A/78/PV.8 General Assembly

The Assembly will now hear an address by the President of the Presidential Leadership Council of the Republic of Yemen.

On behalf of the General Assembly, I have the honour to welcome to the United Nations His Excellency Mr. Rashad Mohammed Al-Alimi, President of the Presidential Leadership Council of the Republic of Yemen, and to invite him to address the Assembly. President Al-Alimi (spoke in Arabic): This session of the General Assembly is being held under new and extremely complex geopolitical, economic and climatic conditions and challenges, which requires us all to find innovative solutions, change our traditional way of addressing those challenges and, first and foremost, end the long-standing suffering of our Yemeni people. The theme of this debate seems to have been carefully designed to meet the demands of our people and Governments, rebuild confidence in our national and international institutions, and promote global solidarity in support of the Sustainable Development Goals towards peace, prosperity and progress for all. My brother members of the Presidential Leadership Council, the Government and the Yemeni people commend the solidarity and unified position of the international community in support of constitutional legitimacy, Yemen’s sovereignty and independence, its territorial integrity, and non-interference in its internal affairs. We also appreciate the unified political position of the international community on the Yemeni issue and thank our brethren in the Coalition to Support Legitimacy in Yemen, led by the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates, for their solidarity with our people. Their positions represented a strong bulwark against the collapse of Yemeni State institutions and strengthened our resolve in the face of the Houthi militias, supported by the guardianship of the Islamic jurist regime in Iran and the terrorist organizations allied with it. Last year, my country witnessed a historic transformation, whereby the institutions of Yemeni legitimacy were rebuilt and the Presidential Leadership Council was created on the basis of strengthened partnership, peacebuilding and ending the war. However, despite that important national transformation and the regional and international momentum to revive the political process, peace remained elusive, notwithstanding the concessions and initiatives made by the Yemeni Government in support of that path. With the resumption of the laudable efforts of our brothers in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia and the Sultanate of Oman, as well as those of the United Nations and United States envoys, our hopes have been revived that the Houthi militias will submit to the popular, regional and international will and recognize the fact that the State’s role as guarantor of rights, freedoms and the enforcement of the rule of law on the basis of justice and equal citizenship is the only way to make our country safer, more stable and more respected in its regional and international surroundings. That is the logic of the legitimate Government and the ultimate goal of any efforts for sustainable peace, which require broad partnership without discrimination or exclusion, and the foundation for a brighter future. Today I do not believe that the Government has any further time or concessions to offer to convince the Houthi militias to change their position. We can predict their intentions for decades to come. If we do make any such compromises, that approach will return our people to the era of slavery, frustration and oblivion. Our country could even become a hotspot for exporting terrorism, which would trigger a regional and international conflict that cannot be contained through diplomatic means. Therefore, any complacency on the part of the international community or neglect of the legal status of the State, or even dealing with the militias as a de facto authority, would make it impossible to eliminate the practice of repression and the violation of public freedoms. Based on our understanding of the approach of the Houthi militias, peace offers are nothing to them but test balloons to be dealt with from a tactical perspective to control more resources and postpone decisions on military confrontation until better conditions are achieved. That is why they repudiated all previous agreements, including the latest which is the Stockholm Agreement. Therefore, we stress the need to provide adequate guarantees for peace, which must be based on the three agreed nationally, regionally and internationally terms of reference. We must respect international legitimacy, pursuant to the Saudi initiative. In addition, sustainable peace must be based on justice and fairness and address the effects of the past and the main outstanding issues of the national dimension. Furthermore, any peace initiative or confidence-building measure must be able to achieve tangible and immediate results in order to alleviate the suffering of the Yemeni people and benefit the victims of the conflict, not the leadership of armed militias. Women and children must be the first beneficiaries. Moreover, sustaining peace and ending the war is the basis of the desired peace that will guarantee the Yemenis their ability to build a State of institutions that protects the rights, freedoms and equality among its citizens and establish good-neighbourly relations and common interests with our brothers in the Gulf Cooperation Council countries. Today I believe that there is a more secure path to achieve peace and embody the theme of this session by restoring Yemenis’ confidence in international legitimacy and their national Government. That will require us to support the legitimate Government and enhance its ability to build the economy and provide services, thus helping us to address the militias’ blackmail, which is obstructing the implementation of international resolutions, and reviving hope for the better and bright tomorrow promoted by United Nations envoys and mediators everywhere. I also believe that the mission of our international system is to protect stability and global peace and to support the will of the peoples and their recognized national Governments. That can easily be achieved today, given the ease of obtaining information and determining the facts. However, prioritizing interests over the will of the people would weaken confidence in this institution and the entire international community. I say that not to shirk our national responsibilities or make the international community a scapegoat for our failures, but because we believe that the major Powers must send a forceful message to the militias and the architects of coups against constitutional legitimacy, not only in Yemen but throughout the world, so as to clear the path towards peace and dispel the dreams of armed groups and those who aspire to power and their delusions of creating entities to compete with legitimate Governments. In order to restore trust and achieve progress on the Yemeni dossier, we must recognize that the track based on international humanitarian interventions should be reconsidered and addressed radically so as to align it with the principles of international law and efforts to combat the financing of terrorism, rebellion and armed groups. We welcome the United Nations efforts to move from relief interventions in my country towards sustainable development. That transformation must include pooling international pledges and funds through the Central Bank of Yemen so as to strengthen our national currency, curb inflation and ensure that those funds do not indirectly fall into the hand of armed militias. We must acknowledge that this supporting path contradicts the international rhetoric calling for an improvement in the indicators of Yemen’s economy at a time when its international operations are channelled through institutions under the control of the Houthi militias, despite their arbitrary measures to violate the independence of the banking sector and the confidentiality of its dealings and to turn that sector into a money-laundering network, plundering private and public resources as well as citizen depositors. Moving forward with that approach would leave the State institutions of Yemen, a United Nations Member State, weak, underfunded and lacking sufficient resources to address those cross-border challenges and the country’s growing humanitarian needs. Furthermore, those policies threaten to fuel the war economy and allow the flow of funds and pledges through banking outlets that are not subject to accountability and effective oversight. The humanitarian interventions of the Yemeni Government prove that its support for improving basic services will make the lives of Yemenis men and women better and strengthen the prospects for peace by mobilizing people around their interests in development and prosperity, and not the slogans of violence, death and hatred espoused by the Houthi militias. As I said from this rostrum last year: “Every year passes without the adoption of a robust position on the Yemeni dossier, while our losses pile up and the militias and terrorist groups become increasingly dangerous in their transnational threats and perpetrate stark violations of human rights that have been the subject of consensus within the Organization for more than 70 years now.” (A/77/PV.8, p.10) Indeed, this year we are witnessing a rapid growth in threats from Al-Qaida and Da’esh, which are fuelled by the Houthi militias and the Iranian regime with money, weapons and intelligence support, and by sharing with them the same Takfiri thought. When I spoke here a year ago from this rostrum, the State’s general budget was achieving the best indicators since the outbreak of the war. We were able to launch promising programmes to improve services and create job opportunities, but the momentum was halted and remains paralysed by Houthi terrorist attacks on oil installations that have put the country on the brink of a comprehensive humanitarian crisis. I take this opportunity to say that, without the generous support that the Government received from our brothers in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia last month through a financial grant of $1.2 billion in support of the State’s general budget, the Government would have been unable to meet its basic obligations, including the payment of salaries. In that context, we also note the humanitarian and development funding and pledges from our brothers in the United Arab Emirates, our friends in the United States of America, the European Union countries, the United Kingdom and the rest of the regional and international partners. Despite all those humanitarian interventions, I note that the Houthi militias have recently escalated their threats against shipping lines in the Red Sea, the Bab Al-Mandab and the Gulf of Aden, which they treat as military zones. They have tested new weapons on Yemeni islands and targeted commercial ships and oil tankers. In that way, the militias and the Iranian regime behind them continue to destabilize the security and stability of the region and undermine efforts to renew the truce and resume the political process. Today, 21 September, they are showing off their military capabilities on the occasion of the Nakba, when they overturned the national consensus and the legitimate constitution. Today we reiterate the importance of ensuring freedom of international navigation, combating extremism, terrorism and piracy, and supporting measures aimed at preventing the spread of nuclear weapons and other weapons of mass destruction, most notably Iran’s nuclear programme, ballistic missiles and destructive role in the region. We once again call on the international community to condemn Iran’s blatant interference in the affairs of our country and its efforts to make it a platform for cross-border threats and to subject it to sanctions approved in accordance with the resolutions of international legitimacy related to the Yemeni dossier. In that context, we call on Member States to commit to the arms embargo and face up to Iran’s destabilizing influence while preventing it from supplying its militias with military technologies such as ballistic missiles and drones, which are used to commit terrorist acts against innocent civilians. The Presidential Leadership Council and the Government stress their firm commitment to all international conventions and treaties, including those protecting children and preventing their involvement in armed conflict. They are also committed to providing the necessary guarantees for the work of international organizations and facilitating access of their aid to all those in need throughout Yemen. To strengthen those efforts, the Government is working to enable the Independent National Commission to investigate allegations of human rights violations and the relevant international and United Nations mechanisms to fulfil their tasks unconditionally. I note that all the understandings reached by the United Nations agencies with the Houthi militias have not been implemented so far, as those militias continue to recruit children and mobilize them in combat camps under the very eyes of the international community. The Houthi militias commit gross violations of human rights every day, including by restricting travel, work, women’s education and suppressing journalists. The Republic of Yemen stresses its firm position towards the Palestinian question. We will continue to support the path towards peace and a comprehensive and just solution to the Palestinian question on the basis of the resolutions of international legitimacy and the Arab Peace Initiative, in a way that guarantees the right of the Palestinian people to establish their independent State. We also affirm our support for all endeavours aimed at bringing peace to the Sudan, first and foremost the efforts of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, the Arab Republic of Egypt and the United States to restore security, stability and development to that dear country. I also cannot fail to offer my full solidarity and sincere condolences to my brothers in Libya and the Kingdom of Morocco because of the devastating hurricanes and earthquakes that struck those two brotherly countries. We reiterate our appreciation and thanks to all our brothers who have supported those two countries, especially the sisterly Arab Republic of Egypt, as the dangers of climate change are increasingly threatening our global system.

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

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

On behalf of the General Assembly, I have the honour to welcome to the United Nations His Excellency Mr. Faustin Archange Touadera, President of the Central African Republic, and to invite him to address the Assembly. President Touadera (spoke in French): The seventy-eighth session of the General Assembly, in which I am participating on behalf of my country, the Central African Republic, offers me the happy opportunity to reaffirm our inflexible determination to contribute to the search for solutions common to the challenges facing humankind. I should like, from this rostrum, the symbol par excellence of human solidarity, to express the solidarity of the Central African people to the brotherly peoples of Morocco and Libya, hard hit by natural disasters that led to the loss of thousands of human lives and untold material damage a few days before the opening of this session. As I have argued on other occasions, the tragic consequences of such natural disasters must drive home to the global scientific community the urgency of identifying regions of the world that are particularly vulnerable to extreme climatic events and of making available to the States concerned the information necessary to limit the damage. Furthermore, the whole world has followed with deep dismay the mass arrival in recent days of thousands of African migrants on the island of Lampedusa, Italy. Those young people, who represent the present and the future of our continent, Africa, are desperately seeking to reach the countries of the European continent in search of an Eldorado. The escalation of the migrant crisis is one of the appalling consequences of the plundering of the natural resources of countries made poor by slavery, colonization, Western imperialism, terrorism and internal armed conflicts, often waged against a backdrop of hegemonic aims and geopolitical and geostrategic tensions among the great world Powers, While I deplore that dehumanizing phenomenon, I salute the solidarity and incredible efforts of the host countries and the International Organization for Migration to provide assistance to those young people, whose lives are endangered by smugglers and the lawless sellers of illusions. However, my country believes that the United Nations must go beyond our common commitment to reviving global solidarity by involving African countries in the search for global solutions to the migration crises and the existential challenges facing young people on the African continent. As our countries continue to face climate shocks, geopolitical tensions and unprecedented financial, energy and food challenges, new global challenges arise every day. Today, in Africa as elsewhere, conflicts  — symptoms of the geopolitical and geostrategic tensions that divide the great Powers — are in full swing. In the Sudan, an internal armed conflict of rare cruelty broke out in April, despite the fact that the country was on the path to normalization with a promising process of dialogue among all the active forces of the nation. The Central African Republic has already registered 51,077 Sudanese and Chadian refugees in Vakaga prefecture, exposing our assuredly resilient populations to the potential exacerbation of our still precarious humanitarian situation and insecurity. I call for consideration of the impact of the crisis on regional geopolitics, as well as international solidarity in favour of refugees, As we meet here, the Russo-Ukrainian conflict continues on the ground, with no prospect for a peaceful settlement, while the consequences for the world are painful and regrettable. The persistence and multiplication of hotbeds of tension throughout the world raise questions about the effectiveness of certain mechanisms for the prevention and peaceful resolution of disputes deployed by the United Nations, whose primary mission is to guarantee international peace and security. That is why we strongly reaffirm the Common African Position on Security Council reform in order to increase the number of permanent and non-permanent members and to grant a permanent seat to Africa. That can only serve the interests of justice. The Central African Republic believes that it is urgent to remediate the historical injustices suffered by Africa, in view of the important agendas ahead, such as the Summit of the Future in 2024 and the eightieth anniversary of the United Nations in 2025, which could be opportunities to unite Member States in order to take concrete measures for said reform, The Central African Republic wonders how we can accelerate the achievement of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development in favour of peace, prosperity, progress and sustainability for all, when certain States, from the height of their political, economic and military power, constantly use coercive diplomacy or exploit international financial institutions for the purpose of imposing economic, financial and commercial blockades against countries impoverished by slavery, colonization and imperialism? Indeed, on 29 July, the Central African people learned with great dismay of the renewal of the arms embargo, motivated by inadequate reports and rationales, with a false exemption for the national security forces. Before the world, the Central African Republic denounces that cynical decision, which betrays the unacknowledged intention of the members of the Council that voted for it to exploit the sanctions regimes for the purposes of political pressure, under the aegis of the United Nations. I recall and deplore the fact that the embargoes on arms and diamonds, maintained for 10 years and now compounded by the suspension of budgetary support, constitute real obstacles to the achievement by my country of the objectives of the 2030 Agenda. We reject that denial of our right to self-determination and permanent sovereignty over our natural wealth and resources, guaranteed by the relevant legal instruments of the United Nation. I urge the Security Council to put an end to those machinations, which are aimed at masking the desire to perpetuate insecurity and control over my country’s natural resources for the benefit of foreign Powers, legitimize armed groups and grant them status under international law. Our planet is burning; our planet is drowning; the world is collapsing; the world weeps. Yes, every day the media announce natural disasters linked to climate change, which come as warning signs of the apocalypse. Paradoxically, trust and solidarity among nations, the founding values of the United Nations, are further fractured, thereby impeding the human community from achieving the noble objectives of sustainable development in favour of peace, prosperity, progress and sustainability for all provided for in the 2030 Agenda. And yet, in order to restore confidence and revive solidarity in the face of devastating climate phenomena, commitments have been made by developed countries, the major polluters, from the Paris Agreement on Climate Change to the agreements struck in Glasgow and Sharm El-Sheikh, Egypt. The twenty-seventh Conference of the Parties to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change, in particular, usefully set four major objectives that we have all adopted  — mitigation, adaptation, financing and a just transition — in order to meet the common challenges facing humankind. Unfortunately, many countries, including the Central African Republic, innocent victims of the dramatic consequences of the overexploitation of the planet by developed countries, do not benefit from the funding promises made. We appreciate the true value of the contribution of bilateral and multilateral partners alike in their surge of solidarity towards Africa, our continent, and thank them infinitely. However, we call for a more active, evolving and diversified partnership, respectful of the sovereignty of States and the cultural and moral values of all. Only in that way can we rekindle the flame of friendship among peoples, promote peace and security and create the conditions for equitable and inclusive development, My country continues to advocate for inclusive multilateralism, mutually accelerated growth and a balanced world order and for global disputes to be addressed with particular emphasis on international peace and security and respect for the sovereignty of each State. I take this opportunity to denounce all the disinformation and denigration campaigns carried out by certain Western media against the Central African Republic. I reaffirm here the determination of my country to diversify its international cooperation with all the countries that so desire, in the sole vital interests of its people, and to avoid being drawn into competitions between world Powers. By adopting by referendum, on 30 July, the new Constitution of the Central African Republic, by an overwhelming majority of 95.3 per cent and with a participation rate of more than 57 per cent, the Central African people have just reaffirmed their attachment to the goals and principles set out in the Charter of the United Nations and its inalienable right to respect for its sovereignty, self-determination, the stability of its institutions, peace, security, national unity and development. To accelerate the achievement of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development and its Sustainable Development Goals in favour of peace, prosperity, progress and sustainability for all, the Government is pursing the implementation of the Political Agreement for Peace and Reconciliation in the Central African Republic and the Luanda Joint Roadmap for Peace in the Central African Republic and is investing in strengthening the commitment of all stakeholders. As part of the implementation of those peace and national security instruments, nine armed groups have already been dissolved. At the same time, the Special Criminal Court and the ordinary courts independently continue the fight against impunity. I recall that, beyond the Constitution, our national policy of decentralization is both a deep aspiration of the Central African people and an essential component of the Peace Agreement and the Luanda Joint Roadmap. I highlight all the efforts already undertaken by the National Elections Authority with the support of international technical assistance, which have allowed us to reassess the electoral calendar, which now provides for the holding of local elections for the month of October 2024. For us, that is a fundamental step in our march towards the local anchoring of democracy, the promotion of participatory governance and local development. That is why we want those local elections to be inclusive, transparent, peaceful and credible. I urge all our partners to support the Government in completing the electoral process, which is well under way.

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

The Assembly will now hear an address by the President of the Republic of Malawi and Commander-in-Chief of the Malawi Defence Force.

On behalf of the General Assembly, I have the honour to welcome to the United Nations His Excellency Mr. Lazarus McCarthy Chakwera, President of the Republic of Malawi and Commander-in-Chief of the Malawi Defence Force, and to invite him to address the Assembly. President Chakwera: In less than 30 years, we will come to the halfway point of this century, and in less than 80 years the twenty-first century will end. By that time, none of us will be Presidents and none of us will be alive. So when we stand at this rostrum and speak of the future, we speak of a future that does not belong to us. When we speak of a future with sustainable development, we speak of a better world not for us, but for our grandchildren and their children. And the decisions we make today, the actions we take each day, are what determine the kind of future we are creating for them. It is therefore not good enough to say that we must rebuild trust in the world when we continue making decisions that undermine trust. It is not good enough to say that we want to reignite global solidarity when we continue to pick and choose whom we show solidarity with. It is not good enough to say that we want to move towards peace when our actions in other nations promote war and create the conditions for conflict. It is not good enough to say we want prosperity for all when our rules for trade and our financial systems are a recipe for deepening the poverty of other nations. Unless we do change our decisions, our positions and our actions, the future we speak of today and the sustainable development we dream of achieving by 2030 will remain a reality only on paper. And when it comes to urgent action, we must focus our attention, our energies and our resources on the areas where we are falling behind. We must prioritize those places in the world that are most at risk of not achieving sustainability in any of the 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). In the case of Malawi, the most pressing priorities are plain to see. As a nation, we took the SDGs and aligned our national aspirations to reflect them. Therefore, even though we have our sights set on the Malawi 2063 Vision, we also created an implementation plan for the first 10 years that coincides with the Decade of Action on the SDGs in the context of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development. Our focus has already started yielding fruit, because in the past few years we have stayed on track with our quest to end hunger in line with SDG 2, to safeguard the good health and well-being of our citizens in line with SDG 3, to improve quality of education in line with SDG 4, to leverage Malawi’s abundant water resources for better sanitation in line with SDG 6, and to promote life below water in line with SDG 14. Now, while we celebrate the progress we have made on those goals, with seven years to go before the end of the Decade of Action on the SDGs we are not satisfied with seeing progress on only five out of seventeen goals. In fact, not only do we need support with making gains in the areas where we are seeing little, but we even need urgent support in safeguarding the gains we have made in the areas where we are doing well. In short, we need urgent support in building resilience to inoculate our economy against the adverse effects of shocks. In the 12 months since the last time I stood here (see A/77/PV.9), Malawi has had the worst cholera outbreak in its history, killing more people than the coronavirus disease (COVID-19), a consequence of the contamination our water bodies and systems suffered when Tropical Storm Ana and Cyclone Gombe hit us six months earlier. In that time, Malawi has also had a drought in its northern region, resulting in the loss of half of our maize and 80 per cent of our rice in one of the most productive districts in our country. In that time, Malawi has also come under assault by the worst cyclone on record, as Freddy made landfall twice and left a trail of death and destruction like you could not believe, killing over 1,000, displacing over half a million, and washing away homes, roads, bridges, businesses and fields of crops that are a source of livelihood for over 2 million people. So when I say that our SDGs are under threat, the threat is real and is already here. What Malawi needs, therefore, is decision and action. We need decision and action on the climate financing that has thus far been nothing more than a promissory note from the developed countries responsible for resourcing our efforts for mitigation, adaptation and, most urgently, loss and damage. We need decision and action on debt, for like most least developed countries (LDCs), Malawi is in distress because its debt is unsustainable, and so our call to action on behalf of all LDCs on this matter remains the same: Cancel the Debts! Cancel the Debts! Cancel the Debts! As a family of nations, we have already lost two years of progress during the Decade of Action due to the economic shutdowns effected to contain COVID-19, and if you want the global economy to regain that lost ground, you must cancel the debts. We have lost another two years of progress during the Decade of Action due to economic disruptions caused by the war in Eastern Europe, and if you want to see LDCs catch up on the SDGs, you must cancel the debts. That is a decision the international community can make today and action it can take that would breathe oxygen into the suffocating economies of the global South. That is a decision the international community can make today so that the money being drained by servicing debts can go towards rebuilding roads, schools, hospitals, businesses and livelihoods. For Malawi’s part, we are committed to continuing to implement reforms and policies aimed at building economic resilience against shocks. We are committed to continuing to engage the United Nations and our development partners, both multilaterally and bilaterally, in mobilizing international support that goes beyond disaster management and seeks to build sustainability. We are committed to continuing to bang on the doors of financial institutions that remain too slow, too unresponsive and too rigid to address the existing financing gaps in the programs we have for achieving the SDGs. We are committed to the principles of the Charter of the United Nations and to a rules-based international system, so long as we have the power to change the rules that have worked against us and held back our development for decades That is why Malawi strongly advocates for radical reform in the Security Council itself, whose very structure undermines the values of democracy, inclusivity, accountability and trust. It is no accident that at this general debate of the General Assembly at its seventy-eighth session, focused on rebuilding trust and solidarity, only one Head of State from the permanent members of the Security Council has showed up. That is not how you build trust. That is not how you show solidarity. That is not accountability. That is not leadership. As such, I believe President Biden said it so well here, and Malawi joins the United States in insisting that Africa must have permanent seats on the Security Council with veto power, because without that level of inclusivity, rebuilding trust and reigniting global solidarity will be a challenge. One of the reasons we need a reformed United Nations is because we need a new development paradigm beyond 2030. We need a development paradigm that takes on board the interests of the developing world in the spirit of true partnership. We need a development paradigm that places partnership at the heart of our quest for SDG achievement. We need a development paradigm that promotes competition in matters of human ingenuity, science, technology and innovation, and not in matters of militarization and economic exploitation, which are just new forms of colonization. We need a new paradigm that celebrates and rewards the developed nations that fulfil their commitment to financing climate resilience projects in developing countries. We need a new paradigm that establishes effective carbon markets to empower developing nations like Malawi with the resources necessary for achieving sustainability and implementing their national adaptation plans. We need a new paradigm that builds each continent’s capacity to tackle future pandemics, including vaccine manufacturing capabilities and proactive pandemic preparedness. Most important, we need a new paradigm that unleashes the full potential of our youth and puts them in the driving seat of the vehicles we are using to reach our SDG targets, for the future we are chasing after is theirs, not ours.

On behalf of the General Assembly, I wish to thank the President of the Republic of Malawi and Commander-in-Chief of the Malawi Defence Force for the statement he has just made.

The Assembly will now hear an address by the President, Head of Government and Minister for Foreign Affairs and Immigration of the Republic of Kiribati.

On behalf of the General Assembly, I have the honour to welcome to the United Nations His Excellency Mr. Taneti Maamau, President, Head of Government and Minister for Foreign Affairs and Immigration of the Republic of Kiribati, and to invite him to address the Assembly. President Maamau: At the outset allow me, to share warm greetings from the Government and the people of the Republic of Kiribati. In the name of the Almighty God in whom we place our trust and who is our anchor of solidarity, Kam na bane n Mauri! I join previous speakers in congratulating President Dennis Francis on his election and I wish him every success as he guides these important deliberations. The theme of this debate, “Rebuilding trust and reigniting global solidarity: Accelerating action on the 2030 Agenda and its Sustainable Development Goals towards peace, prosperity, progress and sustainability for all”, resonates deeply with the aspirations of our people. In our fast-changing world, predicated by multiple challenges, part of the theme  — “rebuilding trust and reigniting global solidarity” — is very timely and crucial. As we all know, trust is the corner stone of any relationship, which, when strained, creates uncertainties, mistrust and instability. Geopolitical tensions, economic disparities and the unforeseen challenges brought about by events like pandemics, climate-related crises and disasters have tested the resolve of national Governments, their peoples and their partners. The call to rebuild trust therefore highlights the need for countries to re-establish faith in multilateral cooperation and diplomacy. It highlights the importance of transparent communication, mutual understanding and engaging with each other to forge strategic partnerships for our common good and development. A renewed commitment to accountability, good governance and responsive policies can contribute to promoting a more engaged and empowered global community. At the same time, the call to reignite global solidarity reflects our recognition that our global challenges and opportunities are intertwined. It encourages countries not only to recognize but also to deliver actions to resolve issues such as poverty, inequality, climate change and health care. The idea of global solidarity underscores the principle that no nation can thrive in isolation and recognizes the uniqueness of each country’s context and need. The experience of the coronavirus disease pandemic is exemplary of the world coming together as one family. While we recognize the essential need for science to address pandemics, it is important for Member State to work together to gain a better understanding of the variants and vaccines before they are rolled out. Since the launching of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) in 2015, my Government has launched Kiribati’s first-ever long-term development plan, identifying our priorities for development. The Kiribati 20-Year Vision is rooted firmly in the needs of all I-Kiribati and commits my Government to transforming Kiribati into a wealthier, healthier and peaceful nation. It recognizes the need to align our national priorities with the SDGs and complement our national efforts with those outlined by our United Nations family. In 2018, my Government became one of the few Member States to deliver a voluntary national report, outlining our policy actions to achieve our SDGs. The report enabled us to take stock of our development and assess our future. To ensure sustainability and ownership of our desired development goals, we have engaged in extensive consultations at all levels. As the year 2030 is imminent, time is of the essence. It is imperative for our United Nations family to stay on track in our efforts to achieve our goals set forth in the SDGs. That will entail setting ambitious targets and mobilizing resources, technology, innovation and policy changes to ensure that the goals are achieved on time. However, there is no guarantee that the SDG goals will be achieved; therefore; Kiribati’s graduation from the status of least developed country would not be sustainable. Since our independence in 1979, our nation has enjoyed 44 years of stable and peaceful governance. We continue to recognize the independence of the three arms of Government, trusting that each arm discharges its duties with the highest level of integrity in a transparent, respectful and honest manner. We are committed and determined to ensure that Kiribati remains peaceful as we chart our future. But peace can be precarious as determining factors are often beyond our control. We have the human resources yet lack the capacity or necessary skills to develop our country. Equally important is our commitment to maximizing benefits to our people, uplifting our communities and maintaining our cultural values for peace. During this year’s national day celebrations, after so many years Kiribati for the first time in its history successfully reunited all faith-based organizations to gather again as one family under one roof to worship God. All Christian denominations, including the Baha’i faith and followers of Islam in Kiribati, rejoiced in songs of praise and in richness of prayers. During that worship, it was heartening to be in an atmosphere where one could truly feel the grace, peace and love of God. Also, recognizing that the greater humility of being an I-Kiribati is far more effective than the differences among faiths in sustaining peace. We invite the rest of the world to follow that example. As part of our commitment to global peace, my Government is working closely with the United Nations to engage our police in the United Nations peacekeeping missions, with the support of various partners. We will commit to supporting gender balance in recognition of Kiribati’s ongoing commitment to equal representation and opportunities. In addition, Kiribati has strengthened its policies and laws to support and empower women and girls, people with disabilities, elders, the unemployed, youth and children. We must recall our commitments under our Charter of the United Nations to building a safe, peaceful and secure home for our peoples, individually as sovereign nations and collectively as Members of the United Nations. In Kiribati, we strongly believe that this is deeply threatened and undermined by the continued existence of nuclear weapons, the discharge of nuclear- treated water and the leakage of radioactive materials into the blue Pacific Ocean. The existence of nuclear weapons also diminishes trust in the commitment of our United Nations family members to peace and stability if they continue to manufacture and possess nuclear weapons. Kiribati will continue promoting the non-proliferation and ultimately the total elimination of nuclear weapons at our United Nations, in particular our obligations in keeping our region, our land, our upper airspace and our ocean free of environmental destruction and pollution by radioactive wastes and other materials, including plastics. Most important is the health of our people, especially those who were exposed to the nuclear test blasts on Christmas Island and those whose ancestral lands have been exploited, leaving pinnacles behind. Compensation must be made to those on Christmas Island, including the Banaban people affected by environmental degradation, to rebuild trust. One of the global challenges and grave concerns that impacts our lives and future is corruption. The Government recognizes that fighting corruption is critical to achieving sustainable development, and accordingly hosted the first ever regional anti-corruption conference for Pacific leaders in 2020. The outcome of the conference, Teieniwa Vision, reaffirms Pacific unity against corruption and integrates good governance principles into participants’ broader development agenda. At the international level, the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime, along with the General Assembly, can lead the way by ensuring that anti-corruption efforts are prioritized in our pursuit of global sustainable development, with SDG 16 as our guidepost. Enhancing prosperity is essential to sustaining peace, and so the Government is dedicated to people-centric principles, placing citizens at the centre of our decisions and services and promoting transparent governance. We value continuous learning and capacity development for a competent public service to deliver on development goals. Building capacity and the transfer of knowledge to enhance the capability of our people is sustainable. It allows our people to take ownership of our own national processes and procedures, thereby guiding our development. We acknowledge the support of our development partners, which needs to be well coordinated and harmonized to ensure fair and inclusive distribution and the allocation of limited resources among competing needs. We are committed to expanding access to overseas labour markets, providing decent work conditions and adhering to international labour standards. In education, we invest in our young generation and educators, support accessible, well-resourced schools for quality learning environments, and ensure equal access to high-quality education at all levels to nurture our people and move our nation forward. In our pursuit of SDG acceleration, Kiribati is faced with significant challenges due to its geographical isolation, the scattered situation of its islands within its 3.5-million-square-kilometre economic exclusive zone, and its vulnerability to climate change, to name but a few. In the face of those significant challenges, the delivery of essential services such as education, health, security, including the implementation of activities related to achieving the SDGs in Kiribati, is very costly. We should be given increased access to financial resources to obtain equipment, infrastructure and other benefits to achieve the SDGs and, at the same time, develop our country. That includes an urgent call to scale up global financial resources and simplify guidelines to allow easy access. Achieving those will guarantee that Kiribati is placed in a better position to sustain peace and harmony. With a vast ocean and airspace, Kiribati’s resources are central to our survival, development and security. To harness our ocean resources sustainably, we need financial assistance and access to the right capabilities, technology and equipment. Likewise, the management of our airspace is important for security purposes. It will enable us to effectively manage our maritime domain and airspace, ensuring responsible utilization while protecting our fragile ecosystem. At the forefront of climate change, Kiribati is experiencing intensifying severe drought and coastal inundation affecting homes, public infrastructure, food and water security. The projected cost for adaptation has significantly increased. Therefore, developed countries are urged to put more funds beyond the global pledge agreed to in Paris. That would also finance loss and damage and facilitate investment in early warning systems and forecasts. With that said, it would help our people adapt to changing environmental conditions and to build resilience in our communities. Sustainability has become the new governance imperative, which needs to be clearly understood. As leaders of today, it is vital that we know exactly what we want to sustain and at what scale, and to be wary of the implications. That will require us to be more diligent, patient and hard-working with sheer determination to ensure that the sustainability of resources, efforts and time is optimally maximized for the betterment of all. In conclusion, on behalf of the Government and the people of Kiribati, I should like to join previous speakers in offering our condolences to the Governments and the peoples of Morocco and Libya with respect to the tragedy that have faced. May God bless them. In conclusion, let us embrace our traditional blessings of Te Mauri, Te Raoi ao Te Tabomoa, which literally means “Health, peace and prosperity”.

On behalf of the General Assembly, I wish to thank the President, Head of Government and Minister for Foreign Affairs and Immigration of the Republic of Kiribati for the statement he has just made.

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

On behalf of the General Assembly, I have the honour to welcome to the United Nations His Excellency Mr. Emmerson Dambudzo Mnangagwa, President of the Republic of Zimbabwe, and to invite him to address the Assembly. President Mnangagwa: I wish to congratulate Mr. Dennis Francis on his election as President of the General Assembly at its seventy-eighth session. We are confident that under his stewardship, we will make progress on the important global agenda before us. He can be assured of Zimbabwe’s support throughout his tenure. I also pay special tribute to his predecessor, Mr. Csaba Kőrösi, for leading the seventy-seventh session. We value the role he played to promote science in our overarching goal to improve the lives and livelihoods of all. It is imperative that we recommit to the Charter of the United Nations, multilateralism, solidarity, justice and the peaceful settlement of disputes for sustainable development and a shared future. That calls on us all to respect the sovereign equality of nations, big or small, poor or rich. By working together, we can harness our expertise and learn from one another to strengthen international institutions for the accelerated attainment of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development. The impact of conflicts, terrorism, climate change-induced natural disasters, biodiversity loss and the rising prevalence of disease and pandemics, especially in the developing world, deserves our urgent attention. Regrettably, progress towards the achievement of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) has been uneven, while global solidarity has been tested and self-interest supersedes cooperation. We have a duty to reignite our commitment to the principles of the 2030 Agenda and rekindle the spirit of multilateralism. To accelerate action on the SDGs, we must scale up investments in people and communities by ensuring access to quality education, health care, clean water and sanitation for all. The creation of economic opportunities, decent jobs and entrepreneurship, especially among women and young people, must remain a priority. Zimbabwe continues to entrench democracy, constitutionalism, good governance and the rule of law, following the recently held 2023 harmonized general elections. I am pleased to highlight that our country enjoyed peace before, during and after our free, fair, transparent and credible elections. Zimbabwe has been under illegal, unilateral economic sanctions for 23 years, imposed by some Western countries. Those sanctions were designed to subjugate the sovereign will of the Zimbabwean people. We therefore demand that unjustified unilateral sanctions, including those imposed on countries like Cuba, be unconditionally lifted. We remain grateful for the support and solidarity of progressive countries in the comity of nations. In spite of those debilitating sanctions, the people of Zimbabwe have become masters of their own destiny. That is anchored in a philosophy that as a people, we have the duty and responsibility of developing our country, using our own domestic resources. Partners and investors are welcome, but must be guided by our own vision and national priority areas. We are recording unprecedented development and economic success milestones. For the past three years, our country has been the fastest growing economy in our Southern African region. Further, Zimbabwe is prioritizing the eradication of poverty and improving the quality of life of our people, particularly those in rural areas. The empowerment and capacitation of communal and small- scale farmers has seen us realize food and nutrition security at both the household and the national levels. With effect from this year, our country will become a net exporter of wheat. Zimbabwe has not been spared the negative impact of climate change. My Government therefore continues to make the requisite investment in infrastructure to mitigate and build resilience towards climate change adaptation. Dams are being built across the country. In addition, we have begun an ambitious and yet achievable programme to sink solar-powered boreholes in each of our country’s 35,000 rural villages and schools. Alongside each of those water points are commercial nutritional gardens for the empowerment of women and youth. Through the use of our own resources, we have constructed an unprecedented number of schools and clinics and provided other social amenities throughout our communities. Today’s realities across all regions bring to the fore the importance of global solidarity. No nation, no matter how powerful, can stand alone to realize sustainable and inclusive development. The high-level meetings on universal health coverage, tuberculosis and pandemic prevention, preparedness and response are welcome opportunities to reflect on the importance of maintaining essential services during pandemics and health emergencies. The realization of affordable and quality health delivery, as outlined under SDG 3, is a key deliverable for my administration. Science, technology and innovation are essential ingredients to leapfrog the modernization and industrialization of developing countries. To that end, Zimbabwe continues to reap the benefits of a comprehensive and transformative heritage-based higher education curriculum. The innovation hubs and industrial parks established within institutions of higher education have refocused young people in our tertiary institutions towards developing and producing goods and services. Allow me to reaffirm that Zimbabwe is now open for business. Building resilience and tackling the adverse impact of climate change should be an urgent priority for us all. In the case of Zimbabwe and the Southern African region, floods and droughts have affected the livelihoods of many, while hindering progress on national development. May I express my deepest condolences and sympathies to the Governments and the peoples of the Kingdom of Morocco and the State of Libya on the recent loss of lives as a result of the devastating impact of climate change. There is need for concrete climate action, as opposed to mere promises, so that we can strengthen our adaption, resilience and mitigation mechanisms. We must transition to a low-carbon and resilient global economy by increasing investments in renewable energy, sustainable agriculture and green infrastructure. Commitments made under the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change and the Paris Agreement on Climate Change must be honoured to deliver climate justice. It is our hope that progress will be made to operationalize the Loss and Damage Fund. Zimbabwe is implementing a climate change policy and response strategy while disaster management and early warning systems continue to be strengthened. The need to reform global financial institutions is of the essence to unlock funding for developing countries. The current exclusionary architecture, dominated by a few States, is failing to deliver the requisite resources for countries to finance their development priorities and other pressing health and environmental challenges. The shortcomings in the last round of special drawing right allocations should be addressed. Zimbabwe supports the stimulus package proposed by the Secretary-General. We further call for long-term concessional loans, increased access to unused special drawing rights and the use of modalities such as debt cancellation and restructuring as stimuli for developing countries to grow their economies and build greater resilience. We strongly condemn the tendencies of some powerful countries that preach peace, human rights and democracy and yet clandestinely fund conflicts and unconstitutional changes of Governments for their own narrow interests. We further condemn the use of unilateral and illegal sanctions as a foreign policy tool at the disposal of some powerful nations, such as those sanctions imposed on Zimbabwe and countries like Cuba. Such actions hamper the trust, global solidarity and multilateralism we desire. It is important that we channel our collective efforts towards building peace and driving forward our development agenda for shared prosperity. There is much more that unites us than divides us. Similarly, the establishment of a fair and inclusive global security architecture has become urgent. The maintenance of peace and security should never be the preserve of a privileged few. Zimbabwe reaffirms calls by Africa for the reform of the Security Council, in line with the Ezulwini Consensus and the Sirte Declaration. Allow me to conclude by reaffirming Zimbabwe’s commitment to the purposes and principles of the Charter of the United Nations as we implement our global Agenda 2030. Collectively, let us restore human dignity, peace, security and stability, while safeguarding our planet for the shared prosperity of present and future generations. Together, in unity and harmony, we are stronger.

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

The Assembly will now hear an address by the President of the Democratic Republic of Timor-Leste.

On behalf of the General Assembly, I have the honour to welcome to the United Nations His Excellency Mr. José Ramos-Horta, President of the Democratic Republic of Timor-Leste, and to invite him to address the Assembly. President Ramos-Horta (spoke in Portuguese; English interpretation provided by the delegation): We are a young, imperfect and vibrant democracy, an oasis of peace, tolerance and freedom. Since we gained independence in 2002, our democracy has evolved, alive and dynamic. The Economist magazine’s Democracy Index rates Timor-Leste as the most democratic country in South-East Asia; the organization Reporters Without Borders, in its most recent World Press Freedom Index, places Timor-Leste in tenth place worldwide in terms of press freedom. We are a multicultural, multireligious, multilingual and multiethnic society. With humility, we continue to build a country open to the world, tolerant and free from hate and violence. Our practicing Catholics, representing 98 per cent of the population, live in harmony with our Protestant and Muslim brothers and sisters. Timor-Leste has no political violence or tensions or crimes based on ethnicity or religion. We have no domestic organized crime or armed robbery. Despite a significant reduction in poverty, multidimensional poverty remains high, at 45.8 per cent, and even higher among children. Lifting our people out of extreme poverty, food insecurity, neonatal mortality, stunting and child malnutrition, and providing child and maternal care are some of the challenges that we are determined to face head on over the next five years. For that reason, child malnutrition and access to pre-school education are two of our main priorities. In collaboration with UNICEF, the Government intends to implement an intersectoral early childhood development policy to promote investments in the first years of life and build a solid foundation for social and human capital. We have a high and unacceptable incidence of domestic violence. UN-Women recognizes, however, that Timor-Leste is taking significant steps in implementing international legal and policy frameworks, including the Convention on the Elimination of all Forms of Discrimination Against Women, the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities and Security Council resolution 1325 (2000), to promote gender equality and women’s empowerment. We are an observer State in the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN), with the right to participate in all summits of Heads of State and Government, ministerial meetings and senior officials and technical meetings. In the 20 years since independence and the 10 years since we formally requested membership in ASEAN, most economic and social indicators show significant progress, including in life expectancy, which was less than 60 years in 2002 and is now at 70, and a reduction in poverty and infant mortality. From 21 doctors in 2002, we now have more than 1,200. In 2002, the capital had partial electric coverage, while the rest of the country did not enjoy that privilege. Currently, power is available in 96.1 per cent of our territory. We are very grateful for the unanimous decision of ASEAN leaders to grant observer status to Timor-Leste, a pathway to membership and a comprehensive support package to continue training our staff and diplomats. We do not depend on outside help and are eternally grateful to those who helped us in our times of greatest need. We finance our own national budget from the returns of a sovereign wealth fund invested in United States Treasury Bonds and global financial markets, with an annual return of over 9 per cent. Timor-Leste is an active member of the Community of Portuguese-speaking Countries and is a co-founder of the international g7+ group, which was established in 2010 in Dili, has a membership of 20 conflict-affected countries and is currently chaired by Sierra Leone. (spoke in English) Global crises such as pandemics, climate change, the war on Ukraine and the resulting geopolitical fragmentation have disproportionately impacted already fragile and conflict-affected countries. They have always felt the brunt of every global crisis. On the other hand, those countries are the least responsible for those crises. The incidence of extreme hunger, poverty and humanitarian crises caused by wars, climate change and geoeconomic fragmentation is increasingly concentrated in fragile and conflict-affected countries. Armed conflicts proliferate and economic and social conditions are worsening in countries around the world, but we seem to have forgotten the children of the tragedies of Myanmar, Afghanistan, Yemen, Syria, Palestine and the Democratic Republic of the Congo. The growing tensions among regional and global Powers are eroding the potential of our collective security institutions at a time when we face existential challenges. We cannot accept incomprehensible anachronisms, such as the embargo imposed on the Cuban people, the continuing impasse in the Western Sahara conflict and the blatant disregard of United Nations resolutions on the two-State solution for Israel and Palestine. On and off, we hear about the need to reform the Security Council. Academics concoct an expanded Security Council, regurgitating ideas for a more representative body reflecting today’s demographics, which is in itself an almost surreal task, bearing in mind that leaders up to the present have not ended the nuclear arms race, remained the biggest arms merchants of death, led in the desecration of Mother Nature, failed to help the poorest out of poverty, and have not shown the wisdom to write off the debt incurred by countries of the poorer South, a burden caused by loan sharks from Western commercial banks. Children living in conflict zones continue to come under attack on an alarming scale. Recent years have seen an exacerbation of children’s vulnerability to grave violations. In Myanmar, unable to control the ground, the military pursues a scorched-earth strategy with the widespread use of aircraft and helicopters targeting civilians across the country. At least 3,000 civilians have been killed and 17,000 people arbitrarily imprisoned, including legitimately elected leaders such as Nobel Peace Prize laureate Aung San Suu Kyi. Timor-Leste condemns the invasion and the violation of the sovereignty and territorial integrity of Ukraine and the ongoing war, with its catastrophic consequences not only for the Ukrainian people, but also for the Russians and the rest of the world, with the disruption of global trade in grain and energy. We know from experience and history that wars are very seldom won on the battlefield, miscalculations and false pride prevail, and the war goes on for years and killings and utter destruction continue until exhaustion; only then do the sides involved decide to begin negotiations on a peace settlement. Why not talk now? People living in fragile circumstances are already feeling the effects of climate change most severely. We need a new outlook on the climate and security nexus that will address the impacts of climate change and environmental degradation on peace and security and ensure that the quest for energy transition does not exacerbate the security situation in vulnerable and fragile countries. Therefore, we propose a bold initiative that would seek to accelerate the just energy transition in fragile developing States that rely heavily on oil and gas production to prevent turmoil and unrest. The combined efforts of unlocking finance through debt alleviation, streamlining international finance at the lowest interest rates, and significantly increasing official development assistance will empower those nations to embark on projects that foster the development of clean industries, address the ongoing loss and damage related to climate change, and facilitate their efforts in greenhouse gas mitigation and adaptation to climate change. While initiatives to further the just transition exist, they do not pay enough attention to fragile or vulnerable States, least developed countries (LDCs) or small island developing States. As a second priority, the initiative would pay urgent attention to the particular challenges faced by fragile States that are susceptible not only to fragility and vulnerability on their own but also where there is heightened risk when faced with any massive economic turmoil, which the green transition  — if not handled carefully — could increase. Thirdly, as the urgent need to transition to a low- carbon economy and clean energy accelerates, the initiative would seek to ensure that the quest for rare earth elements and critical minerals does not lead to further instability, promote weak governance or exacerbate local tensions or grievances in the countries where the strategic reserves of such elements and minerals are found. The initiative seeks to create a brighter and more sustainable future for our planet and all its inhabitants. By facilitating the energy transition in small island developing States, LDCs and climate-vulnerable nations, we aim to mitigate climate change impacts and preserve our shared global environment for generations to come. In the face of the agony of poverty and rising costs in the most impoverished countries, the super-rich chief executive officers of banks and creditor countries remain indifferent to calls for debt cancellation. I insist here that Banks and other credit institutions cancel this damned debt. It would be a leap forward in international solidarity if all members of the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development were to allocate 1 per cent of their national gross domestic product to official development assistance (ODA). We would see positive effects on poverty rates, food security and access to basic health services, education, electricity, drinking water, sanitation, housing and social security, with multiplier effects on the diversification of economies, especially in agriculture. We live in a universe full of dualities: an increasingly prosperous world whose wealth has increased by $30 trillion a year, according to Nobel Prize winner Kailash Satyarthi, but where the leaderships of the Group of Seven or the Group of 20 fail to reflect that in the fight against hunger, stunting and other forms of multidimensional poverty. We need to adopt a universal child benefit and a new ODA target for a fair share for children, particularly targeting children in fragile low- income countries. Allow me to recall a story that is no longer part of our daily conversation — the story of three-year-old Aylan Kurdi, an innocent Syrian baby whose lifeless body washed ashore near the Turkish resort town of Bodrum in September 2015. How many of us are pained by the sight of children dying everyday of hunger and in ongoing wars? In centuries past, the Atlantic Ocean was the graveyard of African slaves, and those who survived the voyage built new countries with their sweat and blood. In the twenty-first century, the Mediterranean Sea is the new graveyard of thousands of Africans, fleeing drought, extreme poverty and conflicts. No one should fear the Chinese, Indian, European and American super-Powers. Rather, we should welcome the positive reality of global countries that share with us diasporas, cultures and interests in well- being or security that are deeply intertwined with our own. We can gain more from the free movement of people and goods than from building concrete walls. We all benefit from the impressive transformation of India into a global economic success story. India has an admirable track record of decades of practical solidarity with other developing countries, even during the early stages of its own development. Equally we want to see prosperity in Europe, Japan, South Korea and Australia. But their continuing prosperity depends on peace and stability in the global South and on our markets, workforce and providers of the raw wealth that they process and re-export. But that unequal relationship has to change and will change only when we invest more in high-quality education and health care for our children and youth and when we invest more in science and technology. We have the chance of the century to build a new partnership of equals between the super-rich of the North and us on the periphery, with a renewed spirit of mission around the global causes of nature and human survival. Failing that, we will sink together, rich and poor, the weak and the powerful.

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

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

On behalf of the General Assembly, I have the honour to welcome to the United Nations His Excellency Mr. Salva Kiir Mayardit, President of the Republic of South Sudan, and to invite him to address the Assembly. President Mayardit: I would like to express my heartfelt condolences to the people of the Kingdom of Morocco and the Republic of Libya who lost their loved ones in the recent natural calamities. South Sudan stands in solidarity with them during this difficult moment in their respective countries. On behalf of the people and the Government of the Republic of South Sudan, I stand here today to reaffirm our commitment to world peace and security. We are committed to global efforts aimed at addressing the challenges that we face as a human family. We are also committed to multilateralism and international cooperation as the best means of achieving our shared aspirations. Within that context, we are hopeful that, together, we can rebuild trust among Member States and reignite global solidarity on the basis of the sovereign equality of all States, as enshrined in the founding Charter of the United Nations. We recognize the urgency of the challenges before us. We are also aware of the concerted action required to address those challenges in order to ensure a better future for the coming generation. To that effect, South Sudan has developed a Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) rescue plan, with a focus on seven SDG targets. The plan provides a road map for a better future for our people. Given that education is the key that will allow us to achieve other SDGs rapidly, I am pleased to report that South Sudan has made some progress in its education sector since gaining our independence in 2011. Our Constitution, for example, guarantees all children free access to education. We have also designated education as a human right of every child. In February, I directed the Ministry of Education to implement a free primary and secondary education policy across the country. The policy has directly led to the enrolment of 2.3 million children in our schools. To ensure that girls stay in schools, we have banned child marriages through an act of Parliament. More important, we have increased the education budget with the goal of paying teachers a living wage. In the health sector, we plan to dedicate resources towards providing affordable and standard heath care. That will be done through a primary health care approach that is inclusive and cost effective. On climate change, South Sudan is dedicated to addressing its adverse impact. We plan to prioritize sustainable land use, promote renewable energy and collaborate with international partners to reduce carbon emissions and protect our environment for generations to come. While working on that, it is only fair for us to call upon developed countries to cut their emissions by 45 per cent and honour their pledges to make funds available for mitigation, adaptation and loss and damage to the developing countries. With the recently concluded Africa Climate Summit, held in Nairobi, it is high time that the declaration adopted at the Summit form the new basis for rebuilding trust and regaining global solidarity for attaining the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development. We acknowledge the political, humanitarian and security challenges we have faced as a country since 2013. However, we turned the corner with the signing of the Revitalized Agreement on the Resolution of the Conflict in the Republic of South Sudan in 2018. Now we are determined to build on the commitments of our Revised National Development Strategy (2021- 2024) to consolidate peace and stabilize the economy. The ongoing public financial management reforms and the recently concluded National Economic Conference form a solid basis for sound management of public resources for the benefit of our citizens. What remains now is to fast-track the implementation of the remaining provisions of the agreement in order to conclude the transitional period peacefully through fair, transparent and credible elections in 2024. We have also engaged in dialogue and consultation with various stakeholders, including civil society, women, youth, traditional leaders and opposition groups to ensure that our peace process is owned and driven by our people. As we move in that direction, we call upon the United Nations to lift the arm embargo imposed on us to aid peace implementation and secure the elections. The arms embargo has impeded the implementation of security arrangements because the effective deployment of the unified forces we have graduated cannot happen without arms. As a country sharing a border with the Republic of Sudan, South Sudan has received thousands of Sudanese refugees and returnees since the conflict broke out in the Sudan in April. The influx has overwhelmed our border communities and created a humanitarian crisis. I am appealing to the international community to make resources available to help refugees and displaced persons who have crossed into South Sudan. While the world is dealing with multiple crises, we call for the provision of sustained support to those displaced persons as we work on how to restore peace and stability in the Sudan. In conclusion, South Sudan stands before the Assembly as a resolute partner in the collective pursuits of a better future for all. I extent our hand of friendship to fellow Member States, international organizations and civil society.

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

The Assembly will now hear an address by the Chair of the National Committee of Reconciliation and Development, President of the Republic of Guinea and Head of State.

On behalf of the General Assembly, I have the honour to welcome to the United Nations His Excellency Mr. Mamadi Doumbouya, Chair of the National Committee of Reconciliation and Development, President of the Republic of Guinea and Head of State, and to invite him to address the Assembly. President Doumbouya (spoke in French): I would like to extend to Mr. Dennis Francis the warm congratulations of the Guinean delegation on his outstanding election to the presidency of the General Assembly at its seventy-eighth session. Before this Assembly, I assure him of the support of my country. At the same time, I pay a well-deserved tribute to his predecessor, Mr Csaba Kőrösi of Hungary. I thank Secretary-General António Guterres for the dedication with which he leads our Organization. By coming to take part in the work of the seventy- eighth session, I would like to fulfil the duty of conveying the warm greetings of the sovereign people of Guinea. My country continues to place hope in the United Nations capacity to find appropriate solutions to the questions that our world continues to face. In that context, we believe that the fundamentals that underpinned the creation of our Organization must adapt to the profound changes in our society. The objective of the President’s watchwords for this session  — peace, prosperity, progress and sustainability — is topical and evocative and deserves our particular attention. I turn to the epidemic of coups d’état in Africa. In the wake of the coronavirus disease pandemic, the continent has been struck by an epidemic of military putsches, particularly in the French-speaking countries south of the Sahara. Everyone condemns them. Who approves of them? Who is cheered by the sudden reappearance of a practice that we had every reason to think was over? I want to say, however, that the international community must have the honesty and correctness not to be content with merely denouncing the consequences, but also to take an interest in and address the causes. While coups d’état have increased in recent years in Africa, it is because there are very deep reasons, and to treat the problem we must look into its root causes. The putschist is not only he who takes up arms to overthrow a regime. I hope that we will remember that the real putschists, the most numerous, who are not subject to any condemnation, are also those who scheme, who use deceit, who cheat to manipulate the texts of the constitution in order to remain in power forever. It is those in white collar jobs who change the rules of the game while they are playing it in order to keep hold on the reins of the country. Those are the most numerous putschists. I am one of those who, one morning, decided to shoulder our responsibilities to save our country from complete chaos. It was an insurrectional situation. None of the political stakeholders, all of which were completely neutralized at the time, had the courage or the means to put an end to the deception that we were enduring. The institutional rectification for which my brothers in arms and I assumed our responsibilities on 5 September 2021 was only a consequence of a chaotic situation that ultimately destroyed the social fabric and undermined coexistence. Without going into exhaustive detail, we believe that the transitions under way in Africa are due to several factors, among which we can cite unkept promises, the somnolence of the people and the tinkering with Constitutions by leaders whose only concern is to maintain power indefinitely, to the detriment of collective well-being. Today Africans are more awake than ever and are deciding to take their destiny into their own hands. The unequal distribution of wealth creates endless inequalities, famine and poverty that make the daily lives of our populations increasingly difficult. Those inequalities are among the causes of events that, first and foremost, undermine coexistence. When the wealth of a country is in the hands of an elite while newborns die in hospitals due to lack of incubators, it is not surprising that in such conditions we are seeing transitions to respond to the deep aspirations of the people. Africa suffers from a model of governance that has been imposed on it — a model that is certainly good and effective for the West, which has developed it over the course of its history, but that has difficulty adapting to our realities, customs and environment. Alas, the transplant did not take. I know that when I say this, many will immediately say to themselves, “Another idiot who wants to twist the neck of democracy”, “Another soldier who wants to impose his dictatorship”. However, let me say very clearly, without hypocrisy, without pretence and eye to eye that we are all aware that the mode of democracy that was so insidiously, skilfully and in a quasi-religious manner imposed on us after the Franco-African Summit held in La Baule, France, does not work. Various economic and social indices attest to that. This is not a value judgment on democracy itself, believe me. It is a balance sheet, an observation made over several decades of chaotic experimentation with that model in our environment at a time when the only game in town was the political game, to the detriment of the essential — the economy and the processing of our raw materials in our own countries. Allow me to take this truth exercise a little further. With my brief but intense experience of managing a State, Guinea, I have come to better understand the extent to which that model has contributed above all to maintaining a system of exploitation, the plunder of our resources by others and the very active corruption of our elites — national leaders who have often been granted democratic credentials based on their docility, their ability to sell off the resources and property of their people, or even their comfortable surrender to the pseudo-recommendations and injunctions of certain international institutions serving the great Powers. In that regard, I must confess that every challenge facing me is beyond all imagination. It is the same people who profess democracy, transparency and good governance and denounce corruption who dictate the rules. They are the ones who, behind the scenes, are very discreetly and slyly ramping up the pressure to make us cede our assets in one-sided contracts. I now understand certain leaders, some of them my predecessors, who  — because they were vulnerable, because they were under pressure, because they had their own baggage or especially because they had a political agenda — gave in to what was asked of them. I understand them without approving of them. Some have even reminded me that if I had a political agenda I would be less comfortable carrying out the reforms that my Government and I have instituted. One thing is certain. We only have one concern — the well-being of the people and coexistence. That is our priority. It is why the transition that I lead has chosen to focus methodically by setting clear objectives in a precise order: the social, the economy and the political. I place my uniform at the service of my people. I would be grateful if the international community would respect that oath and maintain a respectable distance from the divisions of all kinds that many try to fuel in our countries. The Sahel is enduring one of the most serious crises in its very long history, but it has the resources necessary to face it. Its legendary sense of diplomacy must be unleashed so that together we can speak without interference. That is why the Economic Community of West African State, whose purview is the economy, must stop involving itself in politics and favour dialogue. We Africans are tired, exhausted of the categorizations into which everyone wants to confine us. Africa’s population is young. It did not experience the Cold War. It has not experienced the ideological wars that have shaped the world over the past 70 years. That is why we Africans are insulted by the boxes and classifications that sometimes place us under the influence of the Americans, sometimes under that of the English, the French, the Chinese, the Russians and even the Turks. We are neither pro- nor anti-American; neither pro- nor-anti Chinese; neither pro- nor anti-French; neither pro- nor anti-Russian; neither pro- nor anti-Turk. We are simply pro-African. That is all. Seeing us as under the control of this or that Power is an insult, a sign of contempt and racism towards a continent of more than 1.3 billion people. It is important in this prestigious and influential Assembly that we understand clearly and definitively that daddy’s Africa, the old Africa, is over. With a population of more than a billion Africans, some 70 per cent of whom are totally uninhibited young people, young people open to the world and determined to take their destiny into their own hands, the time has come to realize that the structures and rules that arose in the post-Second World War era in the absence of our States, which did not yet exist, are obsolete. This is the end of an unbalanced, unfair era where we had no say in the matter. It is time to take our rights into account, to give us our rightful our place and, above all, to stop lecturing us, looking down on us and treating us like children. The international community may rest assured that we are old enough to know what is good for us. We are mature enough to define our priorities and to design the model that corresponds to our identity, to the reality of our populations and to what we quite simply are. We would be very grateful to the international community for trusting us and letting us run our own business as it has allowed certain regions of the world — such as Asia and the Near and Middle East, to name but a few — to do. This infantilization has the worst effect on young Africans who have emancipated themselves. In that context, we are all challenged and called on to undertake a better analysis of the situation with a view to initiating and pursuing new policies for the benefit of all. The international community must see Africa with new eyes. It must now undertake frank cooperation with it in a spirit of win-win partnership.

On behalf of the General Assembly, I wish to thank the Chair of the National Committee of Reconciliation and Development, President of the Republic of Guinea and Head of State for the statement he has just made.

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

On behalf of the General Assembly, I have the honour to welcome to the United Nations His Excellency Mr. Evariste Ndayishimiye, President of the Republic of Burundi, and to invite him to address the Assembly. President Ndayishimiye (spoke in French): We first give thanks to God the Almighty for having guided our steps and allowed us to find ourselves in this beautiful cosmopolitan city of New York. Allow me to offer my sincere thanks to the host country, the United States of America, and its people, in particular the authorities and the people of the state of New York, for the very warm welcome and the legendary hospitality extended to me and the delegation accompanying me. I would like to reiterate my deepest condolences to the peoples of Morocco and Libya, who are today bereaved by natural disasters whose human and material damage is immeasurable. May God comfort the hard-hit families. Allow me to extend my warm congratulations to Mr. Dennis Francis on his outstanding election as President of the General Assembly at its seventy- eighth session. Burundi assures him of its full cooperation and sends him its best wishes for success in the exercise of his mandate. I am also pleased to pay well-deserved tribute to Mr. Csaba Kőrösi, his predecessor, for his remarkable work during his mandate. The time has come to rebuild a peaceful world favourable to progress. We must cultivate trust, mutual understanding and solidarity. That is why we welcome the theme that animates us today, “Rebuilding trust and reviving global solidarity: Accelerating the 2030 Agenda and its Sustainable Development Goals towards peace, prosperity, progress and sustainability for all”. While we gather every year in this Hall and in other equally important venues, the world continues to face serious existential threats, unfortunately becoming more and more unstable and vulnerable as a result. While trust and solidarity are values that should characterize relations among our States, they are weakened because we have domesticated them and recreated them in our image and according to our interests. We must free them so that they are shared values. They must regain their original meaning, shatteringly lost first with colonization and the expansion of other selfish ideologies that seek to exploit less developed countries further for the benefit of rich countries. In reality, colonization squandered its opportunity to create solidarity through the meeting of cultures and know- how and through a mutually beneficial partnership instead of a partnership of dependence. Trust and solidarity then lost their primary meaning under the effects of neocolonialism, characterized by multifaceted interference in the internal affairs of developing States, by unfair remuneration for raw materials and by the strong demands imposed by the Bretton Woods institutions. From “development assistance”, as it was called a few years ago, to the “partnership for development” in use today, the terms proliferate but all seem to be imbued with bad faith. Indeed, the terms proliferate to veil that hypocrisy, while the resources put to work in the hope of economic returns likely to ensure recovery are declining. It is important today to transcend the needs and interests of States, which are often divergent and even difficult to reconcile. International solidarity must ensure that all countries can interact with each other on an equal footing  — the international solidarity that we want seeks not to homogenize but to be a bridge between differences and even divergences, connecting each other through mutually respectful and beneficial relationships. Trust and solidarity should be the foundation on which international relations free from inequality and conflict flourish. It is also to that end that we in Burundi are working, first at the national level, to cultivate and strengthen that ideal within our people. Thus, after years of instability, the truth and reconciliation process begun in Burundi is now bearing remarkable fruit because Burundians are now driven by the same ideal in the pursuit of the Sustainable Development Goals. That is why we call on friendly and partner countries to support the action of the Burundian Government, and we strongly encourage foreign investment. However, the sad observation is that public development assistance, which should support the Government’s efforts in seeking the well-being of citizens, has gradually collapsed in favour of funding intended for non-State actors serving the unspoken geopolitical and economic interests of certain donor States. International solidarity should obviously encourage developed countries to contribute concretely to the socioeconomic development efforts of the least developed countries. The moral of the Kirundi saying “Ntawutungira mu boro” — which means “prosperity is lasting only if it is shared”— reminds us that investing in the prosperity of our neighbours truly guarantees the security and sustainability of our own progress. That underlines the urgent need to rethink and strengthen the global partnership, which, in our opinion, requires debt relief, a substantial increase in resources devoted to the fight against poverty, the strengthening of South- South cooperation, the sharing of technologies and innovation, and the expansion of trade agreements. Despite all those challenges, Burundi remains determined and confident that the General Assembly will help restore confidence in my country and drive a renewal of international solidarity. The Government and the people of Burundi have a real and firm determination to optimize the dividends of peace and reconciliation so dearly won. To that end, our battle cry is the promotion of good governance and the fight against all forms of injustice. Indeed, we have engaged in a tireless fight for the good management of public affairs and, thanks to that fierce struggle, Burundi has made significant progress in terms of democracy, good governance and the improvement of the business climate, thus becoming a safe place for investment opportunities and various economic activities. Moreover, considerable efforts are being made in the production sectors that create mass employment and bring growth. In that context, my Government strives to particularly promote the agricultural sector, which employs a large part of the Burundian population. That is why we made the decision to finance the agricultural sector through a national agricultural subsidy programme that subsidizes fertilizer, selected seeds and phytosanitary products. Our action also focuses on the development of research in the agricultural sector, mechanization and the use of advanced technologies for agrifood processing and rural infrastructure. To that end, a national pact for agriculture has been developed to establish two agropoles around four profitable sectors in the short term, as well as a special agricultural industrial zone. We want to involve Burundian economic operators and foreign investors on that front. In that context and to implement the plan, the appropriate regulations of the new Investment Code are today very attractive. Given its climate, which is conducive to year-round agriculture, the abundance of labour and the exceptional fertility of its soil, Burundi is the best destination for anyone wishing to invest in the agricultural sector. In other sectors, my Government has just updated the Mining Code in order to create an environment favourable to investors in that sector, whose abundant mineral potential remains underexploited. The ambition of my Government is to boost our economy by exploiting natural resources to make Burundi an emerging country by 2040 and a developed country by 2060. To win our bet, we are placing young people and women, the real stakeholders actors in socioeconomic development, at the forefront through the promotion of entrepreneurship, innovation and the spirit of creativity. Indeed, we are focusing above all on youth because there is no more effective weapon than youth in the fight against poverty and in the prevention of conflicts. As African Union Champion for Youth, Peace and Security, I take this opportunity to advocate for the better inclusion and effective participation of young people in the development programmes of our respective States. In that regard, I welcomed the decision of the General Assembly to establish a United Nations Youth Office, and I congratulate Secretary-General António Guterres, who proposed that flagship idea in his report Our Common Agenda (A/75/982). That is how intergenerational trust and solidarity can truly be sources of peace and security for sustainable development. A supporter of non-discrimination against young people and women, the Burundian Government has chosen to take advantage of their many talents and broad knowledge and to promote their economic empowerment. Thus, in a desire to accelerate the implementation of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development, free education in Burundi since 2005 has enabled Burundian girls to exercise their right to quality education and thereby prepare for active participation in national life. For two decades, Burundi has improved gender relations in the political arena by setting the representation of women in the National Assembly and the Senate at at least 30 per cent. That rate is today around 50 per cent in Parliament, the Government and positions of responsibility. Eager to leave no one behind in its drive for socioeconomic development, the Government of Burundi is sparing no effort to promote the emancipation and empowerment of all specific groups of its population. With that in mind, the Batwa community, long victims of discrimination, now benefits from a policy of positive discrimination in the education, health and housing systems. Free health care for children and pregnant women has also contributed to improving the living conditions of women in general and Batwa families in particular. I have taken my time in describing the situation in my country to demonstrate that Burundi is back on track and has earned its place in the concert of nations. It is a country that has recently overcome a difficult moment in its history but that has all the assets to go very far in development. In reality, while Burundi today may be a burden for development partners, tomorrow the situation could change if we manage to obtain substantial start-up capital to definitively exit the category of less developed countries. We want a better world, but our world faces a multitude of conflicts that we must collectively oppose with unity and fraternity. Countries in difficulty need all of us. It is therefore in a spirit of solidarity that, within the East African Community that I chair, we have initiated a series of actions with a view to restoring peace and security in eastern Democratic Republic of the Congo. Burundi also participates in peacekeeping and counter-terrorism operations in the Central African Republic and Somalia, which demonstrates the desire of the Burundian people to contribute to the advent of a better and more united world. Thus, in reiterating my call for international solidarity for the pacification of eastern Democratic Republic of the Congo, Burundi reaffirms its unwavering support for the Luanda and Nairobi peace processes and the Peace, Security and Cooperation Framework for the Democratic Republic of Congo and the Region, whose Regional Oversight Mechanism is chaired by Burundi. On this subject, if we insist on restoring trust among States, we should succeed together in condemning certain fishermen in troubled waters who fuel conflicts and destabilize other States. Let us dare to say that the political and security instability of the countries of the South, especially in Africa, arises from the desire of Powers that want to guide the internal policies of developing countries. Africa in particular, having become the arena for geopolitical clashes among great Powers, is still years behind in terms of economic development. It is that economic deficit that has become the cause of the internal conflicts that continue to push our countries into extreme poverty. At the same time as we protest external interference in the affairs of States, we also condemn the resurgence of unconstitutional changes of power, which constitute a serious setback to the democratic gains recorded over several years in Africa and around the world. The constitutional order and the rule of law must take precedence above all. My country reiterates its firm commitment to the peaceful resolution of conflicts through dialogue, cooperation, consultation and negotiation. Generally speaking, peace, security and stability in the world seem to be giving way to war, terrorism and violent extremism, crimes and violence of all kinds. In that respect, at a time when the African Union Transitional Mission in Somalia is preparing to withdraw in the coming months as its successful mandate comes to an end, I salute the professionalism and sacrifice of the troops committed to peace in Somalia, including the Burundian contingent. I also take this opportunity to draw the attention of the international community to the consequences of the hasty closure of the Mission, which risks giving terrorist groups the opportunity to strengthen themselves. Concerning the climate crisis, I welcome the commitments already made by States, in particular through the various international consultations on the climate issue to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and to finance environmental protection, climate resilience and the green transition of less polluting countries. We want to see those commitments followed up by concrete action, because the failure to mobilize $100 billion per year since 2020 through the Paris Agreement on Climate Change, and annually until 2025, endangers future generations. We believe that the twenty-eighth Conference of the Parties to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change, which will be held this year in Dubai, will be an excellent opportunity to transform promises into realities. Regarding the intensification of the migratory phenomenon, we are all aware of its scale and of the resulting threats to peace and security. Indeed, that movement, which worries rich countries, is the consequence of poverty because migrants in search of a better life leave deprived areas to earn a living in more affluent areas. Reducing the migratory phenomenon will necessarily involve the adoption of appropriate and concerted measures enabling young people to improve their chances of finding decent work, self-employment or entrepreneurship opportunities, particularly through the implementation of programmes aimed at achieving the objectives of sustainable development at the national level. We are called upon to focus our efforts on a global partnership that seeks to combat poverty in all its forms. However, while awaiting a lasting solution, the countries of transit and destination should understand and provide dignified and humane assistance to migrants and guarantee them the enjoyment of their fundamental human rights. Respect for human rights is a subject on which we all agree. May those rights be universal and indivisible for all. My country has always opposed discrimination, the weaponization of human rights and their treatment by double standards. We condemn States that, under the pretext of protecting human rights, use them as a means of interfering in the internal affairs of States. Likewise, we are against politically motivated resolutions targeting particular States, as well as the implementation of mechanisms stifling targeted States without any form of constructive dialogue. Allow me, before closing my speech, to reaffirm our commitment to the democratization of the multilateral system, including the reform of the Security Council and the international financial system, to make them more representative, fair, inclusive and able to more effectively tackle emerging challenges around the world. International law recognizes the principle of the sovereign equality of all States ,which must therefore enjoy the same international rights and duties, including in the sensitive sector of maintaining international peace and security. I thank the States members of the Security Council, some of which understand the wish long expressed by Africa. On this International Day of Peace, I would like to close my speech by paying vibrant tribute to our valiant peacekeepers wherever they may be, because they defend a universal cause that transcends all our differences. For peace, let us rebuild trust and revive international solidarity.

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

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

On behalf of the General Assembly, I have the honour to welcome to the United Nations His Excellency Mr. Aleksandar Vučić, President of the Republic of Serbia, and to invite him to address the Assembly. President Vučić: I stand before the Assembly as the representative of a free and independent country, the Republic of Serbia, which is on its European Union (EU) accession path, but which at the same time is not ready to turn its back on traditional friendships it has been building for centuries. I want to raise my voice on behalf of my country, but also on behalf of those who today, 78 years after the establishment of the United Nations, truly and equally believe that the principles of the Charter of the United Nations are the only substantial defence of world peace, the right to freedom and the independence of nations and countries; but more than that, they are a pledge of the very survival of the human civilization. The new global wave of wars and violence that are impacting the foundations of international security is a painful consequence whose cause lies in abandoning the principles envisaged in the United Nations Charter. All of us, speaking in this renowned Organization, speak about our own problems, confronting often a real and imaginary enemy, patronizing our own public, or telling fairy tales of the future with an insufficiently realistic view of the issues. What does the future of the world look like? Even though all of us listened to the words of the Secretary-General, not many actually heard and almost not a single world news outlet conveyed his words of warning. Nevertheless, in an era of social network dominance, when the only important thing is to get one more “like”; in an era when a pet gets more attention than a child, it is no wonder that we cannot recognize the dangers that are in front of us. As the President of one not-so-big country, I cannot and have no right to speak about relations between great Powers. It is neither my job, nor could I do so, but I can — and I will — speak about how inobservance of international public law can bring horrible consequences. The attempt to cut my country into pieces, which formally started in 2008 with the unilateral declaration of independence of so-called Kosovo, has not ended yet. It was precisely the violation of the United Nations Charter in the case of Serbia that was one of the visible precursors of the numerous problems we are all facing today, which go far beyond the borders of my country and the region I come from. Broadly observed, since we last met in this Hall the world is neither a better nor a safer place — quite the opposite. Global peace and stability remain under acute threat. We continue to face problems related to energy security, financial instability, and security and disruptions in the food and medication supply chains. Not only have we not found solutions to many problems, but they have become more numerous, and some have even grown more complex. I have also spoken about how nobody here listens to anyone and or strives for real agreements. In the meantime, we have started to talk even less and less. It is as if virtually all, guided solely by their own interests and entrenched in their positions, have given up on seeking compromise solutions. While for three days in a row we pledge from this place to respect of principles and rules of the United Nations Charter, their violation is rooted precisely in most of the problems in international relations, and the implementation of dual standards is an open invitation to all those who strive to achieve their interests through war and violence, by violating not only the norms of international law but also basic human morality. All the speakers so far — and, I believe, all who will speak after me — have spoken of the necessity of changes in the world, underlining their own countries as exemplars of morality and commitment to the law and world justice. Today I will not utter many superlatives about my country; about the growth of salaries and pensions or about hundreds of kilometres of constructed highways and railroads, newly built hospitals and schools, science-technology parks or the artificial intelligence institute, because it is a natural thing that I protect its interests and that I love it more than anything in the world. But I will speak about the principles that have been violated and that have brought us to the situation in which we are today. Those principles were violated not by the small States, which are often the targets of attack, but by the most powerful countries in the world, especially those that give themselves the right to lecture, each from its own angle, on politics and morals to the whole world. Here in this Hall only two days ago (see A/78/ PV.4), we heard the President of the United States speak of the most important principle in relations between countries: respect for territorial integrity and sovereignty. It was only as the third most important factor that he mentioned human rights. It seemed to me that everybody in this Hall could support that. I, as the President of Serbia, supported it with unhidden jubilance. The only problem in all that was the fact that, a few hours after his speech, I had to see on these premises the President of so-called Kosovo, who is considered by the most powerful part of the West to be the President of an independent country — originating, by the way, through its secession from the territory of the Republic of Serbia. At the same time, only a few metres away from this Hall, the German Minister said that Germany firmly observed the Charter of the United Nations and United Nations decisions and documents, and that it would never give up on that. All that would be nice if it were true. Specifically, almost all Western Powers brutally violated both the United Nations Charter and Security Council resolution 1244 (1999), which was adopted in this renowned Organization, just as they denied and violated those very principles that they are defending today. This happened, first, 24 years ago and then exactly 15 years ago. For the first time, unprecedented in world history, the most powerful 19 countries made the decision, without the involvement of the Security Council  — I repeat, without any decision by the Security Council  — to brutally attack and punish a sovereign country on European soil, as they said, to prevent a humanitarian disaster. They did not laugh out loud when the Russian President used the very same words to justify his attack against Ukraine. They forgot that they themselves had used the same narrative, the same words and the same explanations. I would therefore like to inform members of the Assembly that Serbia has not set foot in the territory of any other country or threatened its existence; but 24 years ago, the most powerful and the strongest 19 showed no mercy to small Serbia. Even when they had finished that job, they said that the issue of Kosovo was a democratic issue and that it would be resolved in accordance with the United Nations Charter and other documents of international law. And then, contrary to absolutely all documents of international public law, it occurred to them in 2008 to support the independence of so-called Kosovo. The illegal decision on the secession of the Autonomous Province of Kosovo and Metohija from Serbia was made a decade after the armed conflict in our country had ended. Without a referendum or any other democratic form of declaring their stance to the citizens of Serbia or at least to those in Kosovo and Metohija itself, that decision was made at a moment when Serbia had a Government committed to European and Euro-Atlantic integration and when it included in its composition the province of Kosovo and Metohija. Serbia was then a full-fledged Member not only of the United Nations, but also of the Council of Europe, the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe and many other international organizations. Nevertheless, that did not prevent legal and political violence from being wielded by those who are today at the forefront in lecturing from this rostrum. Pointless and meaningless explanations — such as the police terror that Serbian authorities had carried out in its southern province a decade earlier, the humanitarian crisis or the expulsion of the local Albanian population  — were only the drop that overspilled the glass of lies and nonsense in order to justify the violence against a sovereign country and undermine its integrity. Since the moment of victory of those 19 against small Serbia, 70 per cent of Serbs from Kosovo and Metohija have left their homes, and there are now 300,000 Albanians more than there had ever been in Kosovo. Well, so much for the law; so much for justice. Nevertheless, worse than anything else is the fact that all those who committed aggression against the Republic of Serbia lecture today about the territorial integrity of Ukraine, as if we did not support the integrity of Ukraine. We do support it and we will keep supporting it, because we do not change our politics and principles, regardless of our centuries-long traditional friendship with the Russian Federation. To us, every violence is the same; every violation of the United Nations Charter is the same, regardless of the strength of the Power that exerts it or the inevitably similar excuses it makes for its illegal and immoral behaviour. But when we ask them about the territorial integrity of the Republic of Serbia and about what they did to my country, the answer is the one that all of representatives of small countries in the world have heard on countless of occasions: “Do not go back to the past; look towards the future because it is the only way for your country to make progress.” When it comes to the territorial integrity of Ukraine, Serbia and any other country, all of us are entitled to speak about it from this rostrum, at least a bit more than they are. I am the President of Serbia in my second presidential term. On countless occasions I have been under various kinds of political pressure. I am a political veteran, and what I will say today is most important to me. Principles do not change from one circumstance to another. Principles do not apply only to the strong; they apply to all. If that is not the case, they are no longer principles. And that is why I believe that in the modern world there will either be principles and the same rules will apply to all, or, as the world, we will end up in the deepest divisions in our history, in the most difficult conflicts and in problems we will not manage to cope with. Another important thing is that peace has become a forbidden word because all of them have their favourites and their culprits. The only values that remain to the great Powers are precisely their principles, but false ones. As long as they are fine with them, they will call upon them. The first time — as was the case with Serbia — they disagreed with the principles, the aw and the rules, the law, justice and the principles suffered. Today in Kosovo and Metohija, a southern province of the Republic of Serbia, overt violence is taking place, directed against Serbs by the separatist authorities of Albin Kurti. Only last week, after who knows which failed round of dialogue in Brussels, the Prime Minister in Pristina, Mr. Albin Kurti, after rejecting the European proposal for de-escalation, addressed the public in front of one of the main buildings of the European Union and, before millions of viewers of the media that were present, conveyed to the not so many remaining Serbs in Kosovo that the Serbs will “suffer and pay for the mistake they made”. Is there anything worse than mocking humanity, the international rules- based order and the international community than these words? Unfortunately, that is possible. Only one day later, as we sit in this Hall, a new contingency of Serbs is being taken to Kurti’s prisons, apprehended pursuant to fabricated accusations, as a part of his terror campaign. Even worse are the actions continuously undertaken by Kurti’s extremist regime in the past 20 months and which, in practice, together with the repeated, accelerated displacement of the remaining Serbs, are turning into a crawling ethnic cleansing in the heart of Europe. Members can conclude for themselves just how deep the Kurti’s regime’s cynicism goes from the following. Since the European Union and United States State Secretary Antony Blinken issued a statement in early June, condemning the unilateral action of the so-called Government of Kosovo, ethnically motivated attacks against Serbs in our southern province have risen by 50 per cent, while during the same period the Pristina authorities have made 22 new escalatory moves. The Serbian boys Stefan Stojanovic and Milos Stojanovic, who are 11 and 21-years-old, respectively, were wounded on Christmas Eve by members of the so-called Kosovo security forces (KSF), in whose equipping some of the attendees in this Hall take part, knowing quite well that it is deeply illegal and that the mere existence of the KSF is contrary to Security Council resolution 1244 (1999). Seven innocent civilians have been shot by the representatives of the so-called Kosovo institutions. The disruption of the delivery of supplies to hospitals, election voting bans for Serbs alone, a comprehensive economic blockade of Serbian goods, and attacks against churches, graveyards and schools are a part of the sad daily life of my people in that part of our territory, parted by the violent secession contrary to the United Nations Charter. And hard as it is to believe, even though there has not been a single Albanian wounded, not a single suspect apprehended or a single injured Albanian, it is always somehow the fault of both sides. Unlike in 1999, when Belgrade and other cities in my country were bombed, leaving a bloody trail from several thousand dead civilians and soldiers in scenes that pretty much resemble those that we, unfortunately, are seeing today in different parts of the world when an obvious act of terror  — which they themselves say recalls what happened to Albanians — happens against Serbs, there is no humanitarian disaster; there is no call for action. There is nothing. They are only worried now and shrug their shoulders, but if they have to make any decisions, it will always be, as they put it, the fault of both sides. In such a world, I believe that one small Serbia, by raising its voice and fighting for universal values and the principles of the inviolability of internationally recognized borders, territorial integrity, sovereignty and political independence, sets an example of a fight for the right that was abolished here in this building, and protects the principles the world should be made of, with its not very great strength but with its paramount decisiveness and courage. We did not change those principles for the purpose of daily politics and our own needs. And just as we preserve the integrity of Serbia, we defend the integrity of each United Nations Member State. It is only a bit sad that all the big ones, which are not interested in the law and justice, call in different circumstances upon whatever principles they find the most suitable at that particular moment. When one follows such politics, when there is no morality in world politics, then it is clear that we are about to enter an era of big divisions and big conflicts — not only political and economic, but military ones as well. And in this very difficult situation, the United Nations is the last substantial platform that brings us all together, regardless of all our differences and divisions. I believe that the commitment to peace and development and the desire to resolve disputes through dialogue, to find common ways to end human suffering and to ensure a more prosperous and stable future are precisely what unites us. That is why we extend our full support to all important reform processes of the United Nations itself, including the initiatives of the Secretary-General. For the preservation of global peace and so that we all do not disappear in a Darwinist conflict led by great Powers, it is necessary to join forces, just like we did 78 years ago, in a common fight for an international order based on the United Nations Charter. Respecting the United Nations Charter is not a choice; it is an obligation. After all, as I have already said while mentioning some names, this is what we had the opportunity to hear during statements made by most colleagues while talking, among other issues, about the topic that is still dominant in all forums  — the conflict in Ukraine. I agree with them when it comes to the necessity of respecting the territorial integrity and sovereignty of Ukraine, which the Republic of Serbia has consistently done from the beginning. We have been making such appeals continuously for decades, but with a significant difference. Serbia supports the territorial integrity and sovereignty of all United Nations Member States — I repeat, all Member States. Therefore, it is hard for me to understand how some are still not acting in a consistent manner when it comes to the need to respect the territorial integrity of Serbia and how they fail to understand that the selective application of principles leads to pronounced divisions, a lack of solidarity and mutual understanding. However, I want to wholeheartedly thank the global majority. Significantly more than one half of United Nations Member States support the United Nations Charter in our case, and they do not support the violent partition of my country. I am glad that, for the majority of United Nations Member States, double standards are out of the question. We are deeply grateful to all who selflessly support our efforts to preserve our territorial integrity, thereby demonstrating their commitment to the United Nations Charter. By safekeeping their borders today, they safekeep their borders and they preserve peace. On their behalf, as well as on our behalf, we will continue, year after year, to underline that defending principles is the same as defending freedom, independence and peace. It often seems to us that the discussion with Pristina’s Government is more like a monologue than a dialogue because it is hard to explain why, more than 10 years after the signing of the Brussels Agreement and the ensuing obligations, the community of Serb majority municipalities has not been formed. The Republic of Serbia, its Government and all its institutions are working in their full capacity on the preservation of dialogue with the Pristina, under EU auspices. It is our task. Dialogue is possible only when all of us, including the European facilitators, adhere firmly to what has been agreed. The imbalance by which Serbia has to make concessions all the time is not leading towards a solution — quite the contrary. As I said at the beginning of my speech, Serbia is on its European path, ready to change, to reform itself and to make progress. Today Serbia has very good cooperation with the United States of America in almost all areas, and we believe that our relations will only be better in the future. At the same time, Serbia will cherish its big and traditional friendships on all continents, while being proud of its good relations with all the nations and countries of Africa, Asia and Latin America. We do not divide people by the colour of their skin or their religious affiliation; that is why our relations with the People’s Republic of China, many Arab and other Muslim countries are at the highest historical level. Nor have we cut our important and historical ties with the Russian Federation. Believing that dialogue is the only way to find a compromise solution, Serbia remains committed to that process in the aim of ensuring peaceful coexistence for Serbs and Albanians. The peace and stability of the region have no alternative. It is in that belief that we approach all discussions facilitated by the EU. As many here may know, different interpretations of history are the cause of many disagreements and open issues, and not only in our region. I believe in the future, and I believe that, by making joint efforts, we still have the capacity and ability to try to overcome our differences and focus on what connects us — our care for the well-being of our nations. We want to build bridges, not walls. We need to look towards the future. We need to move forward and to use every chance for economic growth, connectivity and the exchange of ideas. Today we have common toll collection from Belgrade almost to the Adriatic Sea, and soon we will have it to the Aegean Sea. We have opened the borders in the Balkans; we have opened the labour market and enabled the free flow of people, goods and capital. That was the very guiding star and initiator of the Open Balkan initiative, which has yielded concrete results so far and strengthened regional ownership of the processes of the economic connectivity of the region. The Open Balkan initiative has also improved the political atmosphere. We take such an approach to all our neighbours and our key interest is to preserve stability in the region and turn towards as intensive cooperation as possible in all areas. Those processes are certainly an inseparable part of our strivings to become a full-fledged member of the European Union, which is at the same time one of the key priorities of our foreign policy. This priority certainly does not exclude our commitment to cooperation development and the deepening of relations with our traditional friends in all parts of the world, and in particular in our region, where we remain a reliable and responsible partner. We will strive to strengthen existing and build new friendships, both bilaterally and through participation in the initiatives and forums of different regions all over the world. The latest confirmation that geographic distance should not be a barrier to cooperation is the recent accession of the Republic of Serbia to the Treaty of Amity and Cooperation in Southeast Asia. Additionally, we are proud of having been given a unique opportunity to make the spirit of friendship I speak of felt in Belgrade, which will host the specialized exhibition Expo 2027. We are grateful to all those who have supported us and had faith in us. After lengthy negotiations with a great deal of optimism, the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development, a plan of action for people, planet and prosperity, was adopted in this Hall in resolution 70/1, by which we pledged that no one would be left behind. Halfway to the deadline for meeting the goals of the Agenda, there is still a glimmer of hope that we will be able to fulfil the promise we gave, although there are many reasons for concern. Despite the progress that has been made in certain areas, unfortunately we are still facing basic existential problems such as poverty, hunger and inequality. Serbia puts maximum effort into securing a stable and safe future, at the same time initiating policies based on the Sustainable Development Goals. Among some of the results so far are the following: the development of instruments for integrating the principle of leaving no one behind into our legislative and strategic documents, as well as our participation in global initiatives and their implementation at the national level in the areas of sustainable food systems, the transformation of education systems and urban development. We have lived to see the fourth industrial revolution and new technologies as a development opportunity that we must not squander. That is why we continue investing in infrastructure, economic reforms and the creation of better business environment. Digitization and education are among our key priorities. The need to find new sources of growth has also been recognized. That is why our future activities will be focused on innovation, research and development and creative industries. Serbia is the first country in the South-East Europe region that joined the Global Partnership on Artificial Intelligence and adopted a development strategy in that area back in 2019. The BIO4 campus is being built; it is a unique, multidisciplinary complex for research and development in the natural sciences, which should become one of the key bioeconomic hubs in Europe. We firmly believe that knowledge and science play one of the key roles in accelerating activities towards the implementation of the 2030 Agenda. Therefore, I am proud that, at the proposal of the Republic of Serbia and like-minded countries, the General Assembly adopted resolution 77/326, declaring the period from 2024 to 2033 the International Decade of Sciences for Sustainable Development. We do all this for future generations. I believe that the involvement of young people in the implementation of the 2030 Agenda is an important prerequisite for its success because, beyond any doubt, the young are the most important development engine of every society. I believe that we are all aware that there is no development without peace. As Nelson Mandela said, “Peace is the greatest weapon for development that any person can have”. We must believe in that and work together on it. The conditio sine qua non is, first and foremost, conversation — to listen and to try to hear and understand each other. There is no alternative to peace. Finally, I want to take this opportunity to invite the representatives of all United Nations Member States to take part in the world exhibition Expo 2027. Belgrade, Serbia’s capital, a cosmopolitan metropolis with 2 million inhabitants, is home, and we extend a welcoming hand for participation in the freest and most diverse international exhibition so far. We invite everyone to Belgrade to celebrate humanity together. I know that I have spoken much longer than I was asked to do, but I have to say that I have given myself the same right to do so as the big Powers have given themselves.

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

The Assembly will now hear an address by the President of the Commonwealth of Dominica.

On behalf of the General Assembly, I have the honour to welcome to the United Nations His Excellency Mr. Charles Angelo Savarin, President of the Commonwealth of Dominica, and to invite him to address the Assembly. President Savarin: I bring warm greetings from the citizens of the Commonwealth of Dominica. My delegation, and by extension the Government and the people of the Commonwealth of Dominica, wish to congratulate Mr. Dennis Francis on his elevation to the office of President of the General Assembly at its seventy-eighth session and wish him every success during his term. As Dominica currently holds the chairmanship of the Caribbean Community (CARICOM), I also extend to him the support of CARICOM during his tenure. His appointment is testament to the fact that the contribution of small island developing States (SIDS) to the multilateral system is of crucial importance, particularly with the innumerable challenges confronting such States globally. Having served as Ambassador of the Republic of Trinidad and Tobago for several years, Mr. Francis’s experience and knowledge of many of the current issues impacting Member States should serve him well in leading the Assembly over the next year. It is quite evident that the challenges being faced globally can be daunting. The climate crisis seemingly will not go away, as evidenced, for example, by the recent wildfires in Hawaii and Canada, thereby illuminating the discussion on the need to give even more urgent attention to mitigation and climate financing. Global inflation has had a significant impact on the livelihood of the most vulnerable, while there is justification for increasing concern over chronic non-communicable diseases adversely impacting the health and wellness of our people. The conflict in Ukraine continues unabated, amidst the global call for an end to that terrible war. Such a situation would normally be unthinkable in the twenty- first century. As the conflict escalates, the World Bank’s most recent estimate for reconstruction and recovery of Ukraine is placed at $411 billion dollars. That figure is expected to increase the longer the conflict persists. All conflicts must eventually end at the negotiating table. Dominica therefore calls for an end to the fighting and for good-faith negotiations to prevail. We join all those resolute in their international obligation to uphold peace, as outlined in the Charter of the United Nations, and we support the call for a resolution to the issues giving rise to the conflict. To that end, Dominica endorses the joint declaration of the Group of 20 (G20) on the Russia-Ukraine conflict and other global issues, issued at the end of the eighteenth G20 Summit, held recently in New Delhi. While we in Dominica are opposed to coups and attempted coups, we are also aware that in 2010 there was a series of uprisings affecting Arab countries of the Middle East and North Africa, which was dubbed in the West the “Arab Spring”. Those uprisings, with at least the tacit support of the West, resulted in the removal of several Governments. There was no talk of sanctions or military intervention to restore the ousted Governments. Today we are witnessing what I refer to as the “African Summer” and we are hearing the drumbeat of sanctions and military intervention. What is the difference between the Arab Spring and the African Summer, I ask? The international community should pay heed to the wisdom of the leaders of the African Union, who have opposed military intervention and urged diplomatic engagement. The question is: Whose interest would military intervention serve? It is certainly not that of the people of Africa. We in Dominica and the Caribbean urge that, in all such situations, the interest of the population be foremost in any consideration of intervention by neighbouring countries and, indeed, by the international community. This year’s theme for the general debate is in keeping with the strides we should all be making at the international and multilateral levels to achieve the accelerated and progressive implementation of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development. The challenges faced by small island developing States in achieving that objective are considerable. Typically, the narrow fiscal space and the increase in economic and environmental losses attributable to changes in weather patterns and other climate-related events have served to increase our vulnerabilities exponentially. The evidence suggests that we live in an imperfect world by virtue of our inherent geophysical and socioeconomic characteristics, and that some countries, Dominica included, will always be disproportionately disadvantaged by the actions of others. In that regard, we welcome the High-level Dialogue on Financing for Development and the call of the Secretary-General to convene the Climate Ambition Summit. We are optimistic that this forum will be a practical demonstration of a commitment to securing the necessary funding to initiate transformative change. The key elements for accelerating realization of the 2030 Agenda include the harnessing of information and communications technologies (ICTs) and the role that science will play in ensuring effective decision-making. ICTs can provide a platform to get more done within a shorter period of time and further create an impetus to bridge the generational gap, allowing innovation and creativity to emerge to the fore. Our youth must be continually engaged, thereby engendering a sense of trust in their leaders and institutions. That is critical to ensuring that the significant gaps that currently exist between the haves and the have-nots are addressed and drastically reduced. Access to quality education, clean water, food security, proper health care, decent work, proper housing and economic growth, taken altogether, must be the foundation upon which we continue to ensure that no one is left behind. The immiserating of our more vulnerable societies by the unfair trade practices, must be replaced by trade practices that reasonably benefit primary producers and support and/or encourage downstream processing and manufacturing, while international resources must be targeted at the most vulnerable and indigent among us. Only then can we be assured of achieving a society of prosperity, progress and sustainability for all. Advancement towards the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) must be people-centred and complemented by policies that allow for security and peace. The Government of Dominica recognizes the central role of its citizens in the decision-making process on major national issues and, to that end, Government has engaged the expertise of the international community in reviewing its electoral system and has embarked on a wide cross-sectoral consultation to hear varying views from every segment of society on recommendations for electoral reform in the country. It is therefore anticipated that when the final measures are brought before Parliament, they will be in keeping with the views of the majority. The Commonwealth of Dominica will continue to identify with and champion the agenda of small island developing states at the international level. Accordingly, we wish to emphasize the need for the implementation of the loss and damage fund agreed upon at the twenty-seventh Conference of the Parties to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change. The implementation of the fund will allow SIDS to access the required resources earmarked for the recovery of our vulnerable economies post-disaster and further facilitate the creation of a vital safety net for our people. Over the past 30 years, SIDS have been advocating for resilience-building measures based on our inherent vulnerabilities and the frequency and magnitude of increase in global shocks. The lack of adequate assistance from development partners and international financial institutions has forced Governments to borrow at unfavourable terms, resulting in high repayment costs and unsustainable debt levels for our fragile economies. To that end, Dominica fully supports the work on the multidimensional vulnerability index, which can contribute to unlocking the type of financing that is so urgently required. In addition, Dominica pledges its full support and participation in the upcoming fourth International Conference on SIDS, to be held in Antigua and Barbuda in 2024. The Conference should serve as a watershed moment for all SIDS, such that action-oriented outcomes can be derived. Moreover, mindful of the confluence of challenges confronting SIDS today, there should be no further delay in the much-needed reform of international financial institutions to address the contemporary realities of debt distress and debt solvency. Dominica therefore joins fellow States members of CARICOM in support of the Bridgetown Initiative as a core blueprint for restructuring the architecture of sovereign debt. My delegation unreservedly welcomes the adoption of the agreement under the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea on the conservation and sustainable use of marine biological diversity of areas beyond national jurisdiction. Building on the legacy of the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea, that achievement reaffirms the United Nations role in facilitating the implementation of multilaterally agreed solutions to global challenges. Dominica supports the early entry into force of the agreement, as well as its implementation. My delegation further welcomes the commitments, shared by all, to ensure capacity- building and transfer of marine technology to support developing countries in their quest to implement and benefit from the said agreement. The prevailing situation in our fellow CARICOM member State of Haiti is a dire one that deserves urgent international intervention. Haiti faces deep-rooted crises on multiple fronts, many of them arising from its post-independence relations with the international community, poor governance over the years and the lingering effects of the catastrophic devastation visited on that country by a 7.0 magnitude earthquake in January of 2010. To date, while there may have been preliminary figures, I am not aware of any comprehensive assessment detailing the extent of the destruction of the 2010 earthquake or of a World Bank estimate of the cost of reconstruction, as has been done with the situation in Ukraine. The fact remains that since 2010, Haiti has been hit by several earthquakes, hurricanes, floods, pandemics and sociopolitical instability. If ever there was a cause deserving the full attention of the international community, that cause is Haiti. The Commonwealth of Dominica aligns itself with processes outlined by the Organization of American States in August 2022 to support the people of Haiti, and decisions taken by CARICOM, at its 45th regular meeting of the Conference of Heads of Government in July, to lend active support to the Government and the people of Haiti in their efforts to arrive at a Haitian-led solution to the ongoing crisis. While both those institutions have offered commendable and necessary recommendations, even collectively those will not be sufficient to normalize the current situation in Haiti. We have accepted that the crises in Haiti are not limited to food shortage and security. The Integrated Food Security Phase Classification report lays bare the severity of Haiti’s food crisis, noting that nearly half of the population of 11 million is grappling with high levels of acute food insecurity. Additionally, the humanitarian situation is being further aggravated by a national security problem, including the illicit flow of arms and ammunition and gang-related violence. The Commonwealth of Dominica is of the view that a strategy that addresses the root causes of instability in Haiti will be embraced by the people of Haiti. We also underscore that such an approach cannot be pursued without the unwavering support of the international community. My delegation therefore calls on the Security Council to move decisively to offer support to Haiti in key priority areas, including security, governance, education, health, water and electricity, sustainable livelihoods and long-term development planning and advocacy. Dominica continues to stand with the overwhelming majority of the international community in calling for the removal of the 60-year-old economic blockade imposed on the Republic of Cuba by the United States. In November 2022, this organ voted overwhelmingly in favour of resolution 77/7— 185 to 2 — condemning the embargo; even Ukraine could not bring itself to support the United States in that outdated and unjust measure and abstained in the voting. This organ must continue to condemn that egregious violation until it is lifted, as it has severely impacted the lives and livelihoods of ordinary Cuban citizen for the past six decades. Additionally, the inclusion of that country on the United States State Department’s unilateral list of State sponsors of terrorism is entirely unjustified. Furthermore, my delegation supports the lifting of sanctions imposed on the people of the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela. That hegemonic situation constitutes a violation of the human rights of the Venezuelan people. We therefore stand in solidarity with the Government and the people of the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela and look forward to a complete lifting of all such sanctions, thus allowing for the realization of the great potential for rapid socioeconomic development of that great nation. Finally, as one of the more vulnerable small island States that were devastated in 2015 by Tropical Storm Erika, resulting in significant loss of life and the loss of over 90 per cent of our gross domestic product (GDP), and was again struck by Hurricane Maria in 2017, resulting in the loss of 226 per cent of our GDP, we empathize with the Government and the people of the Kingdom of Morocco, who were struck by a 6.8 magnitude earthquake on 8 September, resulting in over 3,000 deaths and twice as many injuries and the complete devastation of several communities. Similarly, Dominica empathizes with the Government and the people of Libya, who experienced flooding of biblical proportions, resulting in the loss of more than 20,000 lives, with thousands of citizens still unaccounted for, according to United Nations reports, and incalculable devastation in terms of infrastructure and built heritage. We welcome the responses of neighbouring countries and the international community to the catastrophes in both of those North African countries and urge even greater response in line with the magnitude of these natural disasters. I end by calling on all States Members of the United Nations to recommit themselves to the Organisation as an instrument of our joint obligation to the global community, and I wish all representatives to this seventy-eighth session every success during these deliberations.

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

The Assembly will now hear an address by the President of the Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka and Head of State.

On behalf of the General Assembly, I have the honour to welcome to the United Nations His Excellency Mr. Ranil Wickremesinghe, President of the Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka and Head of State, and to invite him to address the Assembly. President Wickremesinghe: I congratulate Mr. Dennis Francis of Trinidad and Tobago on his election as President of the General Assembly at its seventy-eighth session. I extend my sincere condolences to the victims and families of the natural disasters that hit Morocco and Libya in recent days. We stand in solidarity with our Moroccan and Libyan friends during this difficult time. “Rebuilding trust and reigniting solidarity” is an appropriate point of departure not only for reflecting on the challenges before the multilateral system today, but also for reviewing developments in my own country, Sri Lanka, over the past year. At this time last year, amidst multiple global crises, Sri Lanka was experiencing its most challenging period in recent times, socially, economically and politically, which had a devastating impact on people’s lives. Even our democratic traditions were threatened by attempts to occupy our Parliament and bring it to a halt. Nevertheless, we succeeded in bringing about a democratic political transition, due to our deeply entrenched and resilient democratic traditions. The restoration of Sri Lanka’s economy, coupled with a gift of fertilizer from the United States Government that led to a bumper harvest, assisted us in ensuring stability during that period. The reforms I have since initiated in the economic, financial, institutional and reconciliation fronts have been directed, on the one hand, towards rebuilding trust and confidence between the people and the Government and, on the other, towards laying the foundation for economic stabilization and recovery. Sri Lankans are already witnessing the positive outcomes of those measures in their daily lives and the revival of confidence internally and externally in the progress of the country. It is my intention to lead the country towards sustainable and stable recovery and growth, which will benefit all segments of Sri Lankan society in all parts of the country, ensuring a future of peace, prosperity and reconciliation for present and future generations of women and men. In reaching that goal, we will be accompanied by the support, trust and solidarity of our own people and of the international community. As we turn the corner towards the eightieth anniversary of the United Nations and prepare for the Summit of the Future in 2024, we see the fragmented geopolitical landscape of a multipolar world where new centres of global power have emerged. Accompanying that systemic change are, on the one hand, great expectations of development and human progress, with millions of people rising out of poverty to prosperity. On the other hand, we see a world where former big- Power rivalries and geopolitical tensions have reignited in open war, overlapping with new theatres of conflict and tension on land and in the oceans. Security alliances have expanded, and recent arrangements have been formed to deal with strategic threat perceptions in old and new theatres of conflict. North-South divisions are widening with the digital divide, the financial and debt crisis and the energy transition. Contrary to the promise of 2030, today we are seeing levels of poverty and hunger not witnessed in decades. Neutral, non-aligned countries of the global South such as Sri Lanka are once again constrained between new global power configurations, facing those who do not respect the sovereignty of our nations. In numerous recent declarations at the United Nations and beyond — including at the Group of 20 (G20) in Delhi, at the Pretoria meeting of the BRICS countries Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa, and at the Group of Seven in Hiroshima  — we have agreed that our challenges are interconnected across borders and all other divides. We must grasp the opportunity to unite in order to build an inclusive future for future generations. It is an appropriate reflection of the current global predicament that the theme of this year’s general debate is “Rebuilding trust and reigniting global solidarity: Accelerating action on the 2030 Agenda and its Sustainable Development Goals towards peace, prosperity, progress, and sustainability for all” . This year, in parallel with the General Assembly, we have participated in three interrelated summits dealing with accelerating the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), financing for development and climate ambition, at which we agreed that international solidarity and collective action are needed to address those simultaneously. The cross-border financial impacts of crises, such as climate change and the pandemic, are impeding the ability of smaller indebted countries, such as mine, to make progress on the SDGs and climate adaptation and mitigation. Conflicts and tensions among big Powers are complicating the policy environment for the rest by adding uncertainty to economic and macrofinancial stability, disrupting supply chains and causing inflation, as well as food and energy insecurity. Long before the SDGs, Sri Lanka had achieved high human and social development indicators that ranked us in a category well above other middle-income countries. Sri Lanka has not shirked its responsibility to the planet. Last year, at the twenty-seventh Conference of the Parties to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change, we outlined our climate ambition plan. We said that by 2030, we would have 70 per cent renewable energy in electricity generation, increase forest cover by 32 per cent and reduce greenhouse gas emissions by 14.5 per cent. We will phase out coal by 2040 and reach net zero by 2050. Our low- carbon development trajectory has given us one of the lowest per capita carbon emission rates of any lower middle-income country. This year, as a result of exogenous shocks and debt, the incremental progress we were proud to have achieved has been reversed. Food inflation costs put significant pressure on food security amongst vulnerable communities. At the same time, children’s education and nutrition have suffered due to the pandemic and the economic crisis. In parallel, last month in Sri Lanka we were grappling with the driest weather spell seen in recent years, followed by torrential rainfalls. Adverse climate outcomes are spilling over into our tight fiscal space just as we begin to stabilize from last year’s economic crisis. As Sri Lanka is a climate-vulnerable developing country in debt crisis, the urgent need to mobilize climate finance is greater today than it ever was before. However, despite promises made to which we were all witness, the rich countries are not delivering to expectation. Developed countries must do their part and fulfil what they have agreed to, assume their share of the common but differentiated responsibility, and provide assistance for mitigation, adaptation and compensation for loss and damage. National efforts alone will not suffice to ensure the success of the SDGs and reverse climate change. The need for global solidarity to restructure the international financial architecture is paramount. That is articulated loud and clear in multiple global forums, including at the G20 and the BRICS. The Secretary-General’s SDG stimulus highlights the interconnections between the achievement of the SDGs, combatting climate change and the concrete interventions required by creditors sovereign and private, as well as by the international financial institutions, including to mitigate the debt crisis. It is an accepted estimate that the 2008 financial crisis cost the United States economy $4 trillion. Recent studies in the United States have stated that the impact of the pandemic on the United States economy from 2020 to 2024 would reach $14 trillion. Those numbers would more than double if the rest of the global economy were added. We have not faced an economic crisis of this magnitude any time before in our modern history. The cost of the Second World War in today’s United States dollars would amount to only $4 trillion and the Marshall Plan would cost $150 billion. That illustrates the magnitude of the challenge before us. If we are unable to restructure the global fiscal order, then certainly we will fail in the struggle to reverse climate change and achieve the SDG goals. There is still time for course correction, as the crisis has not reached its peak. At the same time, the Paris Summit for a New Global Financing Pact will come up with the funding requirements. Therefore, the Summit of the Future should not craft new programmes, but restructure the present financial architecture to suit the needs created by climate change and sustainable development. That must be the priority of the General Assembly. We cannot afford to allow divisions to drive focus away from the crisis. While key issues such as the Bridgetown Initiative and the necessity to address the debt of low-income countries are being discussed in the Assembly, it is not commanding the attention it deserves. Unfortunately, the Security Council has failed to give priority to the connected issues of climate change, debt relief and sustainable development. That impacts the future of humankind. The survival of the planet must be our priority; we cannot afford to go into this war with a divided high command. The future of all species on the globe is dependent on our ability to set aside our rivalries until the crisis is resolved. The multilateral machinery, which reflects the world of the past century, needs to be reformed to meet the challenges of the present and the future. That machinery has failed to find a solution to the long- standing Palestine question. The composition of the Security Council must be expanded to be representative of current global diversity and decision-making. In parallel, the role of the General Assembly must be strengthened. We are asking that the permanent members engage in a credible dialogue that would lead to a unified approach to combat those threats ahead of the coming sessions. I repeat — we are asking that the permanent members engage in a credible dialogue that would lead to a unified approach to combat those threats ahead of the coming sessions. While we seek solidarity and financing to alleviate poverty and climate challenges, global military expenditures have risen today to record levels reaching $2.24 trillion. That reflects the strategic trust deficit among the powerful. Key arms control frameworks that were instrumental in maintaining system stability in the past have collapsed, and nuclear conflict is once again under open discussion, potentially and apocalyptically triggered by autonomous control. We urge restraint in the increase of military expenditure, which leads to escalation of conflict. Developing countries have been the voice of sanity and reason in that regard for decades. In keeping with Sri Lanka’s long-standing position in support of the disarmament of weapons of mass destruction and nuclear weapons, this year Sri Lanka ratified the Comprehensive Nuclear-Test-Ban Treaty. Yesterday we acceded to the Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons. The war in Ukraine has far-reaching and severe financial and humanitarian repercussions on food, hunger and debt in all parts of the world, including Sri Lanka. It is recalled that the Charter of the United Nations vests powerful States in the Security Council with the responsibility to maintain international peace and security and to de-escalate rather than ignite conflict. We need to halt the momentum whereby this and other big-Power tensions are spilling over into established areas of international rules-based cooperation forged over decades of multilateral negotiation, ranging from international trade to ocean governance. The international system is today undergoing vast changes. At the same time, it is being confronted with unprecedented challenges. We come to the United Nations to demonstrate solidarity in arriving at common solutions. What is at stake is not the future of the United Nations, but the future of our planet as a whole. Member States will need to find new ways of working together despite the increasing mistrust that has permeated international relations. We who have not been able to find a solution to the Palestinian question must now be able at least to find a solution to the questions that threaten the existence of the global community. That can be achieved through the willingness of the permanent members to work together in solidarity with the developing world. They must show the way.

On behalf of the General Assembly, I wish to thank the President of the Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka and Head of State for the statement he has just made.

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

On behalf of the General Assembly, I have the honour to welcome to the United Nations His Excellency Mr. Denis Sassou Nguesso, President of the Republic of the Congo, and to invite him to address the Assembly. President Nguesso (spoke in French): Like most of the speakers who have preceded me, I too would like to express my fraternal compassion and solidarity with the people of Morocco and Libya, who have been deeply bereaved in recent days by natural disasters with unspeakable consequences. Just a few weeks ago, I received a report from a mission that I had sent to Libya as part of the African Union peace and reconciliation mission that I have been leading for almost six years. The report of that mission testified at length to the courage and resilience of the Libyan people, tired of living in division; a people who fight to shake off the demons of the partition of the country and to find the path of truth, reconciliation and peace; a people determined to embark on the path to recovery and regain prosperity. It is to those brave and courageous people, who have given so much to Africa, that I extend my sincere condolences. The theme of our general debate very clearly summarizes our common desire to qualitatively change the world. That was already the generous philosophy and purpose of the 17 Sustainable Development Goals of the United Nations 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development to ensure peace, security and prosperity for all people on Earth. Whether it is about eliminating poverty and hunger in the world, thanks to a fairer and more equitable global economy and to more efficient and sustainable agriculture; or whether it is about guaranteeing good health for the greatest number and quality education for the most disadvantaged, those are only absolute priorities. So too, among others, are the supply of water and electricity to the broadest social strata; the construction of road, rail, port, airport and energy infrastructure to connect territories, countries, regions and subregions; the preservation of biodiversity ecosystems, in particular through responsible management of the tropical forests, which are among the most precious heritages that we have received from providence; the fight to change mentalities in the world, with respect for the diversity of cultural expressions and reciprocal tolerance; the anchoring in our societies of the idea of gender equality and male-female parity; and the empowerment of women and girls. On that last point, I would like to underline the preponderant share in the responsibility that women have assumed in my country over the past 15 years. Today they are making an outstanding contribution to the promotion of their rights and freedoms, to the fight for the elimination of poverty and to the intensification of inclusive education, through all-round training and learning. In short, all the priorities that I have just listed call on each of us to demonstrate a high sense of duty and responsibility, an openness to the virtues of dialogue, a solid impulse of solidarity, patience and resilience. The balance of nations in the world seems to me to be largely dependent on that development and that option. The climate is today the most pressing of all emergencies. This emergency touches the heart of life in all its diversity. It calls our existence in all its complexity into question. The continual rise in sea levels that is endangering island countries, the sweeping desertification that nothing seems to stop, the suffocating heatwaves that kill many elderly people again and again, the repetitive floods and sudden mudslides that cause such visible damage — all those phenomena are as dangerous as they are devastating, and they now concern even the most sceptical among us. That is why, assuming my share of responsibility in my capacity as President of the Congo Basin Climate Commission, I launched, at the twenty- seventh Conference of the Parties to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change in Egypt, the Global Decade of Afforestation initiative for biodiversity and denser plant cover at the service of humankind. In the same vein, my country, the Republic of the Congo, has committed to hosting, next October, a summit of the three basins of biodiversity ecosystems and tropical forests  — Congo, Amazon and Borneo-Mekong-South-East Asia — as a collective and concerted response from those three green lungs of the planet to the climate insecurity that is now so threatening. Since the dawn of time, as we all know, the forest has supported millions and millions of people. With one of the lowest deforestation rates in the world — only 0.06 per cent — my country is playing its full part in preserving the environment in the name of the survival of humankind. Today we can only rejoice at the happy outcome of the inscription process of the Odzala- Kokoua natural park on the World Heritage List, which was concluded at the 45th session of the UNESCO World Heritage Committee, held recently in Riyadh. That was undeniably an act of recognition that duly rewards the efforts of my country in the preservation of that natural jewel of nearly 1.2 million hectares, rich in animal and plant biodiversity, in the heart of the Congo basin. The sacrifices made by local populations by voluntarily abandoning certain activities likely to harm the environment and the renunciation by States of development projects to preserve biodiversity ecosystems should also elicit action on the part of the international community financial compensation, which would in no way be charity. In Africa, in terms of agricultural development, we know that we must protect arable land from the harmful impacts of climate change. Without that precaution, production forecasts would become completely uncertain and nothing could be controlled. Our responsibility as leaders is overwhelming in that regard. Indeed, with a population that could amount to some 2 billion inhabitants in 2050, Africa must now make a qualitative leap to secure sufficient quality food tomorrow and to forever exorcize the spectres of famine and the exodus of its populations. Africa urgently needs modern agriculture, supported in particular by efficient irrigation and mechanization systems  — an agriculture that must enable it to significantly reduce its food imports, which remain too high. That is why I call for efficient technical and financial partnerships for substantial progress in that sector. Africa has no need for partnerships underpinned by politically oriented official development assistance, which is synonymous with organized almsgiving. Subsidies in dribs and drabs, doled out to the rhythm of the donors’ own interests, will certainly not allow the real and effective development of our continent. This session of the General Assembly is being held at a time when wars and other armed conflicts are raging around the world. This is the place to hammer home once again that no significant progress will be possible on any continent or in any country without peace. The hope of achieving the Sustainable Development Goals assigned by the United Nations will only be a pipe dream if we do not ourselves create the first of all the conditions necessary for their achievement — namely, peace. For its part and whenever circumstances have permitted, the Republic of the Congo has always worked for the peaceful resolution of conflicts in Africa and around the world. That is how my country decided to take an active part in the African initiative for peace mediation between Russia and Ukraine. Due to the threat of widespread warfare that such events pose to the world, not only the two protagonists in this conflict, but also the foreign Powers that can influence the course of events in the direction of peace should all temper their ardour, stop fanning the embers and engage without delay in peace negotiations  — fair, sincere and equitable negotiations. The world urgently needs those negotiations to prevent the ongoing clashes, which are already so devastating, from further escalating and tipping humankind into what could be an irremediable cataclysm, that is to say, a total war that would spin out of the control of the great Powers themselves. I remain convinced that the wise recommendations made by Africa to restore peace between Ukraine and Russia will eventually be taken into account. In my capacity as Chairman of the African Union High-Level Committee on Libya, I cannot remain silent before the Assembly concerning the tragic situation which that country has been experiencing since 2011. It is a situation in which I am deeply invested in the name of the African Union. The peace efforts made within the framework of that thorny issue continued recently, in July, in the context of a reconciliation meeting that took place in Brazzaville, in my country, and that allowed several actors representing the heart of Libyan political and social sensitivities to sit at the same table. Everything was done to persuade the protagonists to transcend their differences and to ally their understandings of the challenges facing tomorrow’s Libya. The inter-Libyan reconciliation conference that the mediation I chair is seeking to convene will make sense only if it is inclusive, constructive and consensual. It must allow our Libyan brothers and sisters to reconnect through the virtue of dialogue by ceasing to look at each other as if they were strangers, to learn to forgive each other and to give precedence to justice, on the basis of the rule of law whose history they are called on to write. I call once again for the support of the international community, starting with the countries of the subregion and the organizations that unite them, without forgetting the so-called Quartet countries, with a view to winning concrete support for our efforts in order to open a solid and credible prospect for the definitive resolution of the crisis, which has lasted too long. Faced with the unilateralism that is dangerously eroding the foundations of the beautiful edifice that so many generations have worked to build since 1945, the Republic of the Congo, through my voice, reaffirms its commitment to multilateralism, a guarantee of justice in international relations, balance, equity, peace and cooperation for shared development. Multilateralism, as we all know, can prosper only in a fair and equitable global system that no longer reflects the fantasies of the past, but the developments and realities of our time. There is therefore an urgent need to reform its go-to tool, the Security Council, in order to ensure a fairer representation of all continents and all peoples of the world. In that regard, Africa has a Common Position, a conciliatory and consensual position, sealed at Ezulwini, that my country has championed tirelessly for more than a decade. I reiterate here and now the African demand, legitimate in all respects, to see two of its States sit on the Security Council as permanent members, with the right of veto. That would be the only just outcome before history.

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

The Assembly will now hear an address by the President of the Republic of Kenya and Commander-in-Chief of the Defence Forces.

On behalf of the General Assembly, I have the honour to welcome to the United Nations His Excellency Mr. William Samoei Ruto, President of the Republic of Kenya and Commander-in-Chief of the Defence Forces, and to invite him to address the Assembly. President Ruto: The world over today, hundreds of millions of people are besieged by anxiety about their present and future security, dignity and prospects of well-being. Many are victims and witnesses of present assaults and many more are afraid of future violations of their most fundamental expectations. In his opening address (see A/78/PV.4), our Secretary-General provided a graphic snapshot of the condition of the world and humankind, a situation that calls into question the state of multilateralism in terms of its founding aspirations, as well as its present agenda. The poverty, fear, suffering and humanitarian distress haunting the victims of conflict, drought, famine, flooding, wildfires, cyclones, deadly disease outbreaks and other disasters are the outcomes of sustained violation of the most essential principles and the systematic neglect of humankind’s dearest values, which lie at the very foundation of the Charter of the United Nations. The failure of peace and security systems, inadequate development and limited climate action, amidst technological advancement and enormous wealth, have left us in a state of paralysis, enduring one of the darkest periods of human existence. We may all agree, without any fear of contradiction, that the world is headed in a most undesirable direction. It is at moments like this that the affirmative spirit of multilateralism, international collective action and global solidarity are most needed and should be attainable. This is not the occasion for any Member of the United Nations to escape when they should be rising to the challenge of the moment. Resorting to the pursuit of narrow, insular and antisocial agendas, within exclusive clubs constituted to maintain the status quo that undermines and cannibalizes the United Nations system at the expense of progress in humankind’s collective journey to the future of our aspirations, is totally unacceptable. The existence of those inimical cliques of geopolitical formations defies the fundamental values and principles of the United Nations system, and its operations have led to alienation, mistrust, insecurity and the exclusion of and among peoples, nations, regions and continents. Moments like this place the nature and purpose of multilateralism under sharp scrutiny for history’s honest examination and judgment. If any confirmation were ever needed that the Nations Security Council is dysfunctional, undemocratic, non-inclusive, unrepresentative and therefore incapable of delivering meaningful progress in our world as presently constituted, the rampant impunity of certain actors on the global scene settles the matter. The environment of pervasive mistrust between the global North versus the global South, developed versus the developing, rich versus poor, polluters versus victims and net emitters versus net victims, which complicates and frustrates multilateralism, is the inevitable result of promises not kept, commitments not actualized, resolutions not honoured and principles not observed. Multilateralism has been failed by the abuse of trust, negligence and impunity. A year ago, I stood in the Assembly Hall (see A/77/ PV.6) to call upon the global community to transform the United Nations system in order to achieve a consensus-driven, rules-based multilateral system that works for the people of the world in their diversity. It is time for multilateralism to reflect the voice of the farmers, represent the hopes of villagers, champion the aspirations of pastoralists, defend the rights of fisherfolk, express the dreams of traders, respect the wishes of workers and, indeed, protect the welfare of all peoples of the world. In the face of the most urgent crises of our time, it is now clear that the international community has fallen seriously behind in meeting its targets in both climate action and the implementation of the Sustainable Development Goals, as well as their underlying enablers, peace and security. We as Africa have come to the world, not to ask for alms, charity or hand-outs, but to work with the rest of the global community and give every human being in this world a decent chance of security and prosperity by taking necessary actions, mobilizing adequate resources for investment, confronting security challenges and resolving conflicts, as we also make our contribution to global prosperity. Kenya is proud of the contributions it continues to make in its tireless endeavour to support peacemaking, conflict prevention, peacekeeping, peacebuilding and other interventions undertaken across different regions. All across Africa, there is progress in efforts to resolve conflicts and restore peace and stability while, at the same time, we are witnessing setbacks to democratic consolidation in the form of unconstitutional changes to Government. Kenya remains committed, determined and indefatigable in its contributions to unity, peace, security, stability and prosperity. Often, we have made encouraging progress. For example, On 5 December 2022, the Juba Peace Agreement, ushering in a two-year transition, was signed by the parties to the conflict in the Sudan. A day afterwards, the Inter-Congolese Dialogue, a process led by the East African Community (EAC), concluded its third session in Nairobi. The following day, the Government of Somalia and Somaliland agreed to resume reconciliation. We are also proud of the progress made in stabilizing eastern Democratic Republic of the Congo as a result of the EAC regional force, setting that country on the path to sustainable peace and stability. In Ethiopia, the guns have fallen silent following the Pretoria and Nairobi agreements, while in South Sudan, the parties have committed to exploring ways to resume and conclude the stalled peace process and to hold elections. Our proactive commitment to peace, which is not limited to our continent, inspired us to dispatch the African peace delegation, consisting of six African Heads of State, to Moscow and Kyiv with a 10-point peace plan, beginning with efforts to initiate a mediation process to resolve the conflict between Russia and Ukraine. Although the delegation encountered significant challenges in its mission, we remain very proud that it showed up. The hunger for peace and security in Africa is evident, and that bodes well for the prospects of attaining the African Union Agenda 2063 and global peace. Kenya stands in solidarity with all humankind, without regard to region or border or hemisphere. That is why and how we see the people of the Republic of Haiti, who are suffering immensely from the bitter legacy of slavery, colonialism, sabotage and neglect. As a nation that was forced to wage a painful struggle for its own independence and sovereignty, Kenya empathizes very deeply with the humiliation of the proud people of Haiti, the price they have had to pay for their hunger for liberty, and the sorrow they have endured for their thirst for freedom. Haiti is the ultimate test of international solidarity and collective action. The international community has failed that test so far, and thus let down a people very, very badly. Haiti deserves better from the world. The cry of our brothers and sisters, who were the first people to win their struggle for freedom from colonial tyranny, has reached our ears and touched our hearts. Doing nothing in the face of the historic isolation, neglect and betrayal of the people of Haiti is out of the question. Inaction is no longer an option. As we mobilize to show up for Ukraine and countries that have experienced the devastating impact of climate shocks, including Libya, Morocco and Hawaii, we must not leave Haiti behind. We must commit to showing, up in the spirit of solidarity, to help a people regain their political and socioeconomic footing by reinforcing the underlying enabler: security. Kenya is ready to play its part in full and jointly with a coalition of other nations of goodwill — and there are many — as a great friend and true sibling of Haiti. We urge the United Nations to urgently deliver an appropriate framework to facilitate the deployment of multinational security support as part of a holistic response to Haiti’s challenges. We call on the Security Council to contribute positively by adopting a resolution under Chapter VII of the Charter of the United Nations that tailors the security support mission to the specific needs of Haiti and its people. That should be part of a comprehensive strategy that includes delivering humanitarian aid, supporting livelihoods, instituting reforms and fostering a political process guided and owned by Haitians, all with the aim of enabling free and fair elections within a reasonable timeframe. We are encouraged by many countries that have already stepped forward to take part in that solidarity. We must recognize that stability, peace and security form the foundation on which the pursuit and realization of sustainable development and climate action stand. That realization must enable us to formulate strategies that treat those initiatives as interconnected, mutually reinforcing and complementary dimensions of a single agenda. The tragic spectacle of young people from Africa boarding rickety contraptions to gamble their lives away on dangerous voyages in pursuit of opportunities abroad, either as conflict, climate and economic refugees, is a testament to the failures of the global economic system. At the recently concluded Africa Climate Summit in Nairobi, we undertook to begin the journey to course-correct and execute a paradigm shift in our pursuit of development and climate action. First, we recognize that both climate action and the Sustainable Development Goals must be pursued simultaneously with greater resolve, urgency and ambition. No meaningful development can take place in countries that are also struggling with climate shocks and yet, at the same time, the frequency of climate emergencies impedes any meaningful development. As a defining outcome of the Africa Climate Summit, we committed Africa to consider the dual problems through an opportunity lens and to deliver effective solutions by pursuing a fresh trajectory. Development is a basic necessity for every society; it must happen one way or another. There should be no doubt about that. Annually, 30 million young people on our continent need jobs and many more need food. Half of our continent is in the dark, without access to electricity in 2023, while hundreds of millions can only cook using biomass, because they have no electricity. That is why the commitment of African nations in the Nairobi Declaration is both radical and transformative. Development, in our opinion, is a fundamental imperative and green growth is the only sustainable way to achieve it. From our standpoint, there is no need to be trapped in a false choice; sustainable development is robust climate action and climate action is development. Africa’s potential is defined by abundant and diverse resources, ranging from a youthful, highly skilled and motivated young population; immense renewable energy potential and mineral resources, including critical minerals; and extensive natural capital endowment, including 60 per cent of the world’s unutilized arable land. Capital and technology can find no better returns anywhere than the tremendous investment opportunity in Africa’s potential. Such investment would drive green growth, creating jobs and wealth while decarbonizing global production and consumption. Furthermore, the investments would also connect over 600 million people to clean electricity; provide clean cooking to about a billion people; finance green manufacturing, including e-mobility; transform African agriculture and food systems, including the manufacture of green fertiliser; process the vast tonnage of the steel, aluminium and lithium required by new green industries; and enable our young people find the livelihoods they desire, at home, and reverse the tide of migration in the opposite direction. To unlock financing at scale and create incentives for investments at scale in green opportunities, the Nairobi Declaration makes the reform of the international financial system a priority. No meaningful climate action or development can take place in conditions of financial distress. According to International Monetary Fund data, as of last month 10 low-income countries were already in debt distress and 52 were at high and moderate risk of falling into distress. The 3.3 billion people in those counties are trapped in a vicious cycle of emergency responses, reconstruction and recovery from more frequent climate shocks, which diverts resources away from both development and climate action and sucks vulnerable countries into a downward spiral of debt and environmental stress. The global community must therefore develop a debt restructuring initiative that does not wait for nations to plunge over the cliff into debt distress before providing relief. Rather, the new sovereign debt architecture should extend the tenure of sovereign debt and provide a 10- year grace period for countries that are in debt distress. The second financing intervention relates to concessional financing. It is time to work with the international financial institutions to provide more concessional loans  — in our estimate, to the tune of approximately $500 billion — and to provide increased liquidity support through special drawing rights, with a minimum target of $650 billion, which was the amount obtained during the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) pandemic. Access should be based on specific needs, not entitlement, and that necessitates changes to the allocation mechanism, different from what we saw in the special drawing rights for COVID-19. The third critical reform is that of the financial market reorganization. The entire system of risk assessment, the opaque methodologies employed by credit rating agencies and risk analysis needs to be overhauled, at a minimum. We must all recall the miscalculation of subprime mortgage risk by those agencies two decades ago, which precipitated a financial crisis whose effects reverberate to this day, and ask the following question: On what basis should we believe that their methodologies are better at assessing risks in faraway frontier markets like ours, which are far more difficult to measure objectively, than in assessing the value of financial assets in the markets where they actually operate, and which they got so disastrously wrong? If they got it wrong then, I bet they have it wrong now. In any case, any objective rating must also take into account the principles of responsible sovereign lending and accounting, specifically emphasizing the need for international accounting systems that support the proper valuation of mineral wealth, natural capital and ecosystem services in the computation of national gross domestic products. Until that is done, very wealthy countries will be categorized as poor. The fourth limb of the interventions arising out of the Nairobi Declaration is the establishment of a global public climate financing mechanism, funded through a global carbon tax on trade in fossil fuels, as well as an emissions levy on aviation and maritime transport, including the option of a global financial transactions tax, in order to make available dedicated, affordable and accessible capital for green investments at scale. The road map to that new and urgently needed institutional infrastructure involves the sustained engagement of various multilateral processes, and the instrument to actualize it by 2025 shall be a new global climate finance charter to be negotiated through the General Assembly, the twenty-eighth Conference of the Parties to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change and associated processes. We understand the facts about our collective situation as a global community and as a member of the United Nations family. We know the magnitude of our shared challenges and common threats. We appreciate that multilateralism is on trial, and our task is to defend it. We also recognize that multilateralism is broken, and it is our responsibility to repair it. From this moment to 2030 and from our problems to their solutions, we are connected by a coherent agenda of robust collective action. We must therefore muster the courage and will to stand together in solidarity and act to right past wrongs, solve present problems and secure our collective future; to protect and empower all people and support our friends in need; to restore broken trust, raise hope high and keep faith strong; and, finally, to pursue, achieve and sustain positive change in order to make billions of cherished dreams come true. We must start right away, for we have no time to lose.

On behalf of the General Assembly, I wish to thank the President of the Republic of Kenya and Commander-in-Chief of the Defence Forces for the statement he has just made.

The Assembly will now hear an address by the President and Head of Government of the Federated States of Micronesia.

On behalf of the General Assembly, I have the honour to welcome to the United Nations His Excellency Mr. Wesley W. Simina, President and Head of Government of the Federated States of Micronesia, and to invite him to address the Assembly. President Simina: I bring warm greetings from the people of the Federated States of Micronesia to the Assembly. At the outset, I congratulate Mr. Dennis Francis on his election as President of the General Assembly at its seventy-eighth session. I assure him of my and my delegation’s full support and have every confidence that he will be successful in leading the General Assembly to a successful conclusion. I should also like to express our appreciation to his predecessor, Mr. Csaba Kőrösi, for his service to the General Assembly, and to Secretary-General António Guterres for his bold and visionary leadership in steering the United Nations during these challenging times. We have just emerged from the coronavirus disease pandemic, yet our collective challenges have not diminished; rather, we have faced a number of intersecting crises, from the adverse impacts of climate change to the decline in the health of our ocean, from sustainable development to peace and security. I will briefly elaborate on them from the perspective of a Pacific small island developing State, but I also want to highlight our opportunities. In 2015, the same year in which this organ adopted the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development (resolution 70/1), the international community also adopted the landmark Paris Agreement on Climate Change. Though far from perfect, the Paris Agreement represents a key tool to combat the climate crisis. The adoption of the Paris Agreement marked a high point of multilateralism, similar to this organ’s adoption of the 2030 Agenda. Unfortunately, the international community has not done nearly enough to get us on track to limiting the global average temperature increase to 1.5°C. One need only scan the news on any random day to see the evidence of the climate crisis in devastating effects around the world today. Loss and damage caused by the climate crisis are accumulating every day in Micronesia, and they will continue to worsen at a faster pace as tipping points are reached. As the Secretary-General recently stated, we are now in an era of “global boiling”. We need a fast-acting mandatory approach, which should be modelled on the Montreal Protocol on Substances that Deplete the Ozone Layer, the best environmental agreement ratified by every United Nations Member State. We should use that work-horse treaty — the little engine that could — as a model for a new agreement to cut methane, the blowtorch pushing the planet from global warming to global boiling. The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) tells us that current nationally determined contributions under the Paris Agreement, if fully implemented, will still lead to over 2°C of warming by the end of this century, with 3°C being a very distinct possibility. That is an existential threat to my country and many other small island developing States. And yet, major emitters, including from the developing world, have yet to commit to updating their nationally determined contributions as part of the global stocktake in order to get us on a 1.5°C track. This week, I joined my fellow leaders in the High Ambition Coalition on climate change in issuing a statement with a strong call for action. In line with the statement, Micronesia strongly implores all parties to the Paris Agreement — particularly major emitters from the developed and developing world — to commit, by the twenty-eighth Conference of the Parties to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (COP28), to major reductions of emissions of at least half by 2030, with the peaking of emissions by 2025, and to peg their net zero goals to no later than 2050, in line with the recommendations of the IPCC. As part of that effort, countries should eliminate the emissions of methane, hydrofluorocarbons and other short-lived climate pollutants from their industrial products and activities, which altogether could result in the avoidance of at least 0.5°C of global warming. While Micronesia has negligible global emissions, it has bold ambitions to limit its emissions. Through our nationally determine contribution strategy, by 2030 we aim to reduce carbon dioxide emissions from electricity generation by more than 65 per cent below 2000 levels. By 2050, Micronesia will achieve net zero. That bold pledge will result in a healthier, happier and climate resilient island nation. The climate crisis is indeed impacting health security, food security, water security, economic security and peace security. It is without a doubt an existential threat. We reiterate our call for the appointment of a special representative for climate and security to address those threats. We also call for the full operationalization of the new Loss and Damage Fund at COP28 in order to equip those who are most affected by climate change to deal with the ongoing loss and damage impacts that are faced every day. It is time for those most responsible for climate change to put their money where their mouth is, for the cost of not doing so is far greater than what could ever be quantified. Additionally, Micronesia is proud to announce that we have recently adopted an amendment to our national constitution that recognizes the right of our people to a healthy environment. As custodians of our natural heritage, we adopted the amendment in part to underscore that this right is a general principle of international law applicable to all States, including major contributors to the climate crisis. We need all available tools to fight the climate crisis, including those provided to us under international law. For that reason, Micronesia is proud to have been a member of the core group of countries that advocated for the adoption by this organ of a resolution requesting an advisory opinion from the International Court of Justice on the obligations of States and consequences under international law in relation to climate change. Countries like mine and people like mine are the front lines of climate change, but we do not need more promises. What we need now is action for promises to turn into policy and for policy to turn into proactive steps towards real solutions. As islanders, resilience is in our DNA, but let me recall that our resilience should not be a placeholder for continued inaction. As a Big Ocean State, we recognize one clear truth — the ocean is suffering from multiple stressors. It is the duty of the international community to address the sources of those stressors for the sake of present and future generations of humankind, as well as for the sake of the ocean itself. Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) 14 would not have been included in the 2030 Agenda if not for the sustained advocacy of Micronesia and other small island developing States, particularly from the Pacific. By the same token, the recent adoption of the agreement under the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea on the conservation and sustainable use of marine biological diversity of areas beyond national jurisdiction (BBNJ) would not have been possible without the key contributions of Pacific small island developing States like Micronesia. Just as Micronesia actively engaged in the negotiation of the BBNJ agreement, it is also committed to implementing it. That is why I am honoured to have been the first Head of State to sign the BBNJ agreement, which I did yesterday on behalf of Micronesia. I urge Members of the United Nations and other world leaders to sign and ratify the agreement, and also urge the full implementation of SDG 14 as soon as possible. We also commit to doing our part in implementing the Kunming-Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework, including with respect to the establishment of marine protected areas and similar measures for at least 30 per cent of the global ocean by 2030. Our work on the Micronesia Challenge, Blue Prosperity Micronesia and similar initiatives in our part of the world already contribute to that effort. The 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development is at its halfway point. We are not on track on a number of issues. I have already pronounced myself in more detail at the SDG Summit. But we also have opportunities. We have just completed preparatory meetings for the fourth International Conference on SIDS. We expect the outcome of the Conference to be concise and action-oriented, yet to address our most pressing needs in partnership with the international community, including how internet connectivity can change life in the islands by making telemedicine and remote learning available at every outlying island, and how transportation can be more sustainable if one’s only means of transport are boats. It is my hope that practical action will flow from the Conference, including to support the implementation of the 2050 Strategy for the Blue Pacific Continent. Micronesia is a proud matrilineal society, where our clans, lineage and land control are mainly passed down from generation to generation through women. That symbolizes the powerful role of women in our culture and society. Yet we recognize that, historically, women have had difficulty in attaining roles in leadership and decision-making in Government. I am therefore pleased to report that finally, finally, there are women members currently serving in our national congress. In my own administration, I am committed to putting more women into leadership and decision-making positions while continuing to meaningfully consult and engage women on matters of national importance, in order to strive for a more inclusive and equal Micronesia. Traditional threats to peace and security persist, making the principles of the United Nations all the more valuable to uphold. That is why Micronesia stands in solidarity with Ukraine and supports its independence within its internationally recognized borders. We also urge all Member States to cooperate to urgently address the adverse impacts of the war in Ukraine on food security, energy and finance, including in small island developing States like my own, which are vulnerable to such impacts. We must find ways to put an end to that illegal war, which continues to erode the credibility and integrity of this premier international body and the principles enshrined in its Charter we all agree to support. That brings me to a related and most crucial point — the reform of the Security Council, which was put in place almost 80 years ago. The Security Council has become archaic and ineffective in addressing security challenges of our contemporary world, which are much more complicated, interlocking and interconnected, including the worsening and devastating impacts of climate change. As the Secretary-General mentioned in his opening statement, “The world has changed. Our institutions have not” (A/78/PV.4, p.1). The time for that change is now. The geopolitical dynamics that we face demand that we embrace change and adapt to the realities and dynamics of the twenty-first century. Permanent membership of the Security Council must be expanded to include Japan, India, Germany and others; and non-permanent membership should be expanded as well, including a stand-alone seat for small island developing States. Those changes are needed in order to enhance the legitimacy, credibility and effectiveness of the Council. The time for Security Council reform is now. In conclusion, more than ever in the history of the United Nations, we urgently need to live up to our name and to fortify unity among nations, for the challenges of our time demand it of us. Our global community is interconnected and interdependence among nations is reality. And so, no challenge can be solved by any one country or community alone. We must admit that we all need each other. And so, in addressing those challenges, we must remember that people lie at the heart of every solution, both as a driver and as a benefactor. As a global community, we all gather here within these walls because, despite it all, we still believe that we can do better. We still have the audacity to reimagine a more just, safe and prosperous world that is worthy of the next generation.

On behalf of the General Assembly, I wish to thank the President and Head of Government of the Federated States of Micronesia for the statement he has just made.

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

On behalf of the General Assembly, I have the honour to welcome to the United Nations His Excellency Mr. Jakov Milatović, President of Montenegro, and to invite him to address the Assembly. President Milatović: It is my true honour to be in this great Hall today and to address the General Assembly on behalf of Montenegro. This year’s general debate theme depicts the key challenge lying before the United Nations as the rebuilding of trust and global solidarity. It also accelerates action on the 2030 Sustainable Development Agenda. Indeed, achieving a sustainable and peaceful future requires our full attention and demonstrates our true commitment to a better world. I reaffirm and reiterate Montenegro’s strong support and commitment to the goals and principles of the United Nations, particularly in times like these, when global unity and solidarity are greatly needed. To efficiently address global problems, we need wise leadership. Rather than uniting in joint efforts, most often we share only our joint concerns. Yet, the only way of tackling widespread crises is to be united in action. I believe that we can all agree that the ongoing geopolitical crisis represents a grave challenge to international peace and security and an alarming indicator of the need to fully return to the provisions of the Charter of the United Nations and to respect its binding character and the universality of its goals and principles — civilizational values on which the rules- based world order rests. I assumed the position of President of Montenegro just four months ago, after our citizens made a resounding choice for change in the recent election. That marks an unprecedented level of support for a new era of our country´s democratic development. It leaves me in no doubt about the political direction our citizens want to see: strengthening the rule of law, developing prosperity and ensuring social cohesion and equal opportunities. I am highly aware of how vital those objectives are in safeguarding our young democracy and freedom, especially at a time when de-democratization processes are becoming increasingly apparent worldwide. Let me particularly emphasize the importance of the rule of law as the key to unlock the economic potential and improve the living standards. Building truly democratic and independent institutions is crucial along that path. We are therefore committed to a zero tolerance on corruption and organized crime. To better achieve our wider policy goals, we base our foreign policy on three key pillars: first, accelerating our integration into the European Union (EU); secondly, further strengthening the credibility of Montenegro as a NATO member; and thirdly, fostering the best possible relations with all our neighbours in the Balkans. Montenegro is devoted to safeguarding lasting peace in the Balkans. Therefore, I have commenced my term by strengthening our friendships with our Balkan neighbours. We have also intensified the discussion with the European Union, thus extensively elaborating on the need for Montenegro’s speedy accession to the EU as the best possible signal to all other aspiring states that the EU perspective is still alive. Following those principles, in the four months of my mandate, we have opened a meaningful dialogue with civil society and vulnerable communities with the aim of pursuing and ultimately achieving a truly inclusive society where nobody is left behind. Creating an environment of equal opportunities where life success is primarily determined by education and hard work is my goal. That is my story, which I believe can become and should become the story of Montenegro and the story of all of us. I belong to a generation that was too young to witness the suffering caused by the wars that followed the dissolution of Yugoslavia, yet I think that I bear no less obligation to work on diminishing the still present consequences and thus preventing such tragic events from occurring again. To that end, Montenegro´s strong commitment is to address the past without bias by calling things as they are, as the victims of those tragic events expect them to be called. Notwithstanding the fact that we in Montenegro, as in many other democratic countries, often diverge on many political issues, we all agree that peace and prosperity, an equal and just society and friendly relations, particularly with our neighbours, have no alternative. We are proud of our democracy, but also grateful to our ancestors for having a State to protect and promote our interests abroad. We truly cherish freedom, and we stand united in that. The same is what we hope from the world — to be united as ever before in defending democracy, human rights, freedom of choice and the rule of law, ensuring peace and prosperity, but above all, preserving human lives. In that context, I would like to reaffirm Montenegro’s clear-cut position in condemning Russia’s unprovoked and unjustified aggression and our firm support for Ukraine. Besides devastating Ukraine, the war has caused an energy, food, and financial crisis that has especially harmed the least developed countries in the world. To that extent, and in accordance with the Charter of the United Nations and the relevant General Assembly resolutions, we share the desire for comprehensive, just and lasting peace in Ukraine. There are still far too many places in our world where peace, stability, human rights and even basic necessities are not granted. We cannot be proud of that. The international community often emphasizes reactionary humanitarian responses rather than preventive ones. We need only think of the heartbreaking migratory crisis in the Mediterranean region. The confluence of challenges we all face today serves as a formidable obstacle to the realization of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). Despite those obstacles, there are constructive ways to move forward. To speed up progress towards achieving the SDGs, it is necessary to mobilize strong political commitment, improve financial resources and achieve closer cooperation. I believe that we should be honest and admit that the Sustainable Development Goals have proven to be a greater challenge than initially expected, requiring from all our countries additional and greater engagement and commitment. The international community must increase its efforts to combat climate change with concrete actions. That includes the full implementation of the Paris Agreement on Climate Change and addressing the interconnected crises of climate change, biodiversity loss and pollution. By adopting the Rio Declaration in 1992, Montenegro became the world’s first ecological State. The Declaration defined Montenegrin strategic commitment to adopting and implementing the highest standards and norms in the field of environmental protection, nature conservation and sustainable development. We are proud of the fact that we were among the first countries to bring the SDGs commitment into the national framework through our Strategy of Sustainable Development. Another major step towards speeding up the implementation of the 2030 Development Agenda has been the establishment of the country’s SDG Acceleration Fund. One particularly important fiscal and labour market reform resulted in the rise of the minimum wage and minimum pension. That was followed by other social security reforms, including the provision of free books to primary school students as well as a child allowance to all under 18. All those measures supported an environment of equal opportunities, thereby tackling one problem that was present in country for a long time — inequality. In the spirit of the seventy-fifth anniversary of the landmark Universal Declaration of Human Rights, Montenegro confirms its strong commitment to respecting, protecting and promoting human rights. As a member of the Human Rights Council from 2022 to 2024, we are determined to further strengthen the role of that pivotal international forum in responding to situations of serious human rights violations and preserving the universality of international human rights law and the independence of the United Nations human rights system. Montenegro, as a secular State, takes great pride in our diverse and inclusive society, embracing various cultures and religions. Our notable achievement lies in fostering a harmonious and inclusive political environment. I am convinced that, in the near future, even the smallest minority groups, such as the Roma population, will secure their seats in the national Parliament. We also call for a global response to the refugee and migrant crisis. In that regard, we must share the responsibilities we assumed in the global agreements we have adopted. We must cooperate in finding solutions and helping countries of destination, as well as countries of origin. Allow me to recall that Montenegro gave shelter to over 100,000 refugees and displaced persons during the wars in the former Yugoslavia, amounting to more than 20 per cent of our entire population. Also today, we have opened our doors to the biggest number of Ukrainian refugees per capita in Europe. Let me emphasize that the protection of refugees, including their legal status and our decision to provide them with shelter as they flee devastating conflicts, has received unanimous support from the entire political spectrum. Moreover, Montenegrin society stands united in its commitment to upholding international law in that regard, even in the face of significant social pressure on our health care and education infrastructure. Montenegro is firmly committed and determined to actively and constructively contribute and support collective efforts to preserve world peace and security. We strongly advocate for the role and work of United Nations peacekeeping missions. To that end, we will continue to strongly support a larger presence of Montenegrin military forces in peace missions under the auspices of the United Nations. We very much welcome the New Agenda for Peace, in which the Secretary-General outlines the very founding stones on which we should rebuild the new international system based on trust and solidarity. Montenegro remains determined on the course of a Euro-Atlantic future, good-neighbourly relations and multilateralism. With that in mind, we have launched our candidacy for a non-permanent seat on the Security Council for the period 2026-2027. We ask for members’ support. To conclude, as a European country, not only geographically but, more important, in terms of values and principles, we are convinced that the EU accession of Montenegro, as well as of the entire Western Balkan region, will further strengthen our position against the malicious influences of third parties, and ensure lasting peace and prosperity. Hence, the accession of Montenegro to the EU is not only a story significant for Montenegro itself, but would also provide a positive example to all aspiring countries, from the Balkans all the way to the east of Europe, that EU enlargement is alive and still possible.

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

The Assembly will now hear an address by the President of the State of Palestine.

On behalf of the General Assembly, I have the honour to welcome to the United Nations His Excellency Mr. Mahmoud Abbas, President of the State of Palestine, and to invite him to address the Assembly. President Abbas (spoke in Arabic): Those who believe that peace can prevail in the Middle East without the Palestinian people enjoying their full legitimate national rights are delusional. Once again, I come to the Assembly carrying the cause of my people, who are struggling for freedom and independence, to remind members of the tragedy caused by the Nakba 75 years ago, the effects of which continue to be exacerbated by the Israeli occupation of our territory. The occupation challenges the resolutions adopted by the United Nations, which now number more than 1,000, and violates the principles of international law and international legitimacy, while racing against time to change the historical, geographical and demographic reality on the ground, aimed at perpetuating the occupation and entrenching apartheid. Despite that painful reality, and 30 years after the Oslo Accords, which Israel has totally discarded, we still maintain hope that the Organization will be able to implement its resolutions demanding an end to the Israeli occupation of our territory and the realization of the independence of the fully sovereign State of Palestine, with East Jerusalem as its capital, within the borders of 4 June 1967. We still maintain hope to resolve the issue of Palestinian refugees, in accordance with the resolutions of international legitimacy, especially resolution 194 (III), the relevant General Assembly and Security Council resolutions — in particular Security Council resolution 2334 (2016) — and the Arab Peace Initiative, all of which affirm the illegality of the Israeli occupation and its settlements. As I stand here, the Israeli racist right-wing Government continues its attacks on our people and, through its army and its racist terrorist settlers, continues to intimidate and kill our people, destroy homes and property, steal our money and resources and detain the bodies of the martyrs. More than 600 bodies are still detained, and I do not know for what reason. This is being done in full view of the world and without any deterrence, punishment or accountability, and the leaders and ministers of that Government have even been bragging about their apartheid policy against our people under occupation. The Israeli occupation Government also continues to violate the city of Jerusalem and its people, assault our Islamic and Christian sacred sites, and violate the historical and legal status of the holy sites, especially the blessed Al-Aqsa Mosque, which international legitimacy  — pursuant to a 1930 resolution of the League of Nations — has recognized as a place of worship for Muslims alone, as well as the Bab Al-Rahma prayer hall and the Al-Buraq wall. The occupying Power is also feverishly digging tunnels under and around the Al-Aqsa Mosque, threatening its collapse or partial collapse, which would lead to an explosion with untold consequences. We have repeatedly warned against transforming the political conflict into a religious one, for which Israel will bear full responsibility. I hereby call on the international community to assume its responsibilities in preserving the historical and legal status of Jerusalem and its sacred places, especially the Al-Aqsa Mosque, the Church of the Holy Sepulchre and the Al-Ibrahimi Mosque in Al-Khalil/Hebron. Here I wonder: Why remain silent about all the flagrant violations of international law that are being committed by Israel, the occupying Power? Why is Israel not subjected to serious accountability? Why are sanctions not imposed on it for ignoring and violating international resolutions, as is the case with other countries? Why practice double standards when it comes to Israel? Why accept that Israel is a State above the law? Is it not time to answer those questions? For our part, we will persist with our pursuit of accountability and justice before the relevant international bodies against Israel because of the continued Israeli occupation of our land and the crimes that have been committed and are still being committed against us, as well as against both Britain and the United States for their roles in the fateful Balfour Declaration — yes, the United States and Britain — and everyone who has had a role in the catastrophe and tragedy of our people. We will not forget history and we will not forget miseries. We call for acknowledgment, apology, reparations and compensation in accordance with international law. In the light of the deadlock in the peace process due to Israel’s policies, we come to the General Assembly to appeal for the holding of an international peace conference  — is that so difficult?  — in which all countries concerned with achieving peace in the Middle East would participate. I therefore ask the Organization and Secretary-General António Guterres to take the necessary measures and call for the convening of that conference, which may be the last opportunity to salvage the two-State solution and to prevent the situation from deteriorating more seriously, threatening the security and stability of our region and the entire world. I also call on the Organization and the Secretary- General to implement the resolutions pertaining to providing protection for the Palestinian people. We demand protection from the constant aggressions of the occupation army and the terrorist Israeli settlers. We call for support for our approach to the international courts and bodies with jurisdiction because the current situation is intolerable. In the face of all that Israel is doing to systematically destroy the two-State solution, it has become necessary for me, in order to save that solution, to call on the States Members of the Organization, each State in its national capacity, to take practical steps on the basis of the relevant resolutions of international legitimacy and international law. I also call on the States that have not yet recognized the State of Palestine to declare their recognition and for the State of Palestine to be admitted to full membership of the United Nations. There are two States. The entire world is talking about them. The State of Israel is recognized by the entire world. Why not the State of Palestine? I can neither understand nor accept that some States, including the United States and European States, are reluctant to recognize the State of Palestine, which the United Nations has accepted as an observer State. Those States confirm their support for the two- State solution every day, but they recognize only one of them, namely, Israel. Why? What is the danger posed by the State of Palestine’s obtaining full membership in the United Nations? Israel enjoys international recognition, although it has not adhered to the conditions for its accession to the United Nations, namely, the implementation of resolutions 181 (II) and 194 (III). We therefore call on the Organization to take deterrent measures against Israel until it at least fulfils its obligations under a written declaration by its Minister for Foreign Affairs in 1949, Moshe Sharett. He issued a written commitment to implementing those resolutions at that time, but nothing has happened since then. Our request is for the sake of peace and justice and out of respect for international law, international legitimacy and the Organization. Our people are defending their homeland and their legitimate rights through peaceful popular resistance as a strategic option for self-defence, and to liberate the land from a settlement occupation that does not believe in peace and has no regard for the principles of truth, justice and human values. We will continue our peaceful popular resistance to that brutal occupation until it withdraws from our land. We are managing our affairs under extremely difficult and complex circumstances as a result of the restrictions that are being imposed on us by the occupying Power, which prevents us from accessing our natural resources, withholds our money for no just cause and continues its siege on our people in the Gaza Strip, with the consequent exacerbation of the suffering of our people. Moreover, Israel bears full responsibility, through its control over all the crossing points and dividing lines between the occupied West Bank and its surroundings, for the deliberate spread of weapons, drugs and criminal killings taking place in Arab cities inside Israel. Every day sees a new murder, for which Israel is responsible. Some of that violence is spilling over into our areas, posing a great threat to the societal security of Palestinians everywhere in our territory. I must inform the Assembly that so long as we continue to suffer under the abhorrent Israeli occupation, we will continue to need financial assistance from the international community, in addition to the crucial provision of financial support to the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East, which is in dire need of assistance in supporting the refugees. We are thankful to the international community for the support it has given us to build our State and our economy, and we look forward to the continuation of that support until the occupation ends. If the international cooperation helps us get rid of the occupation, we will be able to rely on ourselves. Our State institutions are engaged in a comprehensive development and reform process, and in that context they are cooperating with international institutions and with our partners in the region and the world. We have recently held local elections and elections for institutions, federations, unions and others. There is a specialized committee to develop the justice sector in Palestine. Civil society is also playing its role in adding vitality to our political system. All that remains for us is to hold democratic general elections, as we did in 1996, 2005 and 2006. We have been unable to hold elections since then because the Israeli Government is obstructing them through its decision to prevent elections from being held in East Jerusalem. The first three elections took place in East Jerusalem, but since then they have been prevented, despite the significant intervention of many countries, as well as regional and international organizations, to enable our Palestinian people in Jerusalem to vote and run in those elections. Today we reiterate our rejection of any position holding us responsible for not convening those elections, which are a Palestinian necessity that we want today and not tomorrow. We want elections, but we want them to be held in East Jerusalem. Why does Israel prevent us from doing so? Someone should ask it. In the face of the intransigent position of the Israeli Government, we will continue to approach the relevant international bodies to hold the Israeli Government accountable and force it to allow us to hold the long overdue elections. Last May, I participated in the commemoration of the seventy-fifth anniversary of the 1948 Palestinian Nakba, a tragedy recognized by the Organization. That painful anniversary continues to be ignored and denied by Israel, which is the first to be responsible for the Nakba. I call on the Assembly today to criminalize the denial of the Nakba and to designate 15 May of each year as an international day to commemorate its anniversary in order to remember the lives of the hundreds of thousands of Palestinians who were killed in massacres committed by Zionist gangs, whose villages were demolished and who were forcibly displaced from their homes. The number of those refugees was 950,000 in 1948, constituting more than half of the Palestinian population at the time. That is the least that the United Nations should do in honour of those victims and in condemnation of the human tragedy of the 1948 Nakba. For several years, we have presented our Palestinian narrative and the story of our people, which has been deliberately distorted by the Zionist and Israeli propaganda. We are relieved that the peoples of the world and many of its countries have begun to believe our narrative and sympathize with it after having been misled for decades. We thank all those who contribute to sharing and supporting that narrative and all those who sympathize with it. We also thank people of conscience everywhere in the world who today are standing up for Palestinian rights and supporting our people’s struggle for freedom and independence. My message today to the Israelis is that the hideous occupation against us will not last regardless of their ambitions and delusions, because the Palestinian people are remaining on their land, which they have inhabited for thousands of years, generation after generation, as again confirmed by a recent UNESCO resolution regarding the city of Jericho, which has existed for 10,000 years. The Palestinians cannot leave their land, and if anyone must leave it must be the occupiers. We will stay in our land. My message to the international community is that it should assume its responsibilities with full courage and implement its resolutions related to realizing Palestinian rights. We ask for no more than our rights and the implementation of the relevant resolutions. A thousand resolutions have been adopted. We are asking the international community to implement just one. Finally, I address all of our people in Palestine, in the refugee camps, in the diaspora and in every place in this vast world, with the highest expressions of appreciation and gratitude for their steadfastness and insistence on upholding their rights. I pay tribute to our righteous martyrs, our brave prisoners and our heroic injured people, and I say to everyone: A right is never lost when there is a demand behind it. Victory is ours, and we will celebrate the independence of our State in Jerusalem, our eternal capital, the crown jewel and flower of all cities. They see it as far-fetched, and we see it as quite near.

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

The Assembly will hear a statement by the President of the European Council.

On behalf of the General Assembly, I have the honour to welcome to the United Nations His Excellency Mr. Charles Michel, President of the European Council, and to invite him to address the Assembly.

The Security Council Chamber is decorated with a mural. In it, the Norwegian artist Per Krohg depicts a phoenix. The phoenix is rising from a world covered in ashes, a world rebuilding itself after war. The lower section of the mural is dark, showing a dragon, soldiers and war machines. The United Nations was founded to protect us from our demons, to elevate the global community towards peace, cooperation and solidarity. And yet, the climate crisis is wreaking havoc. The global effort to combat poverty is faltering and Russia’s war against Ukraine is aggravating food insecurity and generating an energy crisis. Lastly, we are losing the sense of urgency that the pandemic instilled in us. Progress towards gender equality is too slow, and, too often, is even regressing in many places. The mantra of the Indian presidency of the Group of 20 (G20) is “One Earth, One Family, One Future’” We are, after all, a global family, and the United Nations should form the backbone of this family. But as Secretary-General Guterres says, today that family is a dysfunctional one. The European Union aspires to a multipolar world that cooperates and moves towards greater democracy and more respect for human rights. But trust is eroding, and tensions are multiplying. A dangerous bipolar confrontation threatens us, as if everyone should have to take sides against each other. A little like the frantic nuclear arms race last century, generative artificial intelligence, particularly in the military sphere, is becoming the arena for a new geopolitical competition. The late Secretary-General Dag Hammarskjöld, however, wisely said: “The United Nations was not created in order to bring us to heaven, but in order to save us from hell”. We need to acknowledge the situation. Today the United Nations system is stuck in a rut and is being hindered by hostile forces. Our responsibility is to commit to putting multilateral cooperation back on track. To that end, we need to restore trust, resolve the most pressing problems and repair the machinery of the United Nations. Trust is built on respect for the sacred principles enshrined in the Charter of the United Nations: sovereignty, territorial integrity and human rights. Nevertheless, for the past 19 months, a permanent member of the Security Council, Russia, has been brazenly waging a war of conquest against a neighbouring country that has never threatened it, shamelessly flouting our founding principles. This brutal war is being waged with all its horror and disregard for human life. The General Assembly has condemned the war on several occasions. This is, of course, a powerful reminder of the principles of sovereignty and integrity to which we are so attached. But that has not stopped the Kremlin in its murderous adventure or curbed its sense of impunity. The European Union, together with others, has vowed that this impunity cannot last forever and that justice will be done. The European Union will steadfastly support Ukraine in its right of self-defence. We are well aware, and the European Union knows perfectly well, that this war against Ukraine does not make the many other major challenges facing the world disappear. The planet is boiling. The world is torn apart by poverty, injustice and discrimination. A miracle will not happen if we do not decide to mobilise the massive amounts of necessary funding now. For example, we have made a collective pledge to limit global warming to 1.5°C. But if we stick to the commitments announced so far — and we are nowhere near doing so — global warming will reach 2.5°C by the end of the century. We must wake up to that reality now. With that in mind, the European Union has raised its targets for renewable energy use and energy efficiency. We see that others are following us, as is the case, in part at least, with the G20. We call for more members of the international community to commit to this. It is also in everyone’s interest to help developing countries to commit to net zero emissions by 2050. It is clear that only one quarter of global private investment is being made in developing countries, yet the G20 countries are responsible for 80 per cent of global emissions. It is only this year that the international community is expected to reach the pledge it made several years ago of $100 billion to finance climate action. The European Union is a driving force, providing $26 billion in 2021, which was more than its share. The International Energy Agency estimates that global investment in the energy transition should reach $5 trillion per annum in 2030 — more than 4 per cent of global gross domestic product — to achieve zero carbon by 2050. That is why, at the upcoming twenty-eighth Conference of the Parties to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change, to be held in Dubai, we must establish the financing for the Loss and Damage Fund decided on last year in Sharm El-Sheikh. As we see day after day, natural disasters are unfolding at a dizzying pace, causing suffering and desolation on every continent and in all our countries, most recently in Libya. That is why we are calling for the creation of an international disaster fund, which is more necessary than ever to ensure rapid and fair assistance and strengthen our collective resilience. Prevention is key. We support the work being done within the United Nations on the Sendai Framework for Disaster Risk Reduction. Finally, trade is a powerful lever to bring together climate challenges and prosperity. We are not giving in, and we call for an urgent solution for the World Trade Organization’s dispute settlement mechanism. The economic and financial situation of vulnerable economies has been seriously affected by the coronavirus disease crisis and by Russia’s war against Ukraine. More than 50 low-income countries have defaulted on their debts; a dozen others could follow suit in the near future. Because of debt-servicing, which has supplanted expenditure on social protection, education and health, 165 million individuals worldwide have been tipped into poverty. No one should be forced to choose between alleviating poverty and greening the economy. We cannot afford the luxury of another debate about how much money to donate. It is not a question of begging; it is a question of justice. It is a question of making the global financial system more robust, fairer and better prepared for the challenges of this century. The reallocation of $100 billion in special drawing rights is an important step. We know that it is not enough; we need to do even more. Of course, we support the Sustainable Development Goals Stimulus presented by Secretary-General Guterres. The European Union is fully committed to implementing the G20 Common Framework for Debt Treatment. We must go even further. The Bretton Woods system requires fundamental reform. It must be made fairer, more inclusive and more effective — that must be the aim. Those institutions were created when many countries were still under colonial rule. The world has changed a great deal since then, yet today the Group of Seven countries still wield almost absolute decision-making power. The European Union is prepared to better share that decision-making power. Regions that have virtually no say need to be more and better integrated and more and better involved. Secondly, a financial shake-up is essential. Whole swathes of the world and the populations represented therein are deprived of access to financing. That not only hampers progress towards the Sustainable Development Goals, but it also increases the risk of a debt crisis. Following on from the Bridgetown Initiative, the Paris Summit opened the debate on a New Global Financing Pact, launched by the French President and the Prime Minister of Barbados, and showed the way forward. In the words of Mia Mottley, there is now a “need for pace and scope ... Let us... not only do the right thing, but do it in time, and do it for the right reasons”. Indeed, we must do more to mobilize the private sector through public capital. We need to act to increase, strengthen, tighten and consolidate the lending capacity of international financial institutions as an essential safety net. To give one example, in the course of 60 years of existence, the World Bank’s financing power, as a proportion of global production, has fallen more than sevenfold. That says it all. We need also to reduce the cost of access to credit for vulnerable countries, which is far too high compared to the cost of access for so-called advanced countries. We also need to adapt the rules of the multilateral development banks as regards capital adequacy. That will allow them to utilize their balance sheets in a more dynamic way without jeopardizing their financial soundness. Three years ago, Mr. Tedros and I put forward the idea of an international treaty on pandemics. Together, we embarked on a mission to convince the international community to launch negotiations within the framework of the World Health Organization. The world needs an ambitious and legally binding instrument to prevent, prepare for and respond to any future pandemics in a spirit of solidarity. I now appeal to us all to redouble our efforts to conclude the negotiations by May 2024. The European Union is making determined efforts to that end. We want to be a constructive and open partner. The Secretary-General and all the United Nations teams are the workhorses of action on a massive scale for the benefit of humankind and the values of the United Nations Charter. But as we have seen, United Nations governance is all too often and increasingly hindered. The European Union therefore supports the proposals for reform presented by the Secretary- General in his report Our Common Agenda (A/75/982). We also emphasize the progress made on working methods. However, it is our formal wish, from this rostrum to go one step further and try to provide a new perspective, a contribution to the necessary and urgent debate on United Nations reform. We have three proposals concerning, respectively, the right to veto, representativeness and the role of multilateral regional organizations. On those three points, I call for an amendment to the United Nations Charter. First, the right to veto in its current form is subject to abuse. It renders the Security Council powerless. A permanent member of the Security Council can flagrantly violate our Charter and international law with impunity. A permanent member can abuse the right to veto to prevent sanctions against itself. It can even exploit the Security Council for the purpose of propaganda, disinformation and, let it be said, lies. And yet, the Charter provides that a member of the Security Council should abstain in the voting when it is the subject of the vote. I urgently call on other members of the Security Council to invoke that clause where Russia is concerned. In the same spirit, the European Union supports France and Mexico’s initiative to restrain the use of the veto in cases of mass atrocities. We also support the code of conduct regarding Security Council action against genocide, crimes against humanity or war crimes. We also support efforts to enhance the transparency and accountability of the Security Council. However, apart from that, in the context of Charter reform, I believe that we should set up a mechanism that combines majority decision-making with moderate, measured and flexible use of the right to veto. My second point concerns representativeness. The Security Council does not reflect today’s world. There are 60 countries that have never yet held a seat on the Security Council. Whole swathes of the world — Africa, South America, the Caribbean, Asia — have little or no representation. We therefore support a global reform of the Security Council that strengthens the voices of those regions and countries. Power and legitimacy go hand in hand. The Security Council’s lack of representativeness is inevitably undermining its legitimacy, yet legitimacy is key and should be reinforced on two fronts. The United Nations is a club of nations, and we consider the nation State to be its basic unit. An increase in the number of permanent members of the Security Council is certainly inevitable. But we believe that we have to go further than that. The role played by regional and continental organizations is growing. That is a fact. The European Union, of course, the African Union, the Community of Latin-American and Caribbean States (CELAC), the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) and others reflect a new level of legitimacy in international and multilateral forums. They play an active part in political and economic coordination. They create spaces for closer cooperation, spaces for connectivity. Increasingly, they are even security actors. More so than in the past, those organizations are spaces where rules are made. That is the case of European integration. But the European Union’s example serves as an inspiration to others, such as the African Union, which is working hard to create a large continental free-trade area, or ASEAN, which is aiming for increased cooperation among its member States. Those organizations are exerting a growing influence on the multilateral stage. They are vital contributors to stability, and I believe their role in the multilateral system must grow. After all, they shape the structure of the multipolar world we are hoping for. That is why, through me, the European Union immediately supported the call of Senegalese President Macky Sall to include the African Union as a full member of the G20, and that membership was granted a few weeks ago. I am absolutely convinced that the United Nations would become more legitimate, effective and authoritative if it decided to guarantee regional organizations a more prominent role within the United Nations . Including them would create a virtuous circle. It would encourage regional organizations to cooperate more and better with each other, contributing to their own stability and to stability in the world. In that context, I intend to take the initiative to propose an institutional summit among the European Union, the African Union, CELAC and ASEAN, to which of course the United Nations Secretary-General would be invited. The aim will be to reflect on how those organizations can act together to strengthen the multilateral system, both in the framework of the United Nations and in the other international forums. The European Union, through our history and through our DNA, wishes to be a global, fair and reliable partner. The European Union and its member States are the world’s biggest donor for development and peacekeeping. We are active, including in regions in which conflicts are protracted hopelessly. In the Sahel, successive military coups are fuelling instability and insecurity, to the detriment of the local populations. I take this opportunity to send a message of friendship and unfailing personal support to the President of the Niger, Mohamed Bazoum, who has been imprisoned in a house by a military junta for 56 days now. In the Middle East, we maintain that lasting peace will be achieved only when Palestinians and Israelis live in security in the context of a two-State solution. We are shocked by the latest devastating developments in the South Caucasus. Military force is not a sustainable solution when there are hearts and minds to be won. Around the globe, the European Union will continue to assume its responsibilities, alongside anyone who sincerely wishes to work towards the common good, for peace and for prosperity. But the European Union will never be intimidated by violence or blackmail. The Per Krohg mural is a work of imagination, but it is also an appeal to our conscience and a reminder more crucial now than ever before in a world faced with so many dangers. As the philosopher Friedrich Hölderlin so rightly said, “But where the danger lies, also grows the saving power”. Faced with dangers, we have a vision of a better, brighter world. We have powerful means. I am a great believer in the power of collective intelligence. It is up to us to act, now. For a world that is fairer, freer and more prosperous.

On behalf of the General Assembly, I wish to thank the President of the European Council of the European Union for the statement he has just made.