A/71/PV.60 General Assembly

I now give the floor to the representative of the Lao People’s Democratic Republic to introduce draft resolution A/71/L.40.

At the outset, I would like to thank you, Mr. President, for convening today’s important meeting. On behalf of the States members of the Group of Asia-Pacific States, I have the great honour to introduce draft resolution A/71/L.40, entitled “Tribute to Mr. Ban Ki-moon, Secretary-General of the United Nations”. My delegation would like to express its profound gratitude to all of the groups of States that have sponsored the draft resolution. Such sponsorship is a tradition, but it is also logical. The draft resolution takes tradition into account, as the Assembly generally honours the outgoing Secretary-General under similar circumstances. However, it is also logical, because it reflects the reality that the outgoing Secretary- General was a figure who displayed great professional and personal qualities and contributed, through many initiatives that have been welcomed by all, to helping the Organization make progress towards modernization and democratization. Mr. Ban Ki-moon has made many sacrifices and undertaken extraordinary efforts, often under very difficult circumstances. It is with gratitude for those efforts that the draft resolution has been submitted. Furthermore, I know that you, Mr. President, share these sincere feelings of affection and esteem, and I am equally certain that they are sentiments felt by all for Mr. Ban Ki-moon. I have no doubt that the draft resolution will meet with unanimous approval.

May I take it that it is the wish of the General Assembly to adopt draft resolution A/71/L.40, entitled “Tribute to Mr. Ban Ki-moon, Secretary- General of the United Nations”?

The General Assembly’s adoption of resolution 71/131 by acclamation today is indeed a fitting tribute to the outstanding tenure of Secretary- General Ban Ki-moon. Over the past 10 years, Secretary-General Ban has led the United Nations with unwavering principles for the good, with dedicated professionalism and with never- tiring service to humankind. Beginning his term with the world on the brink of a financial crisis, he guided the United Nations through a period of extraordinary global change. Whether it was shifting international dynamics, a rebalancing of economic influence, rapid technological advances or the rising interconnectivity and mobility of people, Secretary-General Ban was always in the vanguard. Throughout the widening inequality within and between nations, the spread of violent extremism and terrorism, the emergence of new global health threats and the growing frequency and severity of natural disasters due to climate change, his leadership has stood firm. As these epochal changes unfolded and major new challenges emerged, our Secretary-General has never swayed from his determination to ensure that the United Nations was always a resolute force for global good. He has advanced the values of the United Nations across the world, at the front line of trouble spots and at international summits alike. And through it all, he has pursued measures to make the Organization more transparent, more effective and, yes, fit for purpose. Secretary-General Ban has overseen innumerable accomplishments during his time in office, covering all three pillars of the United Nations, from advancing preventative diplomacy to promoting inclusiveness and strengthening the United Nations partnerships with regional organizations. From appointing the first Youth Envoy and deepening the United Nations focus on young people to pursuing disarmament and overseeing the adoption of the Arms Trade Treaty, from serving as a committed advocate for the interests of the least developed countries and small island developing States to overseeing the delivery of critical humanitarian assistance and development programmes across the world, the list of accomplishments goes on and on. But today we can reflect in particular on three of the Secretary-General’s achievements. First, there is his unswerving leadership in advancing global action on climate change. For 10 years, Secretary-General Ban was an unrelenting force in raising global awareness of the catastrophic consequences of our planet’s warming and in galvanizing world leaders to act. His unceasing efforts ultimately led to the adoption of the Paris Agreement on Climate Change, which fittingly entered into force during his tenure. During the course of that mammoth process, he successfully mobilized businesses, cities, civil society and other partners for progress to act collectively to address the great challenges of climate change. The second great accomplishment on which to reflect today is Secretary-General Ban’s vision and determination to realize a more just, prosperous and secure world through the adoption of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development. Together with the Addis Ababa Action Agenda, the Sendai Framework for Action and other multilateral agreements adopted by Member States during the past 15 months, the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development provides humankind with the universal master plan to end extreme poverty, increase prosperity, empower women and girls and build peaceful and inclusive societies. Combined with the Paris Agreement on Climate Change, if universally implemented, the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development gives us all a secure pathway away from the unsustainable future looming ahead. Thirdly, it must be said that Secretary-General Ban’s support for gender equality has been the cornerstone of his tenure. He oversaw the establishment of UN- Women and pushed for a stronger role for women at the United Nations. He has championed numerous campaigns related to women’s rights and is the first Secretary-General in history to identify as a feminist. As a tireless advocate for good, Secretary-General Ban leaves an enduring legacy, rooted in a commitment to peace, human rights, justice and equality. On behalf of the General Assembly, I offer profound thanks to Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon for his service to the United Nations. In times of quiet reflection ahead, may he take great and richly deserved pride in all he achieved as Secretary-General of the United Nations. I would also like to thank, on behalf of the Assembly, Mrs. Ban Soon-taek for the steadfast support she gave throughout the decade of her husband’s work and for her own dedication to the good works of the United Nations. On behalf of the General Assembly, I also take this opportunity to pay tribute to Deputy Secretary-General Jan Eliasson for his long service to the United Nations. Deputy Secretary-General Eliasson will serve as an exemplar for young diplomats and all those who, amid the torturous struggles, conflicts and strife of difficult days, hold fast to a belief in universal rights and the infinite potential and beauty of humankind. On behalf of the Assembly, I wish the Deputy Secretary-General and Mrs. Kerstin Eliasson many years of happiness upon their return to Sweden. I now give the floor to the representative of Burkina Faso, who will speak on behalf of the Group of African States.

It is a great privilege and honour for me to speak on behalf of the Group of African States on this special occasion to pay tribute to Mr. Ban Ki-moon as he completes his term as head of the United Nations after 10 years of good, faithful service. The African Group co-sponsored resolution 71/131, which has just been adopted by acclamation, both to convey to the Secretary-General our recognition and to commend the results achieved in the implementation of his vision. We join the consensus on the great progress made under his tenure. The African Group commends his efforts and the series of structural reforms that he launched with a view to improving the operation and effectiveness of the Organization. In the area of development, following the Millennium Development Goals and the implementation of the action plan set forth in “The future we want”, which is composed of five main pillars, he mobilized a remarkable global coalition for the drafting and adoption of 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development. His leadership has also led to the adoption of the Sendai Framework for Disaster Risk Reduction and the Addis Ababa Action Agenda of the Third International Conference on Financing for Development, as well as the adoption and entry into force of the Paris Agreement on Climate Change. With regard to international peace and security, the African Group would like to congratulate him on his major reforms of United Nations peacekeeping operations, on resolution 1325 (2000) on women and peace and security, and on the adoption of the Secretary- General’s Plan of Action to Prevent Violent Extremism. In the area of human rights, the African Group commends the Rights Up Front initiative, which brings together the three pillars of the United Nations, namely, peace and security, development and human rights. On the management of conflicts and crises in Africa, the African Group wishes to express its gratitude for the role the Organization has played in regard to regional and subregional organizations. Furthermore, we commend his exemplary leadership in the management of the health crisis related to the Ebola virus in the three West African countries of Guinea, Sierra Leone and Liberia. His leadership allowed the international community to tackle the crisis. Allow me to commend Mrs. Ban for her tireless efforts and for the steadfast support she has given the Secretary-General during his term as the Head of our shared Organization. In conclusion, the African Group, through me, would like to enthusiastically pay tribute to him for the numerous services has has rendered to humankind. We reiterate our sincere acknowledgement and gratitude and wish him every success in his future endeavours.

I now give the floor to the representative of the Lao People’s Democratic Republic, who will speak on behalf of the Group of Asia-Pacific States.

I have the honour to speak on behalf of the States members of the Asia-Pacific Group on this special occasion to pay tribute and bid farewell to His Excellency Mr. Ban Ki-moon and to hear the taking of the oath of office by His Excellency Mr. António Guterres, Secretary-General-designate of the United Nations. The Group is pleased to note that, during his tenure as Secretary-General of the United Nations, Mr. Ban has fulfilled the responsibilities entrusted to him. His two terms in office are sound testimony to his capability, dedication and success in administering the world’s only universal Organization and in navigating the choppy waters of an increasingly challenging world. He leaves behind a legacy that sets the path for us to follow in making the world a better and more peaceful place in which to live. He has shown great commitment and a deeply held belief that no challenge or obstruction is implacable. We applaud Mr. Ban for his commitment, dedication and steadfastness towards overcoming those challenges and obstructions. Mr. Ban Ki-moon will complete his term of office as the Secretary-General at the end of this year. During his 10-year tenure, he has had numerous achievements, all of which we cannot list here because they are indeed many. But we would just like to highlight some of the more important ones, in particular those that will help pave the way for the international community to work together in the years ahead to address the most pressing issues of our time, namely, the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development, which has promised that, by 2030, no one will be left behind, the Paris Agreement on Climate Change, which entered into force on 4 November, the advancement of human rights including in the areas of women’s empowerment and gender equality, and United Nations reform. The Group wishes to put on record its appreciation to Mr. Ban for his long, illustrious service to the United Nations and, in particular, for his service as the Secretary-General of the Organization. We would like to take this opportunity to express our sincerest thanks and deepest appreciation to him for his leadership and stewardship in steering the United Nations and for his tireless efforts aimed at promoting peace and development. We wish Mr. Ban Ki-moon all the best in his future undertakings. The Group would also like to express its congratulations to Mr. António Guterres on his appointment as the next Secretary-General. Mr. Guterres brings to the position of Secretary-General a wealth of knowledge, professional skills, vision, experience and wisdom as a veteran political leader. We wish the Secretary-General designate success in fulfilling his central role at an exceedingly critical time in United Nations history. Mr. Guterres is now entrusted with all our hopes, aspirations and dreams for a peaceful and prosperous world. It is an honourable and heavy responsibility that he takes on as Secretary-General. The States members of the Asia-Pacific Group will extend our full support and cooperation to him as he leads the United Nations in the next five years.

I now give the floor to the representative of Latvia, who will speak on behalf of the Group of Eastern European States.

I have the honour to deliver this statement on behalf of the Group of Eastern European States. The Group of Eastern European States expresses its deep and sincere gratitude to Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon for his excellent service as the eighth Secretary-General of the United Nations. His calm and steady hand at the helm of the United Nations charted a stable course for the Organization through a decade that was, at times, turbulent. When he entered office in 2007, the world was a quieter place. It had yet to face the challenges of the economic recession and the crises that arose in many parts of the world. Conflicts, poverty, natural disasters and climate change, the unprecedented large movements of refugees and migrants, humanitarian crises, and the growing threat of violent extremism, which can be conducive to terrorism, have contributed immensely to today’s global challenges; all of them have been on his agenda. We are mindful of the immense responsibilities the head of as vast and diverse a global body as the United Nations, charged with the task of building a safer, more peaceful and prosperous world for future generations, has to assume. In this respect, I recall the words of the first Secretary-General, who once described his position as “the most impossible job on this earth”. We commend the Secretary-General for his personal commitment and professionalism as well as his tireless efforts, openness and subtle humour as he tackled the “most impossible job”. He has worked hard to fulfil his pledge to be a bridge-builder for 193 nations, forging consensus on the most pressing issues on the global agenda. His dedication to do everything in his power to ensure that the United Nations lives up to its name is well respected and appreciated. The world will remember his leadership on global achievements that aim to improve people’s lives and protect our planet for future generations. As he said in his acceptance speech 10 years ago, “our Organization is modest in its means, but not in its values. We should be more modest in our words, but not in our performance. The true measure of success for the United Nations is not how much we promise, but how much we deliver for those who need us most” (A/61/PV.31, p. 9). He has indeed been a strong supporter in advancing the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development and in the implementation of the Sustainable Development Goals, in which we pledged to leave no one behind. Largely thanks to his deep personal commitment, the Paris Agreement on Climate Change became a reality. Those far-reaching agreements on sustainable development and climate change not only represent hope for a better future for the people and the planet, but they have also restored trust in the multilateral system’s ability to deliver solutions to pressing global issues. More than ever, there are great expectations for the United Nations to meet the challenges for peace, development and human rights and to deliver results effectively. We appreciate Secretary-General Ban’s quest for equality and non-discrimination, not only throughout the world, but also within the United Nations system. Under his leadership, the United Nations became more inclusive, strengthened the role of civil society within the United Nations system and empowered youth activists. His championship of gender equality and the empowerment of women helped to push for the creation of a single, dedicated United Nations body — UN-Women. His initiatives UNiTE to End Violence against Women, Every Woman Every Child and Global Education First reflect a desire to make a real difference for countless women and girls. He has also shown great leadership in highlighting the needs of the largest generation of young people the world has ever known. We commend his support for multilingualism at the United Nations, which has contributed to harmonious communication and tolerance among peoples as well as everyone’s participation in the Organization’s work. Although my Korean is quite limited, I think that a Korean proverb is quite appropriate today: “At the end of hardship comes happiness”. The Group of Eastern European States wishes Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon success in his future endeavours and thanks him once again for his service to our Organization and all of its nations. In conclusion, the Group of Eastern European States welcomes Secretary-General-designate António Guterres and reiterates its full support to him in promoting effective multilateralism.

I now give the floor to the representative of Costa Rica, who will speak on behalf of the Group of Latin American and Caribbean States.

It is an honour to speak on behalf of the Group of Latin American and Caribbean States (GRULAC) at this special meeting to pay tribute to Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon. At the outset, we would like to commend him for his wise leadership of the Organization, carried out with determination, coherence and integrity. Ten years ago, when he took his oath, Mr. Ban placed his hand on the Charter of the United Nations and promised to strengthen the three pillars of the Organization in order to help build a more peaceful, prosperous and just world. The Secretary-General has delivered. Mr. Ban’s legacy is broad and diverse. To name only a few achievements, it ranges from setting up the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development and the Addis Ababa Action Agenda to launching renewed efforts to combat terrorism, and from promoting the rule of law at the national and international levels to mobilizing the international community to work to resolve the refugee crisis. In the area of peace and security, we would like to underscore our appreciation for the Secretary-General’s work on the reviews of peacekeeping operations, the United Nations peacebuilding architecture and the role of women in the promotion of international peace and security, including his efforts to appropriately address alleged and confirmed acts of sexual exploitation and abuse by peacekeepers within the framework of implementing and reinforcing the United Nations zero- tolerance policy for such acts. All of his reports put the emphasis on prevention for both the General Assembly and the Security Council, on strengthening sustainable peace as a way to promote it in a lasting and sustainable form, and on ensuring the primacy of politics and diplomacy. He has always sent a clear message that military action should always be a last resort and carried out in full compliance with the provisions of the Charter of the United Nations. We should also call attention to the value of Mr. Ban’s efforts to highlight the place of disarmament issues on the United Nations political agenda with his five-point proposal for nuclear disarmament. We have made the Secretary-General’s view — that there are no right hands for the wrong weapons — our own, and we are grateful for the support he has given to the Humanitarian Initiative and to the negotiating process on a legal instrument banning nuclear weapons. He has also highlighted the problem of the lack of resources that are devoted to peace and disarmament, pointing out that the world is overarmed while peace is underfunded. And he has supported our efforts to achieve a more secure world through international law and cooperation rather than weapons. Our Group would like to highlight the Secretary- General’s remarkable legacy in the area of sustainable development. Not only did he build up political will and mobilize global action for the Millennium Development Goals, he was one of the chief proponents of the 2030 Agenda and the Sustainable Development Goals, which will guide global development for the next 15 years. Furthermore, the Sustainable Development Goals have become the axis of the operational activities of the United Nations development system and have injected a potentially transformative burst of energy into the revitalization and renewal of the main organs of the United Nations. An example of his persistence has been his efforts to focus the attention of the international community on the issue of climate change, as he worked tirelessly to overcome the setbacks of Copenhagen to achieve the adoption of the Paris Agreement on Climate Change, which was a milestone in its success in securing guarantees to reduce global emissions. In that regard, we would like to recall his words when he said that there is no plan B because we do not have a planet B. (spoke in English) It is in the area of human rights that the Secretary- General has probably left his most lasting mark, and we should particularly acknowledge his crucial contribution to gender equality through his women’s rights advocacy. After pushing for the creation of UN- Women as a separate agency in 2011, he has promoted several campaigns and initiatives aimed at addressing violence against women. In that regard, GRULAC would like to highlight the He for She campaign, an initiative that invites men to join by committing to taking action against all forms of violence and discrimination against women and girls. More recently, the Secretary-General established the High-level Panel on Women’s Economic Empowerment, part of a global campaign to fully mobilize the untapped economic potential of half the world’s population. The panel aims to address the structural barriers to women’s economic empowerment and their full inclusion in economic activities. The Secretary-General also spearheaded Every Woman Every Child, an unprecedented global movement for mobilizing and intensifying international and national action on the part of Governments and other stakeholders to address the major health challenges faced by women, children and adolescents. The Secretary-General will also be remembered for his efforts to bring new generations closer to the Organization and give them the energy and drive that can lead to change. He established the Office of the Secretary-General’s Envoy on Youth and convened the Economic and Social Council Youth Forum, an annual event where young people from every corner of the world can meet to exchange ideas. There can be no question that the Secretary- General has been a great defender of vulnerable groups, championing the protection of the human rights of everyone, everywhere, as he did in his famous speech to the Human Rights Council entitled “The time has come”. Another of his signature initiatives, Human Rights Up Front, has improved early United Nations engagement with national authorities, as well as United Nations support for nation-led solutions for promoting and protecting human rights. We should also highlight Mr. Ban’s commitment to protecting the human rights of asylum-seekers, refugees and migrants, particularly those, like women and children, who are especially vulnerable. We commend his efforts to mobilize the international community’s response around those issues without losing sight of their root causes. And even after his tireless efforts to strengthen all three United Nations pillars, challenges remain for his successor, including making the Organization better equipped to face the pressing demands of our times. Ten years ago, Mr. Ban promised to be a bridge-builder. Where GRULAC is concerned, every time he reached out to our region or opened his door to any of us, he built those bridges. Every time he helped Latin America and the Caribbean to overcome their challenges or celebrated our achievements with us, he kept that promise. When he expressed his regret for the cholera epidemic in Haiti and apologized for the moral responsibility of the United Nations there, he built a final bridge to our region that will stand the test of time. Every time he made an effort to speak to us in Spanish or French, we felt appreciated. It is our turn now to say thank you in Korean. We thank the Secretary- General very much for his commitment and his legacy. And we also wish to express our gratitude to Mrs. Ban for working side by side with the Secretary-General for this entire decade.

I now give the floor to the representative of Sweden, who will speak on behalf of the Group of Western European and other States.

I have the pleasure and honour to speak today on behalf of the Group of Western European and other States. I would like to express our sincere appreciation for the leadership and commitment that the Secretary-General has shown to our Organization and the people that it serves over the past 10 years. That appreciation also extends to the Deputy Secretary-General, Mr. Jan Eliasson. The Secretary-General has dedicated himself to the purposes and principles enshrined in the Charter of the United Nations. Internally, he has initiated important reforms within the Organization with a view to making it fit for purpose. Externally, he has been the face and the voice of the United Nations, tirelessly advocating for a better world for all people. His belief in the power of the United Nations to touch the lives of individuals for the better is not surprising. It is built on his own early childhood experience. We have heard him movingly describe how, as a child he and others “survived on food from UNICEF. We were schooled with textbooks from UNESCO. We were protected by the troops of many nations serving under the blue flag of the United Nations”. That experience is at the heart of his desire to build the One United Nations model that we must continue to foster and develop. Throughout his term, he has focused on improving the lives of people, particularly women and the very poor. He has shown admirable courage and determination in his quest to address the negative impacts of climate change and deliver sustainable development. He has eloquently advocated for an end to conflict and a coherent approach to peacebuilding, based on human rights and inclusivity. Through his Human Rights Up Front initiative, he has strengthened the Organization’s ability to ensure that human rights are at the heart of all its work. He has actively demanded and claimed justice and equality for every member of our human family, including by clearly stating that lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender individuals and communities should enjoy the same rights as everyone else. He has also promoted women’s increased participation at all levels and in all areas of the work of the United Nations, including by establishing UN- Women. He has championed the human rights of refugees and migrants, who are particularly vulnerable to human trafficking, by promoting the New York Declaration for Refugees and Migrants (resolution 71/1), launching the TOGETHER — Respect, Safety and Dignity for All campaign and beginning the process that should eventually result in global compacts on migration and refugees. Sadly, the period of his term in office has also been marked by new threats to people’s lives and dignity. The adverse effects of climate change are already affecting millions worldwide. The emergence of new global health threats, such as Ebola and Zika, has underlined the challenges of a more interconnected world. Threats from terrorism and the growing spread of violent extremism have led to fear and, for some, a desire for less, rather than more, international cooperation. And ever graver acts of war, some of which we thought were consigned to history, have re-emerged, undermining respect for international humanitarian law and leading to human suffering and mass displacements. Through the good and bad times, he has stood firm in his commitment to the Charter of the United Nations, and has shown leadership by using all the tools available to him to ensure that the United Nations could respond to the best of its ability. His term as Secretary-General has covered a period of unprecedented technological change. Advances in access to technology — the iPhone entered our lives in the same month that the Secretary- General took up his post — mean that the world is more interconnected than ever. That has created opportunities for the United Nations. Under the Secretary-General’s leadership, the Organization has recognized the potential of new technologies for development and has sought to exploit those opportunities to the full. Recognizing that complex challenges need collective responses, he has championed partnerships and an inclusive approach, inside and outside the United Nations system, as essential to achieving humankind’s common goals. He has also sought to leave the United Nations better prepared to respond to the needs of those threatened by violence and conflict. With his support, his Advisory Group of Experts on the 2015 Review of the United Nations Peacebuilding Architecture, the High-level Independent Panel on Peace Operations and the important global study on the implementation of Security Council resolution 1325 (2000), on women and peace and security, have provided us with thoughtful guidance on the future of peacekeeping. That has led to the General Assembly’s adoption of resolution 70/262 and Security Council resolution 2282 (2016), aimed at strengthening the collective capacity of the entire United Nations system to sustain peace. There have also been dark days for the United Nations family. On 12 January 2010, an earthquake hit Haiti, devastating the country and killing an estimated 220,000 people. Among them were 102 United Nations staff members. The Secretary-General captured the ongoing impact a year later, when he said, “Every day, I see the faces of our fallen colleagues. I hear their voices. Like you, I remember.” Indeed, as leader of the Organization, he has consistently remembered and honoured all United Nations peacekeepers and humanitarian staff, women and men, who lost their lives in the service of peace and humankind. In his remembrance, he has underlined the need for respect and safe access for those whose only role is to maintain peace and to respond to the needs of the most vulnerable. We strongly echo that sentiment. I would like to highlight two particular achievements that have occurred under the Secretary- General’s leadership. The 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development, adopted by the General Assembly in September of last year (resolution 70/1), presents a blueprint for global development for the next 15 years. It recognizes the interconnected nature of the challenges facing humankind, and the fact that our responses must reflect that interconnectedness. Together with the Addis Ababa Action Agenda, the Sendai Framework for Action and the outcome of the World Humanitarian Summit, the 2030 Agenda and its 17 Sustainable Development Goals pave the way for a global transformation that can deliver prosperity and peace for all people and the planet. As Secretary-General, he has provided every support and worked closely with Member States to ensure a positive outcome for that process. Over the past year, he has vigorously advocated for its implementation. The second achievement I would like to mention is the historic Paris Agreement on Climate Change. The Secretary-General has been a true climate champion, determined in his efforts to draw the world’s attention to the existential threat posed by global warming and the need for collective action at the global level in response. Undeterred by setbacks on the road, he showed a belief and personal commitment that significantly contributed to the Agreement. I assure him that our Group will work tirelessly to make a reality of the vision of a sustainable, low-carbon world set out in the Paris Agreement. Under the Secretary-General’s leadership, the United Nations has tackled many global challenges. More remain, and others will emerge only in the coming years. At this moment, as he ends his term, we are reflecting on how the United Nations can continue to strive to deliver for those who depend on it. To answer that question, I would like to recall the Secretary- General’s own sentiments, expressed in the 2016 Dag Hammarskjöld lecture, in which he underlined the fact that evolving threats can be addressed only if we devote ourselves to timeless values. For that reason, it is of crucial importance to defend the values enshrined in the Charter of the United Nations every day. The Secretary-General has been a defender of those values throughout his term in office. As he leaves his post, he can look back with pride on a decade of achievements and with satisfaction for a job well done, knowing that he has given his all. We thank him for that and wish him the very best for the future.

I now give the floor to the representative of the host country.

Before I begin, I would like to join the President of the General Assembly and others in thanking the Deputy Secretary- General for his truly remarkable service. We have every expectation that he will continue to carry the Charter of the United Nations in his pocket for the rest of time and continue to do what he has done during his entire career, which is to advance the principles within it. Let me also thank Mrs. Ban for her exemplary service, for the compassion that she exudes everywhere she goes, and also — perhaps less heralded — for her sacrifice and that of her family. It is not easy to marry into a job like this one, but she has shown nothing but grace from the beginning. Now, if one were to take a bet on the likelihood of a child becoming Secretary-General of the United Nations, Ban Ki-moon would have been a long shot at best. Ban does not speak often of himself or of his upbringing, but his journey to this position was a remarkable one. He was born in May 1944 in Sangdong Number 1, a village of approximately 100 people, named to distinguish it from nearby Sangdong Number 2, another tiny, rural village. To this day, Secretary- General Ban does not know his exact birthdate. His parents had lost infants before him, so they decided they would not get a birth certificate unless he survived his first month. Secretary-General Ban was born into a world torn apart by conflict — first as a baby at the end of the Second World War, and then, of course, as child during the Korean War, which erupted when he was just 5 years old. Months into the fighting, Ban’s parents fled with him and his newborn sister to a remote home that Ban’s grandparents had in the mountains. It was January — the peak of winter — and the house was reachable only by foot. The family trekked for miles through the snow, without boots or warm clothes, until they eventually reached the secluded house. From there, a young Ban watched as fighter jets bombed nearby towns and cities. “We were safe,” he would later recall, “but we were poor and hungry.” When the war ended and Ban’s family returned to their home village, he saw a United Nations flag for the very first time. Upon returning to school, he was given a textbook created by the United Nations Korean Reconstruction Agency, as well as food and clothes, which helped his family as they struggled to get back on their feet. He would later say that he remembered feeling as though “the United Nations was a beacon of hope for all Korean people”. That idea — that the United Nations should serve as a beacon of hope for the world’s most vulnerable people — has clearly never left him. In 1962, when Ban was just 18 years old, he won a competition organized by the American Red Cross to tour the United States with a group of international students. Ban, at that time, had never left the rural area where he had grown up, never mind his country, but that August he boarded his first flight to America. On 29 August, he and students from 41 other countries visited the White House, where they were greeted on the South Lawn by then President John F. Kennedy. It was a tense time in the world, as the United States and the Soviet Union were competing for primacy, yet Kennedy told the young representatives that he felt a great sense of hope in seeing this global mix assembled there together. “I think it is most encouraging,” Kennedy told young Ban and the others, “to have people from so many different countries, including countries where the Government leaders do not always get on, but the people do.” Kennedy encouraged the students to dedicate themselves to serving those in need, a cause in which, he said, “there are no national boundaries… only a question of whether we can extend a helping hand”. Secretary-General Ban would later say of that meeting, “Even as a young man who didn’t know much about the world, I was able to understand something crucial about the values of humanity from President Kennedy.” It was a turning point. The Secretary-General would later write, “Kennedy’s words that day on the South Lawn sparked my decision to become a diplomat and dedicate myself to public service.” This is a path from which the Secretary-General has never strayed. I share these moments from Secretary-General Ban’s early life today because, in them, we can see at least the origins of so many of the qualities that would define him as a leader — someone who, in one of the most tumultuous periods in the seven-decade history of the United Nations, has continued to try to strengthen this institution and has championed the cause of solving the world’s problems together. Let me touch very briefly on three of those qualities. The first is the abiding belief that nobody anywhere should be left behind. We are all equal. We are all equally entitled to our rights. Secretary- General Ban made this part of his core argument for the Sustainable Development Goals — one of the most important achievements of his tenure — which he said are in fact “all based on a single, guiding principle: to leave no one behind”. His own upbringing taught him the importance of giving people, particularly young people, living in places ravaged by war and poverty, hope — hope of being able to improve their lives. The Secretary-General understands this because he lived it, experiencing first-hand many of the hardships that we diplomats at the United Nations can only imagine, such as true hunger, cold and the deep-seated fear of being obliterated by an air strike or picked up by enemy soldiers. That, I believe, is why he takes it personally when he believes that we at the United Nations are not doing all we can to, as he put it, “extend a helping hand” to people in such desperate situations. He can see himself in those in need because he has been there. There but for the grace of God go I. Do unto others as you would have done unto you. The second is the idea President Kennedy planted that day in 1962 of service — serving others, the ultimate calling. This unflagging devotion can be seen across Secretary-General Ban’s work, but perhaps none so much as in his determined, relentless effort to curb climate change. After all, what is a true reform of being for others than convincing people around the world to make changes that will preserve our planet for future generations? Not only did he possess absolute clarity about the existential threat that climate change poses and the urgent need to take action to stop it; he also invested all of his diplomatic energy in persuading countries to negotiate and then to sign onto the Paris Agreement, helping it cross over the threshold to come into force far swifter than any of us had thought possible. On behalf of our children and our children’s children, we will never be able to thank the Secretary-General enough for those efforts, and we owe it to those generations to ensure that the agreement is implemented in full by all countries. The third is the way Ban has defended the dignity of the most vulnerable and marginalized among us. Examples of this abound. Others have touched on many, including the unprecedented decision under his leadership to open the gates of the United Nations bases in South Sudan to admit thousands of civilians fleeing mass atrocities. But none is more groundbreaking than the stand he took on behalf of protecting the equal rights and dignity of lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and intersex (LGBTI) people. Mr. Ban Ki-moon did not come into the job of Secretary-General as a champion of LGBTI rights. As he said himself, “Growing up in the Republic of Korea, we did not talk about sexual orientation or gender identity”. But, when he heard the way LGBTI people were discriminated against because of who they are and whom they love — bullied by classmates and neighbours, fired from jobs, denied basic services and physically attacked or even killed — he became a zealous defender of their rights. He spoke out against leaders who fanned hatred and he spoke directly to LGBTI people who were under attack, telling them, “You are not alone… Any attack on you is an attack on the universal values the United Nations and I have sworn to defend and uphold.” This was not popular with some — with many in fact — but it mattered enormously to real people facing real and sometimes mortal threats. These achievements show what a difference the leadership of a Secretary-General can make when it comes to tackling some of the gravest threats and most intractable-seeming problems. We are fully confident that António Guterres will build on these efforts as the new Secretary-General of the United Nations, and we congratulate him on his imminent swearing-in today. He is the man for the job in such challenging times. Let me conclude. In 1962, speaking to that group of international students on the White House lawn, President Kennedy said, “What hopes we can have for the future are in all of you”. Who could have thought that among those kids was an 18-year-old from South Korea who, on his first trip outside the country, would find the inspiration that would set him on a path to one day becoming the Secretary-General of the United Nations — a boy who had grown up in poverty, in a war-torn country, whose circumstances otherwise gave no indication that he would have the chance to play such a leading role in addressing the greatest challenges of our time? It is a trajectory that affirms why we do what we do at the United Nations. It is remarkable to think how many kids there are out there — whether it is the girl in a rural village who, as a result of the Sustainable Development Goals, will be the first in her family to finish secondary school; or the boy living on a Pacific island, whose home now may not be submerged in water in the future, as a result of the Paris Agreement on Climate Change; or the LGBTI teenager who, in spite of what her parents and her classmates and her Government tell her, believes for the first time that she is entitled to be treated with the same basic dignity as everyone else and to have the same rights. Imagine all of those children out there who, as a result of this man’s leadership — Ban Ki-moon’s leadership — over the past decade, will have hope that they otherwise would not have had. Just think what a difference that hope, their hope, our hope, will make in shaping the future of our world for the better. We are so grateful to Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon for his service and for doing so much to make the United Nations into the beacon of hope he has always seen it to be.

It is now my privilege to give the floor to the Secretary-General, His Excellency Mr. Ban Ki-moon.

I thank representatives for their kind words and for their trust. I am deeply moved by their tributes. Serving as Secretary-General of this great Organization has been the privilege of a lifetime for me. As some representatives have said, I am a child of the United Nations. After the Korean War, United Nations aid fed us. United Nations textbooks taught us. United Nations global solidarity showed us we were not alone. For me, the power of the United Nations was never abstract or academic. It is the story of my life and that of many Korean people. It is the story of many millions of people around the world, many children — young boys and girls. This profound appreciation grew even stronger every day during my service with the United Nations. For the past 10 years, I have been honoured to serve alongside the many courageous, dedicated and talented women and men of the United Nations. I have seen the power of international cooperation in taking on our most pressing challenges, and I have seen the United Nations open its doors wider than ever to civil society and many partners to help us transform our world. Together, we have faced years filled with challenge: the worst financial collapse since the Great Depression; eruptions of conflict and uprisings for freedom; record numbers of people fleeing war, persecution and poverty; and disruptions brought by disease, disasters and a rapidly warming planet. This turmoil tested us. Despite huge difficulties, we helped save lives and protect tens of millions. The 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development and the Paris Agreement on Climate Change have opened a pathway to a safer and more just and peaceful world for all of us. The empowerment of women took great strides during these years. Youth took on new levels of leadership. New mindsets took hold. Day by day, brick by brick, we built stronger foundations for peace and progress. Yet so much suffering and strife endure. So many women and children face violence and exploitation. So many people face hatred solely because of who they are. And so many problems have proven intractable — none more so than the bloodshed in Syria and the upheaval it has spawned. (spoke in French) Countries are more interdependent than ever. Economies are more integrated than ever. People are more interconnected than ever. It would seem self- evident that international solutions serve national interests. Yet many question global institutions and see them as out of step and unable to deliver. Many others see in them a growing leadership deficit. Everyone, wherever we are, has the right to live free from want and fear, the right to look ahead with hope, and the right to consider ourselves bound by the standards enshrined in our founding Charter. These goals and ideas are not luxuries or bargaining chips. They are what people need and deserve — not in the distant future, but today. They are as relevant to the inhabitants of the richest countries as to those of the poorest countries. These principles should continue to motivate and guide our work. All of us must rise above the narrow national interests, in a spirit of enlightened self-interest in our international community. (spoke in English) As I contemplate how well we have upheld that responsibility across a decade in office, a kaleidoscope of faces is at the forefront of my mind — memories of my visits to the front lines of human need and the frontiers of human progress. I have maintained a focus on people’s dignity and rights, the pillars of our common humanity. I have sought to stand up for the vulnerable and those who have been left behind today. And I have tried to be sure that we are doing all that we can so that future generations can live in peace. Even as I prepare to leave, my heart will be, as it has since I was a child, right here with the United Nations. And that heart is greatly comforted by knowing that I am passing the baton to Secretary-General-designate António Guterres, a man of integrity and principle. I have no doubt that, with his passion and compassion, he will successfully navigate many complex challenges and steer the Organization to new and greater heights. I would also like to express my most profound appreciation to my home country, the Korean people and the Government. Their whole-hearted support for the past 10 years has been a great source of encouragement in working proudly for peace, development and human rights throughout the world. I would also like to take this opportunity to express my deepest thanks to Deputy Secretary-General Jan Eliasson for his outstanding leadership and compassion for humankind. I thank him and the hard-working staff of the United Nations. In closing, I wish the new Secretary-General and all of our Member States peace, prosperity and every success. It has been an honour to serve our United Nations and work together with everyone as “We the peoples”. I thank everyone for their support and continued commitment to the noble purposes and principles of the United Nations.

I thank the Secretary-General for his statement. The General Assembly will now continue with the appointment process of the Secretary-General-designate, His Excellency Mr. António Guterres. On behalf of the General Assembly, I have the honour to welcome the Secretary-General-designate, His Excellency António Guterres, to take the oath of office. On behalf of everyone, I wish to congratulate Mr. Guterres on his appointment as the ninth Secretary- General of the United Nations. António Guterres emerged as the winning candidate for the role of Secretary-General following a historically public and comprehensive selection process at the United Nations during which his integrity, values and competence showed through. The Secretary-General-designate is indeed recognized as a man who embodies the universal spirit of the United Nations. We have every confidence that he will lead our Organization with wisdom and rectitude, ever- dedicated to the common good of humankind. As President of the General Assembly, I will do all within my power to facilitate a smooth transition and strong start in office for Mr. Guterres. We all stand ready to work in support of the Secretary-General-designate in the priority areas that he has already identified. Those include building the interlinkages between peace and security, sustainable development and human rights and taking a universal and integrated approach to implementing the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development, the Addis Ababa Action Agenda and the Paris Agreement on Climate Change. We will support him in his work to pursue the centrality of prevention with emphasis on sustaining peace. We will help him strengthen strategic cooperation with key partners, including regional organizations, international financial institutions and civil society. We will buttress his efforts to promote reform and innovation so that the United Nations is better able to deliver to the people that it serves, and we will stand firm with him in advancing the core values of the United Nations relating to peace, justice, inclusion and diversity throughout the world. The world is facing serious global challenges, some of which go so far as to threaten humankind’s ongoing place on this planet. Finding the necessary global solutions will require tireless commitment from all who possess a sense of responsibility for the well- being of future generations. We the peoples of the United Nations have in Secretary-General-designate Guterres a man who can shape our common endeavour to overcome those many challenges and a leader for this time when we must transform the world to be a sustainable and better place for all. In the daily toil ahead, may the heartened mind of António Guterres be ever fortified by the high purposes and principles of the Charter of the United Nations. I now invite the President of the Security Council, the President of the Economic and Social Council, the President of the Trusteeship Council, the President of the International Court of Justice, the Vice-Presidents of the General Assembly, the Chairpersons of the Main Committees, and the President and the Prime Minister of the Republic of Portugal to come to the platform.

I request the Chief of Protocol to escort the Secretary-General-designate, His Excellency Mr. António Guterres, to the platform.

Your Excellency, by resolution 71/4, of 13 October 2016, the General Assembly has appointed you Secretary-General of the United Nations for a term of office beginning on 1 January 2017 and ending on 31 December 2021. I ask Mr. Guterres to repeat after me the oath of office. Mr. Guterres: I, António Guterres, solemnly swear to exercise in all loyalty, discretion and conscience the functions entrusted to me as Secretary-General of the United Nations, to discharge these functions and regulate my conduct with the interests of the United Nations only in view, and not to seek or accept instructions in regard to the performance of my duties from any Government or other authority external to the Organization.

I now invite His Excellency Mr. António Guterres, Secretary-General-designate, to make a statement. Mr. Guterres: I thank speakers very much for all their kind words. I am deeply honoured by the trust and confidence Member States have placed in me, and I am determined to be guided by the purposes and principles of the Charter. First of all, I would like to pay tribute to Secretary- General Ban Ki-moon. His principled leadership has helped to chart the future of the United Nations, through the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development, through his commitment to peace and security and through his initiative to put human rights at the heart of our work. Under his direction, the world committed to the historic Paris Agreement on Climate Change and ratified it in record time. I strongly believe that this momentum is unstoppable. It is an honour to follow in his steps, defending the same values that unite us. Twenty-one years ago, when I took the oath of office to become Prime Minister of Portugal, the world was riding a wave of optimism. The Cold War had ended and some described that as the end of history. They believed that we would live in a peaceful, stable world with economic growth and prosperity for all. But the end of the Cold War was not the end of history. On the contrary, history had simply been frozen in some places, and when the old order melted away history came back with a vengeance. Hidden contradictions and tensions resurfaced. New wars multiplied and old ones reignited. The lack of clarity in power relations led progressively to greater unpredictability and impunity. Conflicts have become more complex and interlinked than ever before. They produce horrific violations of international humanitarian law and human rights abuses, and people have been forced to flee their homes on a scale unseen in decades. And a new threat has emerged — global terrorism. Megatrends, including climate change, population growth, rapid urbanization, food insecurity and water scarcity, have increased competition for resources and heightened tension and instability. At the same time, the past 20 years have seen extraordinary technological progress. The global economy has grown and basic social indicators have improved. The proportion of people living in absolute poverty has fallen dramatically. But globalization and technological progress have also contributed to growing inequalities. A lot of people have been left behind, including in developed countries, where millions of old jobs have disappeared and new ones are out of reach for many. In many parts of the world, youth unemployment has exploded. Globalization has also broadened the reach of organized crime and trafficking. All of this has deepened the divide between people and political establishments. In some countries, we have seen growing instability, social unrest and even violence and conflict. In many parts of the world, voters now tend to reject the status quo, and any Government proposal is put to a referendum. Many have lost confidence not only in their Governments, but in global institutions, including the United Nations. Fear is driving the decisions of many people around the world. We must understand their anxieties and meet their needs without losing sight of our universal values. It is time to reconstruct relations between people and leaders national and international. It is time for leaders to listen and show that they care about their own people and about the global stability and solidarity on which we all depend. It is time for the United Nations to do the same — to recognize its shortcomings and reform the way it works. The Organization is the cornerstone of multilateralism and has contributed to decades of relative peace. But the challenges are now surpassing our ability to respond. The United Nations must be ready to change. Our most serious shortcoming — and here I refer to the entire international community — is our inability to prevent crises. The United Nations was born from war. Today, we must be here for peace. (spoke in French) Prevention requires us to address root causes across the three pillars of the United Nations: peace and security, sustainable development and human rights. It must be the priority in everything we do. Prevention requires us to better support countries in strengthening their institutions and in making their societies more resilient. It also means reinstating human rights as a fundamental value to be pursued for its own sake and not as a means to a political end. All people, including minorities of every kind, must enjoy the full range of human rights — civil, political, economic, social and cultural — without discrimination. The protection and empowerment of women and girls are paramount. Gender equality is key to development and there is growing evidence of its critical role in building and maintaining peace. Prevention is not a novel concept; it is what the founders of the United Nations asked us to do. It is the best way to save lives and reduce human suffering. Where prevention fails, we must do more to resolve conflicts. From the acute crises in Syria, Yemen, South Sudan and elsewhere to long-running disputes, including the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, we need mediation, arbitration and creative diplomacy. Through my good offices, I am ready to engage personally in conflict resolution where it brings added value, while recognizing the lead role of Member States. The scale of the challenges that we face requires us to work together on a deep and continuous process of reform of the United Nations. I want to highlight here three strategic priorities for that reform: our work for peace, our support for sustainable development and our internal management. The women and men working in United Nations peace operations make a heroic contribution while putting their lives at risk. However, they are often tasked with peacekeeping where there is no peace to keep. We must therefore reach a shared understanding of the scope of peacekeeping so as to pave the way for urgent reforms. We must create a peace continuum from prevention and conflict resolution to peacekeeping, peacebuilding and development. We must build on the conclusions of the three recent reports and the parallel resolutions of the General Assembly and the Security Council. Inspired by the new concept of sustaining peace, it is time for all of us to engage in a comprehensive reform of the strategy of the United Nations, its operational setup and structures for peace and security. This reform must also include a review of our work on counter-terrorism and a better coordination mechanism among the 38 United Nations entities involved. (spoke in English) The United Nations system has not yet done enough to prevent and respond to the appalling crimes of sexual violence and exploitation committed under the flag of the United Nations against those whom we are supposed to protect. I will work closely with Member States on structural, legal and operational measures to make the zero-tolerance policy for which Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon has fought so hard a reality. We must ensure transparency and accountability and offer protection and effective remedies to victims. The second key element of the reform agenda concerns the support of the United Nations to Member States in achieving the Sustainable Development Goals and the objectives of the Paris Agreement, which through their promise to leave no one behind represent an expression of global solidarity. To do this, we will reposition development at the centre of our work and engage in comprehensive reform of the United Nations development system at Headquarters and at the country level. That must involve leadership, coordination, delivery and accountability. We will build on the outcome of the recent discussions among Member States. We must also bring the humanitarian and development spheres closer together from the very beginning of a crisis in order to support affected communities, address structural and economic impacts and help prevent a new spiral of fragility and instability. Humanitarian response, sustainable development and sustaining peace are three sides of the same triangle. This approach relates to the new way of working agreed at the World Humanitarian Summit. To achieve this, we need more accountability not only at the level of each individual agency carrying out its mandate, but also in its contribution to the work of the United Nations system and of the system as a whole. A strong culture of accountability also requires effective and independent evaluation mechanisms. The third key area is management reform. We will build on existing efforts and implement recent initiatives. But looking at United Nations staff and budgetary rules and regulations, one might think some of them were designed to prevent rather than to enable the effective delivery of our mandates. We need to create a consensus around simplification, decentralization and flexibility. It benefits no one if it takes nine months to deploy a staff member to the field. The United Nations needs to be nimble, efficient and effective. It must focus more on delivery and less on process; more on people and less on bureaucracy. A culture of accountability requires strong performance management and effective protection for whistleblowers. It is not enough just to do better. We must be able to communicate better about what we do in ways that everybody understands. We need a substantial reform of our communications strategy, upgrading our tools and platforms to reach people around the world. Moreover, management reform must ensure that we reach gender parity sooner rather than later. The initial target for the equal representation of women and men among United Nations staff was the year 2000. Sixteen years later, we are far from that goal. I pledge to respect gender parity from the start in all my appointments to the Senior Management Group and the Chief Executives Board. By the end of my mandate, we should reach full gender parity at the Under-Secretary-General and Assistant Secretary-General levels, including special representatives and special envoys. We need a clear road map, with benchmarks and time frames, to achieve parity across the system well before the target of 2030. The same concern applies to regional diversity. Finally, any investment in a stronger United Nations must take staff into account. I look forward to working once again alongside the more than 85,000 men and women carrying out our mandate in 180 countries across the globe, many of whom work in difficult and sometimes dangerous circumstances. With their professionalism, expertise and dedication, they are the most important resource of the United Nations — a resource that has to be cared for, developed and used effectively, and whose voice needs to be heard. We live in a complex world. The United Nations cannot succeed alone. Partnership must be at the heart of our strategy. We should have the humility to acknowledge the essential role of other actors, while maintaining full awareness of our unique convening power. Our humanitarian and development efforts would be insignificant without the active involvement of Member States and the contributions of civil society, international financial institutions, private investors and even financial markets. Several mediation efforts and peace operations would not be possible without the engagement of regional organizations, particularly the African Union, which is our most relevant international regional partner both in peace and security and in development. (spoke in Spanish) Many important initiatives have been launched recently with our partners. We must now see them through before we introduce new ones. One missing link in our strategy is our work with young people. They have been excluded for far too long from making the decisions that will affect their futures. We must build on the work that already has been done with the support of Member States, the Youth Envoy and civil society. But this cannot be an initiative led by older people discussing the younger generation. The United Nations must empower young people, increase their participation in society and their access to education, training and jobs. (spoke in English) Today’s paradox is that despite greater connectivity, societies are becoming more fragmented. More and more people live within their own bubbles, unable to appreciate their links with the whole human family. In the end, it comes down to values, as has been said so many times today. We want the world that our children inherit to be defined by the values enshrined in the Charter of the United Nations: peace, justice, respect, human rights, tolerance and solidarity. All major religions embrace these principles, and we will strive to reflect them in our daily lives. The threats to these values are most often based on fear. Our duty to the peoples we serve is to work together to move from fear of each other to trust in each other. Trust in the values that bind us, and trust in the institutions that serve and protect us. My contribution to the United Nations will be aimed at inspiring that trust as I do my best to serve our common humanity.

I thank the Secretary- General-designate for his statement.

May I take it that it is the wish of the General Assembly to conclude its consideration of agenda item 113?