appeared to step up efforts to protect peace and safeguard it for the future. The year 1945 marked more than the end of the Second World War; it was also the birth year of the United Nations, the most fundamental mechanism for cooperation within the international community, advocating for global peace and security. In 1945, international criminal courts were established in Nuremberg and Tokyo. Lastly, the 1940s also marked the adoption of two particularly crucial documents: the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and the Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of Genocide, the concept of which was largely formulated by Raphael Lemkin, a great Pole of Jewish descent, an eminent lawyer and university lecturer and a nominee for the Nobel Peace Prize. Lemkin was fluent in nine languages, but he was most fluent in the language of law. He noted the absence of an important word. It was Lemkin who invented and applied the term of genocide in legal language for the first time. The Polish lawyer had direct experience of genocide: almost all of his family perished — murdered in the German camps of annihilation. The emphasis on the respect for international law, as well as the unconditional punishment of those responsible for war crimes, was meant to be one of the ways and means to prevent bloody conflicts in the future. As Pope John Paul II observed, “Peace and international law are closely linked to each other; law favours peace”. Unfortunately, international treaties are still being violated, solemn pledges are being neglected, and human rights are commonly being trampled. We should constantly recall that fact. We can never be reminded too often that international law is a fundamental value and a fundamental tool for building peace in the world and that no declarations made by the leaders of States, no promises, no entreaties, can replace treaties, conventions and resolutions. No negotiations behind closed doors may ever lead to the violation and trampling of international law and resolutions. All States should be afforded the equal enjoyment of the rights vested in them, and any actions undermining those rules should be firmly rejected by the international community. Poland, so gravely affected by the Second World War and by over 40 years of oppression from the communist regime, is particularly sensitive to the use of force in the relations between States, the use of armed aggression and the violation of human rights. Poland feels an obligation to remind everyone that such methods are not only immoral and incompatible with the broadly understood concept of humanism, but above all, they violate international law. That is why I would like to forcefully reiterate that, when a State perpetrates an act of aggression, basing its foreign policy on faits accomplis through the use of tanks, missiles and bombs, the international community has an obligation to reject the facts created through such means. In that regard, it is crucially important to continue to work on streamlining the effectiveness of the Security Council, the body responsible for protecting international peace. It must be constantly recalled that the privilege of permanent membership is connected with the duty to take active measures to implement the fundamental goals of the United Nations as set forth in Article 1 of the Charter. In recent years, the right to the veto has led, on many occasions, to a total stalemate in the Council’s work, precisely on the most important security issues. That is why Poland supports the French proposal to adopt a code of conduct for refraining from the use of the veto when members are confronted by the gravest crimes under international law, including the crime of genocide. Let us look at the world today, which is so assailed by trouble. With millions of people suffering from war, destitution, famine and religious persecutions, can we afford to circumvent the principles enshrined in the Charter? Should we be turning a blind eye to breaches of existing commitments or to actions taken from a position of power or based on faits accomplis? Should we wave aside manipulations of the law and propaganda activities that seek to justify base and illegal actions? The answer is no, and that must be the answer of every decent and honest human being and politician. The former President of the Republic of Poland, Professor Lech Kaczyński, addressing the Assembly in this Hall back in 2009, pointed out that the violation of the territorial integrity of States always gives rise to conflicts on a global scale (see A/64/PV.4). In my capacity as President of Poland, I would also like to express, on behalf of my country, my opposition to a world built on a division into zones of influence, and my rejection of acts of aggression perpetrated by those who, driven by their interests and ambitions, ignore the provisions of international law, thereby thwarting the collective work of the United Nations over the past 70 years. In our part of Europe, we know all too well the costs to be incurred as the result of such policies, especially in the absence of a decisive reaction and the solidarity of other States in the early stages of an aggression. Contempt for international law may turn out, in fact, to be one of the seeds of war. And once war has broken out, there is generally no rule of law in the territories overwhelmed by warfare. We see that in the Middle East, where State institutions have been either excessively strained or replaced by private armies, terrorist militias and self-proclaimed courts. That constitutes yet another challenge to both the world and the United Nations. With increasing frequency, conflicts arise in which it is almost impossible to define the opposing sides and in which combat is carried out not by States, but rather by indeterminate armed groups in which it is difficult to distinguish a soldier from a civilian. How are we to adjust existing regulations to deal with such new circumstances, which, in the eyes of many politicians and specialists in international law, have still not been fully researched and understood? Unfortunately, one thing has remained unchanged for centuries: in various parts of the world, in numerous conflict situations, the freedom of conscience and religion are systematically restrained. Members of religious minorities, nowadays especially Christians, are exposed to persecution. In the Middle East, the incidence of acts of violence targeting members of Christian churches is growing at an alarming pace. Nor should we forget the plight of the Yazidi community, which has been murdered and evicted from its native soil. Poland appeals to the international community to take decisive steps to protect the rights of religious minorities. Military conflicts in the Middle East are taking a toll of thousands of innocent lives and violating the social and economic stability of the region. The militants of the so-called Islamic State in Iraq and the Levant continue to pillage museums, defile Christian and Shia shrines, and blow up the remains of ancient metropolises. At the end of August, we were informed about the destruction of temple Baal Shamin in Palmyra, a monument with 2,000 years of tradition. UNESCO Director General Irina Bokova has stated that the devastation of that temple constitutes nothing less than a war crime. In the face of those beastly acts, the international community should take more decisive steps in order to stem the practice of destroying and looting the world heritage of humanity. Never since the start of the United Nations has the international community had to address a humanitarian crisis on a scale such as the one it faces today. Poland is working to reinforce the global system of humanitarian aid by fostering cooperation among international institutions, Governments, law enforcement and nongovernmental organizations. At the same time, there needs to be greater emphasis on the relationship between humanitarian aid and aid for development. Here, I would like to mention with great satisfaction the contribution of Polish humanitarian organizations, which actively support those in need. They have built schools and welfare centres, drilled wells, provided clothing and blankets, assisted the victims of conflicts and responded in the wake of natural disasters. I would like to take this opportunity to express my sincerest gratitude to all good-hearted people and to the people of conscience who are providing assistance to others, often at the risk of their own lives. Respect for human rights is a key premise for the maintenance of peace and justice in the lives of States and nations. For Poland, the defence of the freedom of conscience, worship and speech is of particular importance. And the freedom of speech entails the duty to tell the truth. Nothing is more poisonous to the relations among peoples and States than manipulating the truth or spreading lies and degrading stereotypes. That is why the truth, including the truth about history, is such a crucial component of relations among States and nations. Here, I would like to highlight the fate of those for whom standing up for truth and for freedom of speech has often been punished with imprisonment or even death at the hands of their oppressors — the courageous and uncompromising dissidents, journalists and bloggers who expose the crimes of totalitarian regimes, the atrocities perpetrated by terrorists in various corners of the world and the brutality of law enforcement authorities. We must not forget their dedication. The international community should offer them appropriate protection, including legal protection. And there is another social group that cannot be left out when we speak about human rights, or about the effects of war and mass migration. I am thinking here of women: the mothers, wives and daughters of Asia, Africa, the Middle East and Ukraine. They require our particular attention, because they suffer doubly: first, when they lose their sense of security, with war raging around them, and then when they lose their husbands, fathers, brothers or sons, sometimes without even being able to bury them. The tears of bereft women, victims of war, pose the greatest charge against humanity in the twenty-first century. The defence of democracy, sustainable economic growth, the elimination of social inequalities, broader access to education and the long-term mitigation of the impacts of climate change  — all those measures contribute to the preservation of world peace. In that context, I wish to assure the Assembly of my country’s readiness to participate in the attainment of the Sustainable Development Goals (resolution 70/1). Poland has, among other things, actively participated in the current international effort to achieve a new climate agreement. We see the need to reach a permanent understanding in that field, one that will be joined by all States and will engage the efforts of all States in proportion to their actual capabilities. In other ways, Poland has had an impressive track record with regard to environmental protection. Suffice it to say that our economic transformation has contributed to the lowering of carbon dioxide emissions in Poland by 30 per cent since 1990. We also stand ready to increase our direct contribution to peacekeeping and the preservation of security. In that spirit, we have submitted our candidacy to be a non-permanent member of the Security Council. Poland, still mindful of the tragedy of the Second World War and the communist era, pledges to actively cooperate in building an international order based on the rule of law. Law contributes to the effective functioning of the societies of which our States are composed. But it also serves to help establish effective and peaceful arrangements among States themselves. Let us therefore create a world founded on the strength of the rule of law and not on the law of force.

On behalf of the General Assembly, I wish to thank the President of the Republic of Poland for the statement he has just made.

The Assembly will now hear an address by the President of the People’s Republic of China.

On behalf of the General Assembly, I have the honour to welcome to the United Nations His Excellency Mr. Xi Jinping, President of the People’s Republic of China, and to invite him to address the Assembly. President Xi Jinping (spoke in Chinese): Just 70 years ago, an earlier generation fought heroically and secured victory in an anti-fascist war, thereby ending a dark chapter in the annals of human history. That victory was hard won. Seventy years ago, humankind, acting with vision and foresight, established the United Nations. That universal and most representative and authoritative international Organization has carried humankind’s hope for a new future and ushered in a new era of cooperation. It was a pioneering initiative never undertaken before. Seventy years ago, that generation pooled their wisdom to adopt the Charter of the United Nations, laying the cornerstone for the contemporary international order and establishing the fundamental principles of contemporary international relations. It was an achievement of profound impact. On 3 September, the Chinese people, together with other peoples of the world, solemnly commemorated the seventieth anniversary of the Chinese people’s war of resistance against Japanese aggression and fascism in the Second World War. In the main theatre in the East, China made a national sacrifice, suffering over 35 million casualties in its fight against the main troops of Japanese militarism. China not only saved itself and its people from subjugation, but also gave strong support to the forces fighting aggression in the European and Pacific theatres, thereby making a historic contribution to the victory in that anti-fascist world war. History is like a mirror. Only by drawing on the lessons of history can the world avoid repeating past calamities. We should review history with respect and in full conscience. The past cannot be changed, but the future can be shaped. Bearing history in mind is not to perpetuate hatred. Rather, it is necessary so that humankind does not forget history’s lessons. Remembering history does not mean being obsessed with the past; rather, in doing so, we aim to create a better future and pass the torch of peace from generation to generation. The United Nations has survived the test of time. Over the past seven decades, it has witnessed the efforts of all countries to uphold peace, build homelands and pursue cooperation. Having reached a historic new starting point, the United Nations needs to address the central issue of how to better promote world peace and development in the twenty-first century. The world is experiencing a historic process of accelerated evolution. The sunshine of peace, development and progress will be powerful enough to penetrate the clouds of war, poverty and backwardness. The movement towards a multipolar world and the rise of emerging markets and developing countries have become an irreversible historical trend. Economic globalization with the advent of the information age has unleashed and greatly boosted social productive forces that have both created unprecedented development opportunities and given rise to new threats and challenges that we must squarely face. As an ancient Chinese goes, “Our greatest ideal is to create a world truly shared by all”. Peace, development, equity, justice, democracy and freedom are the common values of humankind and the lofty goals of the United Nations. Yet those goals are far from having been achieved, and we must continue our endeavours to meet them. In today’s world, all countries are interdependent and share a common future. We should renew our commitment to the purposes and principles of the Charter of the United Nations, so as to fashion a new kind of international relations with win-win cooperation at its core and to create an international community that realizes a shared positive future for all of humankind. To achieve that goal, we need to make the following efforts. We should build partnerships in which countries treat each other as equals, engage in mutual consultation and show mutual understanding. The principle of sovereign equality underpins the Charter of the United Nations. The future of the world must be shaped by all countries. All countries are equals. Those who are big, strong and rich should not bully the small, weak and poor. The principle of sovereignty not only means that the sovereignty and territorial integrity of all countries are inviolable and that their internal affairs are not subject to interference. It also means that the right of all countries to independently choose social systems and development paths should be upheld and that the endeavours of all countries to promote economic and social development and to improve their people’s lives should be respected. We should be committed to multilateralism and reject unilateralism. We should adopt a new vision of seeking win-win outcomes for all and reject the outdated mindset that one’s gain means the other’s loss or that the winner takes all. Consultation is an important form of democracy, and it should also become an important means of exercising contemporary international governance. We should resolve disputes and differences through dialogue and consultation. We should forge a global partnership at both the international and regional levels, and embrace a new approach to State-to-State relations, one that features dialogue rather than confrontation and seeks partnership rather than alliance. Major countries should follow the principles of no conflict, no confrontation, mutual respect and win-win cooperation in handling their relations. Big countries should treat small countries as equals and take the right approach to justice and interests by putting justice before interests. We should create a security architecture featuring fairness, justice, joint contributions and shared benefits. In an age of economic globalization, the security of all countries is interlinked and has a mutual impact. No country can maintain absolute security by its own efforts alone, and no country can achieve stability on the basis of other countries’ instability. The law of the jungle leaves the weak at the mercy of the strong; that is not the way for countries to conduct their relations. Those who adopt the high-handed approach of using force will find that they are only lifting a rock to drop it on their own feet. We should abandon the Cold War mentality in all its manifestations and foster a new vision of common, comprehensive, cooperative and sustainable security. We should give full play to the central role of the United Nations and its Security Council in ending conflict and keeping peace, and adopt the dual approach of seeking peaceful solutions to disputes and taking the actions required to turn hostility into amity. We should advance international cooperation in both the economic and social fields and take a holistic approach to addressing traditional and non-traditional security threats, so as to prevent conflicts from breaking out in the first place. We should promote open, innovative and inclusive development that benefits all. The 2008 international financial crisis taught us that allowing capital to blindly pursue profit can only create a crisis and that global prosperity cannot be built on the shaky foundation of a market without moral constraints. The growing gap between rich and poor is both unsustainable and unfair. It is important for us to use both the invisible hand and the visible hand to create synergy between market forces and Government function and strive to achieve both efficiency and fairness. Development is meaningful only when it is inclusive and sustainable. Achieve this goal requires openness, mutual assistance and win-win cooperation. In today’s world, close to 800 million people still live in extreme poverty; nearly 6 million children die before the age of 5 each year; and nearly 60 million children are unable to go to school. The just-concluded United Nations sustainable development Summit adopted the post-2015 development Agenda (resolution 70/1). We must translate our commitments into action and work together to ensure a bright future in which everyone is free from want, has access to development and lives with dignity. We should increase inter-civilization exchanges so as to promote harmony, inclusiveness and respect for differences. The world is simply more colourful as a result of its cultural diversity. Diversity breeds exchanges, exchanges create integration, and integration makes progress possible. In their interactions, civilizations must accept their differences. Only through mutual respect, mutual learning and harmonious coexistence can the world maintain its diversity and thrive. Each civilization reflects the unique vision and contribution of its people, and no civilization is superior to any other. Different civilizations should have dialogue and exchanges instead of trying to exclude or replace one another. The history of humankind is a process of active exchanges, interactions and integration among different civilizations. We should respect all civilizations and treat one another as equals. We should draw inspiration from one another to boost the creative development of human civilization. We should build an ecosystem that puts Mother Nature and green development first. Humankind may utilize nature and even try to transform it, but we are, after all, a part of it. We should care for nature and not place ourselves above it. We should reconcile industrial development with nature and pursue harmony between man and nature to achieve the sustainable development of the world and the all-round development of humankind. To build a sound ecology is vital for humankind’s future. All members of the international community should work together to build a sound global eco-environment. We should respect nature, follow nature’s ways and protect nature. We should firmly pursue green, low-carbon, circular and sustainable development. China will shoulder its share of responsibility and continue to play its part in this common endeavour. We also urge developed countries to fulfil their historical responsibilities, honour their emission-reduction commitments and help developing countries mitigate and adapt to climate change. The more than 1.3 billion Chinese people are endeavouring to realize the Chinese dream of great national renewal. The dream of the Chinese people is closely connected with the dreams of the other peoples of the world. We cannot realize the Chinese dream without a peaceful international environment, a stable international order and the understanding, support and help of the rest of the world. The realization of the Chinese dream will bring more opportunities to other countries and contribute to global peace and development. China will continue to participate in building world peace. We are committed to peaceful development. No matter how the international landscape may evolve and how strong China may become, China will never seek hegemony or expansion or to establish a sphere of influence. We will continue to contribute to global development and to pursue common development and the win-win strategy of opening up. We are ready to share our development experience and opportunities with other countries, and we invite other countries to board China’s express train of development, so that all of us will achieve common development. China will continue to uphold the international order. We will stay committed to the path of peaceful development through cooperation. China was the first country to put its signature on the Charter of the United Nations. We will continue to uphold the international order and system, underpinned by the purposes and principles of the Charter. China will continue to stand together with other developing countries. We firmly support the greater representation and voice of developing countries, especially African countries, in the international governance system. In voting at the United Nations, China will always side with the developing countries. I take this opportunity to announce China’s decision to establish a 10-year, $1 billion peace and development fund to support the work of the United Nations, advance multilateral cooperation and promote world peace and development. I also wish to announce that China will join the new United Nations peacekeeping capabilities readiness system and has therefore decided to take the lead in setting up a permanent formed peacekeeping police force and a standby peacekeeping force of 8,000 troops. I also wish to announce that China will provide a total of $100 million of free military assistance to the African Union over the next five years to support the establishment of the African Standby Force and the development of the African Capacity for Immediate Response to Crisis. As the United Nations enters a new decade, let us unite even more closely to forge a new partnership of win-win cooperation and a community of shared future for humankind. Let the vision of beating our swords into ploughshares and building a war-free world with lasting peace take root in our hearts. Let the aspirations for development, prosperity, fairness and justice spread throughout the world.

On behalf of the General Assembly, I wish to thank the President of the People’s Republic of China for the statement he has just made.

The Assembly will now hear an address by the King of the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan.

On behalf of the General Assembly, I have the honour to welcome to the United Nations His Majesty King Abdullah II ibn Al Hussein, King of the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan, and to invite him to address the Assembly. King Abdullah: It is an honour to stand before the General Assembly. I am here representing Jordan as a God-fearing and God-loving human being. I am here as a father who wants his children, like all others, to live in a compassionate and more peaceful world. Such a future is under serious threat from the khawarij, the outlaws of Islam, who operate globally today. They target religious differences, hoping to kill cooperation and compassion among the billions of people of all faiths and communities, who live side by side in our many countries. Those outlaw gangs use suspicion and ignorance to expand their own power. And worse still is the free hand they grant themselves to distort the word of God in order to justify the most atrocious of crimes. All of us here are united by our conviction that those forces must be defeated. But before we ask how to achieve that objective, let us ask the following. What if they were not defeated? What would our world look like? Can we tolerate a future where mass murder, public beheadings, kidnapping and slavery are common practices? Where the persecution of communities is the law? Where humankind’s cultural treasures that have been preserved for thousands of years are systematically destroyed? I have called this crisis a third world war, and I believe we must respond with equal intensity. That means global collective action on all fronts. But let us make no mistake; the more important war is the one we wage on the battlegrounds of the heart, the soul and the mind. And, in this fight, all countries and all people must come together. Jordan has been proud to work with Member States and their countries to spearhead global initiatives for tolerance and dialogue. That has been reflected in the Amman Message and A Common Word, and, four years ago, we helped to initiate the World Interfaith Harmony Week, an annual United Nations event to focus all people, especially young people, on the essentials of tolerance and coexistence. Those efforts must continue, and the United Nations has a central role. But all of us, as individuals and as leaders, must help build the road ahead. Let me suggest seven essential steps. First, let us get back to basics and to the essence and shared spirit of our respective faiths and creeds. It seems to me that we can sometimes lose sight of the larger picture. What separates human beings is minuscule, compared to what we hold in common: deep values of love, peace, justice and compassion. (spoke in Arabic) “And My mercy embraces all things.” (The Holy Koran, VII:156) (spoke in English) Secondly, let us change our tone. On my travels not long ago, I saw a roadside sign that said, “Fear God”. A few miles down the road, was another, saying the same thing, then another and then a final one, saying, “... Or you will go to Hell”, and I asked myself when and how did fear and intimidation creep so insidiously into our conversations, when there is so much more to be said about the love of God. Most people may think they have nothing to do with the hate expressed by extremists. But our world is also threatened when violence, fear and anger dominate our discourse, whether in school lessons, weekly sermons or international affairs. Thirdly, let us act upon our beliefs. And here, I mean more than praying, fasting or zakat  — giving alms. I mean integrating our values into every part of our daily lives and every hour of every day. By loving our neighbour, showing respect to those different from us and being kind to our own children, each one of us can do something to reflect the spirit of our Creator. Fourthly, let us amplify the voice of moderation. It is one of the greatest ironies of our time that extremist voices use advanced media to propagate ignorant ideas. We must not let our screens, airwaves, broadband and social media be monopolized by those who pose the greatest danger to our world. We too must populate our media and, more important, the minds of our young people, with the purity and power of moderation. Fifthly, let us recognize deceit. When we examine the motives of those outlaws, the khawarij, and, indeed, the motives of extremists on all sides, we find hunger for power, control of people, of money and of land. They use religion as a mask. Is there a worse crime than twisting God’s word to promote one’s own interests? Is there a more despicable act than feeding on the vulnerable and innocent, to recruit them to one’s ranks? In the global Muslim community  — 1.7 billion good men and women, one quarter of humankind — today’s outlaw gangs are nothing but a drop in the ocean. But a drop of venom can poison a well. We must protect the purity of our faith from worldly contamination. As Muslims, this is our fight, as it is our duty. Sixthly, by all means, let us be intolerant of intolerance. Extremists rely on the apathy of moderates. But moderation does not mean accepting those who trample on others and rejecting all those who differ. Today’s global fight is not between peoples, communities or religions. It is between all moderates of all faiths against all extremists, in all religions. Leaders of every country, every belief and every neighbourhood need to take a clear and public stand against intolerance of any kind. That includes respecting all places where God is worshipped, whether mosque, church, synagogue or temple. And nothing can be more important and can have more impact in framing this respect and coexistence than Jerusalem. The Hashemite custodianship of Jerusalem’s Islamic and Christian holy sites is a sacred duty, and we join Muslims and Christians everywhere in rejecting threats to the holy places and the Arab character of that Holy City. Lastly, there is hyperconnectivity. In our era, connectivity defines how we live and interact in our work, our communities, our schools and our lives. Only a few years ago, we were introduced to the Internet of computers; now, we talk about the Internet of things. But over them all must be the Internet of humankind — a hyperconnection, bringing us together in collective consciousness and common cause. By gathering here today, we acknowledge that the power of working together far exceeds any individual effort. Our great General Assembly must address urgent world issues: sustainable and inclusive development that can deliver more opportunities, especially to young people, and peaceful, political solutions to regional crises. It is the world’s obligation to find solutions and provide relief for the millions of refugees in my region. Today, we are still facing huge shortfalls, cuts and threats to vital United Nations programmes and agencies, including the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East, the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees and the World Food Programme. Today, we are haunted by the images of thousands of refugees on the shores and borders of Europe, seeking hope, far away from their homeland. In Jordan, we have been faced with that challenge since the beginning of the Syrian crisis. Today, Syrian refugees alone constitute 20 per cent of my country’s population. We have been relieving the international community of a significant part of the burden of that humanitarian disaster since the beginning. Support to our country has been a small fraction of the cost we have endured. It is high time for the international community to act collectively in facing this unprecedented humanitarian crisis and to provide support to countries such as Jordan and Lebanon, which have been carrying the brunt of that burden over the past four years. In all these areas, we must act, and act collectively, for the future of our world. And connectivity is key. The values we share  — equality, compassion and hope — need to be connected to everything we do. And we must keep ourselves connected to each other, for the good of all. These bonds are the power and promise of our United Nations. Here, together, we can and must create the future our people need — a safer, stronger world of coexistence, inclusion, shared prosperity and peace. Seven steps can bring us closer to our destination. God willing, our countries and peoples will achieve those seven steps and many more.

On behalf of the General Assembly, I wish to thank His Majesty the King of the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan for the statement he has just made.

The Assembly will now hear an address by the President of the Russian Federation.

On behalf of the General Assembly, I have the honour to welcome to the United Nations His Excellency Mr. Vladimir Putin, President of the Russian Federation, and to invite him to address the Assembly. President Putin (spoke in Russian): The seventieth anniversary of the United Nations is a good opportunity both to consider our history and to talk about our collective future. In 1945, the countries that had defeated Nazism united their efforts to lay firm foundations for the post-war world order. I should point out here that the key decisions about the principles for guiding cooperation among States and the creation of the United Nations were made in our country, at the meeting in Yalta of the leaders of the coalition against Hitler. The Yalta system emerged out of genuine travail, paid for with tens of millions of lives and the two world wars that engulfed the world in the twentieth century. And in all fairness to it, it has helped humankind traverse the turbulent and sometimes dramatic events of the past seven decades and has spared the world major cataclysms. The United Nations is an Organization unique in its legitimacy, representativeness and universality. True, it has recently been much criticized for its perceived insufficient effectiveness and for decision-making on fundamental issues that can be stymied by insuperable differences, particularly among members of the Security Council. I would like to point out, however, that over the 70 years of the existence of the United Nations there have always been disagreements, and the right to the veto has always been exercised — by the United States, Great Britain, France, China, the Soviet Union and later Russia, alike. That is entirely natural for such a diverse and representative Organization. When the United Nations was established, there was no suggestion that unanimity would reign. Indeed, the essence of the Organization consists in seeking and reaching compromise. Its strength lies in taking account of different opinions and points of view. The decisions that are discussed in the United Nations are either adopted as resolutions or they are not. As the diplomats say, they either go through or do not go through. Any action on the part of any State that bypasses that procedure is illegitimate and runs counter to the Charter of the United Nations and in defiance of international law. We all know that a single dominating power centre emerged in the world after the end of the Cold War. Those who found themselves at the top of that pyramid were tempted to think that if they were so strong and exceptional, they knew better than anyone else what should be done. As a consequence, they thought, why should they bother with the United Nations, which instead of automatically sanctioning and legitimizing necessary decisions frequently just stands in the way or, as we say, gets underfoot? It has become commonplace to say that the Organization, as originally conceived, has become obsolete and that its historical mission has been accomplished. The world is changing, of course, and the United Nations must keep up with that natural transformation. Russia is ready to work on that, based on a broad consensus with all its partners, but we consider efforts to undermine the authority and legitimacy of the United Nations to be extremely dangerous. They could lead to the collapse of the entire architecture of international relations. Then we would indeed be left with no rules beyond might is right. That would be a world ruled by selfishness rather than collective effort; a world ever more dictatorial and less about equality, genuine democracy and freedom; a world where an ever-growing number of de facto protectorates and externally controlled territories would replace truly independent States. What, after all, is State sovereignty, about which some of our colleagues have already spoken? More than anything it is about freedom — the freedom of every person, people or State to choose their own destiny. And by the way, the issue of the so-called legitimacy of State power also falls into this category. We should never play with words or manipulate them. Every term of international law and international affairs should be clear and transparent and possess uniformly understood criteria. We are all different, and we should respect that. Nobody is obliged to conform once and for all to a single model of development that someone has deemed to be the only right one. We should all remember what we have learned from past experience. For example, we remember instances from the history of the Soviet Union. Attempts to export social experiments and to push for change in one country or another based on our own ideological positions often led to tragic consequences and to deterioration rather than progress. It seems, however, that no one learns from others’ mistakes. They just repeat them, and the export of revolutions, this time so-called democratic revolutions, continues. We have only to look at the situation in the Middle East and North Africa, which the speaker before me discussed. Certainly, the political and social problems of the region have been brewing for a long time, and people there naturally wanted change. But how has it actually turned out? Instead of reforming Government institutions, aggressive foreign interference has resulted in the abrupt destruction of the very fabric of life. Instead of the triumph of democracy and progress we got violence, poverty and social catastrophe. And human rights, including the right to life, are simply ignored. One cannot help wanting to ask those who created this situation if they at least realize now what they have done. But I am afraid the question would go unanswered, because policies based on complacency and a belief in one’s exceptionality and impunity are never abandoned. It is now obvious that the power vacuum that has appeared in a number of the countries of the Middle East and North Africa has led to the emergence of areas of anarchy that immediately began to fill with extremists and terrorists. Tens of thousands of militants are now fighting under the banners of the so-called Islamic State. They include former Iraqi servicemen who were thrown out into the street in the wake of the invasion of Iraq in 2003. Another supplier of recruits is Libya, whose statehood was destroyed as a result of a gross violation of Security Council resolution 1973 (2011). And now members of the so-called moderate Syrian opposition, supported by the West, are joining the radical ranks. First they arm and train them, and now they are defecting to the so-called Islamic State. Indeed, the Islamic State itself did not come from nowhere. It, too, was initially forged as a tool against undesirable secular regimes. Having established a foothold in Syria and Iraq, the Islamic State is actively expanding into other regions, with the aim of dominating the Islamic world, and not just there. It is clearly not limiting itself to those plans alone. The situation is more than dangerous. In such circumstances, it is hypocritical and irresponsible to make loud declarations about the threat of international terrorism while turning a blind eye to the channels that are financing and supporting terrorists, including through the proceeds of drug trafficking and illicit trading in oil and arms, or to attempt to manipulate extremist groups and make them do one’s bidding in order to achieve one’s own political goals, in the hope of dealing with them — or, to put it more simply, liquidating them — later. What I have to say to those people is this: Sirs, while you are certainly dealing with cruel people, they are in no way stupid or primitive. They are just as smart as you, and you cannot yet tell who is using whom for his own ends. The recent information on the transfer of arms to the terrorists by that moderate opposition itself is the best proof of that. We believe that any attempt to flirt with terrorists, let alone arm them, is not just short-sighted; it is incendiary. It could result in a dramatic increase in the global terrorist threat and its critical spread to new regions, especially considering the fact that militants from many countries, including Europe, are passing through Islamic State training camps. Nor, unfortunately, I must admit frankly to my colleagues, is Russia an exception. We cannot allow such criminals, who have already smelled blood, to return home and continue their evil deeds there. We do not want that. And after all, would anyone want that? Russia has always been firm and consistent in opposing terrorism in all its forms. Today we are providing military and technical assistance to Iraq, Syria and other countries of the region that are fighting terrorist groups. We think it is an enormous mistake to refuse to cooperate with the Syrian authorities and the State armed forces, who are valiantly combating terrorism face to face. Finally, we should acknowledge that no one except President Al-Assad’s Government armed forces and the Kurdish militia is truly fighting the Islamic State and other terrorist organizations in Syria. We are aware of all the problems and contradictions in the region, but we must nonetheless be realistic. I feel obliged to point out that Russia’s honest and straightforward approach has recently been used as a pretext for accusing us of harbouring increasing ambitions — as if the people saying that have no ambitions at all themselves. But the real issue is not Russia’s ambitions but the fact that we can no longer tolerate the current state of affairs in the world. In reality, we are proposing that we should be guided by our shared values and interests rather than ambitions. We should unite our efforts to address, on the basis of international law, these new problems we face and create a genuinely broad international coalition against terrorism. Like the coalition against Hitler, it could unite all the diverse forces willing to resolutely resist those who, like the Nazis, sow evil and hatred of humankind. And, naturally, Muslim countries should play a key role in that coalition. Not only is the Islamic State a direct threat to them, it also desecrates one of the world’s greatest religions with its bloody crimes. The militants’ ideologists make a mockery of Islam and pervert its true humanistic values. In that regard, I would also like to address Muslim spiritual leaders. Their authority and tutelage are vital at this moment. It is essential to prevent those whom militants try to recruit from making hasty decisions. And those who have been deceived and who by force of circumstance have ended up in the terrorists’ ranks must be helped to find a path back to normal life, lay down their arms and cease their fratricide. In the next few days Russia, as the current President of the Security Council, will convene a ministerial-level meeting aimed at conducting a comprehensive analysis of threats in the Middle East. First, we propose to discuss the possibility of agreeing on a draft resolution designed to coordinate the actions of all the forces confronting the Islamic State and other terrorist groups. Once again, that coordination should be based on the principles of the Charter of the United Nations. We believe that the international community can develop a comprehensive strategy for the political stabilization and social and economic recovery of the Middle East. Then there would be no need to build camps for refugees. The flood of people forced to leave their homelands has literally engulfed first the country’s neighbours and now Europe. Now they number in the hundreds of thousands, but they could soon be millions. This is a great and tragic new migration of peoples, and a harsh lesson for all of us, including Europe. I would like to stress that the refugees unquestionably need our compassion and support. However, any fundamental solution to the problem must involve restoring statehood where it has been destroyed, strengthening Government institutions where they still exist or are being re-established, and providing comprehensive military, economic and material assistance to countries in difficulties — and, of course, to those who have not abandoned their homes despite all their ordeals. Naturally, any assistance to sovereign States can and must be offered rather than imposed, and only in accordance with the United Nations Charter. In other words, everything being done or to be done in this area in accordance with the norms of international law must be backed by our universal Organization, and anything contravening the Charter must be rejected. More than anything, I believe it is vital to help restore Government institutions in Libya, support the new Government of Iraq and provide comprehensive assistance to the legitimate Government of Syria. Ensuring peace and regional and global stability remains the key task of the international community, with the United Nations at its helm. In our view, that means creating a space of equal and indivisible security that is not for the select few, but for everyone. Yes, it is a complex, difficult and time-consuming task, but there are no alternatives to it. However, for some of our colleagues the Cold War bloc mindset and desire to assimilate new geopolitical areas are still paramount. They began by continuing to expand NATO — and one wonders why, with the Warsaw Pact bloc no longer in existence and the Soviet Union broken up. And yet NATO is not only still there; like its military infrastructure, it is still expanding. Then they offered post-Soviet countries a false choice — to be either with the West or the East. Sooner or later, that logic of confrontation was bound to turn into a serious geopolitical crisis, and that is what happened in Ukraine, where the people’s dissatisfaction with the authorities was exploited and a military coup provoked from outside. A civil war erupted as a result. We firmly believe that we can end the bloodshed and find a way out of this deadlock only through full implementation, in good faith, of the Minsk agreements of 12 February. Ukraine’s territorial integrity cannot be ensured by threats and force of arms, but it must be done. What is needed is respect for the choice of the people of the Donbas region, genuine consideration of their interests and rights and their engagement in devising the key elements of the country’s political structure, in line with the Minsk agreements that will guarantee that Ukraine can develop as a civilized State and an essential link in the construction of a common area of security and economic cooperation in both Europe and Eurasia. I have a reason for speaking of a common area for economic cooperation. Only recently, it seemed that in the economic sphere, where the objective laws of the market apply, we would learn to live without dividing lines and to act on the basis of transparent rules, jointly devised, including the principles of the World Trade Organization (WTO), which stand for freedom of trade and investment and open competition. Today, however, unilateral sanctions that circumvent the United Nations Charter have almost become the norm. They not only serve political aims, they act as a way of pushing competitors out of the market. I would like to note another sign of growing economic selfishness. A number of countries have chosen to create closed, exclusive economic associations, with negotiations conducted behind closed doors and in secret, undisclosed to their own citizens and business communities. Nor do they inform other countries and Governments whose interests may be affected. Perhaps they want all of us to be left with the fait accompli that the rules of the game have been changed in favour of a small group, and without the participation of the WTO. That could completely unbalance the trade system and lead to the disintegration of the global economic environment. These issues affect the interests of all States and influence the future of the entire world economy. That is why we propose discussing them within the United Nations, the WTO and the Group of 20. In opposition to a policy of exclusiveness, Russia proposes harmonizing regional economic projects through what is known as the integration of integrations, based on the universal and transparent rules of international trade. One example is our plan to link the Eurasian Economic Union with China’s initiative in creating a Silk Road economic belt. And we continue to believe the possibility of harmonizing integration processes within the Eurasian Economic Union and the European Union to be very promising. Among the issues affecting the future of all humankind is the challenge of global climate change. It is in our interests to ensure that we get results at the Conference of the Parties to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change to be held in Paris in December. As part of our national contribution, by 2030 we plan to reduce our greenhouse gas emissions to between 70 and 75 per cent of their 1990 levels. I suggest, however, that we should take a broader view of this issue. By establishing quotas on harmful emissions or taking other steps that by their very nature are still only tactical, we may mitigate the problem for a certain amount of time, but fundamentally we will not solve it. We need a completely different approach. We should be focusing on introducing fundamentally new technologies, inspired by nature, that rather than damaging the environment will be in harmony with it and will enable us to restore the balance between the biosphere and the technosphere that human activities have destroyed. It is indeed a challenge on a planetary scale, but I am confident that humankind has the intellectual wherewithal to respond to it. We must unite our efforts, most of all those States possessing solid research capacities and fundamental scientific achievements. We propose convening a special forum under United Nations auspices for a comprehensive consideration of the issues related to the depletion of natural resources, the destruction of habitats and climate change. Russia is ready to be one of the organizers of such a forum. On 10 January 1946, the General Assembly of the United Nations gathered in London to begin work on its first session. Eduardo Zuleta Ángel, a Colombian diplomat and the Chairman of the Preparatory Commission, opened the session by giving what I believe was a concise definition of the basic principles by which the United Nations should be guided in its activities. They are free will, disdain for scheming and trickery, and a spirit of cooperation. Today his words can be a guide for us all. Russia believes in the huge potential of the United Nations to help us avoid a new global confrontation and engage in strategic cooperation. We will work consistently with other countries to strengthen the central coordinating role of the United Nations. I am confident that together we can make the world a stable and safe place and ensure conditions conducive to the development of every State and nation.

On behalf of the General Assembly, I wish to thank the President of the Russian Federation for the statement he has just made.

The Assembly will now hear an address by the President of the Republic of Korea.

On behalf of the General Assembly, I have the honour to welcome to the United Nations Her Excellency Ms. Park Geun-hye, President of the Republic of Korea, and to invite her to address the Assembly. President Park Geun-hye (spoke in Korean; English interpretation provided by the delegation): I would first like to congratulate the United Nations on the seventieth anniversary of its founding, and Mr. Mogens Lykketoft, former Speaker of the Danish Parliament, on his election to preside over the General Assembly at its seventieth session. The United Nations, established 70 years ago after the calamities of war, has been a beacon of hope for people all over the world, thanks to the trust and hope engendered by the spirit of the United Nations that made people its focus, despite the constraints of realpolitik. And despite the many challenges and criticisms directed at it, the United Nations has made tremendous contributions to promoting the common good of humankind. As we speak, the Blue Helmets of its peacekeeping operations, themselves a symbol of peace, are working to maintain international peace and security. The adoption in 1948 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights was a milestone in the history of human rights, while the establishment of the Human Rights Council and the International Criminal Court marked conspicuous progress towards institutionalizing the protection of human rights. The Millennium Development Goals, launched in 2000, have been the basis for the most successful poverty eradication campaign in the history of the United Nations, lifting hundreds of millions out of extreme poverty. And few places in the world have seen the efforts of the United Nations make as much difference as the Republic of Korea. This year also has special meaning for my country, for it is one that brings both the joy of marking the seventieth anniversary of our liberation and the anguish attendant on the arrival of the seventieth year of our division. In the past 70 years, the Republic of Korea has risen above the ordeals of partition and war and gone on to achieve industrialization and democratization simultaneously. The United Nations has stood with the Republic of Korea from the founding of our Government to this very day. The values and ideals upheld by the United Nations — global peace, the promotion of human rights and shared prosperity  — have embodied the vision of the Republic of Korea itself. And the future that Korea envisions is aligned with the aspirations of the United Nations. The challenges we have overcome and the successes we have achieved over the years are a testament to the possibilities for success of the goal of the United Nations for a better world. Notwithstanding these efforts of the United Nations and the international community, humankind today is confronted with multiple simultaneous challenges in all corners of the world. Today, there is no shortage of conflicts, large and small, or of extremely violent civil wars. The surge in extremist groups that the Islamic State in Iraq and the Levant represents is now a global concern that needs to be urgently addressed. A single photo of Aylan Kurdi captures how such instability is unleashing the greatest humanitarian refugee crisis since the Second World War. Global climate change is threatening the lives of even our future generations; Ebola and other infectious diseases are causing countless victims and awakening us to the importance of health security. Today, no one in our global village is free from these global and transnational threats and challenges. As the international order experiences these tectonic shifts, now, more than ever, is the time for the United Nations to once again light up the beacon of hope and to illuminate the path to promoting international peace and security, human rights and collective prosperity throughout the world. Above all, the international community should rally around the United Nations and return to the founding spirit of the Charter of the Organization, which, in its Preamble calls for faith “in the dignity and worth of the human person”. We must build a United Nations that is strong, we must carry the banner of renewed multilateralism, and we must bear in mind that the value of human dignity is based on freedom, human rights, justice and the rule of law. As a nation that puts the peace and happiness of our global village at the centre of its diplomatic endeavours, we will spare no effort in supporting the United Nations as it addresses the challenges faced by the international community, and we will highlight the ideals of humanism and the need to live up to those ideals. The drive by the United Nations to produce a new post-2015 development agenda is also anchored in this people-centred spirit. The 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development (resolution 70/1), adopted at the Summit for the adoption of the post-2015 development agenda three days ago (see A/70/PV.4), has set a historic milestone on the road to a better world that leaves no one behind. Just half a century ago, the Republic of Korea was among the poorest countries in the world. Today, it is one of the world’s top 10 economies. In the course of achieving this “miracle on the Han River”, we drew immense strength from the assistance and development cooperation of the international community. In this regard, I believe the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development will be a potential stepping stone to a second and third miracle around the world. The Republic of Korea, in its capacity as the current President of the Economic and Social Council, which will be playing a key role in the implementation of the development agenda, will actively contribute to achieving the development goals. Along the way, the Republic of Korea will proactively share its development experiences and know-how with the international community. In the meantime, we have been sharing with the developing countries the experiences of the Saemaul Undong, which served as a springboard for my country’s leap forward. I believe that the Saemaul Undong can maximize the utility of development cooperation with developing countries, given that it ignites a sense of confidence and ownership through competition and incentives and lays the groundwork for self-help in communities with the engagement of the local people. Two days ago, we and the United Nations Development Programme and the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development hosted a special high-level side event on the Saemaul Undong and agreed to work together to help eradicate poverty and build transformative local communities in developing countries. We will further expand our efforts so that the Saemaul Undong can progress as a new paradigm for rural development in developing countries. Another important driving force behind our economic development is the human talent that has been nurtured through unsparing investment. Education is the key element of the sustainable development agenda that helps to empower the individual and assist countries in attaining national development. We have been actively engaging in the Global Education First Initiative as a champion country. We hosted the World Education Forum 2015 with UNESCO last May, which culminated in the adoption of the Incheon Declaration and set the global education goals to be achieved by 2030. Going forward, the Republic of Korea is determined to continue its efforts in the area of education. In particular, we will continue to work with UNESCO to spread global citizenship education. Next, Korea will also play a strong role in reinforcing global health security. In addition to dispatching a disaster response team to Sierra Leone to help fight Ebola late last year, at the second high-level meeting of the Global Health Security Agenda held in Seoul three weeks ago, the Republic of Korea announced that it would contribute $100 million over the next five years to support capacity-building in developing countries. Moreover, in support of developing countries over the next five years, it plans to pursue projects worth $200 million under the Better Life, Better Future Initiative. Even as we were achieving rapid industrialization, we were expending a great deal of energy on ensuring the harmonious coexistence of humankind and nature. Our designation of 5 April as Arbor Day and the promotion of forestation has led to a twentyfold increase in the number of trees per hectare over the past 50 years. Since 1972, we have designated green belt zones to curb development in the suburbs, thereby achieving harmony between the environment and development. Today, we are channelling our environmental advocacy into joining the international community’s response to climate change. Dealing with climate change is an urgent task that we can no longer afford to put off. It is critical that the international community produce a concrete and meaningful outcome at the 2015 session of the Conference of the Parties to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change this December. We believe that addressing climate change is not a burden, but a fresh opportunity to create future drivers of growth through technological innovation. Guided by that belief, the Republic of Korea submitted a forward-looking intended nationally determined contribution last June. It is considering how to make the transition to a low-carbon economy and actively participating in the climate negotiations. In addition, as the host country of the Green Climate Fund Secretariat and the Global Green Growth Institute, Korea will continue to support climate action by developing business models for new energy industries and sharing them with developing countries. The recent United Nations review of peace operations, peacebuilding and women and peace and security in line with a changing security environment could not have come at a better time. As a country that experienced a devastating war and remains scarred to this day by partition, the Republic of Korea is acutely aware of the importance of peace and is strongly supporting the efforts of the United Nations to protect peace. To date, my country has dispatched some 13,500 peacekeepers to 18 missions. Korean peacekeepers are held in high regard for their exemplary and community- friendly peacekeeping and reconstruction activities. Following consultations with the United Nations, the Republic of Korea plans in the near future to make additional deployments to peacekeeping missions, and we will strengthen our substantive partnership with the African Union. To assist Syrian refugees fleeing the instability in the Middle East, the Republic of Korea will step up its humanitarian assistance to the relevant countries. It is also focusing its attention on laying the groundwork for peace in North-East Asia, a region that continues to experience persistent tensions and discord among countries. In North-East Asia, we see a deepening of the Asia paradox phenomenon, where political and security cooperation lags behind the high degree of economic interdependence among the countries in the region. Recently, moves that could potentially have profound consequences for North-East Asia’s security order have led to misgivings among countries in the region. Japan’s new defence and security legislation should be implemented transparently and in a way that is conducive to friendly relations among the countries of the region and to regional peace and stability. Referring to North-East Asia with its continuing tensions and discord, Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon once described the lack of a regional cooperation mechanism as a “crucial missing link”. The reason that I proposed the Northeast Asia Peace and Cooperation Initiative was to remedy that omission and thereby create a virtuous cycle of trust-building and increased cooperation. Consultations among the countries of the region are currently under way on a range of potential areas of collaboration, including nuclear security, disaster management and health. The region’s cumulative experience in those areas will help to promote global peace and cooperation. Such efforts on our part will also help to resolve the North Korean nuclear issue, which poses a serious threat to peace in North-East Asia and beyond. Resolving the North Korean nuclear issue should be accorded the highest priority if we are to safeguard the integrity of the international nuclear non-proliferation regime and live up to the aspirations of humankind for a world without nuclear weapons. A nuclear deal with Iran was reached in July. The international community should now focus its efforts on resolving the North Korean nuclear issue, which is the last remaining non-proliferation challenge. In recent weeks, the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea once again publicly hinted at further acts of provocation that would violate the terms of Security Council resolutions. That would not only spoil the mood for the inter-Korean dialogue—which took so long to create—but would also undermine the efforts of the countries participating in the Six-Party Talks to reopen denuclearization talks. The Government of the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea would do well to choose reform and openness, over additional provocations, and to endeavour to free the people from hardship. Pushing ahead with provocations, including its nuclear development programme, will undermine the values of world peace espoused by the international community and the United Nations. If the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea resolutely gives up its nuclear ambitions and chooses the path of openness and cooperation, the Republic of Korea will work with the international community to actively support North Korea in developing its economy and improving the quality of life of its people. Over the course of the past 10 years, the United Nations has made significant progress, not least in terms of protecting human rights and advancing freedom. Member States formally accepted the concept of the responsibility to protect at the 2005 United Nations World Summit, and legal accountability for those involved in genocide was defined with the establishment of the International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda, the International Tribunal for the Former Yugoslavia and the International Criminal Court. I believe that we should further strengthen the responsibility to protect in order to prevent the humanitarian crises our world currently faces from deteriorating further. Last year, at this very rostrum, I stressed that sexual violence against women during armed conflict, whenever or wherever it may take place, is unquestionably a violation of human rights and humanism. This year marks the fifteenth anniversary of the adoption of Security Council resolution 1325 (2000) on women and peace and security. The international community should do justice to the occasion by paying greater attention to sexual violence against women in conflict situations. The most compelling reason is the fact that only a few of the victims of brutal sexual violence during the Second World War are alive today. Solutions that can bring healing to the hearts of those still living need to be devised promptly. The efforts made by the United Nations High Commissioners of Human Rights and Special Rapporteurs on this issue must not be allowed to come to nothing. There will be no unlocking the future if the past is not acknowledged. We now hope that the spirit of enduring partnership with humankind that the United Nations embodies will resonate far and wide so that past wounds can be healed and a new future can unfold. One issue that has attracted great international attention in the realm of human rights over the past year is the human rights situation of the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea. The report of the commission of inquiry on human rights in the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea, issued in February 2014, called for the active response of the international community to address the human rights issue in that country. In the wake of the report’s release, not only did the Human Rights Council and the General Assembly adopt relevant resolutions, but no less an organ than the Security Council took up the issue for discussion. We once again call on the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea to heed the concerns of the international community and to take steps to improve its human rights situation. Last year in the General Assembly (see A/69/PV.6), I proposed that a world ecopeace park be built as a space in which to dream dreams of peace within the demilitarized zone, the symbol of a divided Korean peninsula. However, the recent landmine incident in the demilitarized zone brought home the inescapable reality that peace on the Korean peninsula can be jeopardized in a single moment. Fortunately, the two Koreas managed to reach an agreement on 25 August, following high-level talks, and are now at a juncture that may lead to a virtuous cycle of trust and cooperation. The impetus for moving this new virtuous cycle forward will come from the faithful implementation of the 25 August accord and from the fulfilment by both Koreas of their commitment to take concrete steps for reconciliation and cooperation. We must no longer use political and military reasons as excuses for turning a blind eye to humanitarian issues, such as the reunion of separated families. I hope we can again embark on the path to regaining our common identity as one nation, through the official dialogue and the various exchanges provided for in the 25 August agreement. Very shortly, on 3 October, the German people will be celebrating the twenty-fifth anniversary of their reunification. In 1948, the United Nations blessed the birth of the Republic of Korea. Soon, I hope, the day will come when the entire world celebrates the reunification of Korea. Ending the seven-decade-long history of a divided Korean Peninsula, the last remaining vestige of the Cold War, will amount to nothing less than a contribution to world peace. Not long ago, the Republic of Korea organized a journey by rail called the Eurasia Friendship Express, which passed through Russia and went all the way to Europe. Those who made the journey were deeply touched and moved by it. However, the train was unable to go through the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea because the way was barred. I ask all those at the United Nations to lend us their strength in removing the barriers to unification and to make it possible for the spirit of peace to suffuse the Korean Peninsula. A peacefully unified Korea will be a thriving democratic nation, free of nuclear weapons and steadfast in upholding human rights. What is more, a unified Korean Peninsula, both as a symbol of peace in our global village and a new engine of growth, will contribute greatly to peace and prosperity in North- East Asia and beyond. I hope that the United Nations and all peace-loving countries will work together so that the ideals of peace and human dignity dreamt of by the founders of the United Nations 70 years ago can also be fulfilled through the unification of the Korean Peninsula. On this grand journey towards a better world, members can rest assured that the Republic of Korea will be a companion that the United Nations and the international community can count on.

On behalf of the General Assembly, I wish to thank the President of the Republic of Korea for the statement she has just made.

The Assembly will now hear an address by the President of the Islamic Republic of Iran.

On behalf of the General Assembly, I have the honour to welcome to the United Nations His Excellency Mr. Hassan Rouhani, President of the Islamic Republic of Iran, and to invite him to address the Assembly. President Rouhani (spoke in Farsi; English interpretation provided by the delegation): I am speaking on behalf of a great nation, which is mourning the loss of thousands of Muslim pilgrims and hundreds of its own citizens. Old, young, men and women, who had come together in the grand and global spiritual gathering of the hajj, unfortunately fell victim to the incompetence and mismanagement of those in charge. Owing to that incompetence on the part of the latter, even the missing cannot be identified, and the expeditious return of the bodies of the deceased to their mourning families has been prevented. The magnitude of a calamity in which thousands of innocent people from the four corners of the world were killed or injured is such that it cannot be dealt with as though it were a natural disaster or a local issue. The pain and emotional distress inflicted on millions of Muslims is too great to be repaired by material means alone. Public opinion demands that Saudi Arabian officials promptly fulfil their international obligations and grant immediate consular access, with a view to the expeditious identification and return of the cherished bodies and remains. Moreover, arrangements must be made for there to be an independent and exhaustive inquiry into the causes of that disaster, which should include proposals for ways of preventing future recurrences. I am speaking on behalf of a nation that, two years ago, voted for constructive engagement with the world, and I can now proudly announce that a new chapter has started in Iran’s relations with the world today. Two years ago, the people of Iran, voting in a competitive election, gave me a mandate to consolidate peace and constructive engagement with the world, while pursuing national rights, interests and security. That national will manifested itself through a careful and clear diplomatic effort, which resulted in the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action, concluded between the Islamic Republic of Iran and six world Powers and the European Union. That Plan of Action became an international instrument when the Security Council adopted resolution 2231 (2015). From the standpoint of international law, the instrument sets a valuable precedent, as the two sides, rather than warring and then negotiating peace, engaged in a process of dialogue and mutual understanding before a conflict could break out. I would like to take the opportunity to recognize the role of all the negotiators in achieving that agreement. We had opted for creating a new environment, while maintaining our principles, and we succeeded in that undertaking. Where necessary, we moved forward, and, where necessary, we showed the courage for flexibility. For each point, we relied extensively on international law and showcased the potential of an approach based on constructive dialogue. The key to a successful dialogue is remembering that any actor in the international system who pursues maximum demands and fails to allow space for the other side cannot hope to speak of peace, stability and development. As in commerce and economic activity, so also in politics and international relations: the interests of both parties have to be taken into account, and multilateralism and win-win solutions should provide the basis of engagement. The United Nations was established to sustain global peace and security after two World Wars. Unfortunately, it has to be acknowledged that, in most cases, this important international institution has not been successful or effective. This time, however, the United Nations made the right decision, notwithstanding the fact that it earlier had adopted unfair resolutions against the Islamic Republic of Iran and imposed sanctions against the Iranian nation and Government, as a result of misunderstandings and, sometimes, the overt hostility of some countries. But we believe that, as an old Iranian saying goes, the sooner the harm stops, the more benefit you will reap. Today is when that harm stopped. Resolution 2231 (2015), despite several significant shortcomings, is an important development. It is the basis for terminating sanctions and no longer adopting resolutions hostile to Iran. We consider the past conduct of the Security Council to be unfair and stress that Iran, owing to the important fatwa of its leader and its defence doctrine, has never harboured the intention of producing a nuclear weapon. Therefore, resolutions imposing sanctions against Iran were unjust and illegal. The sanctions imposed by the Security Council and the unilateral sanctions imposed by some countries were based on deluded and baseless allegations and created difficult conditions for our people. But those sanctions never in any way affected the policy that we adopted and the approach that we took towards negotiations. We proved in those negotiations that there is nothing on Iran’s agenda other than logic, reason, ethics, and — where necessary — legitimate and resolute self- defence against any kind of aggression. Consequently, the United States of America ultimately had no option but to choose negotiations and discussion over pressure and sanctions. Our seven countries and the European Union expended considerable time and diplomatic capital in those negotiations and should therefore exert their utmost efforts to protect and implement the agreement. We deem the compliance of all parties with their commitments to be the fundamental factor in the success of the implementation process of the negotiated agreement. Parallel to the implementation of the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action, we also expect the nuclear-weapon States to take the necessary steps to fulfil their commitment to full nuclear disarmament, based on article VI of the Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons. Furthermore, we expect them to play a positive role in the creation of a nuclear-weapon-free Middle East and not to allow the Zionist regime to remain an impediment to achieving that important objective. The recently concluded nuclear deal, which is a brilliant example of “victory over war”, has managed to disperse the clouds of hostility and far-reaching tensions in the Middle East  — and even perhaps the spectre of another war. The deal can and should herald a new era and lead to positive outcomes with regard to the establishment of sustainable peace and stability in the region. From our point of view, the agreed deal is not the final objective but a development that can and should be the basis for further arrangements to come. Considering the fact that the deal has created an objective basis for implementation and has set an appropriate model, it can serve as the grounds for foundational change in the region. Our policy is to continue to make peace-seeking efforts in the region, based on the same win-win principle, and to act in ways that would enable the region  — and the world  — to benefit from the new conditions. We will take this opportunity to look to the future and stop focusing on the past and rebuild our relationships with the countries in the region, particularly our neighbours, on the basis of mutual respect and our common and collective interests. Unfortunately, the Middle East and North Africa have turned into one of the world’s most turbulent regions. With the continuation and intensification of current conditions, the turmoil could spread to other parts of the world. In today’s interconnected and borderless world, countries and regions are encountering great difficulty in protecting their borders and preventing the spread of insecurity and instability. The gravest and most important threat to the world today is the possibility of terrorist organizations becoming terrorist States. We would consider it unfortunate for national uprisings in our region to be hijacked by terrorists and for the destiny of nations to be determined by arms and terror rather than by the ballot box. We propose that the fight against terrorism be incorporated into a binding international instrument and that no country be allowed to use terrorism for the purposes of interfering in the affairs of other countries. We are prepared to assist in the eradication of terrorism, in paving the way for democracy and in ensuring that arms do not dictate the course of events in the region. As we assisted in the establishment of democracy in Iraq and Afghanistan, we are prepared to help bring about democracy in Syria and Yemen. We support the consolidation of power through elections, rather than through arms. We defend the rule of the majority that respects the rights of minorities. Today, while safeguarding its historic and cultural heritage, Iran is looking to the future — not only the distant future but also the near future, with a bright outlook for cooperation and coexistence. I say to all nations and Governments that we will not forget the past, but we do not wish to live in the past. We will not forget war and sanctions but we look to peace and development. Through the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action, we were not just seeking a nuclear deal. We wanted to suggest a new and constructive way of recreating the international order, an order based on mutual respect, non-interference in the internal affairs of others and sustained cooperation and coexistence among the States Members of the United Nations. To build a peaceful future, we must learn our lessons from the bitter past. We know that the only way to bring about lasting peace is through development. Peace without development can only be a time out during which resentment and suspicion build. However, peace with development makes it possible for anger and resentment to dissipate and be replaced by hope and respect for others. We have repeatedly said that the only way to uproot terrorism in the Middle East is by targeting its underlying social, economic and cultural causes. Economic interactions can bring about lasting security and transform the region into a haven of peace and development. After the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action, Iran stands ready to show that the practical path to security and stability is through the development that comes with economic engagement. With all of its economic and cultural potential, Iran is well-positioned to become a hub for export-oriented investment. Iran is also eager to show that we can all choose a lasting peace based on development and shared interests, which will lead to sustainable security rather than a volatile peace based on threats. We hope to engage with our neighbours in a wide range of social and economic initiatives aimed at cooperation, which will enable the achievement of political understanding and even foster structural cooperation on security. In the international system today, mutual economic ties are considered to be the foremost factors in facilitating political cooperation and reducing security-related challenges. In 2013, from this very stage, I called for combating violence and extremism (A/68/PV.6, p. 13). Subsequently, the representatives of the international community unanimously gave my appeal their seal of endorsement and, as a result, the General Assembly adopted resolution 68/127, on a world against violent extremism. The implementation of that resolution requires well-intentioned solutions and the application of experience gained in the realm of diplomacy. I am pleased that, by adding the support for the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action to the invaluable support for the world against violent extremism resolution, we may now devise a plan to resolve the problems of a shattered Middle East caught in the claws of brutality and savagery. With a view to fighting ignorance, dictatorship, poverty, corruption, terrorism, violence and their social, political, cultural, economic and security impacts, I would like to invite the entire world, in particular the countries of my region, to form a Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action campaign aimed at creating a united front against extremism and violence. Such a front must create a collective and global movement to tackle regional problems in a serious manner through dialogue, prevent the slaughter of innocent people and the bombardment of civilians, counter the promotion of violence and the killing of other human beings, provide for stability in cooperation with established central Governments to maintain stability, and once stability is established, build diplomacy and democratic governance in the Middle East region. Iraq, Syria and Yemen are all examples of crises that are being stoked through terror, extremism, violence, bloodshed, invasion and the indifference of the international community. They are also examples of how the flight from the horrors of war and bombardment triggers displacement and homelessness. The problems of those countries have persisted because the international community has failed them and because of the wrong-minded actions of newcomers to the region and naive transregional actors. As a result, the wave of destruction has gone beyond the Arab world and reached the doorstep of Europe and the United States, resulting in the loss of priceless elements of the world heritage, including precious relics of ancient civilizations. It has also resulted, more broadly, in the death of humanity itself. We must not forget that the roots of today’s wars, destruction and terror can be found in yesterday’s occupations, invasions and military interventions. If the United States military invasion of Afghanistan and Iraq had not taken place and if the United States had not provided unwarranted support for the inhumane actions of the Zionist regime against the oppressed nation of Palestine, the terrorists today would not have any justification for their crimes. It is high time that the Government of the United States stop claiming to know the truth about our region and cease throwing baseless accusations about against its adversaries while pursuing dangerous policies on behalf of its regional allies. Its behaviour, which only cultivates the seeds of division and extremism, must be brought to an end, and its actions must be made compatible with the realities of the region. Despite the many problems in our region today, we believe in a promising future. We do not doubt that the obstacles can be overcome by wisdom, prudence and the use of new and powerful capacities, as well as by relying on our civilizational roots and our serious resolve. Thanks to the light of divine revelation, we have faith in the bright future of humankind, in which people will live in peace, tranquillity and spirituality. We believe in the will of nations to choose the path of goodness and purity. We believe that ultimate victory will be won by those with good-natured piety.

On behalf of the General Assembly, I wish to thank the President of the Islamic Republic of Iran for the statement he has just made.

The Assembly will now hear an address by the Amir of the State of Qatar.

On behalf of the General Assembly, I have the honour to welcome to the United Nations His Highness Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al-Thani, Amir of the State of Qatar, and to invite him to address the Assembly. Sheikh Al-Thani (spoke in Arabic): At the outset, I would like to extend my congratulations to His Excellency Mr. Mogens Lykketoft on his election as President of the General Assembly at its seventieth session and to wish him every success. I also wish to express our appreciation to His Excellency Mr. Sam Kutesa, President of the General Assembly at its sixty-ninth session, for his efforts in conducting the Assembly’s business at that session. I wish also to avail myself of this occasion to commend the efforts made by His Excellency the Secretary-General, Mr. Ban Ki-moon, to achieve the goals of the United Nations. It is gratifying that the United Nations has adopted the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development (resolution 70/1), which we have supported, based on our belief that the good distribution of the fruits of development is a prerequisite for realizing social justice, preserving human dignity and enhancing the cohesion of communities, thereby enhancing security and stability in the world. Since there is no lasting stability without development and social justice, development is also clearly impossible where there is war and unrest. It was our hope that this session would be convened after some progress had been made with regard to the various bloody conflicts in our world, yet we find ourselves encountering increasing numbers of challenges and crises that threaten international peace and security. The absence of international consensus has proved once again to be an obstacle to efforts to resolve important issues. Selectivity in choosing what efforts to make in enforcing justice and international law remains prevalent in dealing with regional issues. That compromises the concept of international legitimacy and the values, norms and principles that are rooted in the human conscience and have been adopted by the international community after millions of people paid an exorbitant price throughout history as a result of major humanitarian challenges that have taken an unforgettable toll on people, such as enslavement, genocide, colonialism, racism and world war. It is impermissible to tamper with the values that have grown out of the suffering of people. In a way, that is the raison d’être of the Organization, without which our annual meetings would be meaningless. The conflict in the Middle East will continue to pose a permanent threat to international peace and security, given its direct impact on the numerous crises facing the region and the world. A just and lasting solution to the question of Palestine, which remains an issue involving a people perennially displaced from their land and still under the yoke of occupation, cannot be postponed to another generation. The achievement of a just and lasting settlement that brings an end to the Israeli occupation of Palestinian territories and which establishes a Palestinian State requires an Israeli partner for peace. For the time being, there is no Israeli partner for a just peace or even for a settlement. In such circumstances, the international obligation to address the last de facto colonial issue in modern history cannot be shirked. Until an end is put to occupation and procrastination and other delaying tactics, futile contacts and statements will continue. The feverish pace of settlement activity, despite its having been condemned, will continue, in addition to persistent violations of the sanctity of the Al-Aqsa Mosque. This is a clear indication not only of the absence of Israel’s will to achieve peace, but also of the domination of ultra-Orthodox fundamentalist nationalist elements over Israeli policy. Look at what is happening in Jerusalem. Extremist religious political forces rely on literal interpretations of texts dating back thousands of years in order to desecrate other people’s holy sites and occupy and settle their land. Is this not tantamount to religious fundamentalism? Is this violence not an act of terrorism carried out by radical religious forces? Permit me to address a message to all major actors of the international community: the continued failure to find a just and lasting solution to the Palestinian question is a blot on the conscience of humankind. The international community is failing to find even a less than fair settlement; it has not even succeeded in achieving the reconstruction of the Gaza Strip in the aftermath of the aggression, even though an international conference based on a Norwegian initiative was convened specifically for this purpose. Qatar has pledged to pay $1 billion for the reconstruction process, and we are continuing to provide aid to the Gaza Strip in implementation of our commitment. But we wonder what happened to the conference and the decisions it took. The international community, represented in the Security Council, is duty-bound to assume its responsibilities by taking a firm stance that would force Israel to comply with the deliverables of peace, namely, to halt all forms of settlement activity in the occupied Palestinian territories; to lift the unjust siege of the Gaza Strip; and to implement the resolutions of international legitimacy that recognize the Palestinian people’s right to regain their legitimate national rights and establish an independent Palestinian State on the basis of the 1967 borders, in conformity with the principle of the two-State solution. We caution against missed opportunities, because if people were to reach the conclusion that there is no peaceful solution to this issue, this would lead to unpredictable and dire consequences for the region and for the whole world. The Syrian crisis, with all of its dimensions and repercussions, is having catastrophic consequences for the Middle East region and the world as a whole. The continued atrocities and horrendous crimes perpetrated by the regime against the Syrian people threaten the status of the State and its people and create a breeding ground for extremism and terrorism, under false religious, sectarian and ethnic pretexts, endangering humankind and the cultural heritage in Syria and the region. In that context, the Syrian regime has manipulated the concept of terrorism by depicting peaceful demonstrations as terrorism, even as it has been committing actual acts of terrorism. When the shelling and killing of civilians drove people to take armed action, and when certain entities that are not committed to the demands and principles of the Syrian revolution entered into the sphere of political action without permission, Syria became a war zone. At that point, the regime attempted to instil fear into the international community as to the alternative. It was incumbent on the international community to put an end to the massacres in a timely manner and create the conditions necessary for the Syrian people to devise a rational, civil and fair alternative to despotic rule. But is there a tyranny in the world that could acknowledge an alternative? Is it possible that a tyranny could allow an alternative to grow and develop under its shadow? When a people suffer from war, genocide and displacement, the worst decision is not to take a decision at all, and the worst danger lies in ignoring danger. The failure of the international community to take the decisions and measures necessary to end this disaster is a major crime. It reveals the failure and the incapacity of the international system and has led to a loss of confidence in legality and the international community. In this context, the role of the General Assembly must be promoted and strengthened as a broader framework for dealing with the issues facing peoples, given the inability or failure of the Security Council to find fair solutions thereto. From this rostrum, I call for cooperation aimed at imposing a political solution in Syria that would end the reign of tyranny and replace it with a pluralistic regime based on equal citizenship for all Syrians; defeat radicalism and terrorism and insulate Syria therefrom; repatriate the displaced to their homes; and allow for the reconstruction of Syria. The question is not whether this is possible; it will be possible if certain States have the necessary will. The question is: is the continuation of the current situation in Syria possible? The conflict has morphed into genocide and caused the mass displacement of the population. This is having grave consequences for the region and the entire world, even for countries that are not working to expedite a solution because they are neither directly affected by the conflict nor reached by the influx of displaced people. The handling at the international level of nuclear-disarmament issues, which is characterized by shortcomings and double standards, alarms us. Clear evidence of this is the recent failure of the Review Conference of the Parties to the Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons to render the Middle East a nuclear-free zone; this was disappointing and has undermined the credibility of the Treaty. The agreement between Iran and the P5+1 is a positive and important step. We hope that this nuclear agreement will contribute to the maintenance of security and stability in our region. We further wish to see the entire region rendered free of nuclear arms and weapons of mass destruction. In this context, given the strategic importance of the Gulf region, the achievement of stability in the Gulf is essential to the countries of the region and the international community as a whole. In this regard, we emphasize our firm position that the Gulf region must be spared any dangers or threats related to nuclear weapons, and that there must be a recognition of the right of the countries of the region to use nuclear energy for peaceful purposes, in accordance with the relevant international norms. On this occasion, I wish to reiterate that Iran is an important neighbouring country and that cooperation between it and other countries is in the interest of the region. Bilateral relations between Qatar and Iran are developing and evolving steadily on the basis of common interests and good-neighbourliness. There is no dispute concerning bilateral relations between our two countries. There are various creeds and religions in our region, but, in my opinion, there is no Shiite-Sunni conflict, only differences that are triggered by the political interests of countries or the interests of political and social forces that foment internal sectarian prejudices. I believe that existing disputes are political, regional Arab-Iranian differences rather than Sunni-Shiite disputes. These could be resolved through dialogue and by initially agreeing on the rules governing the relationship between Iran and the Gulf States on the basis of the principle of non-interference in internal affairs. It is high time that a meaningful dialogue of this kind be conducted between countries that will always remain neighbours and are not in need of mediation from anyone. We are ready to host such a dialogue in Qatar. We affirm our commitment to Yemen’s unity, territorial integrity and sovereignty, and we support the legitimacy of the political process and urge its completion in accordance with the Gulf initiative and its executive mechanism, the outcome of the Yemen National Dialogue Conference in January 2014, the Riyadh Declaration of May 2015 and the relevant Security Council resolutions, particularly resolution 2216 (2015). It is unreasonable to set the precedent whereby a major political party accepts the outcome of a national dialogue yet ignores it, seeking instead to impose its own vision and to dominate the entire country by force. With respect to Iraqi, the stability of Iraq requires a general national consensus free from outside interferences and from sectarian and ethnic discrimination. We hope that the Iraqi Government will be able to fulfil the need for concord and reconciliation among the various Iraqi people’s factions. Experience in Iraq and Yemen has proved that the existence of militias operating outside the framework of legitimacy is not only a threat to the State by virtue of its inherent nature and its exclusive right to establish armed forces, but is also tantamount to a dormant civil war that could turn into full-blown domestic strife sooner or later. Any political solution in Iraq, Yemen, Syria or Libya must preclude the existence of militias outside the framework of legitimate State institutions. That is a key component of any genuine settlement, without which there can be neither a permanent settlement nor real solutions. The political forces in our region must pay heed to the thousands of young people who recently took to the streets in more than one Arab country demanding that citizenship be the basis for partnership, and refusing to be represented on a sectarian basis and to accept that sectarian representation may be used to cover up corruption. Nations and peoples face grave political, security and economic challenges from terrorism and its dire consequences. Tensions and conflicts have undoubtedly contributed to the emergence of terrorist organizations. The international community’s failure to address hotbeds of tension and conflict has also contributed to creating an environment that is friendly to terrorist operations. Terrorism is rooted in radical ideas that brook no compromise with the actuality of people and their potential; it thrives in an atmosphere of despair and blocked prospects. Terrorism does not emerge in a society where policies guarantee its citizens a life of dignity and freedom. It arises in the shadow of tyranny and feeds on oppression and humiliation, feeds on grudges and hatred born of torture in prison, and exploits the loss of hope of peaceful political action. Moreover, the behaviour of influential Powers in the international community distorts people’s perceptions rather than helping to provide clarifications. Some armed militias that commit crimes against civilians and public institutions are branded as terrorist, while others perpetrating violence and intimidation against civilians are not deemed terrorists due to considerations related not to the local communities themselves, but to international and regional Powers or to transitional alliances. The rising toll of victims of terrorist operations has necessitated the use of military force to counter this phenomenon. We affirm our commitment to fighting terrorism, but even if the harshest conditions we should not ignore its underlying causes; if we do, the phenomenon will be exacerbated and spread even further. We highlight the fact that there is no faith that preaches terrorism. All religious texts contain ample teachings calling for peace, tolerance and coexistence, but the promoters and hucksters of literal readings of scripture ignore the fundamental religious teachings of noble values, tolerance, cooperation and constructive dialogue for the benefit of humankind. Simple people with their quintessential religiosity deem religion first and foremost to be a set of values and morals. That is what we must build on. The State of Qatar has sought to pursue a progressive policy in the protection and promotion of human rights and pursues cooperation with international organizations through our membership in the Human Rights Council in order to consolidate the concepts and culture of human rights through an approach based on the rule of law, transparency, justice and human dignity. We must work together to strengthen the collective security system in order to effectively deal with international and regional problems and to preserve the rights of peoples. We must resolutely counter any attempt to impose temporary solutions to address the side-effects of problems rather than targeting their roots. Finally, the State of Qatar will spare no effort to support the international community’s efforts to achieve the goals that we all aspire to, commensurate with the interest of our peoples and the good of humanity.

On behalf of the General Assembly, I wish to thank the Amir of the State of Qatar for the statement he has just made.

The Assembly will now hear an address by the President of the French Republic.

On behalf of the General Assembly, I have the honour to welcome to the United Nations His Excellency Mr. François Hollande, President of the French Republic, and to invite him to address the Assembly. President Hollande (spoke in French): Our Organization, the United Nations, is celebrating its seventieth anniversary. Immense progress has been made since it was established as an institution entrusted with the task of maintaining peace, which it has managed to do so on many an occasion. Yet, 70 years later dramas and tragedies, conflicts and wars continue to unfold, and the world must yet once again rise up to significant challenges. Among those of today is the flight of hundreds of thousands — even millions — of refugees from the Middle East and Africa, seeking protection or simply to save their lives. Terrorism strikes at civilian populations and no country is immune from this scourge. There are also conflicts, such as that in the Middle East, that have remain unresolved for years and years, and that we all know could intensify at any moment. In the meantime, there are disasters: tsunamis, earthquakes, islands on the verge of disappearing, coastlines washed away, and glaciers melting. That is the reality of climate change. Faced with such challenges, we must all must shoulder our responsibilities at our respective levels. France, in many domains, has never refused its cooperation. France wished to host the Climate Change Conference, no doubt because we were aware of that terrible failure at Copenhagen and felt that this time we needed to make a good decision, one that can be taken only by the entire international community. So in Paris, we must ask ourselves one question: is humankind capable of taking the decision to preserve life on the planet? Yes, that single question places us at a level that no one could ever imagine in our generation. Some will say, “But that can happen later, maybe at another conference”. I assure the Assembly here and I will say it quite plainly: if it does not happen in Paris, it will be too late for the world. Matters have progressed well in recent months, and very strong declarations have been made by precisely those most responsible for global warming — the United States and China, which have made commitments that contribute to changing the current situation. Many calls have come from all continents, stressing the gravity and urgency of the situation and providing detailed testimony on what global warming is now, today. There are some countries that so far have been reluctant — here I am thinking of developing countries — and have asked themselves whether it is really useful to impose restrictions on themselves when the most developed countries have been free of such rules and obligations. If asked today for a prognosis, and I often am, I will say that nothing has been settled in regard to winning an accord in Paris — nothing. But at the same time, everything remains possible. I see three conditions that must be met for us to be able to say that the Paris Conference was truly successful, worthy of us and of what was entrusted to us when we were asked to host the Conference. The first condition is to be able to conclude a universal agreement applicable to all, one that is binding and differentiated so that everyone can do their own part, and not more. To date, 90 countries — half of those sitting in the United Nations — have submitted their national contribution, which represents 80 per cent of greenhouse gas emissions — already a considerable figure. That means that half of the world has not yet responded. I therefore invite them to do so and to do so quickly so that we can determine as of now what, given the contributions from every State, we can assure the world will be the limit on global warming. The second condition that will signify our success or failure is to be able to ensure that our resolution, our action, is long-lasting. The Paris accord must not be an end or a conclusion, but rather a starting point, the beginning of a process. Through incorporating a review mechanism into the agreement, we will be able to regularly review, periodically measure and even revise every five years our national contributions. That is what will allow us to be sure that at the end of the century, well beyond our time, the planet will not havewarmed by more than 2°C. The third condition that will determine failure or success is developed countries making financial commitments. I am aware that already in Copenhagen the figure of $100 billion was announced to ensure the financing of energy transition, adaptation and technology transfer. We must collect $100 billion by 2020, but it must be said today so as to ensure that emerging countries, developing countries, can feel confident that they will be aided and supported so that this technological leap, the sharing of technology, will come about. Yes, one hundred billion dollars. The Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) is responsible for providing an initial estimate, to be presented at the Lima meeting. I wish here to thank the President of Peru for continuing the work he undertook at the twentieth session of the Conference of the Parties to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change. The OECD will provide the initial estimate, as we have not reached $100 billion yet. So we have two months before the Paris Conference to continue to mobilize the World Bank, major development banks, financial institutions, States and private stakeholders so that we can reach $100 billion. Everyone should set an example. France abides by the rule that when serving as the host country; we must perform better than our guests, or at least as well as them. I am announcing here today that France’s annual climate funding, which is €3 billion today, will be more than €5 billion in 2020. That increase in aid will not be merely through loans, but also in the form of grants, because it is with grants — funds transferred directly and that will not be reimbursed — that we can powerfully promote the adaptation of developing countries to the effects of climate change. In brief, if we are in a position to meet those three requirements — that is, a universal agreement, one that can be revised and will be revised every 5 years, and funding sufficient to cover everything that we will have to cover in emerging needs and future technology — then in Paris in two months we will be able to say we have risen to the challenge; not just a rendez-vous with history, but with the future. It is good that the international community is able to look to the future and to say what sort of world we want. We did it with respect to the Sustainable Development Goals, and we must do it for climate issues. But what is expected of the United Nations is not simply to ensure — though this is already considerable — that the world will be liveable at the end of the century, but that it is liveable today, when conflicts and wars confront us with tragedies that in 1945, when the United Nations system was founded, nobody imagined we would ever see again. Today, it is Syria that once again calls on us to mobilize and to intervene, as many speakers have already stated. Everyone considers that this is a tragedy striking the Syrian population. Everyone has said that we must find a solution. Let us look for it together. But first, we should assess what has not been done. Three years ago, when I stood at this rostrum to address the General Assembly (see A/67/PV.6), there had already been 30,000 victims of the Syrian tragedy. There are now 250,000, and 12,000 children have died, victims of the Bashar Al-Assad regime. The Syrian tragedy began with a revolution led by those who wanted to challenge the dictatorship of Bashar Al-Assad. At that time, there were no terrorists, there were no fundamentalist groups — there was a dictator who was massacring a people. And the refugees whom we are discussing today, the refugees in the camps, the displaced, 8 million of them — this mass of women, men and children — have not just fled a war. For more than three years they have been fleeing from the regime of Bashar Al-Assad. And still today that same regime is raining bombs on innocent civilians. But it is not because there is a terrorist group that itself massacres, kills, rapes, destroys — including destruction of the common heritage of humankind — that some form of pardon, of amnesty, should necessarily be accorded to the regime that created this situation, as if the existence of a terrorist group that commits the worst kinds of evil acts could furnish the regime with a way to share in what is good. No, all those women, men and children are victims of this tragedy, which is generated by the alliance between terrorism and dictatorship. No solution can be found outside of a political process. France, which, due to its history and also its links that bind it to that part of the world, intends to shoulder its responsibilities. It has already done so recently, including through armed action, through force. France wants to work with everyone; it does not exclude any country — neighbouring countries, which are most affected, the Gulf countries, but also Iran, the permanent members of the Security Council, as well as Europeans. We want to work with everyone, with everyone who wants to work with us. There is talk of a coalition. This broad coalition is possible; it is even desirable and necessary in order to put an end to what is happening in Syria. But this coalition must have a clear basis or it will never see the light of day. The basis was provided in Geneva more than three years ago. And what did the Geneva agreement say? It specified a transitional Government with full powers, including members of the present Government and the opposition, formed on the basis of mutual consent. That is the basis; let us use it to move forward. But I can see, in the context of this ongoing adversity, that some are making every diplomatic effort to incorporate Bashar Al-Assad in that process. But one cannot make the victims and the executioner work together. Al-Assad is at the origin of the problem; he cannot be part of the solution. We have to put an end to the suffering of the Syrian people, but we must also look beyond the political transition that has to be sought, the broad coalition that has to be formed, this condition that has to be laid down, to a new Government capable of uniting all those who have fought, but without the dictator. We also have to be thinking about all the refugees. Until now, those refugees have been in neighbouring countries, but there too, the international community turned a blind eye because it was far away. Today those refugees, who can endure no more, are starting a long march. Yesterday, I recalled in the Assembly (see A/70/ PV.11) that 80 per cent of the world’s refugees — refugees because of wars, conflicts, climate, poverty — are in the South. Solidarity with the South is coming from the South. Frequently, it is the most deprived who welcome the poorest. There comes a time when the refugees start to walk, and they can no longer be stopped. If we want to avoid what we have seen — tragedies, crossings that endanger the lives of passengers — if we want to prevent smugglers and criminalsfrom using despair to further enrich the coffers of terrorism, then we must act. Europe has hosted refugees coming not only from Syria, but also from Iraq, Eritrea and the Sudan. That was our duty, because Europe is based on values and principles, and the right to asylum is part of this common foundation that unites all the European countries, and which must continue uniting them. Otherwise, it is not the kind of Europe that we wanted. But while Europe should discharge its duty, the world must help refugees. What have we learned those past days and weeks? That the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR), due to lack of funds, no longer has the resources to ensure the necessary support and assistance to the populations in question. What have we learned? That the World Food Programme no longer has the means to provide all the refugees basic necessities and sufficient food. What have we learned? That in some neighbouring countries, refugees could not work. This is the start of the cycle one would have imagined. If we want to reverse the flows, if we want to keep refugees as close as possible to their home countries, then we must fund UNHCR more, we must help neighbouring countries — Lebanon, Jordan, Turkey — but also countries in Africa, transit countries, countries where there is no migration. We need a major plan now, because tragedy is calling to act and to avert other tragedies. In that context, too, France is doing what it can, and must do what it should. And concerning the World Food Programme, France has decided to immediately increase by €100 million its support for United Nations agencies that are helping countries neighbouring Syria. I want to end my speech by saying that the legitimacy of an Organization such as the United Nations rests on its credibility. If the United Nations does not have the capacity to resolve conflicts that have been going on for far too long, if the United Nations cannot resolve tragedies or ease the situation of civilian populations, then our helplessness will condemn us. If we want our Organization — which is celebrating its seventieth anniversary — to have a future worthy of that which the founders imagined, we cannot avoid reform of the United Nations. France calls for the enlargement of the Security Council. France calls for a different representation in the Security Council. France calls for continents to clearly bear responsibility for the world in the framework of the Security Council. France wants the permanent members of the Security Council to no longer resort to the right of veto in cases of mass atrocities. How can we tolerate that the United Nations, even today, remains paralysed when the worst is unfolding? There again, let us lead by example. I pledge here today that France will never use its right of veto in matters involving mass atrocities. The right of veto as it was introduced when the United Nations was founded was not the right to block; it was the right to act. We have to act. We can act. We have been showing that we can for 70 years. Here, today, we can act to settle the tragedies of today and to save the planet tomorrow. Let us act.

On behalf of the General Assembly, I wish to thank the President of the French Republic for the statement he has just made.

The Assembly will now hear an address by the President of the Republic of Mozambique.

On behalf of the General Assembly, I have the honour to welcome to the United Nations His Excellency Mr. Filipe Jacinto Nyusi, President of the Republic of Mozambique, and to invite him to address the Assembly. President Nyusi (spoke in Portuguese; English interpretation provided by the delegation): It is with great honour that, once again, on behalf of the people of Mozambique and, indeed, on my own behalf, I address the General Assembly at its seventieth session. As we celebrate 70 years of our Organization, we are cognizant of the fact that we are not here just to commemorate a mere event. We are also celebrating the realization of the desire to build a universal Organization that carries out activities with a global perspective and with a structured and institutionalized scope and a capacity to evolve and adapt. We are celebrating one of the wisest decisions that humankind has ever made, namely, to establish an international body responsible for peace, security and the development of member countries. It is an Organization created to prevent humankind from experiencing a world war or violent conflicts whose effects are felt at the global level. We are celebrating a mutual commitment to strengthen international law as an instrument for regulating and standardizing relations between and among States. Those relations are based on the principle of sovereign equality among States, the peaceful settlement of disputes and non-interference in domestic affairs. Those positive and inspiring ideals contrast, however, with the prevailing conflict situations, which still affect humankind. We would not be fair to ourselves, to our peoples or to future generations, if we ignored the challenges and failures that are to be overcome. The United Nations has failed to guarantee international peace and security in its full sense. Old and new challenges have emerged, and inter- and intra-State conflicts have proliferated, particularly in Africa and the Middle East. The phenomenon of terrorism is growing and becoming the most serious threat of our time. Decolonization is yet to be completed. Underdevelopment, exacerbated by the problem of refugees and illegal migration, is far from becoming a thing of the past. However, those failures should not be regarded fatalistically. They should be taken up as challenges, which require more than mere words as a response. Most importantly, they require concerted action by the international community. Without the United Nations, the political, economic and social context in which we find ourselves would surely be worse. In celebration of the seventieth anniversary of the United Nations, the theme for this session, “A new commitment to action”, represents a reaffirmation of our commitment to keep alive our objective of protecting future generations from the violence of war and to ensure inclusive social and economic development in full freedom. There is, therefore, one response to those phenomena and trends, and that is to translate the theme, “A new commitment to action”, into concrete, structured and tangible actions. For Mozambique, the commitment to action in the area of international peace and security includes, inter alia, the adoption and implementation of effective structures for the prevention and management of conflicts, as well as the need to conclude a convention against terrorism. The emphasis should be on preventive diplomacy. The commitment to action that we are celebrating here should establish platforms for dialogue among cultures and civilizations as an essential tool for promoting tolerance, the culture of peace and a dignified and peaceful world. With respect to development, we are delighted at the adoption of the post-2015 development agenda in the form of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development (resolution 70/1), which is our new global development framework for the next 15 years. It is an agenda that follows and builds on the Millennium Development Goals, which have guided us over the past 15 years. Therefore, any action we take in future should not ignore the successes achieved and lessons learned. Like other countries, Mozambique has achieved remarkable progress in the implementation of the Millennium Development Goals. We have expanded access to education, improved gender balance in access to primary education and met the target set for infant- mortality reduction. The new post-2015 development agenda embodies our collective ambition to transform the world by 2030. The new Agenda brings back human dignity by fighting poverty and protecting people and the planet. At the core of the new Agenda is the culmination of a series of negotiation processes, at the global level, on climate change. The new post-2015 development agenda is perfectly in line with our Government’s five-year programme. It is not an end in itself, but it has the added value of focusing on people. It is founded on the so-called sustainable development pillars, namely, the economic, social and environmental dimensions. It is our desire that we should meet in 2030, at another historic event just like this one, to celebrate the implementation of the goals and common vision, as reflected in the new Agenda, whose full title is “Transforming our world: The 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development”. If that is to be possible, Mozambique maintains that, among other things, it is of paramount importance that the commitment to action include the need to mobilize the requisite resources in a timely manner. Significant resources will be required for the implementation of the new Agenda if it is to maintain continuous relevance. In that regard, we must follow the principle of common but differentiated responsibilities and keep in mind how important it is that all partners respect the commitments made and the agreed international development goals. It is also important that the appropriate technology transfers to developing countries take place and that aid be granted without political conditionalities. We must also strengthen North-South, South-South, and bilateral and multilateral cooperation mechanisms in accordance with internationally agreed principles and respect for national realities and local content. As all may be aware, Mozambique was one of the 50 countries selected by the United Nations to host national consultations. That sample contributed to the development of the new guiding instrument that is the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development (resolution 70/1). The process included the broadest spectrum of social and professional elements, and, to our satisfaction, its results were taken into consideration in the report of the Secretary-General (A/70/1). If the post-2015 development Agenda is to be truly transformative and successful, it must be integrated into and owned by policymaking instruments at the national level. Indicators and targets should be defined clearly to facilitate the monitoring and evaluation of progress. Mozambique has already taken an important step by incorporating the three-dimensional approach of the post-2015 development Agenda into the Government’s five-year programme 2015-2019, which defines five priorities, namely: consolidating national unity, peace and sovereignty; developing human and social capital; promoting employment, productivity and competitiveness; developing economic and social infrastructures; and ensuring the sustainable and transparent management of natural resources and the environment. We reiterate here our commitment to continued capacity-building in the area of domestic resources mobilization, which increased from 13 per cent of our gross domestic product in 2006 to 25 per cent in 2014. The inability of the United Nations to fully achieve the purpose for which it was established is one of the issues that concern us. It is hard to understand why the United Nations is hampering the implementation of its own mandate. We should be here today to celebrate the completion of the reform of the Security Council and the opening up of new opportunities to create a world in which people enjoy the most basic rights, including peace and development. The role of that reform in providing underlying support for the successful implementation of the post-2015 development Agenda should not be underestimated. We should therefore translate our renewed mutual will to reform the Security Council into practical results, and we should take advantage of the environment created for this session to provide greater dynamism to the reform process. The celebration of the seventieth anniversary of the United Nations and the adoption of the post-2015 development Agenda are being overshadowed by an unprecedented crisis at the international level. I am referring to the humanitarian crisis caused by a flow of refugees and migrants that is unparalleled in recent history. That shocking situation is due to a succession of unresolved crises and to poorly handled situations with outcomes that are far from meeting the expectations of the international community. Today we are committed to adopting measures to minimize the plight of those people. However, little will be achieved if we continue to focus on short-term cosmetic measures, rather than respond to the need to curtail the flow of refugees and migrants at the source. We need to address the underlying problems of this phenomenon, which explain the tragic human proportions of the crisis. We will be in no position to identify effective actions unless we, the international community, recognize our own failure. We are talking about the proliferation of conflicts and political, social and economic exclusion. We are talking about poverty, injustice and hunger. We have noted how dialogue has been replaced by threats and aggression. We have noted how fear has replaced a willingness to achieve mutual agreement. Some of the ways to address the situation have been known for a long time. In that regard, we call upon all leaders to redouble their efforts to find lasting solutions to the humanitarian crisis. We have followed with keen interest and much satisfaction the latest positive developments aimed at normalizing bilateral relations between the United States of America and Cuba. We continue to encourage actions aimed at ending the economic, trade and financial embargo against Cuba, without prejudice to the legitimate interests of any of those concerned. Although we may meet all of the targets of the post-2015 development Agenda, our mission as an international community will not be complete until we use wisdom and implement the political processes. As is well known, Mozambique was one of the countries most affected by the presence of landmines. In acknowledgement of the importance of mine clearance for promoting an atmosphere of peace, security and development, Mozambique became a party to the Convention on the Prohibition of the Use, Stockpiling, Production and Transfer of Anti-Personnel Mines and on Their Destruction, also known as the Ottawa Convention. From the outset, we have made every effort to comply with the obligations arising from the Ottawa Convention. In that regard, I am pleased to announce that Mozambique has successfully completed its demining programme. We have cleared all known risk areas, which totalled 500 million square metres of land. It would not have been worthwhile for us to liberate our country if then we had been forbidden to travel across our country, or if we had been forbidden to farm the land or develop tourism or mine our coal or graphite. We celebrate that victory with intense emotion. We would like to express our profound gratitude to our international partners, humanitarian demining organizations, United Nations agencies and civil society for their cooperation and invaluable support. The year 2015 is of special importance to Mozambique. On 25 June, we celebrated 40 years of independence. We are no longer an adolescent State. On 16 September we celebrated 40 years of cooperation with the United Nations. I am jubilant because I am speaking here today, at the United Nations, and I believe that the United Nations should feel proud on account of my country’s stability and growth — growth that needs to be supported. I would like to conclude my remarks by reiterating that the search for sustainable solutions to global problems, alongside the Organization and its Member States, will continue to be the focus of my Government’s unconditional commitment. Long live humankind and sustainable development!

On behalf of the General Assembly, I wish to thank the President of the Republic of Mozambique for the statement he has just made.

The Assembly will now hear an address by the King of the Kingdom of the Netherlands.

On behalf of the General Assembly, I have the honour to welcome to the United Nations His Excellency King Willem-Alexander, King of the Kingdom of the Netherlands, and to invite him to address the Assembly. King Willem-Alexander: It is a privilege to address the General Assembly on behalf of the Kingdom of the Netherlands, a Kingdom made up of four autonomous countries — the Netherlands, Aruba, Curaçao and Saint Maarten — rooted in both Europe and the Caribbean. In 1945, the Charter of the United Nations was signed by representatives of 51 countries. Today, 70 years later, there are three times as many people on the Earth and four times as many Member States, with all the complexities that that entails. And yet, as an international Organization, the United Nations stands proud. In those 70 years, the world has seen great upheavals and shifts in the balance of power. Technological advances have changed our daily lives faster and more dramatically than ever before, and yet, the United Nations endures. We have seen clashes of interests, bitter conflicts and human tragedies, which, indeed, persist today. As we speak, the lives of millions are still dominated by fear, oppression and want. And yet, the United Nations lives on as a legitimate platform for international dialogue where countries can always come together, no matter how great their differences. The United Nations is more than simply a platform. It is an Organization whose activities help to shape and improve our world. Thanks in part to the United Nations, extreme poverty has been halved, child mortality has been halved, 2.3 billion people have gained access to drinking water, diseases such as malaria and tuberculosis have been beaten back, and peace operations in many areas have brought violent conflicts under control. That is all because of the work of millions of courageous people in the Member States and the untiring efforts of the staff of the United Nations and its organs, both here in New York and all over the world. So I would like to say to the United Nations: congratulations! I thank it for 70 years of battling against cynicism and fatalism. For the Kingdom of the Netherlands, the United Nations is and will remain the primary global Organization for peace, justice and development. That is why the Kingdom is a candidate for a non-permanent seat on the Security Council for the 2017-2018 term. Of course, the world is far from perfect. It is still filled with terrible injustice and human suffering. But we have also made great progress. What would today’s world look like without the United Nations? There can be no doubt that we would be worse off. The Kingdom of the Netherlands feels a close bond with the fundamentals of the United Nations, as laid down in the Charter of the United Nations. We understand the value of diversity and dialogue. This goes hand in hand with the conviction that multilateral cooperation can help us move forward and make the world stronger. We owe our freedom to other countries. Seventy years ago our allies made enormous sacrifices in liberating the Netherlands. They enabled us to rise again and become a prosperous Kingdom. We will never forget the importance of international solidarity. The world will always be able to count on the Netherlands as a partner for peace, justice and development. Yet, just as we remain deeply committed, we also believe in being critical when necessary. It is good, on this seventieth anniversary, for the United Nations to look openly and honestly at the results of its efforts, to look at the goals that have not been achieved and at the long and winding path that lies ahead. Our Kingdom is gravely concerned about the lawlessness, terror and contempt for basic human rights that are gaining ground in some areas. Millions of desperate people have been displaced and forced to flee the violence. They are the innocent victims of intolerance and of despicable conduct on the part of tyrants they cannot constrain. Many refugees have been in a desperate situation for too long. The positive effects of years of work on sustainable development are at risk, and this affects us all. We cannot look the other way. We are all deeply touched by the tragic images of families who have had to leave everything behind in their search for a safe haven. All the world’s nations must show solidarity in the face of the refugee crisis. The Kingdom of the Netherlands has again increased its contribution to humanitarian assistance, making it one of the largest donors in the world. We call on other nations to follow suit and give additional support to the United Nations, so that it can provide food and shelter to all those who have been forced to flee and give them a chance to rebuild their lives. It is crucial that we make our joint efforts on peace and security more efficient and effective. The review by the High-level Independent Panel on United Nations Peace Operations is a helpful tool in that regard. Since the United Nations was founded, the Kingdom of the Netherlands has participated in 63 United Nations or United Nations-mandated missions in more than 30 countries. Those missions have involved more than 125,000 Dutch military and civilian personnel. Earlier this year, I visited the Dutch men and women who are part of the United Nations Multidimensional Integrated Stabilization Mission in Mali. The situation there clearly illustrates how complex the problems in conflict areas often are. You cannot build lasting peace by military means alone. A political solution has to be found. It is equally important to strengthen the institutions that safeguard respect for the rule of law and to remove the underlying causes of conflict. The lack of decent prospects or equal opportunities drives many young people into the arms of ruthless terrorist organizations. Discrimination and exclusion are the root of much evil in the world. That is why we need a three-dimensional approach: a combination of defence, development and diplomacy, of which the Netherlands has many years of experience. For example, we have made it a top priority to stimulate job creation in Africa and to assist young African entrepreneurs, and we are increasing our support for programmes to promote stability in fragile States. The Kingdom of the Netherlands is proud to be home to the International Court of Justice, the only principal organ of the United Nations located outside New York. The Hague is the place where global peace, justice and security are defended by a range of international organizations, including the International Criminal Court and the Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons. A key feature of a legal order is the absence of impunity. Violence must never be allowed to prevail. Lawlessness must never become the norm. Anyone who strives for justice will find our Kingdom on their side. Injustice hurts like an open wound. Hundreds of families from 10 countries, including Malaysia, Australia and the Netherlands, still grieve every day for the loved ones they lost in the Malaysia Airlines Flight MH-17 air disaster. They await the results of Security Council resolution 2166 (2014). That resolution is very clear: it demands that those responsible for this incident be held to account and that all States cooperate fully with efforts to establish accountability. The Dutch Government will work tirelessly, together with all the countries and organizations concerned, until justice is done with regard to this tragedy. Peace, justice and development are closely linked. They are a trinity, as tied to each other as the blades on a windmill. To achieve lasting progress, all three are essential. So our Kingdom welcomes the Sustainable Development Goals, which will focus the efforts of the international community over the next 15 years. And we will put our hearts and souls into helping ensure their success. There is still not enough focus on the positive role that women can play. Even in the harshest and most hopeless circumstances, women often have the strength to go on and to find practical ways to improve the lives of their families and communities. Promoting equal rights and opportunities for women is actually sustainable development in action. Any organization that wants to remain relevant must adapt to new times and circumstances. It is especially important for institutions that stand for shared values and continuity to critically examine their own performance and to ask themselves: “Are our working methods still appropriate?” Without such self-reflection they risk the gradual erosion of their relevance and effectiveness. For the United Nations and the Security Council this has, after 70 years, become an urgent issue. The Security Council needs to be able to act more boldly in the face of large-scale atrocities. Greater restraint in the use of vetoes would help. We warmly welcome France’s initiative in that regard. The Council’s legitimacy is also under pressure. If part of the global population feels insufficiently represented by it, the Security Council cannot properly fulfil its primary role as a global body for safeguarding peace and security and for resolving conflicts. Africa, in particular, is underrepresented, but the voices of other regions and countries are not being heard enough either. This needs to change. The Kingdom of the Netherlands believes in the power of empathy and dialogue. It is not always the loudest voices that speak the deepest truths. In fact, it is often the small Member States that show us the way forward. One example is the longtime plea by small island States for a far more active global approach to climate change and marine pollution. They feel the urgency like no other. Fortunately — finally — more and more large countries are developing concrete action plans. The Kingdom of the Netherlands knows how crucial this is. Three of our countries — Aruba, Curaçao and Saint Maarten — are small island States, and three other Caribbean islands are special municipalities of the Netherlands. With its centuries of water-management experience, the Netherlands is one of the best-protected deltas in the world, investing billions to help mitigate the effects of climate change. That is why we intend to make sure our voice is heard at the twenty-first session of the Conference of the Parties to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change in Paris later this year, and we will continue pressing for cleaner oceans. Our guiding principle is simple — consider the interests of all countries, large and small. Forget might is right. We believe right is might. This also forms the basis of our candidacy for a seat on the Security Council for the 2017-2018 term. We are passionate about serving the entire international community at the United Nations level as a partner for peace, justice and development. For my wife and me, this has a very personal significance. For seven years I had the honour of being the Chair of the Secretary-General’s Advisory Board on Water and Sanitation. My wife remains his Special Advocate for Inclusive Finance for Development. Two years ago, Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon spoke at the centennial celebrations of the Peace Palace in The Hague. He said, “Here in The Hague, you help sustain and expand the rule of law. You bring the rule of law to life.” We took those warm words not merely as a great compliment, but also as an inspirational challenge, a solemn task, which we aim to continue fulfilling, together with all Member States in The Hague, in New York and all over the world.

On behalf of the General Assembly, I wish to thank the King of the Kingdom of the Netherlands for the statement he has just made.

The Assembly will now hear an address by the President of the Republic of Kazakhstan.

On behalf of the General Assembly, I have the honour to welcome to the United Nations His Excellency Mr. Nursultan Nazarbayev, President of the Republic of Kazakhstan, and to invite him to address the Assembly. President Nazarbayev (spoke in Kazakh; English text provided by the delegation): In this seventieth anniversary year, it is fitting that we reflect on the profound hopes of the founders of the United Nations. This universal Organization has already achieved historic goals of universal significance. First, for seven decades our planet has lived without world wars. Secondly, we have witnessed large-scale decolonization. Seventy years ago, the United Nations was established by 51 States at a time when the majority of the world still consisted of colonies and dependent territories. Today, the world community includes 193 independent countries. Thirdly, the United Nations has become a universal platform for dialogue, which is essential for the sake of security and development. In the United Nations, humankind recognizes its unity in diversity and the need for shared participation in shaping the fate of our planet. The generation that founded the United Nations was wise enough to look far into the future. The world today is reaping the benefits of their dreams and hard work. Kazakhstan supports all initiatives aimed at restoring trust in international relations and strengthening peace and security on the basis of international law. For seven decades, the world community has tried to find an effective formula for resolving military conflicts. However, the number of conflicts has not decreased. Rather, conflicts are often transforming into more sophisticated and complex forms of international terrorism, as may occur in a climate of State collapse. Humankind needs to shift its focus from routine conflict prevention and post-conflict rehabilitation to a new development strategy that would make such conflicts meaningless. To that end, we should find the courage to look beyond the present to the time when the United Nations will celebrate its centenary. I believe that, in the next thirty years, the civilized world will find the necessary wisdom and will to cut through the Gordian knot of wars and conflicts. Our central task in the twenty-first century should be to implement a strategy that will, once and for all, eliminate the threat of war and its causes. To that end, I propose that, for the centenary of the United Nations, agreement should be reached on a 2045 global strategic initiative plan, whose core idea will be to launch a new trend in global development based on equitable conditions in which all nations have equal access to global infrastructure, resources and markets and accountability for human development is comprehensively maintained. First, I propose that the Economic and Social Council be transformed into a global development council. Membership of the new body would consist of Member States elected by the General Assembly and the heads of all the United Nations specialized agencies, including the International Monetary Fund. The new Council should be tasked with becoming a global economic regulator. Global projects carried out by such a Council would aim to promote worldwide economic growth. That would go a long way towards decreasing the risks of global crises and to ensuring responsible behaviour by States, while enabling them to maintain their national economic and social policies. We consider the idea of a world anti-crisis plan, the draft of which is being actively discussed on the margins of the Astana Economic Forum, to be very timely. The most pressing and serious global challenges — terrorism, the implosion of States, migration and other negative issues — are the result of the economic crisis, poverty, illiteracy and unemployment. To tackle the global crisis, we need to start with clear rules for the issuance of and trade in the world’s reserve currencies, because they do not now meet the criteria of justice, democracy, competitiveness, effectiveness and international control. In the twenty-first century, our world needs new, high-quality financial instruments. States Members of the United Nations need to join forces to create a new supranational currency that should be relevant to the targets and tasks of global sustainable development and prosperity. Secondly, in the year of the seventieth anniversary of the atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki, I urge that a world without nuclear weapons should become the main goal of humankind for the twenty-first century. I propose that we adopt, under the auspices of the United Nations, a universal declaration aimed at achieving a world free of nuclear weapons. Kazakhstan was the first country in history to close down a nuclear test site, renouncing the world’s fourth-largest nuclear arsenal, and has contributed to the creation of a nuclear- weapon-free zone in Central Asia. It is essential to establish nuclear-weapon-free zones in other regions of the world, particularly in the Middle East. The nuclear Powers must provide guarantees of the non-use of force to all countries that renounce possession of nuclear weapons. In 2013, we initiated two rounds of talks on the Iranian nuclear programme in Almaty. We welcome the signing of the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action regarding Iran’s nuclear programme. It is essential today to guarantee the right of States to peaceful nuclear energy and access to nuclear fuel. That is why we supported and signed an agreement with the International Atomic Energy Agency on the establishment of a low-enriched uranium fuel bank in Kazakhstan. That was an event of global significance. The world should acknowledge it as an important measure for the safe and peaceful use of the atom, as it means that countries wishing to develop nuclear energy no longer need to enrich uranium themselves. Moreover, we consider the creation of a global anti-nuclear-weapons movement an important task. Every person on the planet can and must contribute to a nuclear test ban. Thirdly, a further danger for us is the erosion of international law and the weakening of the role of global institutions. It is important to remember that the Charter of the United Nations was written with the blood of millions of victims of world wars and armed conflicts. Any violation of its articles, especially with respect to ensuring the sovereignty and territorial integrity of States, may cause humankind to repeat the tragic mistakes of the past. It is crucial to prevent the arbitrary imposition of sanctions, which contradicts both the Charter and international law. I am convinced that the right to impose international sanctions, which can adversely affect the well-being of millions of people, should remain the exclusive prerogative of the Security Council. Failure to comply with that principle undermines the foundation of the modern world order and is a relic of the Cold War. I would like to stress that there is no alternative to the United Nations as a universal Organization. Moreover, countries’ compliance with their international obligations remains the cornerstone of the modern world order. Kazakhstan has consistently advocated a peaceful settlement of the Ukrainian crisis and the full implementation of the Minsk agreements by the parties to the conflict. Today it is vital to make every effort to restore dialogue, mutual understanding and trust in international relations. I therefore propose the convening in 2016 of a United Nations conference at the highest level with the aim of reaffirming the basic principles of international law. Fourthly, the threat of terrorism and religious extremism has become global in scale. I propose the establishment, under the auspices of the United Nations, of a unified global network to counter international terrorism and extremism. To achieve that objective, it is necessary to develop and adopt a comprehensive United Nations instrument on combating terrorism. Fifthly, in support of the United Nations initiative on sustainable energy for all, we will hold, in 2017 in Astana, an international exhibition on the theme of the energy of the future. We invite all States to participate fully in the exhibition. Looking to the future and using the infrastructure to be put in place for Expo 2017, I suggest opening in Astana an international centre for the development of green technologies and investment projects under the auspices of the United Nations. A major step in realizing the 2045 global strategic initiative plan could be the development, under the auspices of the United Nations, of the concept on which a new future is to be based. Seventy years after the founding of the United Nations, we need to clearly define the goals of the next stage in the evolution of humankind. I believe that that new future will be about ways to deliver nuclear energy and water, address food security, build trust and mutual understanding and carry out reforms. Kazakhstan has been and will continue to be a mediator in efforts to help conflicting parties in Eurasia to find a peaceful solution. The directions and principles I have outlined constitute the core of our campaign to become a non-permanent member of the Security Council for the biennium 2017-2018. I call on all those participating in the seventieth session to support our country’s candidacy. Seventy years ago, when the United Nations was established as a replacement for the defunct League of Nations, which had been located in Geneva, the decision was made to establish its headquarters in New York. That was connected to the fact that, at the time, the role of the Western hemisphere in international affairs was still in the ascendant. The centre of economic development had also moved from the Old World of Europe to the New World of the United States, in New York. Our world has changed a great deal since then. In the twenty-first century, the pole of global growth is shifting to Asia, the world’s largest continent, where two thirds of the planet’s population lives and where enormous resources are concentrated. The powerful rise of Asia’s developing economies has introduced a new reality into global processes. We need to use that historic change and opportunity to give a new boost to relations between States. With that in mind, I propose that Member States consider the possibility of transferring United Nations Headquarters to Asia. I am hopeful that this and Kazakhstan’s other proposals will be acceptable to the community of nations.

On behalf of the General Assembly, I wish to thank the President of the Republic of Kazakhstan for the statement he has just made.

The Assembly will now hear an address by the President of the United Mexican States.

On behalf of the General Assembly, I have the honour to welcome to the United Nations His Excellency Mr. Enrique Peña Nieto, President of the United Mexican States, and to invite him to address the Assembly. President Peña Nieto (spoke in Spanish): Seventy years ago, the United Nations was founded as a collective response to the horror of war. For seven decades, the peoples of the United Nations have been determined to implement the highest ideals of international peace and security, human rights and social progress. The ongoing efforts of the United Nations in favour of these lofty goals are reflected in the peacekeeping operations and the actions of such prestigious agencies as the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations, the United Nations Children’s Fund, the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization, the World Health Organization and the United Nations Development Programme. It must be said clearly — the world would not be the same without the United Nations, symbol of solidarity and hope for a better future. Since 1945, Mexicans have maintained the greatest commitment to this forum, which is the greatest multilateral mechanism there is, championing peace, nuclear disarmament and humankind’s loftiest goals. For example, following the Cuban missile crisis, Mexico promoted the Treaty for the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons in Latin America and the Caribbean. Thanks to this agreement, the Latin American and Caribbean nations became the first nuclear-weapon-free zone in a densely populated region. Mexicans also have a long tradition as a mediator in conflicts in our region, always promoting the peaceful settlement of disputes. In the light of this history, we welcome the substantial progress in the peace process in Colombia, as well as the recent restoration of diplomatic relations between Cuba and the United States. Consistent with this new geopolitical reality, we reiterate the call for ending the economic, commercial and financial embargo imposed on Cuba since 1962. To continue contributing to peace among societies of the world, Mexico recently pushed for the Arms Trade Treaty, which is now a reality. The Treaty is the basis of an international regime of conventional arms control, which prevents illegal traffic and makes the legal trade in arms more transparent. Mexico is a nation fully committed to upholding the law, human rights and peace. We have fully assumed the great responsibility of being a member of the Human Rights Council of the United Nations for the 2014-2016 triennium. Today, my country has some of the most advanced legislation in favour of human rights and works to ensure that it is enforced throughout the national territory. Moreover, I am convinced — and the facts bear this out — that the experience and contributions of the international community have helped to further our domestic efforts in the field. The imminent visit to Mexico of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights is a clear demonstration of our commitment and will to continue to join efforts with the international system. Another clear example of our responsibility at the global level was the decision to participate in peacekeeping operations. Our historic resolve has meant that my country has put its experience in the field of humanitarian assistance at the service of the United Nations. The foregoing are just some examples of the close and positive relationship that Mexico has had with the United Nations for 70 years. As a result of growing inequalities, an unrelenting global economic crisis and the social frustration resulting therefrom, the world today is exposed to the threat of new populist movements, some on the left and others on the right, but all equally risky. The twentieth century has already lived through and suffered the consequences of the actions of individuals who, devoid of understanding and a sense of responsibility and without a moral compass, chose to divide their populations. Societies must be vigilant against those who prey on fears and worries and those who sow hatred and rancour with the sole purpose of satisfying political agendas and personal ambitions. In this second decade of the twenty-first century, we must not repeat the mistakes that caused the world so much pain in the past. On the contrary, it is time to rescue and support the principles that define us as people: the lofty values ​that gave birth to the United Nations, namely, peace, solidarity and respect for human rights — respect for migrants, respect for women, respect for all races and religions, respect for diversity and political pluralism, but, above all, respect for human dignity. That is what our societies deserve. True, today’s world is complex, uncertain, almost beyond our reach. But division is not a solution. We must again appreciate the true worth of trust— trust in constructive work, trust in others, trust in institutions and, above all, trust in ourselves and our nations. To build, one must add; to achieve, one must persevere. Indeed, 2015 is proving to us that nations can achieve transcendent, bold and innovative agreements that benefit the world’s population. The 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development (resolution 70/1), the Addis Ababa Action Agenda of the Third International Conference on Financing for Development, the Sendai Framework for Disaster Risk Reduction 2015-2030 and the work leading up to the twenty-first session of the Conference of the Parties to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change on Climate Change are of historic importance and promote a new paradigm — a change in the way nations think and act. The way in which the 2030 Agenda was constructed should be welcomed. It was compiled collectively and unanimously, from the dialogues and proposals submitted by Member States. The Addis Ababa Action Agenda, adopted at the third International Conference on Financing for Development, held in Ethiopia, will enable States to finance sustainable development, which is the foundation of a revitalized global partnership, as the Secretary-General himself has stated. For its part, the Sendai Framework provides guidelines for the next 15 years that will give the people of the world an opportunity to enjoy a more secure home. As for the upcoming twenty-first Conference of Parties to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change, there are high expectations that we will be able to adopt binding commitments in Paris. Undoubtedly, climate change is one of the greatest challenges of the day, and its solution requires the clear and firm political will of every country. In that regard, on 27 March Mexico introduced its nationally determined contribution, and was the first developing country to do so. From this rostrum, I reiterate our call on all nations of the world to act with determination and vision in response to the challenge of climate change. Encouraged by the major agreements of 2015, we are now moving forward on the reform and modernization of the Security Council. The design of that important mechanism, created in 1945, has already demonstrated significant limitations. It is unacceptable that the power of the veto has been used for exclusively national purposes, thereby holding back potential international action. The permanent members of the Security Council have a special responsibility for international peace and security, which they must assume at all times, especially when the most basic human rights are violated. With that objective in mind, we have supported the initiative of France to restrict the use of the veto in cases of serious breach of international law and human rights violations, such as war crimes, crimes against humanity and genocide. The aim is to ensure that United Nations resolutions are more effective, responsible and, above all, more representative of the ideals of humankind. In the global era, no country is immune to what happens elsewhere in the world. We cannot remain indifferent to the suffering of entire populations. It is a fact that our time is characterized by the migration of millions of people seeking better living conditions. Unfortunately, on all continents and in all areas, the migrant experience is one of risk, rejection, discrimination and abuse. Those conditions are aggravated when, because of ignorance, bad faith, racism or pure political opportunism, migrants and their children are stigmatized and blamed for the destination country’s own difficulties. We must not allow that injustice to continue. We must not allow the democracies of the world to be robbed of their pluralistic and inclusive spirit. In the light of those visions of exclusion and discrimination, we must unite our efforts to create a global scheme to protect migrants’ rights commensurate with the challenges we are experiencing. Around the world, millions of migrants require a collective and effective response — a global response that should come from the United Nations. Similarly, given the scarce results achieved during the past decades, humankind must reassess its vision of the global drug problem. In Mexico, we consider it indispensable to have a more effective, just and humane international response. In 2016, during the upcoming special session of the General Assembly on drugs, the international community must demonstrate collective willingness to break its inertia and develop policies that put the well-being and dignity of individuals at the heart of our attention. Ensuring the purposes and principles that gave birth to the United Nations is a responsibility that unites and commits us all. Mexico publicly expresses its appreciation to Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon for his work at the head of the United Nations. The 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development is an overwhelming example of the inclusive leadership that the world requires. On this, the seventieth anniversary of the United Nations, Mexico reaffirms its unwavering commitment to the Organization that unites nations and calls upon them to work together. We do so in the conviction that multilateralism is the ideal way to overcome global problems. We do so in the conviction that through support for the United Nations we can help build a better future for all humankind.

On behalf of the General Assembly, I wish to thank the President of the United Mexican States for the statement he has just made.

The Assembly will now hear an address by the President of the Republic of Portugal.

On behalf of the General Assembly, I have the honour to welcome to the United Nations His Excellency Mr. Aníbal António Cavaco Silva, President of the Republic of Portugal, and to invite him to address the Assembly. President Cavaco Silva (spoke in Portuguese, English text provided by the delegation): At the outset, I would like to congratulate the President of the General Assembly at its seventieth session on his election and to express my good wishes for the success of the General Assembly’s work in the seventieth-anniversary year of the United Nations. I would also like to express my deep appreciation for the work of the Secretary-General. As ever, he can continue to count on Portugal’s support. The establishment of the United Nations marked a unique time in the collective history of humankind. The pursuit of lasting peace, development and the respect for human rights, the founding purposes and principles of the Organization that we still look to today, after 70 years, are major achievements of the contemporary world. The Charter of the United Nations and the principles and values that it encapsulates remain a reference and a sign of hope for our collective future. I welcome the adoption of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development (resolution 70/1), which is an unparalleled opportunity to usher in an era in which poverty is eradicated, leading to a world of justice and dignity for all. The year 2015 is also key for negotiations on climate change. Seventeen years after Kyoto, the international community must be ambitious in fighting that particular threat to its sustainable development. It is imperative that at the Conference of the Parties to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change in Paris in December, we reach a lasting agreement that is global, fair and binding for all. Closely related to climate change, the issue of the oceans holds a crucial importance for Portugal in the light of its history, its geography and its identity. In June, my country organized an international event on the use of the oceans, Blue Week, which brought together more than 70 countries and international institutions. It offered an occasion for open debate and strategic reflection on the challenges of global management of the oceans and the responsible use of their potential. We continue to take a strong interest in deepening the multilateral dialogue on the sustainability of the oceans and enhancing the overall efforts of the United Nations. Portugal had the honour to co-chair the Ad Hoc Working Group of the Whole on the Regular Process for Global Reporting and Assessment of the State of the Marine Environment, including Socioeconomic Aspects in setting up a reliable and detailed system of information on the marine environment. The issuance of the first global integrated marine assessment (see A/70/112) is a step in the right direction. Members can rely on the engagement of Portugal in the preparation of a legally binding instrument on the conservation and sustainable use of marine biodiversity in areas that go beyond national jurisdiction. Portugal’s course of action has been geared towards the defence of the universal and individual nature of all human rights — not only civil and political rights but also economic, social and cultural rights. Combating violence against women is a clear priority in that context. I draw attention to the alarming number of cases of domestic violence that span the most diverse societies and social strata, which cannot continue to go unpunished. I invite all States to step up their efforts to put an end to that scourge, and I hope that the relative indicator will be taken into account in the overall assessment of compliance with the Sustainable Development Goals. I also stress the importance that we attach to children’s rights, including the right to education and to youth policies. At a time when we are witnessing the proliferation of violent clashes in a number of regions, it must be emphasized that no conflict, no matter how complex it may be, can possibly justify barbarism, whether by States or by non-State parties. Human rights are the common heritage of humankind that we all have an obligation to defend, regardless of geography. The Security Council plays a key role in that context. In order to fulfil its mandate in the most effective manner, it should mirror the realities of our world. That will require extending membership in both categories and reviewing its working methods. The tragic humanitarian situation in Syria, Iraq, Libya and many other conflict settings should prompt us to act in a supportive and responsible manner. Some of those crises, particularly in Syria, have already claimed many thousands of human lives and given rise to one of the largest flows of refugees since the Second World War. The resolution of those crises can no longer remain hostage to blockages that prolong and aggravate the misery and suffering of vast populations. In line with its consistently humanitarian tradition, Portugal has demonstrated dedicated solidarity from the very beginning, as demonstrated by its willingness to welcome several thousand people in need of international protection. I take this opportunity to commend the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees, which has epitomized the humanitarian values enshrined in the Charter. The dignity of human life is an absolute value that we have an obligation to respect and protect. On the other hand, for some years we have found ourselves facing the threat of terrorism, which continues to assume increasingly barbaric and worrying forms. That threat and its protagonists require strong, concerted responses and a determined fight on the part of the international community. Such responses should also address the underlying forces that lead to radicalization and violent extremism, which require the involvement of States, international organizations, religious communities and civil society organizations. I must also express our concern about the deadlock affecting the peace process in the Middle East. There will be no lasting peace without a fair resolution of the Palestinian issue that also ensures Israel’s security. We urge the parties to resume the peace talks, as we are convinced that the only solution to the conflict will be the creation, based on United Nations resolutions, of two States, living side by side in democracy, peace and security. I welcome the agreement reached on Iran’s nuclear programme. It is now up to all parties involved to ensure its full implementation. Africa holds a special place in Portuguese foreign policy. My country has key partners in Africa, with which it maintains close relations in the most varied fields, ranging from political dialogue to economic links, from the approach to security issues to the establishment of mutually beneficial partnerships. A number of African countries where Portuguese is the official language — Mozambique, Cabo Verde, Sao Tome and Principe and Angola — are celebrating the fortieth anniversary of their independence this year, and Portugal and the Portuguese people are involved in that important historical event. The situation in Guinea-Bissau deserves special mention. I trust its political leaders to recognize the essential value of political stability and the ability to work together in order to pursue the necessary reforms, including in the security sector, in the fight against impunity and in socioeconomic development projects. That would be the required framework for the international community to be able to fulfil its commitments to cooperation, made in March at the Brussels Conference. The democratic maturity that the people of Guinea-Bissau have demonstrated is sufficient reason for the international community to remain united and coordinated in supporting that country. We also remain engaged on matters concerning maritime safety, especially in the Gulf of Guinea. We have participated in the development of international support strategies and have strengthened our bilateral cooperation with the African States and the regional organizations. Portugal is strengthening its relations with Latin American States. We have added a mutual willingness to know each other better and to deepen our political and economic relations to our historical and cultural ties. I very much welcome the positive developments surrounding the ongoing peace negotiations in Colombia and the normalization of diplomatic relations between Cuba and the United States of America. The Portuguese language is a global, economically relevant communication vehicle. Some 250 million people from Asia to Europe and from Africa to Latin America express themselves in Portuguese in their everyday lives, in commerce and business and in cultural and social networks. It is also an official or a working language in several international organizations, including in some of the United Nations specialized agencies. The legitimate ambition of the Community of Portuguese-speaking Countries is to see the Portuguese language recognized as an official language of the United Nations. As we celebrate the seventieth anniversary of the United Nations, I reiterate the commitment expressed here in 2008. Portugal, 60 years now into its membership in the United Nations, remains firmly committed to effective multilateralism. It participates in many peacekeeping operations, has been in the Security Council three times, is currently a member of the Human Rights Council and fiercely stands by the guiding principles of the Charter in its international actions. In a globalized, interdependent world such as the one in which we live, only strong multilateral institutions can ensure the fundamental values of peace, human rights, sustainable development, democracy and respect for international law.

On behalf of the General Assembly, I wish to thank the President of the Republic of Portugal for the statement he has just made.

The Assembly will now hear an address by the Prime Minister of Denmark.

I have great pleasure in welcoming His Excellency Mr. Lars Løkke Rasmussen, Prime Minister of Denmark, and inviting him to address the Assembly.

Seventy years ago, this Organization was born out of the chaos and ruins of the Second World War. It was born with the hope and a vision that the future would be better and more peaceful than the past. Small and large countries signed the Charter of the United Nations; my own country was signatory number 50. It was a commitment to solving common problems through cooperation and dialogue. How is today’s world compared to that of our grandparents? The answer is simple. Much progress has been made. We live in a world that is wealthier. Millions have been lifted out of poverty. There is a dramatic increase in the number of children — and in particular girls — attending schools. We continue to witness horrible conflicts in many parts of the world, but the number and magnitude of armed conflicts between States have decreased. Our fight against deadly diseases has saved millions. This is one side of the coin. We also live in a changing world. Conflicts remain the greatest threat to human development. The number of refugees and displaced persons is growing at an alarming speed. Violent extremism is spreading. Human rights are being violated. Our planet is under stress due to scarce resources and climate change. That is the other side of the coin. The world is complex, as it has always been. There are no simple solutions and there never were. We need to engage actively and cooperate closely to address the challenges today, as we did 70 years ago. From my perspective, there are three main priorities for the United Nations in the coming years. First, peace and security. Like many others in my generation, my political view of the world was shaped by 1989. The wall came down. The Iron Curtain disappeared. Today, once again, the world faces a situation where cooperation and dialogue are all too often replaced by force and violence. We must ensure that the United Nations can effectively provide security in the face of ever more complex crises and threats. In Ukraine, we have seen completely unacceptable violations of international law and principles of sovereignty and territorial integrity. In Syria, civilians suffer from horrific abuses committed by the terrorist organization, the Islamic State in Iraq and the Levant (ISIL) and by the Al-Assad regime. The Danish Government continues to support efforts for a political solution to the conflict, and we are proud to be a member of the international coalition against ISIL. We need a strong and unified response to violent extremism and terrorism, not just in Syria and Iraq, but also in parts of Africa, where violent extremism and armed conflicts are growing. Denmark will do its part. We plan to increase our contribution to the United Nations Multidimensional Integrated Stabilization Mission in Mali. Massive refugee and migration flows are a visible consequence of these conflicts. Almost 60 million people are fleeing their homes. We have an international responsibility to provide the necessary protection for refugees. Many of them have no food, medicine, schools for their children or hope for the future. They need our support. Denmark takes this responsibility very seriously. Last year, we were the second-largest recipient of Syrian refugees, per capita, in the European Union. I also welcome the initiative of the Secretary- General to strengthen United Nations peace operations, but we need more than Blue Helmets to ensure lasting peace. We need a Security Council that is ready to take the necessary decisions to maintain international peace and security, and effectively address conflicts in a timely manner and that reflects the world as it is today. The international community must have the right instruments to adequately tackle the situation, and we must keep an open mind when we evaluate the instruments we have at hand. Many people migrate for economic reasons, in search of a better life, and their hopes are indeed understandable. But mass migration is obviously an immense challenge for our societies, our international cooperation and our solidarity. First and foremost, mass migration is a global challenge, and we must address its root causes. People migrate because they have lost hope at home. Inclusive economic growth in developing countries should be our common goal. There are no easy solutions. The United Nations is an important part of the answer. Member States have the primary responsibility for development and progress in their own countries. But we must all do our part and provide the necessary financial contributions to ensure that they succeed. Denmark is ready to do its part, as we have done since 1978. We remain committed to the United Nations target of providing development assistance amounting to 0.7 per cent of our gross domestic product. Denmark is widely recognized as a leading humanitarian donor, and we will continue to give the area high priority. Last week, my Government decided to allocate an additional €100 million to humanitarian assistance and to measures that support European efforts to address the mass migration from Syria and its neighbourhood. I am deeply concerned about the probability that the humanitarian needs associated with this will far outgrow the available financing, and I call on all States to increase their humanitarian efforts. The international community must find solutions to this extraordinary situation. That leads me to our next priority, human rights and gender equality. The Charter of the United Nations says very clearly that the equal and indispensable rights of all people are the foundation of freedom, justice and peace in the world. The best way to build a better world is to unleash the power of the individual for the sake of the common good. Today, more people live in democracies than ever before, but the lives of many are still threatened because of who they are or what they believe. Denmark has always pursued an active human rights policy, based on dialogue as the key tool to progress. My Government is a strong advocate of women’s rights. Women are key drivers in our efforts to ensure sustainable development and end poverty. Denmark will have the honour of hosting the Women Deliver Conference in May of next year, and I hope that many of those here will join us in Copenhagen. Denmark is also engaged in the global fight against torture, and we are proud to be part of the Convention against Torture Initiative, whose goal is universal ratification and better implementation of the Convention by 2024. We call on all States to join with us in working for that goal. To put it clearly, Denmark is entirely committed to upholding the core values of the United Nations. That is why we have decided to run for a seat on the Human Rights Council for the period from 2019 to 2021. Our candidacy enjoys the support of all the Nordic countries, and I hope all here today will find us worthy of their vote. I can assure them that we will aspire to be a strong partner for all in advancing human rights and fundamental freedoms. The third and final major challenge for the United Nations is implementing the development agenda and effectively addressing climate change. This weekend, I had the privilege and honour of co-chairing the Sustainable Development Summit. We have adopted the new 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development (resolution 70/1), and now we need to act, through national policies and by supporting the countries that need the most help. The Sustainable Development Goals carry a multi-trillion-dollar price tag, and that cannot be met by Governments or aid alone. We need the support of all actors — private enterprises, civil society, non-governmental and international organizations and many others. We must find new and innovative ways of engaging these actors if we are serious about delivering on the development agenda. That is particularly true when it comes to addressing climate change. To give a small example, Denmark has established a climate investment fund to promote private investments in developing countries and emerging markets. Danish pension savings now contribute to financing Africa’s largest wind farm, in Lake Turkana in Kenya. We need more such solutions if we are to deliver on the development agenda and reach an ambitious, binding climate agreement in Paris later this year. The need for an effective United Nations has never been greater. If we fail to deal with the enormous tasks facing us, there is a risk that we will undermine the key values and principles of the Charter. Throughout the history of the United Nations, Denmark has been one of the strongest supporters of our world Organization, and that will not change. I am honoured that a Dane has assumed the presidency of the General Assembly, and my Government is fully committed to supporting Mr. Lykketoft in his important work. Seventy years ago our grandparents had a bold vision. They believed it was possible to create a better future for the peoples of the world. The achievements during those 70 years have been remarkable. This anniversary is a historic opportunity to set ambitious goals for the future. We have agreed on a new development agenda. Now we must act to show our grandchildren that we are able to deliver on our promises today, tomorrow and 70 years from now.

On behalf of the General Assembly, I wish to thank the Prime Minister of Denmark for the statement he has just made.

The Assembly will now hear an address by the Prime Minister of the Federal Democratic Republic of Ethiopia.

I have great pleasure in welcoming His Excellency Mr. Hailemariam Desalegn, Prime Minister of the Federal Democratic Republic of Ethiopia, and inviting him to address the Assembly.

I would like to begin by congratulating you, Mr. President, on your assumption of the presidency of the General Assembly at this important juncture in the history of the United Nations. This has indeed been a seminal year. Not only is it one in which we are commemorating the seventieth anniversary of our only universal Organization, it has also been a year when bold actions have been taken for the sake of our people and planet. I would also like to express my profound appreciation to your predecessor, our brother from Africa, who successfully steered the work of this body for the past year, a period that witnessed some difficult intergovernmental negotiation processes. His contribution to facilitating those processes and advancing the agenda of the United Nations was indeed significant, and we owe him a debt of gratitude for his tireless efforts. I would also like to pay special tribute to the Secretary-General for his dedication and tireless efforts to realize the aims and purposes of the United Nations. What we have achieved so far this year through difficult negotiations and compromise, by adopting a compact for global partnership within the framework of the Addis Ababa Action Agenda in July, as well as the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development (resolution 70/1) at the historic Summit we have just concluded, has made it evident that we are indeed potentially at a watershed moment in the history of the United Nations. We are confident that the same collective resolve will be demonstrated by Member States as we take up the challenge of an equally transformative change in United Nations peace operations. The political will and commitment that we have demonstrated in adopting the Addis Ababa Action Agenda and the 2030 Agenda give us hope and optimism that we can secure a new globally binding climate agreement in Paris in December under the auspices of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change. In that regard, Mr. President, I would like to assure you of my delegation’s full support in helping you to discharge your heavy responsibilities during this momentous and historic year. Ethiopia is indeed proud to be one of the founding Members of the United Nations. Although in our hour of need we could not count much on the support of the League of Nations, of which we were also a member, Ethiopia has nonetheless never lost confidence in multilateralism and has remained a staunch supporter of the principle of collective security enshrined in the Charter of the United Nations. It is on the basis of that conviction that Ethiopia has been an active contributor to advancing the principles and purposes of the United Nations, including by deploying its forces as part of the Blue Helmets since the Organization’s early days. It gives us great satisfaction to note that Ethiopia is now the second-largest contributor of troops to United Nations peacekeeping, and I would like to take this opportunity to reaffirm our unwavering commitment to playing an active role in helping to ensure that the United Nations becomes more effective and secures greater legitimacy. As we mark the seventieth anniversary of our Organization, it is only fitting that we take stock of the achievements and challenges of the past seven decades and draw appropriate lessons from history as we move forward. That the world has made tremendous progress in a wide range of areas by advancing the noble objectives enshrined in the Charter is not in doubt. The Organization has done commendable work to foster international cooperation for development, promote respect for human rights and address humanitarian problems. Nonetheless, what has been achieved so far is a far cry from the Herculean challenges we face today. Nor can we overlook our many failures as an Organization, something that, as has been so ably established by the High-level Independent Panel on Peace Operations, is very apparent in the area of peace and security, as well as with regard to the creation of a level playing field in international economic and trade relations. Despite all this, however, one thing is self-evident. The United Nations is an Organization that none of us can afford to live without. In spite of its shortcomings, it remains the only universal Organization we have, whether we are big or small, rich or poor, providing us with a unique platform for advancing our common objectives and addressing the myriad problems we collectively face. The challenge that we have to address at this juncture in the history of the Organization is more or less obvious. It has to do with how we can make it relevant and effective as we collectively strive to meet the needs and aspirations of our people in the twenty-first century. That, I believe, is the main essence of the anniversary celebration aptly captured in the slogan “Strong UN. Better World”. But the United Nations is, after all, an intergovernmental Organization whose strengths and weaknesses cannot be understood independently of the role of its members. It is therefore up to us to empower the Organization to fulfil its promises in a new era. The United Nations is indeed a creation of the post-1945 world order and the devastating experiences of the Second World War and the Great Depression that preceded it, and that unquestionably inspired the letter and spirit of the Charter. The world has changed tremendously since then, however, and the complex and multifaceted challenges we face today — in particular, obviously, the threat of terrorism and violent extremism, the devastating consequences of climate change and other emerging challenges of our time — are quite different from those that the founders had to deal with in the immediate aftermath of the war. At the same time, not only has the membership of the United Nations changed dramatically over the years, but so have the geopolitical and economic realities of our planet. Today, with rapid globalization and a dramatic revolution in information technology, we are living in a much more interconnected and interdependent world. That is why the United Nations needs the tools necessary to deal with those challenges and realities so that it can better serve the needs of our peoples and nations in a new and completely different era. The need for reform of the United Nations system has long been recognized, but forging the necessary compromise among the wider membership has not been easy. However, it can be delayed no longer. It is clear that if we do not undertake the necessary reforms, we will not be able to deliver the transformative agenda we have set for ourselves. That is the reason why it is not enough to adopt the next generation of Sustainable Development Goals, whose ambition and transformative aspirations make them truly historic. It is also vital that the United Nations be made fit for the post-2015 era. A comprehensive reform of the United Nations system, particularly the Security Council, is indeed imperative if we are to reflect current geopolitical realities and make the United Nations more broadly representative, legitimate and effective. In that context, it is only proper that we seize this opportunity to once again echo Africa’s call to be fully represented in all the decision-making organs of the United Nations, particularly the Security Council, as expressed in the Ezulwini Consensus and the Sirte Declaration. We in Ethiopia remain fully committed to the purposes and principles of the United Nations. We are very grateful for the support and partnership of the United Nations in our development endeavours. The reason for the remarkable progress that we have made over the past 15 years, including achieving all of the Millennium Development Goals, is to be found in the fact that we have taken charge of our own destiny, devised our own development strategy and mobilized domestic resources for their implementation. But we have also made the best use of the development cooperation we have had with the United Nations and our other partners. Ethiopia has embarked on an ambitious transformative agenda, with a view to achieving middle-income status by the year 2025. We intend to do so based on carbon-neutral growth through a climate-resilient “green economy” strategy that is fully integrated into our national development plan. The results achieved over the past five years are quite encouraging, and have inspired us to do even more by implementing a second growth and transformation agenda that we will embark on soon. We therefore look at the possibilities that lie ahead with great optimism, the more so because we also trust that we are all determined to adhere to the commitment we entered into at the Summit concluded yesterday. It is with that deep sense of optimism that I want to conclude by once again reiterating my country’s commitment to the purposes and principles of the United Nations, as well as to continuing to play an active and constructive role in realizing its noble objectives.

On behalf of the General Assembly, I wish to thank the Prime Minister of the Federal Democratic Republic of Ethiopia for the statement he has just made.