A/79/PV.7 General Assembly

Before proceeding to the general debate, the General Assembly will hear an introduction by the Secretary-General of his annual report on the work of the Organization (A/79/1), under agenda item 111, in accordance with resolution 51/241. I now give the floor to the Secretary-General, His Excellency Mr. António Guterres.

Our world is in a whirlwind. We are in an era of epic transformation, facing challenges unlike any we have ever seen — challenges that demand global solutions. Yet geopolitical divisions keep deepening. The planet keeps heating. Wars rage, and we have no clue as to how they will end. And nuclear posturing and new weapons are casting a dark shadow. We are edging towards the unimaginable — a powder keg that risks engulfing the world. Meanwhile, 2024 is the year that half of humanity goes to the polls, and all of humanity will be affected. I stand before the Assembly, in this whirlwind, convinced of two overriding truths. First, the state of our world is unsustainable. We cannot go on like this. And secondly, the challenges we face are solvable, but that requires us to make sure that the mechanisms of international problem-solving actually solve problems. The Summit of the Future was a first step, but we have a long way to go, and getting there requires confronting three major drivers of unsustainability: a world of impunity, where violations and abuses threaten the very foundation of international law and the Charter of the United Nations; a world of inequality, where injustices and grievances threaten to undermine countries or even push them over the edge; and a world of uncertainty, where unmanaged global risks threaten our future in unknowable ways. These worlds of impunity, inequality and uncertainty are connected and colliding. We see this age of impunity everywhere: in the Middle East, in the heart of Europe, in the Horn of Africa and beyond. The war in Ukraine is spreading with no sign of letting up. Civilians are paying the price, in rising death tolls and in shattered lives and communities. It is time for a just peace based on the United Nations Charter, international law and United Nations resolutions. Meanwhile, Gaza is a non-stop nightmare that threatens to take the entire region with it — look no further than Lebanon. We should all be alarmed by the escalation. Lebanon is on the brink. The people of Lebanon, Israel and the world cannot afford Lebanon to become another Gaza. Let us be clear: nothing can justify the abhorrent acts of terror committed by Hamas on 7 October 2023 or the taking of hostages, both of which I have repeatedly condemned. And nothing can justify the collective punishment of the Palestinian people. The speed and scale of the killing and destruction in Gaza are unlike anything I have seen in my years as Secretary-General. More than 200 of our own staff members have been killed, many with their families. And yet the women and men of the United Nations continue to deliver humanitarian aid. I know members join me in paying a special tribute to the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East and to all humanitarians in Gaza. The international community must mobilize for an immediate ceasefire, the immediate and unconditional release of hostages and the beginning of an irreversible process towards a two-State solution. For those who continue undermining that goal through more settlements, more land grabs and more incitement, I ask, what is the alternative? How could the world accept a one-State future in which a large number of Palestinians would be without any freedom, rights or dignity? In the Sudan, a brutal power struggle has unleashed horrific violence, including widespread rape and sexual assaults. A humanitarian catastrophe is unfolding as famine spreads. Yet outside Powers continue to interfere with no unified approach to finding peace. In the Sahel, the dramatic and rapid expansion of the terrorist threat requires a joint approach rooted in solidarity, but regional and international cooperation have broken down. From Myanmar to the Democratic Republic of the Congo, and from Haiti to Yemen and beyond, we continue to see appalling levels of violence and human suffering in the face of a chronic failure to find solutions. Meanwhile, our peacekeeping missions are too often operating in areas where there is simply no peace to keep. Instability in many places around the world is a by- product of instability in power relations and geopolitical divides. For all its perils, the cold war had rules: there were hotlines, red lines and guard rails. It can feel as though we do not have that today, nor do we have a unipolar world. We are moving toward a multipolar world, but we are not there yet. We are in a purgatory of polarity, and in that purgatory more and more countries are filling the spaces of geopolitical divides, doing whatever they want with no accountability. That is why it is more important than ever to reaffirm the Charter, to respect international law, to support and implement the decisions of international courts and to reinforce human rights in the world, anywhere and everywhere. Rising inequalities are the second driver of unsustainability and a stain on our collective conscience. Inequality is not a technical or bureaucratic issue. At its heart, inequality is a question of power, with historic roots. Conflicts, climate upheaval and the cost-of-living crisis are pushing those roots deeper. At the same time, the world is still struggling to recover from the surge in inequality caused by the coronavirus disease pandemic. Of the world’s poorest 75 countries, one third are worse off today than they were five years ago. During that same period, the five richest men in the world have more than doubled their wealth. And 1 per cent of people on Earth own 43 per cent of all global financial assets. At the national level, some Governments are supercharging inequalities by doling out massive tax giveaways to corporations and the ultra-rich, to the detriment of investments in health, education and social protection. No one is being short-changed more than the world’s women and girls. Rampant gender-based discrimination and abuse are the most prevalent form of inequality across all societies. Every day, it seems, we are confronted by yet more sickening cases of femicide, gender-based violence and mass rape, both in peacetime and as a weapon of war. In some countries, laws are being used to threaten reproductive health and rights. In Afghanistan, laws are being used to lock in the systematic oppression of women and girls. I am sorry to observe that, despite years of talk, gender inequality is on full display in this very Hall. Less than 10 per cent of speakers during this week’s general debate are women. This is unacceptable, especially when we know that gender equality contributes to peace, sustainable development, climate action and much more. That is precisely why we adopted specific measures to achieve gender parity among the United Nations senior leadership — a goal that has already been met. It is achievable. I call on male-dominated political and economic establishments around the world to do the same. Global inequalities are reflected and reinforced even in our own international institutions. The Security Council was designed by the victors of the Second World War. At the time, most of Africa was still under colonial domination. To this day, Africa still has no permanent seat on the world’s pre-eminent peace body. This must change, and so must the global financial architecture, which was set up 80 years ago. I commend the leaders of the World Bank and the International Monetary Fund for the important steps they have taken. But as the Pact for the Future emphasizes, tackling inequalities means accelerating the reform of the international financial architecture. Over the past eight decades, the global economy has grown and transformed, and the Bretton Woods institutions have not kept pace. They can no longer provide a global safety net or offer developing countries the level of support that they so need. In the world’s poorest countries, more is spent on debt interest payments, on average, than on investments in public education, health and infrastructure combined. Around the world, more than 80 per cent of the Sustainable Development Goal targets are not on track. (spoke in Spanish) To get back on track, we will need to increase financing for the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development and the Paris Agreement. This will require the Group of 20 (G20) countries to take the lead on a stimulus package for the Sustainable Development Goals of $500 billion a year. It will require reforms to substantially increase the lending capacity of multilateral development banks and enable them to massively scale up their provision of affordable long-term climate and development finance. It will require an expansion of contingency financing through the recycling I have no illusions about the obstacles to reforming the multilateral system. Those with political and economic power — and those who believe that they have power — are always reluctant to change. But the status quo is already draining their power. Without reform, fragmentation is inevitable, and global institutions will become less legitimate, less credible and less effective. (spoke in English) The third driver of our unsustainable world is uncertainty. The ground is shifting under our feet. Anxiety levels are off the charts. Young people, in particular, are counting on us and seeking solutions. This uncertainty is compounded by two existential threats: the climate crisis and the rapid advance of technology, in particular artificial intelligence. We are in a climate meltdown. Extreme temperatures, raging fires, droughts and epic floods are not natural disasters; they are human disasters, increasingly powered by fossil fuels. No country will be spared, but the poorest and most vulnerable are being hardest hit. Climate hazards are blowing a hole through the budgets of many African countries, costing up to 5 per cent of GDP every year. This is just the start, however. We are on course to careen past the global limit of a 1.5°C temperature rise. But while the problem is getting worse, solutions are getting better. Renewables’ prices are plummeting, the roll-out of renewables is accelerating, and lives are being transformed by affordable, accessible clean energy. Renewables do not just generate power; they generate jobs, wealth, energy security and a path out of poverty for millions. However, developing countries cannot be plundered in that journey. Our Panel on Critical Energy Transition Minerals has recommended fair and sustainable ways to meet global demand for such resources, which are essential to the renewables revolution. While a future without fossil fuels is certain, a fair and fast transition is not — that is in members’ hands. By next year, every country must produce an ambitious new national climate action plan or nationally determined contribution plan. These must bring together national energy strategies, sustainable development priorities and climate ambitions. They must align with the 1.5°C limit, cover the entire economy and contribute to every one of the energy transition targets of the twenty-eighth Conference of the Parties to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (COP 28). An International Energy Agency report released today breaks this down. By 2035, advanced economies must slash their energy emissions by, on average, 80 per cent, and emerging markets 65 per cent. The G20 is responsible for 80 per cent of total emissions. They must lead the charge, in keeping with the principle of common but differentiated responsibilities and with their respective capabilities in the light of different national circumstances. However, this must be a joint effort, in which we pool resources, scientific capacities and proven and affordable technologies to enable all to reach those targets. I am honoured to be working closely with President Lula da Silva of Brazil — who is both Chair of the G20 and host of COP 30  — to secure maximum ambition, acceleration and cooperation. We met recently for that purpose. Finance is essential. COP 29 is around the corner. It must deliver a significant new finance goal. We also need a loss and damage fund that meets the scale of the challenge, and developed countries must meet their adaptation finance promises. Furthermore, we must finally flip the script on what has become a crazy situation: I call on the G20 countries to shift money away from fossil fuel subsidies and investments and into a just energy transition; to put an effective price on carbon; and to implement new and innovative sources of financing — including solidarity levies on fossil fuel extraction — through legally binding, transparent mechanisms. All this needs to be achieved by next year, taking into account that those who shoulder the blame must foot the bill. Polluters must pay. The rapid rise of new technologies poses another unpredictable existential risk. Artificial intelligence (AI) will change virtually everything we know, from work, education and communication to culture and politics. We know that AI is rapidly advancing, but where is it taking us: to more freedom or more conflict? To a more sustainable world or greater inequality? To being better informed or easier to manipulate? A handful of companies and even individuals have already amassed enormous power over the development of AI, with little accountability or oversight for the moment. Without a global approach to its management, artificial intelligence could lead to artificial divisions across the board — a great fracture with two Internets, two markets and two economies — with every country forced to pick a side, and enormous consequences for all. The United Nations is the universal platform for dialogue and consensus. It is uniquely placed to promote cooperation on AI, on the basis of the values of the Charter and international law. The global debate happens here, or it does not happen. I welcome the important first steps: two General Assembly resolutions, the Global Digital Compact and the recommendations of the High-level Advisory Body on Artificial Intelligence can lay the foundations for the inclusive governance of AI. Let us move forward together to make AI a force for good. Nothing lasts forever, but a feature of human life is that it appears otherwise. The current order always feels fixed — until it is not. Across human history, we see empires rising and falling, old certainties crumbling and tectonic shifts in global affairs. Today our course is unsustainable. It is in all our interests to manage the epic transformations underway, to choose the future that we want and guide our world towards it. Many have said that the divisions and differences today are just too great and that it is impossible for us to come together for the common good. Members have proved that that is not true. The Summit of the Future showed that, with a spirit of dialogue and compromise, we can join forces to steer our world onto a more sustainable path. It is not the end, it is the start of a journey, a compass in the whirlwind. We must keep going. Let us move our world towards less impunity and more accountability, less inequality and more justice, and less uncertainty and more opportunity. The people of the world are looking to us, and succeeding generations will look back on us. Let them find us on the side of the United Nations Charter, on the side of our shared values and principles and on the right side of history.

I thank the Secretary-General for his statement.

I extend a heartfelt welcome to the delegations of Member States, observers and esteemed guests. It is my profound honour and privilege to welcome members to this Hall for the general debate of the seventy-ninth session of The general debate remains one of the world’s most inclusive, representative and authoritative platforms for global reflection and collective action. This year, the urgency of our task cannot be overstated. We are falling behind in our pursuit of the Sustainable Development Goals. I am informed that, with just five years to go, less than 18 per cent of the Goals have been achieved. In addition, the climate crisis is no longer a distant threat — it is here, now, ravaging ecosystems and dismantling the livelihoods of entire communities. Conflicts rage, from the Middle East to Ukraine, from Haiti to South Sudan, leaving in their wake death, destruction and immense suffering. I call for an immediate ceasefire in all these conflict settings. For almost a year now, the people of Gaza and Israel have been caught in a spiralling cycle of conflict and retribution. I take this opportunity to call for an immediate ceasefire in the Hamas-Israel war, for the unconditional release of all hostages and for all parties to abide by international law, including international humanitarian law, and work towards a just and lasting solution grounded in the United Nations Charter, relevant resolutions and international law and ensuring dignity for both Palestinians and Israelis. Indeed, only a two-State solution can end the cycle of violence and instability, ensuring peace, security and dignity for both Palestinians and Israelis. We should be coming together for peace and the well-being of our citizens. We should not divert essential resources into military stockpiles, fuelling an arms race unlike any since the cold war era. Nuclear weapons continue to be a threat to humanity and our planet. A nuclear war must never be fought. Conditions for the use or accidental detonation of such weapons must always be avoided. We call for urgent measures for the abolition of these tools for the annihilation of the human race and our environment. Old hatreds, rooted in prejudice and ignorance, persist, and new divisions arise where none should exist. In the recent past, mistrust among States has grown steadily, complicating prospects for the peaceful settlement of inter-State disputes. It is time to invest more in building trust and practising dialogue. Constant dialogue is a powerful weapon that all governments have in their hands. Trust and dialogue are integral parts of our human dignity and preconditions for lasting peace and security. Gender equality remains a distant goal, as many women and girls around the world continue to be denied their basic rights, justice and opportunities. Globally, we are witnessing a troubling regression in the protection of human rights and human dignity. Millions remain trapped in poverty, their lives restricted by forces beyond their control. Forced labour and modern slavery — extending even to young boys and girls of school age — are an insult to human dignity. They must be combated in every society at all times. There is an urgent need to reform the international financial system, as too many countries remain burdened by crippling debt, forced to choose between servicing loans and improving the lives of their citizens. Meanwhile, the digital divide continues to widen, cutting off entire populations from the tools needed to succeed in the twenty-first century. We are not mere spectators to these crises, nor are we powerless to act. Within this Hall are the leaders and representatives of the world’s nations — the very people with the authority and responsibility to shape the course of our shared future. At our disposal is one of the most powerful tools for positive change: international A better world begins with unlocking the potential of “we the peoples of the world”. Freedom and good governance ensure that no one  — no individual or community  — is left behind. In that endeavour, we must never overlook the challenges faced by small island developing States, landlocked developing States, least developed countries and small States. It is incumbent on the United Nations to do more than just express solidarity. Specific programmes responding to the unique situations in which those groups of States find themselves must be considered. That will be a priority for my presidency. Africa is one of the priorities of the United Nations. We must support Africa. The African Union’s Agenda 2063 presents a bold and transformative vision for the continent. Africa currently has the youngest population in the world, and one in four people globally will be African by 2063. The generation of resources for the welfare of the people of Africa has been much slower than the growth of its population. We must not let Africa’s potential go unrealized. The fact is that to truly unlock Africa’s vast potential, we must actively cultivate global partnerships that align with the continent’s aspirations and drive its success. In that endeavour, I look forward to working with the Member States of the United Nations this year on keeping Africa at the heart of the agenda. During the seventy-ninth session I also want to prioritize multilingualism as a recognition of our world’s cultural and linguistic richness. We understand that the multitude of the world’s languages, cultures and perspectives should be viewed not as a source of division but as a wellspring of strength. We are expecting a very successful high-level week. In addition to the recently concluded Summit of the Future and the ongoing general debate, several critical high-level events will take place. They include a high-level meeting of the General Assembly on antimicrobial resistance, a high-level plenary meeting on addressing the existential threats posed by sea-level rise and a high-level plenary meeting of the General Assembly to commemorate and promote the International Day for the Total Elimination of Nuclear Weapons. Throughout the session we will address the urgent issues of our time. While we may not agree on every issue, we all share the same fundamental goal — building a better world for everyone, everywhere. Representatives from the 193 Member States are here today, each embodying our collective aspirations, each guided by a shared vision. The path ahead is difficult, but while it is fraught with obstacles that may at times seem insurmountable, they are not impassable. We have the tools, the knowledge and the collective will to overcome such challenges if we act together with courage and conviction. Before I invite the first speaker to address the Assembly, I would like to remind everyone that the list of speakers for the general debate has been established on the agreed basis that no statement should exceed 15 minutes, in order to ensure that all speakers can be heard at any given meeting. Within that time frame, I would like to appeal to speakers to deliver their statements at a reasonable pace so that interpretations into other official United Nations languages can be properly provided. I would also like to draw everyone’s attention to a decision taken by the Assembly at previous sessions whereby the practice of expressing congratulations inside the General Assembly Hall after the delivery of a statement is strongly discouraged. After they deliver their statements from the rostrum, speakers are invited to exit the

Finally, I would like to draw Members’ attention to the fact that during the general debate official photographs of all the speakers are taken by the Department of Global Communications. Members interested in obtaining any of those photographs are requested to contact the United Nations Photo Library. Address by Mr. Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva, President of the Federative Republic of Brazil

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

On behalf of the General Assembly, I have the honour to welcome to the United Nations His Excellency Mr. Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva, President of the Federative Republic of Brazil, and to invite him to address the Assembly. President Lula da Silva (spoke in Portuguese; English interpretation provided by the delegation): My greetings to all, and specifically to the Palestinian delegation, which is taking part in this opening session for the first time, albeit as an observer State, as well as to President Abbas, who is here today. The day before yesterday, here in this Hall, we adopted the Pact for the Future (resolution 79/1). The difficult path to its adoption shows how our collective capacity for negotiation and dialogue has weakened. Its limited scope is also an expression of a paradox of our time, which is that we circle around possible commitments, and that leads to inadequate results. Not even the tragedy of the coronavirus disease enabled us to unite around a treaty on pandemics at the World Health Organization. We need to go much further and provide the United Nations with the necessary means to face the dizzying changes in the international panorama. We are living in a time of growing anguish, frustration, tension and fear. We are witnessing an alarming escalation of geopolitical disputes and strategic rivalries. In 2023 we witnessed the achievement of the sad record of the highest number of conflicts since the Second World War. Global military spending grew for the ninth consecutive year, reaching $2.4 trillion. More than $90 billion has been allocated to nuclear arsenals. Those resources could have been used to finance the fight against hunger and climate change. What we are seeing is an increase in military capabilities. The use of force without the support of international law is becoming the rule. We are witnessing two simultaneous conflicts with the potential to become widespread conflagrations. In Ukraine, with regret, we are seeing the war extending without any prospect of peace. Brazil has firmly condemned the invasion of Ukrainian territory. It is already clear that neither side will be able to achieve all their objectives through military means. The use of increasingly destructive weapons brings to mind the darkest days of the sterile cold war confrontation. Creating conditions for resuming direct dialogue between the parties is crucial at this time. This is the message of the six-point understanding that China and Brazil have presented with a view to establishing a dialogue and ending the hostilities. In Gaza and the West Bank, we are witnessing one of the greatest humanitarian crises in recent history, which is now spreading dangerously into Lebanon. What began as a terrorist action by fanatics against innocent Israeli civilians has become Furthermore, forgotten conflicts in the Sudan and Yemen are causing excruciating suffering to nearly 30 million people. This year, the number of people in need of humanitarian aid in the world will reach 300 million. In times of increasing polarization, expressions such as “deglobalization” have become commonplace. But it is impossible to “deplanetize” our life together. We are doomed to climate change interdependence. The planet is no longer waiting to demand payment from the next generation and is fed up with unfulfilled climate agreements. It is tired of neglected carbon reduction targets and the failure to deliver financial aid to poor countries. Denialism succumbs to the evidence of global warming. The year 2024 is on track to be the hottest in modern history. Hurricanes in the Caribbean, typhoons in Asia, droughts and floods in Africa and torrential rains in Europe are leaving a trail of death and destruction. In the south of Brazil, we had the biggest flood since 1941. The Amazon is experiencing the worst drought in 45 years. Forest fires have spread across the country, devouring 5 million hectares in August alone. My Government will not outsource its responsibilities, nor will it abdicate its sovereignty. We have already done so much, but we know that more needs to be done. In addition to facing the challenge of the climate crisis, we are fighting against those who profit from environmental degradation. We will not tolerate environmental crime, illegal mining and organized crime. We reduced deforestation in the Amazon by 50 per cent in the past year, and we will eradicate it by 2030. It is no longer acceptable to think about solutions for tropical forests without listening to indigenous peoples, traditional communities and all those who live in them. Our sustainable development vision is based on the potential of the bioeconomy. Brazil will host the thirtieth session of the Conference of the Parties to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (COP30) in 2025, in the conviction that multilateralism is the only way to overcome the climate emergency. Our nationally determined contribution will be presented later this year, in line with the goal of limiting the increase in the planet’s temperature to 1.5°C. Brazil stands out as a source of opportunities in a world that is being revolutionized by the energy transition. Today, we are one of the countries with the cleanest energy mix. Some 90 per cent of our electricity comes from renewable sources, such as biomass, hydroelectrical power, solar power and wind power. We made the choice to adopt biofuels 50 years ago, long before the discussion about alternative energies gained traction. We are at the forefront of other important niches, such as green hydrogen production. It is time to face the debate about the slow pace of the planet’s decarbonization and to work for an economy that is less reliant on fossil fuels. Since 2014, Latin America has been experiencing a second lost decade. The region’s average growth during that period has been just 0.9 per cent, less than half of that seen in the “lost decade” of the 1980s. This combination of low growth and high levels of inequality results in harmful effects on the political landscape. Engulfed by disputes often unrelated to the region, our vocation for cooperation and understanding has been weakened. There is no justification for Cuba’s continued inclusion on a unilateral list of States that allegedly promote terrorism nor for the application of unilateral coercive measures that unduly punish the most vulnerable populations. In Haiti, joint action is urgently needed to restore public order and promote development. Freedom is the first victim of a world with no rules. Essential elements of sovereignty include the right to prescribe laws, adjudicate disputes and enforce rules within one’s territory, including the digital environment. The State which we are building is sensitive to the needs of the most vulnerable, without giving up its sound macroeconomic foundations. The false opposition between the State and the market has been abandoned by developed nations, which have returned to implementing active industrial policies and enforcing strong regulation of the domestic economy. In the area of artificial intelligence, we are experiencing the consolidation of asymmetries that could lead to a true knowledge oligopoly. The unprecedented concentration of such technologies in the hands of a small number of people and companies based in an even smaller number of countries is advancing. We are interested in an emancipatory artificial intelligence that bears the face of the global South, strengthens cultural diversity, respects human rights, protects personal data and promotes information integrity. Above all, it must be a tool for peace, not war. We need a system of intergovernmental governance of artificial intelligence, in which all States have a seat. The conditions for accessing financial resources remain prohibitive for most low- and middle-income countries. The debt burden limits the fiscal room to invest in health and education, reduce inequalities and address climate change. African countries borrow at rates up to eight times higher than Germany and four times higher than the United States. It is a Marshall Plan in reverse, in which the poorest finance the richest. Without the greater participation of developing countries in the management of the International Monetary Fund and the World Bank, there will be no effective change. While progress towards the Sustainable Development Goals lags behind, the world’s 150 largest companies have collectively made $1.8 trillion in profits over the past two years. The fortunes of the top five billionaires have more than doubled since the start of this decade, while 60 per cent of humankind has become poorer. The super-rich pay far less tax proportionally than the working class. To remedy that anomaly, Brazil has insisted on international cooperation in developing minimum global taxation standards. The data on the state of food insecurity in the world released by the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations two months ago is shocking. The number of people going hungry around the world has increased by more than 152 million since 2019. That means that 9 per cent of the world’s population — around 733 million people — is undernourished. While the problem is especially severe in Africa and Asia, it also persists in parts of Latin America. Women and girls make up a majority of the people facing hunger around the world. Pandemics, armed conflicts, climate events and agricultural subsidies in rich countries are increasing the scope of the scourge. Hunger is not just the result of external factors, however. It is the result above all of political choices. Today the world produces more than enough food to eradicate The Charter of the United Nations, which is nearly 80 years old, has never undergone comprehensive reform. It has been amended only four times, all of them between 1965 and 1973, and the current version fails to address some of humankind’s most pressing challenges. When the United Nations was founded, it had 51 Member States. Today it has 193. At that time, many countries, mainly on the African continent, were under colonial rule and had no say in the Organization’s goals and functioning. In addition, there is still no gender balance in the highest positions, and the position of Secretary-General has never been held by a woman. As we approach the end of the first quarter of the twenty-first century, the United Nations is increasingly empty and paralysed. We must act urgently to restore the prerogatives of the Organization that derive from its status as a universal forum. Individual adjustments are not enough. We need to think about a comprehensive review of the Charter. Any reform should include certain goals. They are the transformation of the Economic and Social Council into the main forum for dealing with sustainable development and the fight against climate change, with a real capacity to inspire financial institutions; the revitalization of the role of the General Assembly, including in matters of international peace and security; the strengthening of the Peacebuilding Commission; and reform of the Security Council, focusing on its composition, working methods and veto power, in order to make it more effective and representative of contemporary realities. The exclusion of the countries of Latin America and Africa from permanent seats on the Security Council is an unacceptable echo of the domination practices of the colonial past. The discussion should be promoted in a transparent way, in consultation with the Group of 77, the Group of 20, the countries — Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa — that make up the BRICS group, the Community of Latin American and Caribbean States, the Caribbean Community and so many other relevant groups. I have no illusions about the complexity of reforms such as these, which will face entrenched interests in maintaining the status quo. It will require enormous negotiation efforts, but that is our responsibility. We cannot wait for another global tragedy like the Second World War to finally build a new global governance system out of the rubble. The will of the majority will persuade those who cling to the raw expression of the mechanisms of power. The aspirations of humankind are echoed in this plenary. We are engaging in the world’s greatest debates here. In this forum we seek answers to the problems afflicting the world. It is up to the General Assembly — the greatest expression of multilateralism — to pave the way for the future.

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

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

On behalf of the General Assembly, I have the honour to welcome to the United Nations His Excellency Mr. Joseph R. Biden, Jr., President of the United States of America, and to invite him to address the Assembly. President Biden: Today is the fourth time that I have had the great honour of speaking to the Assembly as President of the United States. It will be my last. I have seen a remarkable sweep of history. I was first elected to office as a United States Senator in 1972. Now, while I know I look like I am only 40, I was 29 years old at the time. Back then, we were living through an inflection point, a moment of tension and uncertainty. The world was divided by the Cold War. The Middle East was headed towards war. America was at war in Viet Nam — at that point, the longest war in America’s history. Our country was divided and angry, and there were questions about our staying power and our future. But even then I entered public life not out of despair but out of optimism. The United States and the world got through that moment. It was not easy or simple or without significant setbacks. But we went on to reduce the threat of nuclear weapons through arms control and then to bring the Cold War itself to an end. Israel and Egypt went to war but then forged an historic peace. We ended the war in Viet Nam. Last year in Hanoi, I met with the Vietnamese leadership, and we elevated our partnership to the highest level. It is a testament to the resilience of the human spirit and its capacity for reconciliation that today the United States and Viet Nam are partners and friends. It is proof that even from the horrors of war there is a way forward. Things can get better. We should never forget that. I have seen it throughout my career. In the 1980s I spoke out against apartheid in South Africa, and then I watched the racist regime fall. In the 1990s I worked to hold Milošević accountable for war crimes, and he was indeed held accountable. At home, I wrote and passed the Violence Against Women Act to end the scourge of violence against women and girls not only in America but across the world — as many leaders here today have as well, even if we have so much more to do, especially with regard to combating the use of rape and sexual violence as weapons of war and terror. We were attacked on 11 September 2001 by Al-Qaida and Osama bin Laden. We brought him to justice. I then worked for the presidency in another moment of crisis and uncertainty. I believed that America had to look forward. New challenges, new threats and new opportunities were in front of us. We needed to put ourselves in a position to see the threats, deal with the challenges and seize the opportunities. We needed to end the era of war that began on 9/11. As Vice-President to President Obama, I was asked to wind down the military operations in Iraq. And we did, painful as it was. When I took office as President, Afghanistan had replaced Viet Nam as America’s longest war. I was determined to end it, and I did. It was a hard decision, but the right one. Four American presidents had faced that decision, but I was determined not to leave it to the fifth. It was accompanied by tragedy, as 13 brave Americans lost their lives along with hundreds of Afghans in a suicide bombing. I think of those lost lives every day. I think of all the 2,461 United States military deaths over the 20 long years of that war. A total of 20,744 American servicemen were wounded in action. I think of their service, their sacrifice and their heroism. I know that other countries lost their own men and women who were fighting alongside us. We honour their sacrifices as well. To face the future, I was also determined to rebuild my country’s alliances and partnerships to a level not previously seen. We did just that, through traditional I know that many people look at the world today and see difficulties and react with despair, but I do not. I will not. As leaders, we do not have that luxury. I recognize the challenges that we are facing from Ukraine to Gaza to the Sudan and beyond  — war, hunger, terrorism, brutality, record displacements of people, a climate crisis, democracy at risk, strains within our societies, the promises and significant risks of artificial intelligence (AI). The list goes on. But maybe because of all that I have seen and all that we have done together over the decades, I have hope. I know there is a way forward. In 1919 the Irish poet William Butler Yeats described a world where “Things fall apart; the centre cannot hold; Mere anarchy is loosed upon the world”. Some may say that those words describe the world not just in 1919 but in 2024. But I see a crucial distinction. In our time, the centre has held. Leaders and people from every region and across the political spectrum have stood together. We have turned the page on the worst pandemic in a century. We made sure that the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) no longer controls our lives. We defended the Charter of the United Nations and ensured the survival of Ukraine as a free nation. My country made the largest investment in climate and clean energy in history so far. There will always be forces that pull our countries and the world apart — aggression, extremism, chaos, cynicism and a desire to retreat from the world and go it alone. Our task and our test is to make sure that the forces holding us together are stronger than those pulling us apart, that the principles of partnership that we come here each year to uphold can withstand the challenges and that the centre holds once again. I truly believe that we are at another inflection point in world history, where the choices we make today will determine our future for decades to come. Will we stand behind the principles that unite us? Will we stand firm against aggression? Will we end the conflicts that are raging today? Will we take on global challenges such as climate change, hunger and disease? Will we plan now for the opportunities and risks presented by revolutionary new technologies? I want to talk today about each of those decisions, and about the actions that in my view we must take. To start with, each of us in this body has made a commitment to the principles of the Charter and to standing up against aggression. When Russia invaded Ukraine, we could have stood by and merely protested. But Vice-President Harris and I understood that the war was an assault on everything that this Organization is supposed to stand for. And so at my direction, America stepped into the breach, providing massive security, economic and humanitarian assistance. Our NATO allies and our partners in more than 50 nations stood up as well. But most importantly, the Ukrainian people stood up. I ask everyone in this Hall to stand up for them. The good news is that Putin’s war has failed in its core aim. He set out to destroy Ukraine, but Ukraine is still free. He set out to weaken NATO, and yet NATO is bigger, stronger and more united than ever before, with two new members, Finland and Sweden. But we cannot let up. The world now has another choice to make. Will we sustain our support to help Ukraine win this war and preserve its freedom or will we walk away and let aggression be renewed and a nation be destroyed? I know my answer. We cannot grow weary. We cannot look away. We will not let up in our support for Ukraine until Ukraine wins a just and durable peace based on the Charter. We also need to uphold our principles as we seek to responsibly manage competition with China so that it does not veer into conflict. We stand ready to cooperate on urgent challenges for the good of our people and of peoples everywhere. We recently resumed cooperation with China to stop the flow of deadly synthetic In matters of conviction, the United States is unabashed, pushing back against unfair economic competition and the military coercion of other nations in the South China Sea, maintaining peace and stability across the Taiwan Straits and protecting our most advanced technologies so that they cannot be used against us or any of our partners. At the same time, we are going to continue to strengthen our network of alliances and partnerships across the Indo-Pacific. Those partnerships are not against any nation. They are building blocks for a free, open, secure and peaceful Indo-Pacific. We are also working to bring a greater measure of peace and stability to the Middle East. The world must not flinch from the horrors of 7 October 2023. Any country would have the right and responsibility to ensure that such an attack could never happen again. Thousands of armed Hamas terrorists invaded a sovereign State, slaughtering and massacring more than 1,200 people, including 46 Americans, in their homes and at a music festival. There were despicable acts of sexual violence, and 250 innocents were taken hostage. I have met with the families of those hostages. I have grieved with them. They are going through hell. And innocent civilians in Gaza are also going through hell. Thousands and thousands have been killed, including aid workers. Too many families have been dislocated, crowded into tents and left to face a dire humanitarian situation. They did not ask for the war that Hamas started. With Qatar and Egypt, I have put forward a ceasefire and hostage deal, which has been endorsed by the Security Council. Now is the time for the parties to finalize the terms of the deal, bring the hostages home, achieve security for Israel and a Gaza free of Hamas’s grip, ease the suffering in Gaza and end the war. Since 7 October we have also been determined to prevent a wider war from engulfing the entire region. Unprovoked, Hizbullah joined the 7 October attack by launching rockets into Israel. Almost a year later, too many on each side of the Israel-Lebanon border remain displaced. Full-scale war is not in anyone’s interest. Even as the situation has escalated, a diplomatic solution is still possible. In fact, it remains the only path to lasting security that will allow residents of both countries to return to their homes on the border safely. That is what we are working tirelessly to achieve. As we look ahead, we must also address the rise in violence against innocent Palestinians on the West Bank and set the conditions for a better future, including through a two-State solution, whereby Israel enjoys security, peace, full recognition and normalized relations with all its neighbours and Palestinians live in security, dignity and self-determination in a State of their own. Progress towards peace will put us in a stronger position to deal with the ongoing threat posed by Iran. Together we must deny oxygen to its terrorist proxies, which have called for more attacks like that of 7 October, and we must ensure that Iran can never, ever obtain a nuclear weapon. Gaza is not the only conflict that deserves our outrage. In the Sudan, a bloody civil war has unleashed one of the world’s worst humanitarian crises, with 8 million people on the brink of famine, hundreds of thousands already there and atrocities being committed in Darfur and elsewhere. The United States has led the world in providing humanitarian aid to the Sudan. With our partners, we have led diplomatic talks to try to silence the guns and avert a wider famine. The world needs to stop arming the generals, speak with one voice and tell them to stop tearing their country apart. They must stop blocking aid to the Sudanese people and end this war now. But people need more than the absence of war. They need a chance to live in dignity and to be protected from the ravages of climate change, hunger and disease. Our Administration has invested more than $150 billion to make progress towards those and other Sustainable Development Goals. That includes $20 billion for food Beyond the core necessities of food and health, the United States, the Group of 7 and our partners have embarked on an ambitious initiative to mobilize and deliver significant financing to the developing world. Through the Partnership for Global Infrastructure and Investment, we are working to help countries build their infrastructure, transition to clean energy, carry out digital transformations and lay new economic foundations for a prosperous future. We have already started to see the fruits of that effort emerge in Southern Africa, South-East Asia and the Americas. We must keep it going. I want to get things done together. In order to do that, we must build a stronger, more effective and more inclusive United Nations. The United Nations needs to adapt to bring in new voices and new perspectives. That is why we support reforming and expanding the membership of the Security Council. My United Nations Ambassador just laid out our detailed vision, one that reflects the world of today, not of yesterday. It is time to move forward. The Security Council, like the United Nations itself, needs to get back to the job of making peace, brokering deals to end wars and suffering, stopping the spread of the most dangerous weapons and stabilizing troubled regions, from East Africa to Haiti, where a Kenya-led mission is working alongside the Haitian people to turn the tide. We also have a responsibility to prepare our citizens for the future. I believe we will see more technological change in the next two to 10 years than we have in the past 50. Artificial intelligence is going to change our ways of life, work and war. It could usher in scientific progress at a pace never seen before and much of which could make our lives better. But AI also brings profound risks, from deep fakes to disinformation and from novel pathogens to bioweapons. We have worked at home and abroad to define new norms and standards. This year the General Assembly adopted its first-ever resolutions on artificial intelligence (resolutions 78/265 and 78/311), with a view to starting to develop global rules of the road. We also announced the Political Declaration on Responsible Military Use of Artificial Intelligence and Autonomy, endorsed by 60 of the countries represented in this Hall. But let us be honest. That is just the tip of the iceberg of what we need to do to manage this new technology. Nothing is certain about how AI will evolve or be deployed. No one knows all the answers. It is therefore with humility that I pose two questions. First, how do we as an international community govern AI? As countries and companies race towards uncertain frontiers, we need an equally urgent effort to ensure AI’s safety, security and trustworthiness. And as AI grows more powerful, it also must grow more responsive to our collective needs and values. The benefits must be shared equitably with all. It should be harnessed to narrow digital divides rather than deepen them. Secondly, will we ensure that AI supports rather than undermines the core principles that human life has value and that all humans deserve dignity? We must make certain that its awesome capabilities will be used to uplift and empower ordinary people, not to give dictators more powerful shackles for the human spirit. In conclusion, even as we navigate so much change, one thing must not change. We must never forget who we are here to represent. “We the People” are the first words of the United States Constitution, the very idea of America, and they inspired the opening words of the United Nations Charter. I have made the preservation of democracy the central cause of my presidency. This summer, I faced a decision about whether to seek a second term as President. It was a difficult decision, as being President has been the greatest honour of my life. There is so much more I want to get done. But as much as I love the job, I love my country more. After 50 years of public service, I decided that it was time for a new generation of leadership to take my nation forward. Let us never forget that some things are more important than staying in power. It is our people who matter the most. We must never forget that we are here to serve the people, not the other way around. The future will be won by those who unleash their people’s full potential to breathe freely, to think freely, to innovate, to educate and to live and love openly without fear. That is the soul of democracy. It does not belong to any one country. I have seen it all around the world in the brave men and women who ended apartheid, brought down the Berlin Wall and fight today for freedom, justice and dignity. We saw that universal yearning for rights and freedom in Venezuela, where millions cast their vote for change. While that vote had not been recognized, it cannot be denied. The world knows the truth. We saw it in Uganda, where lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender activists are demanding safety and recognition of their common humanity. We see it in citizens across the world who are peacefully choosing their future. From Ghana to India to South Korea, nations representing one quarter of humankind will hold elections in this year alone. The remarkable power of “We the People” makes me more optimistic about the future than I have been since I was first elected to the United States Senate in 1972. Every age faces its challenges. I saw that as a young man, and I see it today. But we are stronger than we think. We are stronger together than alone. What people call impossible is just an illusion. Nelson Mandela taught us that it always seems impossible until it is done. There is nothing that is beyond our capacity if we work together. Let us work together. God bless us all and protect all who seek peace.

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

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

On behalf of the General Assembly, I have the honour to welcome to the United Nations His Excellency Mr. Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, President of the Republic of Türkiye, and to invite him to address the Assembly. President Erdoğan (spoke in Turkish; English interpretation provided by the delegation): On behalf of my country and my nation, I would like to express my most heartfelt greetings and respect. I am honoured to have the opportunity today to address the General Assembly once again. I hope that its seventy-ninth session will be a blessing for our countries and all humankind. I want to congratulate Mr. Francis I would also like to express my pleasure at seeing the delegation of Palestine in its rightful place among the Member States. I hope that this historic step, the result of a long struggle, will be a final turning point on Palestine’s road to full membership in the United Nations. The international community, and all of us in the human family, must fulfil our obligations to the Palestinian people without delay. I know that everyone here is monitoring on television the various ongoing crises that we are trying to manage. Today I am representing not a country located far from those tensions but rather one that is situated at the very heart of the tensions and war. And while some may criticize us, today we will speak the truth frankly and openly at this forum for the human race. The United Nations, under whose roof we are speaking today, was established in the aftermath of the Second World War — in which millions of people lost their lives — with a view to maintaining international peace and security. With its establishment, expectations for global stability, peace and justice were reborn, and hopes for peace blossomed once again. Unfortunately, to put it bluntly, in the past few years the United Nations has failed to fulfil its founding mission and has gradually become a dysfunctional structure. “The world is bigger than five nations” is my credo, and it represents our common values, which we now need more than ever. International justice cannot be left to the will of five privileged members of the Security Council. The most dramatic example of that is the massacre that has been going on in Gaza for the past 350 days. Since 7 October 2023, 41,000 Palestinians have been killed in Israel’s ongoing attacks. Some 41,000 lives, mostly of children and women, have been ruthlessly taken away. There are more than 10,000 others — most of them children — whose whereabouts no one knows. And a further 100,000 people have been injured or maimed or have lost limbs. In addition, 172 journalists have been killed while trying to do their job in very difficult conditions, along with more than 500 medics who were trying to save lives. Humanitarian aid workers, including 215 United Nations personnel — who came to the rescue of the people of Gaza who were struggling with hunger and thirst — have also been killed. The attackers have hit marketplaces, tents and camps where refugees were sheltering. They have also hit 820 mosques and three churches, which should not be touched even in time of war. They have deliberately hit dozens of hospitals, hundreds of schools and more than 130 ambulances carrying patients. Within this very forum, they have shredded the Charter of the United Nations and shamelessly challenged the conscience of the whole world. The leaked images from Israel’s prisons — which it has turned into concentration camps — clearly show what kind of barbarity we are facing. As a result of Israel’s attacks, Gaza has become the world’s largest cemetery for women and children. More than 17,000 children have been targeted by Israeli bullets and bombs. Hind Rajab was only five years old when she was killed. She and her family were seeking safety when their car was hit by Israeli forces. She lost everything: her mother, her father, her siblings, her cousins — and every hope she had packed away. She was the only one to survive. She waited desperately for rescue for 12 days. Her plaintive cry was, “Will you come to take me away from here? I am afraid”, as she waited for a helping hand to reach out to her. Despite the sophistication of our world, the technology at our disposal, the institutions and organizations with enormous budgets we have established that employ tens of thousands of people, we, as a human family of 8 billion souls, still cannot manage to rescue a six-year-old girl, who, like an injured sparrow trapped underneath the rubble, was shaking before our very eyes. Hundreds of Gazan Not only are children in Gaza dying, but also the United Nations system, as are the values that the West claims to defend. The truth is dying, and the hopes of humankind to live in a more just world are dying one by one. Before the General Assembly in this Hall today, I bluntly, openly and frankly call upon human rights organizations to tell me if the people in Gaza and the West Bank are not human beings. Do children in Palestine have no rights? Can they safely play in the streets of their homelands? I call upon the international press organizations to ask if the journalists murdered by Israel on live television — whose offices were previously ransacked — are not their colleagues. I call upon the Security Council to ask what it is waiting for before it acts to prevent the genocide in Gaza and put a stop to this cruel barbarianism. What is the Council waiting for to stop Netanyahu and his network, which is endangering the lives of the Palestinian people as part of a mass-murder network? Why is the Council waiting to stop him from endangering his own people and the entire region for political gain? I would also like to call out the countries unconditionally supporting Israel. How long will they be able to live with the shame of witnessing this massacre? While children are dying in Gaza, Ramallah and Lebanon and babies are dying in incubators, the international community is unfortunately being given a difficult test, and it has failed spectacularly. What is happening in Palestine is the sign of a great moral collapse. I believe that the peoples of the world and the leaders of countries and international organizations should reflect on this painful landscape. I would like to state clearly and forcefully in this Hall that the Israeli Government has disregarded basic human rights, trampled on international law at every opportunity and is practicing ethnic cleansing. Step by step, it is committing a clear genocide against a nation and a people and occupying their lands. Palestinians, whose freedom, independence and most fundamental rights have been violated, are justified in exercising their legitimate right to resist this occupation and ethnic cleansing. The just resistance of the Palestinian people against the occupiers of their land is too noble, honourable and justifiable to be called illegitimate. It is heroic and noble. The only reason Israel can commit its aggressions against the Palestinian people is the unconditional support of a group of countries. I would therefore like to salute my brothers and sisters who have supported the legitimate resistance in Palestine. Once again, the support by a group of countries for Israel is the reason why this aggression remains ongoing. Countries that have a say in Israel’s actions are openly complicit in this massacre with their policy of “run for the hare and catch the hound”. Those who are supposedly working for a ceasefire on the public stage continue to send arms and ammunition to Israel so that it can continue its massacres behind the scenes. This inconsistency is the essence of insincerity. Since May, there has been a proposal circulated, going back and forth, in which Hamas has repeatedly declared its acceptance of the ceasefire offer. However, by constantly dragging its feet, the Israeli Government has made it clear that it is the party that does not want peace, which has made settling the dispute much more difficult, almost impossible. By constantly finding excuses, by its deception and stalling, by surreptitiously killing its negotiating partner at the very moment the parties were closest to a ceasefire, Israel has forfeited any credit it had. In an environment where Security Council resolution 2735 (2024), remains unimplemented, coercive measures against Israel should now be considered. We believe that the General Assembly’s authority to recommend the use of armed force, as set forth in resolution 377(V) of 1950, known as the Uniting for peace resolution, should be invoked at this time. An immediate and permanent ceasefire must be established, hostages and prisoners must be exchanged, and unhindered and uninterrupted humanitarian aid must be delivered to Gaza. It is vitally important that a helping hand be extended to the people of Gaza, especially before winter, when conditions on the ground will become even more challenging. At present, 70 per cent of the water supplies and 75 per cent of the bakeries in Gaza have been destroyed. Some 95 per cent of health-care centres have been partially or completely damaged. Further, approximately 150,000 houses have been completely destroyed, while 200,000 houses have been partially destroyed, 80,000 of which are today uninhabitable. Infectious diseases such as polio and hepatitis are on the rise. Because of limited access, people in Gaza have received only a quarter of the aid they urgently need. My country, Türkiye, has been providing humanitarian aid to our brothers and sisters in Palestine, and we will continue to do so. Having delivered more than 60,000 tons of aid, Türkiye has sent the largest amount of aid to Gaza of any country in the world. Likewise, by halting commercial transactions with Israel, we have made our stance on this issue crystal clear. During the last couple of weeks, Israel has increased its attacks in Lebanon, and we stand with the people and the Government of that country. We can see this truth for what it is: the murders of 41,000 people will not rest until those who gave the orders, pulled the triggers and dropped the bombs have been held to account for their crimes. We will not heave a sigh of relief nor will our conscience go silent until that is done. Compensation for the billions of dollars of damage caused in the destroyed cities of Lebanon, which have in fact been reduced to rubble, must and will be paid by the perpetrators. We support the case brought by the Republic of South Africa at the International Court of Justice to ensure that Israel’s crimes do not go unpunished. We will take all steps necessary for justice to be for Ayşenur Ezgi Eygi, and we have applied to the Court to be an intervenor in the case. We will fight for the blood of Ms. Eygi, who was murdered with a shot in the head by Israeli soldiers at a peaceful protest in Nablus. Indeed, we will unstintingly fight for the pursuit of all legal remedies for crimes that have been perpetrated. While a ceasefire in Gaza is urgently needed, the issue underlying the Israeli- Palestinian conflict is the Israel’s occupation of Palestinian territories. A Palestinian State based on the 1967 borders, independent, sovereign and geographically integrated, with East Jerusalem as its capital, must be brought into being without any further delay. Let it be known that we are closely following Israel’s increasing attacks against our first Qibla, Al-Aqsa Mosque/Al-Haram Al-Sharif. Let me state from this podium that I, President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, am speaking merely politically when I say that. I am inspired by our ancestors, who always stood on the side of the victims, with honour and nobility. Throughout history, Türkiye as a nation has always been on the side of the oppressed against oppressors and oppression. We remain such a nation. Five centuries Let me clearly state that, as a country and a nation, we have no animosity or hostility towards the people of Israel. We oppose anti-Semitism in the same way we oppose the targeting of Muslims just because of their faith. Our problem is with the Israeli Government’s policies that authorize massacres. Just as it was five centuries ago, our problem is with the oppressor and the oppression. Everyone should know about this: we will always speak the truth and support what is right and what is fair. Even if it makes some people uncomfortable, we will continue to shout out the truth and stand with the righteous, boldly saying what we know to be correct. Finally, I would like to thank all the courageous people who have shown solidarity with the Palestinian people without discriminating on the basis of faith, country, language or religion and who take to the streets almost every week to raise their voices against the massacres in Gaza. I would like to thank in particular university students and youth. Unfortunately, in the fourteenth year of the conflict in Syria, that country is still far from stable. The economic and humanitarian situation in Syria, which is in the grip of terrorism and separatist organizations, remains dire. In application of Security Council resolution 2254 (2015), we hope to advance the political process and achieve national reconciliation. We are sincerely determined to pursue our position in favour of realistic dialogue. Our neighbour Iraq, while continuing its fight against terrorism, is taking decisive steps towards development, reconstruction and reintegration with its region. The international community must support these efforts. In this context, it is important to implement such initiatives as the Development Road project, which will benefit the entire region on a win-win basis. The success of such efforts depends on the complete elimination of the terrorist threat in Iraq, in particular the Kurdistan Workers’ Party. We are strengthening our common action plan in the region with another neighbour of ours, Iran, in order to establish stability and peace, which will contribute tremendously to our efforts. The war in Ukraine has been raging for three years, and we are still far from establishing permanent peace and stability there. As the arms race accelerates, the space for diplomacy is shrinking. It is crucial that diplomacy and dialogue protect the territorial integrity and sovereignty of Ukraine, and Türkiye’s endeavours to that end will continue and grow even stronger. During this process we are committed to rigorously implementing the 1936 Montreux Convention Regarding the Regime of the Straits. We support the peace process between Azerbaijan and Armenia and hope that it will be concluded as soon as possible with a positive outcome. We support continued high-level contacts between the two countries, with a focus on dialogue. We are also taking mutually supportive steps on the Türkiye-Armenia track, with the expectation that progress in the Azerbaijan-Armenia peace process will have a positive impact on the Türkiye-Armenia normalization process. We play a constructive role in the peace and prosperity of the Balkans, of which we are an integral part, and we act in close cooperation with all actors in the region. As a member of the Steering Committee of the Peace Implementation Council, we emphasize the importance of the sovereignty, political unity and territorial integrity of Bosnia and Herzegovina in every platform and continue our contribution to European Union military operation there. We are successfully We want to see the Aegean Sea and the eastern Mediterranean as a zone of stability and prosperity where the legitimate interests of all the parties concerned are respected. It is in the common interest of the entire region to enhance cooperation, particularly on the delimitation of maritime jurisdictions, in accordance with international law and the freedom and safety of navigation and maritime trade. International maritime law encourages cooperation between littoral States in closed or semi-closed seas, such as the Aegean Sea. Türkiye is also ready for constructive cooperation on all issues, especially those related to energy and the environment. We have the longest coastline in the eastern Mediterranean, where Türkiye’s key role is undeniable. Türkiye has legitimate rights and authority in the western part of the island of Cyprus, while the Turkish Cypriots have legitimate rights in the areas around the island as a whole. It has been 50 years since the United Nations Peacekeeping Force arrived in Cyprus and 61 years since the Cyprus issue emerged following the Greek Cypriot usurpation of the partnership State. From that day until now, peace and tranquillity have prevailed on the island. It has always been Türkiye and the Turkish Cypriots who have shown a sincere desire to bring about a just, lasting and sustainable solution to the Cyprus issue. The federation model is now completely outdated, and we fully support the vision of a two-State solution, with two separate nations, put forward by the Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus. Sovereign equality and equal international status, which are the inherent right of the Turkish Cypriots, must be reaffirmed, and their isolation must end. Today I once again call on the international community to recognize the Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus and establish diplomatic, political and economic relations with it. We actively support the efforts to stabilize Libya and preserve its unity and territorial integrity. We call on all States to stand in solidarity with Libya at this very sensitive time and to contribute to building trust between the parties. We must do more to end the conflict in the Sudan. We all have a responsibility to deliver humanitarian assistance to the millions of Sudanese displaced by the conflict. With its young and dynamic population, rich natural resources and vast, fertile lands, Africa has enormous potential. Hand in hand with the peoples of Africa, and based on the principles of equal partnership and mutual respect, we support the continent’s efforts for peace, stability and development. We will continue to stand in full solidarity with our African brothers and sisters. As part of our initiatives, we are strengthening our deep-rooted ties with Asia. We are expanding our engagement with our regional partner organizations such as the Association of Southeast Asian Nations, the Shanghai Cooperation Organization and the Pacific Islands Forum. We are maintaining our commitment to developing our relations with the group that includes Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa, the BRICS countries, which are bringing emerging economies together. We share a deep-rooted history with the countries of Central Asia and are further strengthening our cooperation on bilateral and multilateral grounds. The Organization of Turkic States is gradually becoming a centre of attraction and an exemplary model of cooperation with the contributions of its observer members, Hungary and the Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus. We will continue to further strengthen our unity and solidarity as the Turkic world. Within a framework of respect for China’s sovereignty and territorial integrity, we are engaging in close dialogue with China to protect the fundamental rights and freedoms of the Uyghur Turks there, with whom we have strong historical, cultural and human ties. We are also endeavouring It is crucial that we work together to address global injustice. The concept central to the Sustainable Development Goals, that of leaving no one behind, is a guiding principle for those efforts. As one of the countries providing the largest amount of assistance relative to its gross domestic product, through its development cooperation activities Türkiye is contributing to the achievement of the Sustainable Development Goals. We contribute to efforts aimed at ensuring fair, inclusive growth and development through all international platforms, especially the Group of 20, of which we are a member. We see technological breakthroughs such as artificial intelligence as a potential source not of injustice and conflict but a more prosperous future, and we believe that all nations should benefit equally from the transformative power of such breakthrough technologies. The United Nations Technology Bank for the Least Developed Countries, which we host, is a concrete manifestation of our efforts in that regard. Unfortunately, last week’s cyberterror attacks in Lebanon showed once again how those technologies can be turned into deadly weapons. We are taking a similar approach to climate change. No country can tackle emission reductions and adapt to climate change on its own. The most important issues for developing countries are financing, technology transfer and capacity- building. I firmly believe that the twenty-ninth Conference of the Parties to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change, to be held in Baku, will help to solve those problems. At the Conference we expect to present Türkiye’s important initiatives on the international stage, including our long-term low- emissions development strategy and our Zero Waste Project, launched under the auspices of my wife, Emine Erdoğan. Through mutual agreements we are putting our domestic initiatives on the international agenda, and I would like to invite everyone to support our endeavours in that regard. Islamophobia, xenophobia and racism are spreading around the world like poison ivy. Almost every week we are seeing attacks on our mosques and our holy book, the Qur’an. In the middle of Europe, people’s houses are being set on fire, their lives targeted and their most basic rights blatantly violated because of their ethnic or religious identities. No one can ignore that growing danger any longer. As stipulated in resolution 78/264, adopted on 15 March, we expect to see the appointment of a special envoy to combat Islamophobia at the United Nations as soon as possible. Today I would like to once again draw the General Assembly’s attention to a danger that I raised from this rostrum last year (see A/78/PV.4). Attacks on the institution of the family, a basic pillar of society, are intensifying. The disgrace staged during the opening ceremony of the 2024 Olympic Games has revealed the dimensions of the threat we face as humankind. That sporting event, watched by innocent children and hundreds of millions of people of all ages and faiths, was used as a tool for propaganda about gender in a very ugly way. That disturbing parade of evil scenes wounded not only the Catholic, Christian and Muslim worlds but those of everyone who respects sacred values. Addressing the issue of perverting gender is no longer a choice but a global imperative. This is literally a war on sacred values and human nature. We are dealing with a comprehensive, ruthless project of destruction, and anyone who speaks out against or shows the slightest reaction to it is silenced and targeted by lynching campaigns. Türkiye is determined to break that siege and resist the climate of fear at all costs. To that end we have become a member of the Group of Friends of the Family. God willing, together with other member countries, we will not hesitate to defend the family, human beings and human nature. I invite every country that shares our sentiments to take on that struggle.

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

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

On behalf of the General Assembly, I have the honour to welcome to the United Nations His Majesty King Abdullah II ibn Al Hussein, King of the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan, and to invite him to address the Assembly. King Abdullah: Over the past quarter of a century, I have stood on this rostrum amid regional conflicts, global upheavals and humanitarian crises that have profoundly tested our global community. It often feels as though there has not been a moment when our world was not in turmoil, and yet I cannot recall a time of greater peril than this. Our United Nations is facing a crisis that strikes at its very legitimacy and that is threatening a collapse of global trust and moral authority. The United Nations is under attack, literally and figuratively. For nearly a year, the sky-blue flag flying over United Nations shelters and schools in Gaza has been powerless to protect innocent civilians from Israeli military bombardment. United Nations aid trucks sit motionless, a few miles from starving Palestinians. Humanitarian workers who proudly wear the emblem of this Organization are disparaged and targeted, and the rulings of the International Court of Justice are defied and its opinions disregarded. It is therefore no surprise that both inside and outside this Hall, trust in the cornerstone principles and ideals of the United Nations is crumbling. The harsh reality that many see is that some nations are above international law, that global justice does bend to the will of power and that human rights are selective, a privilege to be granted or denied at will. We cannot stand for that. We must recognize that undermining our international institutions and global frameworks is one of the gravest threats to our global security today. We must ask ourselves that if we are not nations united in the conviction that all people are equal in rights, dignity and worth and that all countries are equal in the eyes of the law, what kind of world does that leave us with? The attacks of 7 October on Israeli civilians last year were condemned by countries all over the world, including Jordan, but the unprecedented scale of terror unleashed on Gaza since that day is beyond any justification. The Israeli Government’s assault has resulted in one of the fastest death rates in recent conflicts, one of the fastest rates of starvation caused by war, the largest cohort of child amputees and unprecedented levels of destruction. The current Israeli Government has killed more children, more journalists, more aid workers and more medical personnel than any other war in recent memory. And let us not forget the attacks on the West Bank. There the Israeli Government has killed more than 700 Palestinians, among them 160 children, since 7 October. I grew up a soldier in a region that is all too familiar with conflict. But there is nothing familiar about this war and the violence unleashed since 7 October. In the absence of global accountability, repeated horrors are normalized, threatening to create a future where anything is permitted anywhere in the world. Is that what we want? Now is the time to ensure the protection of the Palestinian people. It is a moral duty of the international community to establish a protection mechanism for them across the occupied territory. That will guarantee the safety of Palestinians and Israelis from the extremists who are taking our region to the brink of an all-out war. That includes those who continue to propagate the idea of Jordan as an alternative homeland. Let me therefore be very, very clear. That will never happen. We will never accept the forced displacement of Palestinians, which is a war crime. No country in the region benefits from escalation. We have seen that clearly in the dangerous developments in Lebanon over the past few days. It must stop. For years, the Arab world has extended a hand to Israel through the Arab Peace Initiative, offering full recognition and normalization in exchange for peace. But consecutive Israeli Governments, emboldened by years of impunity, have rejected peace and have chosen confrontation instead. Impunity gathers force. Left unchecked, it gains momentum. Palestinians have endured more than 57 years of occupation and oppression. During that time, the Israeli Government has been allowed to cross one red line after another. But now Israel’s decades-long impunity is becoming its own worst enemy, and the consequences are everywhere. The Israeli Government has been accused of genocide at the International Court of Justice. Expressions of outrage at its conduct are echoing around the world. Cities everywhere have seen mass protests, and calls for sanctions are growing louder. International frustration with Israel has long been mounting, but it has never been more exposed. For decades Israel has projected itself as a thriving, Western-style democracy in the Middle East, but the brutality of the war on Gaza has forced the world to look closer. Now many are seeing Israel through the eyes of its victims, and the contradiction — the paradox — is too jarring. The modern, advanced Israel admired from afar, and the Israel that Palestinians have experienced first-hand, simply cannot coexist. Israel will eventually be entirely one or the other. That is the choice that its leaders and people will have to make — to live by the democratic values of freedom, justice and equality for all, or to risk further isolation and rejection. Over and over again we have watched Israel try to achieve security through military means. Each escalation is followed by a pause, until the next, deadlier one. For years the global community has taken the path of least resistance — accepting the status quo of the ongoing military occupation of Palestinians, all the while paying lip service to a two-State solution. But it has never been more evident that the status quo is untenable. And as the International Court of Justice’s advisory opinion underscored two months ago, it is unequivocally illegal. The Court’s opinion represents a moral imperative for us all. The obligation it carries is one that our nations cannot afford to ignore, for the sake of our world, as well as the future for Palestinians and Israelis alike, because both peoples deserve to live their lives The world is watching, and history will judge us by the courage we show. And it is not just the future that will hold us accountable. It is also the people of the here-and-now. They will judge whether we, as the United Nations, will surrender to inaction or fight to uphold the principles that anchor this institution and our world. Right now they are asking whether we will stand by as parents watch their children waste away, as doctors watch their patients die for lack of basic medical supplies and as more innocent lives are lost because the world failed to act. The war must end. The hostages and detainees must return home, but every day we wait is one day too long for far too many. I therefore call on all countries to join Jordan in enforcing an international Gaza humanitarian gateway  — a massive relief effort to deliver food, clean water, medicine and other vital supplies to those in desperate need, because humanitarian aid should never be a tool of war. Whatever our politics, one truth is undeniable. No people should have to endure such unprecedented suffering, abandoned and alone. We cannot surrender the future to those who thrive on division and conflict. I urge all nations of conscience to unite with Jordan in the critical weeks ahead on this mission. Almost a year into the war, our world has failed politically, but our humanity must not fail the people of Gaza any longer. Echoing the words of my father in the General Assembly 64 years ago, at its fifteenth session (see A/PV.882), I pray that this community of nations may have the courage to decide wisely and fearlessly and will act with the urgent resolve that the crisis and our conscience demand. My father was a man who fought for peace to the very end, and like him, I refuse to leave my children or those of others a future that we have given up on.

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

The Assembly will now hear an address by the President of my country, the Republic of Guatemala.

On behalf of the General Assembly, I have the very special honour to welcome to the United Nations His Excellency ⁠Mr. César Bernardo Arévalo de León, President of the Republic of Guatemala, and to invite him to address the Assembly. President Arévalo de León (spoke in Spanish): The people of Guatemala welcome the world. I am greeting the General Assembly in the language of the K’iche’ people, one of the most populous and influential ancestral communities in Guatemala. Their strength and that of the diverse peoples of Guatemala is the backbone of our Government and the vitality of our country. It is the resounding voice of those who have not been heard and have been marginalized but who have much to say and contribute, and who have a place in building our collective future. I am here as a result of two clear expressions of popular will. I want to express Guatemala’s special gratitude to the countries, peoples and Governments that were with us, the people of Guatemala, in that historic feat in 2023, and our gratitude for the support they have continued to give us in our effort to rescue our democratic institutions. We are doing it through dialogue that is framed in a great national consensus, something that all Guatemalans share, beyond our ideological differences, cultural diversity and different ways of seeing the world. And I am sure that everyone here can agree on one thing. We cannot continue to tolerate corruption. Corruption — when a few exploit what belongs to everyone in order to enrich themselves — is like a shackle that tethers us to the past and prevents us from growing, prospering and building a society based on the common good. In the case of Guatemala, corruption has its roots in an authoritarian past of repression, political violence and social exclusion. But we are freeing ourselves. We are freeing ourselves from the chains of the dark past and emerging as a young, creative, vital, joyful and restless nation that cannot remain silent in the face of injustice and corruption. We have a diverse community that is building a future where everyone fits in, where opportunities are abundant and where collaboration and solidarity enhance ingenuity, creativity and individual effort. It is a future where parents can sleep peacefully knowing that their children’s health and educational opportunities will be guaranteed. It is a future where work will be fairly compensated and where prosperity will not require immoral acts of corruption. It is a future where the Earth — our Earth — will be treated with gratitude and respect and in return will give us clean spaces in which to work, live, enjoy ourselves and grow. That is the future we are building for Guatemala. That future will not emerge in a vacuum. We have imagined it by looking inward, towards our principles, values and world view. Our Government is made up of the diverse peoples of Guatemala, and the values and vision of those four peoples are the instruments that we have for navigating the sea of our transformation. In the same way, this forum, which is so vital to global coexistence and the progress of all nations, must look inward, return to its fundamental values and use them to navigate the complex reality that we face today as a planet. It is time to rescue multilateralism, revitalize dialogue for peace and take concrete actions to solve the urgent problems confronting us. Let us begin at the beginning. War, the horror that prompted the establishment of this global forum, has once again captured our attention. While it has been a constant reality, it has taken on an unexpected intensity in the past two years. We must not tolerate it. We cannot tolerate war. We must not ignore the international conflicts that affect the peace and security of all. We must not abandon the hope of a world free of war and of a future in peace. Guatemala reiterates its solidarity with the nations that are suffering from armed conflicts and wars that they did not choose. We call on all Member States to redouble regional and international efforts to find peaceful solutions to these conflicts, based on respect for international law Rescuing multilateralism, which is a principle fundamental to the international system, is an urgent and unavoidable commitment for each of the nations that make up this forum if we truly and sincerely want a future of peace and progress. Only fundamental reforms can enable us to return to the path proposed at the Organization’s founding in 1945. In a multipolar world, we need new approaches adapted to the emerging needs of nations. We support reforming the Security Council so as to restore a collective, peaceful and democratic approach to its actions. It is not acceptable that decisions in support of peace are not adopted because of a right exercised by a few — the right of veto — thereby making it impossible to take forceful decisions against States that repeatedly violate the Charter of this Organization. We would like to remind the members of the Security Council of their primary responsibility to maintain international peace and security, and of the fact that in the performance of their duties they must proceed in accordance with the purposes and principles of the United Nations. As part of its commitment to peace, Guatemala is currently contributing 213 personnel  — military observers and staff officers  — to seven United Nations peacekeeping missions, a contribution that we are proud of. Our professionalism and experience in that area have made us internationally recognized as one of the countries contributing the most to peace in Latin America and the Caribbean. I want to share with the General Assembly that we are finalizing the administrative procedures to concretize our participation and deployment of a military police contingent in the Multinational Security Support Mission in Haiti, pursuant to Security Council resolution 2699 (2023). Guatemala is ready to support all efforts aimed at restoring security and stability in Haiti, the first modern independent nation in our hemisphere and one with which we, all the countries of the Americas, share historical ties of responsibility. We have known for a long time that an attack on human dignity anywhere in the world is an attack on all of humankind. Peace is therefore an imperative for the world order. We can all contribute. We must all do our part. That idea is at the heart and the existence of this Organization. In the same vein, the Organization has the obligation to maintain and increase its cooperation to ensure the protection of migrants, displaced persons and people who, for political, social, economic or environmental reasons, have moved to other territories. Our Government is committed to transforming the relationship between the State of Guatemala and those Guatemalans who reside outside our territory but continue to be an integral part of our nation and whose work is a fundamental part of our economy. We accomplish that through a strategy that enables the effective participation in our national development efforts of people in the diaspora by making them our partners in projects aimed at improving living conditions for the families that have remained in Guatemala. In the future that we are building, migration is a right and an option — it is not a sentence resulting from a lack of opportunity or violence or hunger. Over the past decade, Guatemala has changed from being a country of origin for migrants to increasingly becoming a country of transit and return and even to a lesser extent a country of destination. We are committed to providing dignified treatment for all persons who arrive in our territory, consistent with the treatment that we demand for Guatemalans abroad. Our State is making substantial changes in the care and protection it provides to migrants. We have identified areas of improvement and opportunities to strengthen the management of international migration flows in a safe, orderly and regular manner. Guatemala reaffirms its commitment to the fundamental principles of democracy, as set forth in the Inter-American Democratic Charter and as a fundamental principle of the political orientation of our peoples. We reject, in our hemisphere and around the world, any attempt to repress the aspirations for freedom and justice expressed by the peoples of the world through free and democratic processes, such as those unfolding right now in Venezuela and Nicaragua. The principles of democracy are fundamental for preserving the freedom, the dignity and the inclusive and equitable prosperity of humankind. I would like to reiterate to the General Assembly Guatemala’s commitment to permanently and definitively resolving, before the International Court of Justice, the territorial, insular and maritime dispute with our neighbour and brotherly country, Belize. By opting for dialogue and international legal mechanisms, we have demonstrated that peaceful means and compliance with multilateral institutions are the most effective methods for resolving disputes between nations. We are confident that process will lead to a just and definitive solution that respects the rights and dignity of both countries. Those actions demonstrate our faith in international law and our commitment to a lasting peace, not only for Guatemala and Belize but as an example for the region and the world. The urgency of the challenges before us demands that we take concrete action rather than limiting ourselves to mere words. Many others who have spoken before me agree that it is time for action. The conflicts and migration in Central America are fuelled by what we see as the most urgent global challenge: the climate crisis, which puts our systems, our economies, our food and our very survival at risk. We are in a moment that is critical for safeguarding current and succeeding generations. Climate change is a devastating reality that not only affects humankind today but will also have catastrophic consequences for the future. Guatemala, despite the country’s extremely varied landscape, is very vulnerable to the extreme weather events that cause natural disasters, floods, landslides and fires — and the increased temperatures that we have all witnessed this year. My country’s contribution to greenhouse gas emissions is minimal; yet, along with a handful of other States, we bear the brunt of extreme weather events. We are adapting to that reality and reducing the level of vulnerability of the country. In 2025, we will submit our updated nationally determined contribution, in compliance with the commitments established in the Paris Agreement. But we in this Hall must remember that we have a shared responsibility to address the climate crisis. The responsibility for taking action to resolve it falls to those of us who are bearing the brunt of the crisis, but also to those who have caused it. We urgently call on the major Powers to assume their roles as leaders and shoulder their moral and financial responsibilities to the nations suffering the worst effects of the crisis. The time to act is now. It is essential to ensure a successful outcome of the next twenty-ninth Conference of the Parties to the United Nations Guatemala is changing and that change implies a transformation of our relationship with the world. We are doing our part to contribute to achieving the goals of the Organization, based on our normative commitment to the values of peace and global solidarity, as well as the democratic mandate we have embraced. Our people firmly believe that democracy is a necessary condition for progress and well-being. Guatemala has a very recent authoritarian past — a tragic past with which many here in the General Assembly Hall are familiar. However, in supporting our people’s vocation for freedom and with the significant support of the international community, we have made a commitment to promote and defend human rights. We are seriously addressing the country’s historical problems and courageously taking on the responsibility of resolving its contemporary problems. The recent visit to Guatemala by United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights Volker Türk and the immediate signing of a new agreement to extend the presence of his Office’s presence in Guatemala are a testament to that commitment. Guatemala renewed its commitment to achieving the Sustainable Development Goals during the recent adoption of the Pact of the Future (resolution 79/1) in the framework of the Summit of the Future. We are convinced that economic growth alone does not create development. Cooperation, environmental protection, social inclusion, the respect for and the promotion of human dignity and security are the indispensable preconditions for development. Guatemala is changing. We are moving towards a more equitable future in which development and progress will reach every corner of the country, especially the most neglected populations, and in which every person, regardless of their origin, will have the possibility of building a dignified and fulfilling life. That is the natural aspiration of all peoples. We will do our part to achieve it in Guatemala and we will collaborate to achieve it wherever it is required. But we are doing so because we know that the world is changing. It is up to us, as nations united in this forum, to ensure that such a change — which is already in the making and unstoppable — is for the well-being of our peoples and our nations. Such was the vision of those who founded this Organization 79 years ago and such is the vision that must guide our efforts as humankind today. I conclude by quoting the sacred book of the Mayan people, the Popol Vuh, which reflects the sentiment that all must rise up and no one should be left behind.

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

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

On behalf of the General Assembly, I have the honour to welcome to the United Nations Her Excellency Ms. Viola Amherd, President of the Swiss Confederation, and to invite her to address the Assembly. The world has changed, but our principles have not. Like many other countries, Switzerland is watching with concern the escalation of tensions around the world and the emergence of new conflicts. Unfortunately, we are seeing more and more gross violations of human rights and a blatant disregard for internationally recognized borders. Force is in danger of taking precedence over law and the use of force has increased dramatically. Only together can we face up to the dynamic that the great writer Charles- Ferdinand Ramuz so aptly described a century ago: “Because a misfortune never comes unless another one comes too; misfortunes marry one another, they make children.” Great challenges lie ahead of us, from wars and catastrophes to the damage we are inflicting on our own planet, as well as the risks and opportunities associated with technological progress. The United Nations, as the only universal Organization, is of central importance for addressing those issues. Making the decision to work better together, irrespective of political regimes, economic structures and cultural differences, is a start. The world must not be divided into blocs. That means we must be prepared to negotiate with all the major regions of the world, on the basis of principles that are in the interests of all and respected by all. International law must always form the foundation. The quest for peace is paramount and Switzerland is committed to it. Out of a sense of solidarity, faithful to our tradition of good offices and because resignation and inaction must never be an alternative, Switzerland convened about 100 States and international organizations this summer for a high-level conference for peace in Ukraine. Our aim was to provide the initial impetus towards a comprehensive, just and lasting peace in Ukraine, based on international law and the Charter of the United Nations. We renew our invitation to the international community to spare no effort in supporting concrete measures and the joint communiqué on a peace framework. International law is the foundation of our common efforts to achieve peace, security and prosperity in the world. The Geneva Conventions, the seventy-fifth anniversary of which we commemorate this year, govern the legal basis of warfare and consequently the protection of civilians. However, recent United Nations statistics paint a disastrous picture for the international community. Not only are civilian populations and infrastructure insufficiently protected but they are also under repeated attack. We are witnessing violations of international humanitarian law from Myanmar to Ukraine and from the Middle East to the Sudan. My country is firmly committed to ensuring that the Security Council adopts ceasefire resolutions, particularly in Gaza and the Sudan. Those resolutions must be implemented and respected as a matter of urgency. We also insist on an immediate return to a total cessation of hostilities on both sides of the Blue Line. Although some peace missions have not achieved all of their objectives, they contribute day after day to human security, stability and peace. We must overcome disagreements when it comes to deciding on new missions. Peace is too precious to become a playground for vested interests. Alongside numerous international partners, Switzerland is making its contribution to peacebuilding and strengthening its commitment, wherever possible. In addition to conflict- and peace-related issues, we face many other challenges that we must address as a matter of urgency. In recent years, it has become increasingly clear that the civilian population must be protected, not only during armed conflicts but also in the face of natural disasters. Climate change and the loss of biodiversity have existential consequences for a growing number of people. It is also critical that we maintain our commitments in those areas and that we strengthen them and take courageous steps for the future. Many international agreements concerning the environment and climate change are either not being implemented or are being implemented inadequately, which is leading to massive destruction of our environment. I am also concerned about the rise in misinformation, which undermines the freedom of opinion based on facts. Private and State actors disseminate false information in their own and other countries in order to foment division, sow discord and destabilize States. Switzerland is firmly committed to the freedoms of expression and of the media. Disinformation is toxic. We aim to counter it by making a clearer distinction between what constitutes freedom of expression and the manipulation of facts by revealing illegitimate sources, promoting open and fair debate, and providing transparent and objective information as Governments and international organizations. Switzerland is resolutely committed to strong and effective multilateralism. I am aware of the need for all States to work together to find solutions. My country is steeped in regular democratic debates at all levels of Government, within communes, cantons and the Confederation. There is an urgent need to re-establish such constructive and peaceful debates among States in order to meet existential challenges. The day before yesterday, we jointly adopted the Pact for the Future (resolution 79/1), which is a strong commitment to multilateralism. One of its key dimensions is the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development. That is our road map, which we must implement together as quickly as possible. Ramuz also said that ideas must be born from a vision, like sparks from pebbles. His words remain relevant today. Let us be courageous and keep the faith. We need a framework in which we can work together in partnership to find solutions. The United Nations offers just such a framework. It is up to us to make this institution stronger.

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

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

On behalf of the General Assembly, I have the honour to welcome to the United Nations His Excellency Mr. Gustavo Petro Urrego, President of the Republic of Colombia, and to invite him to address the Assembly. President Petro Urrego (spoke in Spanish): My daughter Antonella Petro Urrego just sent me a paragraph that she would like me to begin my statement with. With the Assembly’s indulgence, I will read it out. The following words were written by a girl in her sixteenth year, “Today I am proud to stand before you as the President of the heart of the Earth. That is what our Indigenous Peoples of the Sierra Nevada called my beautiful country. Geographically speaking, it makes sense that we are the heart of the world. However, if we are the heart, we must set the example in terms of unity, total peace and the preservation of nature. If the heart functions, that is a great step forward. Nevertheless, all the other parts of the body are important — if one of them fails, the rest will fail as well. That is why, as the heart of the Earth, we call on all countries to act in good conscience, discard the greed that is killing humankind and Mother Earth and take a step towards total peace.” So far, I have complied with my daughter’s request and will continue to do so. In this Hall, the ability of a President to communicate depends on the amount of dollars in their budget, the number of war planes they have and, at the end of the day, the ability of their country to destroy humankind. The power of a country in the world is no longer reflected by its influence in terms of the economic or political systems or ideas that it propagates but by the power to kill off humankind. Those of us who do not possess such destructive power and on the contrary have the power to sustain life on the planet are more or less ignored and may most often be heard only by our own people. That is why they do not listen to us when we vote to stop the genocide in Gaza, although we are the majority of the Presidents in the world and represent the greater part of humankind. The minority of Presidents — the minority of Presidents who could destroy humankind and who could stop the bombing — do not listen to us. If we ask for debt to be exchanged for climate action, the powerful minorities do not listen to us. If we ask to stop the wars so that we can concentrate on the rapid transformation of the world’s economy in order to preserve life and save the human species, we are not heard either. It is the power to destroy life that provides for a forceful voice at the United Nations and garners the majority of representatives. The voice of the people is not heard, and we ask that we unite in our efforts for the sake of our existence. Here, we speak but we are not heard. However, perhaps we no longer speak to be listened to and to converse with the Presidents of world power but so that the peoples of the world will listen. Today things are worse than one year ago; 11 million hectares have been burned in the Amazon rainforest in just one month, owing to global warming and the climate crisis. Scientists have said that if the Amazon rainforest were to be consumed by fire, we would reach the point of no return in terms of climate change, whereby human decisions to stop the catastrophe would be ineffective. Well, the Amazon rainforest is burning. The bells are already tolling for the whole planet, for everyone, for us, for life and for humankind, as Ernest A year ago, I called for a peace conference for Palestine in this very Hall (see A/78/PV.4), before the first bomb exploded. As of today, we have seen 20,000 children killed by the bombs, while the Presidents of the countries with the power to destroy human life laugh in the corridors, aided by the public relations power provided by the world media, which today are owned by big capital, which is changing the world order in the absence of democracy and freedom. Humankind’s experiment in democracy, together with life, is dying, while the racists and supremacists, who believe stupidly that the Aryans are the superior race, are preparing to dominate the world by bombing people. Control over humankind through barbarism is under way, as demonstrated in Gaza and Lebanon. If Gaza perishes, so will all humanity. It turns out that God’s chosen people were not the people of Israel or the people of the United States of America. God’s chosen people are humanity in its entirety. The children of Gaza are God’s chosen people. They are humanity. They are killing the chosen people of God, humanity’s children. There is a reason for the present-day Armageddon. There is a logic to the absurdity of the Governments that applaud genocide and do not move swiftly to shift their economies towards decarbonization. That logic is not found in the political world or at this rostrum, where all the presidents speak. That logic is found outside, and it is called social inequality. Oxfam says that the richest 1 per cent of the population has more wealth than 95 per cent of all of humankind put together. In that level of inequality that has been reached, the greatest in our history as a species — that is where we find the logic behind the massive destruction unleashed in the climate crisis and the logic behind the bombs dropped on Gaza by a criminal such as Netanyahu. Netanyahu is a hero for the richest 1 per cent of the population, because he can show that bombs destroy people. If we measure wealth in carbon dioxide emissions rather than in dollars, we have the answer: the richest 1 per cent of the population is responsible for the evolving climate crisis and is opposed to ending the world of oil and coal because that is the source of their wealth. Politicians, including the Presidents of the most powerful countries on earth, simply obey them. They pay for the campaigns. They own the media. They are the ones who hide the truth of science, such as in the film Don’t Look Up. They are the ones who dictate what is thought, what is said and what should be prohibited and silenced. As they wield their power to prohibit and censor, they shout: “Long live freedom!”, but it is the freedom of the richest 1 per cent of the world’s population, in their mercantile and free spirit, that is leading to the destruction of the atmosphere and of life. The free market was not freedom, as they said, but the maximization of death. The richest 1 per cent of the population, the powerful global oligarchy, is what allows bombs to be dropped on women, children and the elderly in Gaza, Lebanon and the Sudan. It is what allows the economic blockade of the rebellious countries that do not fit into their paradigm, such as Cuba or Venezuela, because they need to showcase their ability to destroy the remaining 99 per cent of the population in order to ensure that they can continue to control the world’s resources, appropriating and accumulating more and more of its wealth. The global oligarchy is leading humankind to its own extinction and politicians pay homage to it, completely abandoning the ideas of freedom, the power of the people and democracy. The question that must be asked from this rostrum is whether the people will allow it. There is no more time. Governments are incapable of stopping the extinction of life. Today we must choose between life and greed, between humankind and capital. I can do no more than tell the peoples of the world, in the quiet voice of a country without weapons of mass destruction or dollars — but made beautiful by its A century ago, the working masses raised a red flag in the revolution against capital. That world is over. Lost in the gigantism of States and the absence of freedom, the red flag did not find a place in the history of humankind. But today, with a more powerful incentive — not only to defend a class or a system of ideas but to defend all of life — the raised flag is needed again. Perhaps it is no longer red but composed of all colours, a flag for all humankind in the defence of its very existence on the planet. Perhaps the word socialism today has a new meaning. Brains, which are the true basis of work, are more connected today than ever. Today human knowledge is more collective than ever. Helping each other has always been the magic that allowed us to survive for 1 million years on this planet. Alone, individuals are vulnerable and end up in the hands of fentanyl — the drug of death and human defeat. People are strong if we help each other and if that help reaches global levels. Mutual aid, the collective building of knowledge and humanity as the new political unit provide the basis for the new meaning of socialism. We are the most advanced form of intelligent life, which must be defended, along with the other forms of life, from the global oligarchy that assaults it. A new wealth must be built — no longer based on oil but on the deep, creative and freely performed work that has made possible the high levels of productivity achieved today, including artificial intelligence, and that must be controlled by a global public authority. Productivity allows for free time and creative time and the networking of human brains, the greatest potential ever achieved. That neural network of humankind is what can allow us to win, with the flag of life raised. I am no longer addressing Biden, Macron, Scholz, Xi Jinping or Putin. I am taking from China its idea of intercivilizational dialogue, from Europe its social compact, from the United States of America its love of original democracy and its founding fathers, from South America its passionate diversity, its flag-bearing horseriders and Simón Bolívar, from Africa its drums that call us to communicate with the spirits of nature, and from Jesus his idea of universal love and the union of light and life. We must draw on those civilizing sources and more — which belong to all the peoples of the world — to fight the greatest battle for life in human history. That battle is undoubtedly a global revolution. We need to build the greatest army of all time, made up of warriors for life. The army for life will not have the weapons of the global oligarchy. It will not have nuclear weapons or compete for weapons. Its pockets will not be full of money like those of the banks. It will not have the power to annihilate children like the genocides of the oligarchy. But it will have the greatest power of all — the power of a united humankind that will not let its existence be erased from the planet. In a universe spanning millions of light years, there is only one infinitesimally small place where life exists — the place we call Earth, with superior life forms, intelligent beings — humankind. We cannot let that treasure of the universe be destroyed. Without life, only inert darkness — the kind that fills the heart and soul of the global oligarchy and its crooked idols — would reign. It is up to humankind to fight that. It is the hour of the peoples. Where Governments have been incapable, as we are seeing now, and have decided to engage in power plays with bombs and senseless wars and to kill boys and girls, it is time for the people themselves — humankind at its basic level — to take into its own hands the matter of resolving humankind’s biggest

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

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

On behalf of the General Assembly, I have the honour to welcome to the United Nations His Highness Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani, Amir of the State of Qatar, and to invite him to address the Assembly. Sheikh Al Thani (spoke in Arabic): At the outset, I would like to congratulate His Excellency Mr. Philémon Yang on assuming the presidency of the General Assembly at its seventy-ninth session and to wish him every success in carrying out his tasks. I also want to express my appreciation to His Excellency Mr. Dennis Francis for his efforts in presiding over the Assembly at its previous session. And I commend the Secretary-General of the United Nations, His Excellency Mr. António Guterres, for his important role in strengthening our Organization and fulfilling its noble goals. The blatant assault afflicting the Palestinian people in the Gaza Strip today is the most barbaric, heinous and extensive aggression we have seen in violation of human values and international conventions and norms. It does not fall within the common concept of war as understood in international relations but is rather a crime of genocide, in which the world’s most sophisticated weapons are being used against a people besieged in an open-air detention camp where there is no escape from the barrage of aerial bombing. The resolutions, condemnations and reports have been exhausted, and now nothing remains except the undeterred, ongoing, premeditated, overt crimes being committed against children, women and the elderly. We are opposed to violence and the targeting of innocent civilians by any party, but after a year of this war, with everything that has happened and continues to happen, in the context it is no longer tenable to talk about Israel’s right to defend itself without being complicit in justifying its crimes. It is no longer plausible for any officials to claim that they do not know about Israel’s bombings of schools and hospitals and its weaponization of access to food and medicine. The facts and the reports issued by international organizations are well known, in addition to the published and publicly expressed intentions of Israeli leaders. The failure to intervene to stop the aggression is therefore a major scandal. Every year I begin my address from this rostrum by talking about the Palestinian question, the absence of justice, the perils of believing that it can be neglected and the illusion that peace can be made without a just solution. I have done it every The Palestinian question will continue to hang over us until we see one of two things happen — either the occupation comes to an end or the Palestinian people disappear. And it seems that there are some in Israel who entertain hopes for the elimination of the Palestinian people. The ongoing Israeli aggression for almost the whole of the past year is simply a result of a lack of genuine political will, a deliberate international failure to resolve the Palestinian question with a just solution and the occupying Israeli authorities’ insistence on imposing a fait accompli on the Palestinians and the world, using every kind of force. The ongoing brutal war has inflicted a death blow on international legitimacy and done serious damage to the credibility of the post-Second World War concepts on which the international community was founded. As if the dire consequences of Israel’s approach, which we can see with our own eyes, were not enough to prove that ignoring a just solution is conducive to disaster, to our disbelief we have discovered that some are still trying to find innovative ways to run Gaza after the war, with or without an authority, and to do so solely on the basis of security considerations. Of course, what that implies is the security of the occupation, not the security of those who are actually languishing under that occupation. It is that same mindset that has led from one disaster to another. It is an approach that wants to tailor the entire region to fit Israel, while also looking for ways to avoid ending the occupation and to impose the rule of one people over another by force. Is it reasonable that even in discussing what will happen after this disaster is over, the major Powers with the ability to influence the course of events are unable to agree on the necessity of stopping the war and immediately pivoting towards a just solution, rather than working on innovative ways to evade it? Ending the occupation and allowing the Palestinian people to exercise their right to self-determination are neither favours nor gifts to be granted by anyone. Unfortunately, the Security Council has failed to implement its resolution 2735 (2024), on a ceasefire in the Gaza Strip, and has refrained from granting the State of Palestine full membership status in the United Nations, despite the General Assembly’s adoption in May of resolution ES-10/23, in support of Palestine’s request. Granting the State of Palestine full United Nations membership neither establishes its sovereignty nor ends the occupation, but it at least sends a message to the far- right Government challenging international legitimacy that force does not eliminate rights. Claiming that such a step harms the peace process is simply papering over the cracks, because there is no Israeli partner for peace during the current Government’s tenure. There is no peace process taking place — only a genocide. In that regard, we very much appreciate the position taken by countries that have recognized the State of Palestine based on the 1967 borders. The continuing humanitarian tragedy of our brother Palestinian people for more than seven and a half decades is a shameful stain on the conscience of the international community and its institutions. There is no point in talking about peace and security and stability in the Middle East — or indeed the rest of the world — if it is not backed by concrete steps leading to an immediate ceasefire and an end to the Israeli occupation of all Arab territories. It is no secret that we are facing a humanitarian catastrophe in Gaza and the other Palestinian territories, which are The international community bears responsibility for the consequences of what is happening to the Palestinian people, who are being subjected to an ongoing genocidal war that has so far resulted in the deaths of more than 41,000 martyrs, not counting those missing under the rubble. Among those who have lost their lives are 17,000 children and 11,000 women. Some 100,000 people have been injured, including thousands who have been left with disabilities, and millions have been forcibly displaced several times. In addition, the infrastructure of hospitals, schools and other buildings, including mosques and churches, has been completely destroyed. An entire society is being ruined in the course of the genocide against segments of the Palestinian people, the Gazan Palestinian community, which retained its composure and achieved remarkable levels of development amid a stifling siege for more than 17 years. The State of Qatar has chosen to undertake mediation efforts in an endeavour to stop the aggression against Gaza and secure the release of prisoners and detainees. The mediation is going on amid a fierce war and in complex circumstances, during which one party would have no hesitation in assassinating the political counterparts with whom it is negotiating. In that regard I would like to point to the assassination of Ismail Haniyeh, who was not only the political leader of Hamas but also the first elected Palestinian Prime Minister, a fact that many people pretend they have forgotten. For us, mediation and humanitarian work constitute a strategic political choice at the regional and international levels. It is a humanitarian duty before it is a political one, but we are not interested in being boastful in that regard. In partnership with Egypt and the United States, our mediation efforts culminated in a humanitarian agreement last November. That resulted in a temporary ceasefire in the Gaza Strip and the release of 240 Palestinian prisoners and 109 detainees in Gaza, as well as an increase in the flow of relief shipments. We have also provided humanitarian support to the civilian population in the Gaza Strip. We have contributed to evacuating the wounded and sick, supported humanitarian initiatives to deliver aid through all accessible routes and increased our support to the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East. The services of that irreplaceable international Agency are indispensable, yet it has been subjected to defamation for political purposes related to the Israeli Government’s desire to eliminate the refugee crisis without resolving the Palestine question. Qatar will spare no effort to provide humanitarian assistance in various forms to our brother people of Palestine until the crisis is resolved. Despite the daunting challenges, attempts at obstruction and aspersions that we have been subjected to, we will continue our efforts to resolve the conflict through peaceful means, while recognizing that no conflicts lack forces interested in their continuation when they are sceptical about any mediation, regardless of the intentions. We will continue to make every effort with our partners until a permanent ceasefire is achieved and the release of all prisoners and detainees is secured. We will not rest on the path towards a just solution that is in in accordance with the resolutions of international legitimacy and the Arab Peace Initiative, enabling the Palestinian people to obtain all their legitimate rights, foremost among them an independent State with East Jerusalem as its capital along the 1967 borders. The establishment of an independent Palestinian State through a just and permanent solution is in the interests of both the Israeli and Palestinian peoples. We will achieve that goal only with a serious partner who is aware of the importance of renouncing discord and ending the occupation and all forms of aggression, so that together we can reach the peace in the Middle East that we desire. In our brother country of Yemen, we look forward to preserving the 2022 truce and proceeding from it towards a comprehensive ceasefire. We hope to resolve the crisis, ensure Yemen’s unity and achieve the aspirations of its brotherly people through negotiations among the Yemeni parties, based on the Gulf Cooperation Council Initiative and implementation mechanism, the outcomes of the National Dialogue Conference and the relevant Security Council resolutions. Regarding the crisis in Syria, the position of the State of Qatar has been clear since the beginning. Qatar will prioritize the interests of our brother people of Syria in the hope that the parties and countries involved will be convinced of the need for dialogue and understanding to end the crisis, in accordance with the communiqué of the Geneva II Conference on Syria and Security Council resolution 2254 (2015), and in such a way that the aspirations of the Syrian people are met and Syria’s unity, sovereignty and independence are preserved. Regarding the problem in the Sudan, we urge all Sudanese parties to stop the fighting and stress our support for all regional and international efforts to end the crisis in a way that can ensure the unity of State institutions and the country’s sovereignty and stability. In Libya we support the current political trajectory and ensuring the implementation of the relevant Security Council resolutions. We urge all the parties to use dialogue and work to overcome their differences in order to carry out the comprehensive national reconciliation process. That includes preserving the progress and gains that have been made on the security, political and economic fronts, as well as unifying State institutions. Arab countries cannot achieve security and stability without the existence of firmly established States that are capable of legislating, enforcing laws and developing and implementing national policies. No State can be firmly established or stable in the presence of armed factions that are not under its control. Such matters are self-evident and unquestionable. The war between Russia and Ukraine has caused great human suffering, with repercussions for Europe and the world at large. We reiterate our call on all parties to implement the provisions of the Charter of the United Nations and adhere to the rules of international law in the quest for a peaceful settlement, which is the only possible solution. In that context, and based on our firm belief in the principle of the peaceful settlement of disputes, we made a tangible contribution over the past year, as Qatari mediation led to a prisoner swap between the United States and Venezuela. Dozens of Ukrainian children were also reunited with their families after being separated by the war. Finally, we reaffirm that the State of Qatar will spare no effort in working with its international partners and the United Nations to firmly consolidate the pillars of peace, security, sustainable development, human rights and the rule of law at every level and to address global challenges in order to achieve a better future for all.

On behalf of the General Assembly, I wish to thank the Amir of the State of Qatar for the statement he has just made. Address by Mr. Matamela Cyril Ramaphosa, President of the Republic of South Africa

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

On behalf of the General Assembly, I have the honour to welcome to the United Nations His Excellency Mr. Matamela Cyril Ramaphosa, President of the Republic of South Africa, and to invite him to address the Assembly. President Ramaphosa: We would like to take this opportunity to thank the General Assembly for giving us the chance to speak. Thirty years ago, South Africa was born as a new nation, equal, united and free from apartheid. We adopted a new Constitution as the birth certificate of our new nation. Our first democratic elections brought the tyranny of apartheid to an end, a system that the General Assembly declared to be a crime against humanity. In adopting resolution 2202 A (XXI) in 1966, later endorsed by Security Council resolution 569 (1985), the United Nations was a beacon of hope in our quest for justice. The great wave of solidarity of the peoples of the world, led by the United Nations, turned the tide against apartheid. Today democracy flourishes in South Africa. We have a progressive Constitution, an entrenched human rights culture and strong institutions. We have laws to advance equality and programmes to protect society’s most marginalized and vulnerable. We have continued to work to transform our economy so that it is in a more competitive position, creates jobs that attract more investment and benefits all. South Africa is a party to global treaties on human rights, gender equality, children’s rights and the protection of refugees and the environment. A few days ago, South Africa endorsed the Pact for the Future (resolution 79/1), which charts a course for a better future for global governance and towards the attainment of the Sustainable Development Goals. As a signatory to the Paris Climate Agreement, we are contributing our fair share to the global effort and have a just energy transition plan to guide our carbon journey and climate-resilient development. Through the African Union, we are working to advance its Agenda 2063. We are involved in mediation and conflict resolution across our continent and actively contribute to peacekeeping missions. Our political culture has evolved and continues to mature. We have just held our seventh free and fair general election since the start of our democracy, paving the way for the formation of a Government of national unity. Ten political parties have coalesced around a common agenda for economic growth, job creation, poverty eradication and sustainable development. South Africa is in a new era of great promise. In what some have called our second miracle, South Africans of all races have rallied behind the Government of national unity. We are making headway in resolving some of our most pressing challenges. Our economy has started to improve, and investor confidence is on the rise. Our country’s prospects look bright, and we look to the future with great hope. The South African story attests to the enduring role of the United Nations in global matters. In supporting our struggle, the United Nations affirmed the principles of the Charter of the United Nations, the fundamental human rights, dignity and worth of every person and the equal rights of nations large and small. It reaffirmed the It has been 11 months since the Hamas attack in which 1,200 people were killed and hostages taken. As South Africa, we condemned that attack. In response to the attack, Israel embarked on an act of collective punishment in its assault on the people of Gaza, and the torment of the people of Gaza has continued unabated. More than 41,000 Palestinians have been killed. Homes, hospitals, churches, mosques and schools lie destroyed. Famine and disease stalk the streets of Gaza. That cannot but shock our collective humanity. The violence that the Palestinian people are being subjected to is a grim continuation of the more than half a century of apartheid that Israel has perpetrated against Palestinians. We South Africans know what apartheid looks like. We lived through apartheid. We suffered and died under apartheid. We will not remain silent and watch as apartheid is perpetrated against others. Through the United Nations and the instruments it wields, we must end the suffering that Palestinians are being subjected to. We are called on to uphold the principles of the Charter and the fundamental tenets of international law, consistently and in their entirety. International law cannot be applied selectively. No one State is more equal than any other. In December 2023, South Africa approached the International Court of Justice seeking an order to prevent Israel from committing genocide against the people of Gaza. We did so in terms of our obligations as a State party to the Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of Genocide. We welcome the support that a number of countries have given to the case that we have launched at the International Court of Justice. The Court’s orders make it clear that that there is a plausible case of genocide against the people of Gaza. They further make it clear that States must also act to prevent genocide by Israel — and to ensure that they are not themselves party to violating the Genocide Convention by aiding or assisting in the commission of genocide. We reiterate our call for an immediate ceasefire and for the release of all hostages. The only lasting solution is the establishment of a Palestinian State, a State that will exist side by side with Israel, with East Jerusalem as its capital. Our moral conscience further demands that we make every effort to bring peace to other countries as well, especially the eastern Democratic Republic of the Congo, the Sudan, Ukraine and other parts of the African continent. We must realize the aspirations of the people of Western Sahara to self-determination. Achieving and maintaining peace and security requires the collective will of the community of nations gathered here. It requires that the Security Council be a more representative and inclusive body. Seventy-eight years after its formation, the structure of the Security Council remains largely unchanged. Africa and its 1.4 billion people remain excluded from its key decision-making structures. That cannot continue. The Security Council has not fulfilled its mandate to maintain international peace and security, and it must be reformed as a matter of urgency. We would like to see the Security Council be more inclusive so that the voices of all nations can be heard and considered. It cannot remain an exclusive club of just five countries to the exclusion of the many other nations of the world. Africa stands ready to play its role in building a safer global order by participating in the work of the Security Council on a basis of respect and acceptance. The African Union and its member States are engaged in mediation, dialogue and diplomacy across the continent with a view to creating conditions under which Pandemics and endemics pose a serious threat to us all. We are concerned about the spread of mpox across the world, and in Africa in particular. We urge the international community to mobilize vaccines and other medical countermeasures for deployment where they are most needed. Economic prosperity is key to sustainable peace. Through the African Continental Free Trade Area, we are establishing the foundation for a massive increase in trade and investment in infrastructure on our continent. The Free Trade Area will further integrate regional economies and accelerate Africa’s industrialization and economic growth. The climate crisis is now a full-blown emergency all over the world. Its effects have been devastating to many countries and their citizens. Extreme weather events such as floods, fires and droughts are wreaking havoc on societies, economies and the livelihoods of ordinary people. Despite being the least responsible for climate change, countries with developing economies, and particularly African countries, are bearing the brunt of what they did not create. They are on the front line. South Africa remains committed to contributing its fair share to reducing global emissions, guided by the principle of common but differentiated responsibilities and respective capabilities. We have adaptation and mitigation programmes and policies in place and have enacted a climate-change law to further support our emissions reduction targets. It is essential to ensure that climate actions do not deepen global inequality or stifle the development aspirations of the global South. The industrialized nations are not honouring their climate commitments, and we repeat the call for predictable and sustainable financing for climate action. We must operationalize the agreed- on climate financing and capacity-building instruments to advance mitigation and adaptation. Pursing sustainable development requires that those with greater means support those who lack them. The world is facing an annual financing gap of some $4 trillion in the work of achieving sustainable development. We call on better-resourced countries to scale up their levels of support to developing countries. Debt is the millstone around the neck of many of those countries, stifling their potential and development. Debt servicing is robbing a number of countries of much-needed funds to support health, education and social spending. South Africa endorses the Secretary-General’s call for reforming the global financial architecture in order to enable developing-economy countries to lift themselves out of the quicksand of debt. We must commit to systems for financing development that are more accessible, agile and equitable. In 2025, South Africa will assume the presidency of the Group of 20. We will use that important role to advocate for the development and advancement of the peoples of Africa and all of the global South. South Africa welcomes the adoption of the Pact for the Future (resolution 79/1), and we congratulate our sister country, Namibia, and the Federal Republic of Germany, on ably steering the Assembly towards its adoption. The Pact for the Future is a platform for us to focus on the actions we need to take together to build a world in which the equal worth of every person and every country is recognized and valued. We particularly welcome the commitments to putting poverty eradication at the centre of all our efforts and closing the Sustainable Development Goals financing gap in developing countries. The disparities in wealth and development within and between countries are simply unjust and unsustainable. We must continue to strive for equal treatment, opportunity and advancement for all individuals and nations.

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

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

On behalf of the General Assembly, I have the honour to welcome to the United Nations His Excellency Mr. Mohamed Muizzu, President of the Republic of Maldives, and to invite him to address the Assembly. President Muizzu: I congratulate the President on his assumption of the presidency of the General Assembly. We also extend our appreciation to his predecessor for his strong leadership and our gratitude to the Secretary-General for his tireless efforts in steering the Secretariat. We gather here today at a delicate moment in global history. Let us not mince words. Humankind is in deep trouble, facing an ever-growing list of crises — conflict, poverty, hunger, climate change, the wealth gap, the cost-of-living crisis, migrations, occupations, opioid addiction — and the list goes on and on. In fact, I have a map here of the world on which the countries facing some sort of crisis are marked in red. Does anyone see any countries shown in green, indicating that they are not facing any crises? Does anyone know why not? It is because we are all deep in the red. Humankind is in crisis, and in many cases the crises are human-made. But we keep looking the other way, continuing with business as usual. While the alarms are ringing, the band is still playing the same old tunes as the whole ship sinks deeper and deeper into uncharted waters. We need nations united in harmony — not a United Nations in misery. These are crucial times for the world, and important years for my country. In 2040, the Maldives will celebrate 75 years since it regained its independence, and 75 years as a sovereign nation. As we look forward to that milestone in our nation’s life, what can we hope to achieve? What do we wish to accomplish? And is the world ready to play its part? I took office as the President of Maldives last November, duty-bound by the aspirations of my people. I hold dear in my heart those same aspirations — not just for the present, but for the future too. Today I am here at the United Nations with a vision of where I want to take my country. By 2040, I want to see the Maldives as a fully-fledged developed nation that commands respect, is relevant and embodies resilience, with a society that is inclusive and just  — a country that exemplifies sustainability and democratic governance. Destiny is not mere fate. It is a consequence of the many choices we make, the many decisions we take and the many hours we work. Becoming a developed nation may seem like a daunting task and a distant possibility. But I can say this — with I believe that the Maldives can become a developed country by investing in its productive capacity and increasing its productivity, by transforming its economy into one that is fully digitized and driven by artificial intelligence (AI) and, most importantly, by leveraging its natural beauty and marine resources. Boosting productivity will be the key to our economic transformation. We will do that by reforming and strengthening our institutions, increasing our State capacity and leveraging the private sector. We will also identify and implement policies that support investments in key sectors, such as the digital economy. The Maldives has more than 1,100 islands, spread across 90,000 square kilometres. Enhancing digital connectivity is key to achieving inclusive development, mobilizing economic activity and fostering a more diversified and resilient economy. We believe that the future is intelligence-driven. That is why we are working towards a digital economy that can contribute as much as 15 per cent of our gross domestic product by 2030. That can be achieved through investing in our information and communications technologies infrastructure. We are using and expanding artificial intelligence systems to deliver essential services such as healthcare, education and social welfare. We are also delving into cutting-edge applications of 5G technology, using drones for delivering medical supplies, implementing smart road systems and using AI-enhanced technology for detecting erosion and monitoring the environment. The transformation can be sustainable only if we transform our education and financial systems. We need to invest in people’s digital literacy from a young age to build a generation that can use artificial intelligence to enhance the delivery of public services, build new products and compete successfully in the global digital economy. We need to bridge the digital divides within our country, including by improving the collection and utilization of data. We need to strengthen our regulatory frameworks, bolster existing institutions, cultivate start-up ecosystems and provide the impetus for the future we envision. Becoming a developed country will also require fostering new industries. That is why we are working on building a robust financial sector in the Maldives. With that in mind, in May this year I set up the Development Bank of Maldives, with a focus on improving and investing in economic diversification. The result we desire is inclusive development, where equality of access to opportunities is guaranteed, women and young people are key players in our development, not mere spectators, and every Maldivian citizen has adequate housing. To support those objectives, my Government has launched a $6.5 million loan facility specifically for women entrepreneurs, and 25 per cent of the funds are allocated to those with disabilities. In the first phase, more than 100 projects will be funded across 19 of the 20 atolls and Malé and across 21 business activities. I have also recently launched a presidential youth advisory board, which will advise and inform me directly on the needs and views of young people. Inclusivity is at the heart of one of the most ambitious, large-scale urban development projects in the country’s history — Ras Malé. It is my promise to the Maldivian people, a solution for alleviating the long-term housing crisis with an urban oasis where citizens can fully participate in all aspects of city life. Ras Malé will utilize modular housing and leverage a state-of-the-art transportation system that is accessible to all. It will be developed as a climate-resilient and safe island. But tourism is also highly vulnerable to external shocks. Conflicts, calamities and causes beyond our control can have — and have had — far-reaching, critical implications in the past. We need the international system to anticipate and address those threats, such as armed conflict, terrorism, violent extremism, transnational organized crime, climate change and ocean degradation and other crimes that transcend national borders. Part of addressing those threats is safeguarding and protecting people’s fundamental rights. In 2015, the world came together to endorse humankind’s fundamental rights by committing to the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). But six years from the SDG deadline, we are on track for less than a fifth of those targets. In June the Organization issued The Sustainable Development Goals Report 2024, stating that the world is failing to deliver on the Goals. This week, we agreed on the Pact for the Future (resolution 79/1). But do we want that document — the Pact — to go the same way as the 2015 SDG commitment? I am sorry, but we cannot keep doing that. We cannot keep meeting, talking and pledging but not doing. We do not want these days — days when we had a chance, but not the will — to come back to haunt us. We believe that the best approach to protecting fundamental rights is to cultivate a culture of respect. That requires support. The Maldives has a good track record of treaty ratification, implementation and reporting. We champion the right to a healthy environment because we are keenly aware of the consequences of environmental degradation. We also believe that the violation of a right by any country — large or small, rich or poor, with powerful friends or none — must not be tolerated. That is why the ongoing massacre — the genocide — by Israel in Gaza is a travesty of justice and the international system. We are witnessing the repeated destruction of homes, hospitals, schools and humanitarian infrastructure and repeated cycles of killings of men, women, children and babies  — thousands upon thousands. The world is struggling to process the deaths of so many civilians in Gaza, and now Israeli raids in Lebanon are claiming hundreds more civilian lives there. Their cries will haunt anyone with humanity. Their tears are bitter on our conscience. Israel is targeting journalists, the eyes and ears of humankind. How can we interpret the killing of journalists — Palestinian journalists, Lebanese journalists, Al Jazeera journalists — and even the closure of Al Jazeera’s offices as anything other than brutal attempts to prevent the world from knowing about the crimes taking place? Israel must be held accountable for those acts of terrorism and violations of international law and United Nations resolutions. We must accept a sovereign and independent Palestinian State on the pre-1967 borders, with East Jerusalem as its capital. We welcome the decision to seat our brothers and sisters from Palestine for the first time here with us in the General Assembly, instead of behind us. Now we must ensure that Palestine becomes a full member of the United Nations. The Maldives is gearing up for an economic transformation that will change lives. But our policies can deliver the results only with sufficient international financial support. The Maldives has always taken ownership and responsibility for its own development. While we have received extensive support towards that development, we urge the multilateral development funds, banks and bilateral donor to view us as their partners, not just recipients of aid. We urge them to stop looking at our inherent vulnerabilities as limitations, to adopt tailor-made approaches that Climate change is the most serious threat to our world and the defining challenge of our generation. It is washing away decades of progress in mere minutes. It is diverting already depleted resources from long-term development to emergency relief and reconstruction, preventing countries from adapting to climate impacts. And the vicious cycle continues. The Maldives has always walked the talk. We are investing in renewable energy. Our goal is to have 33 per cent of the country’s electricity demands met from renewable energy sources by 2028. On behalf of the Maldivian people, I implore the Assembly to do its part and act now. We must face the climate emergency head-on, with science, determination and resources. The rich and emitting countries need to meet the financial pledges they have already made, especially on adaptation, where the financing gap continues to widen. As we work towards the twenty-ninth Conference of the Parties to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change, we must ensure that the new goal for climate finance matches the level of climate action required. That means that it must go beyond $100 billion. At a minimum it must include loss and damage response, mitigation and adaptation as sub-goals. One of the biggest victims of the climate crisis is the ocean. The Maldivian people and their livelihoods are dependent on the health and wealth of the ocean. We need to step up efforts to sustainably use and manage our ocean resources, address plastic pollution, conserve biodiversity and protect endangered species. This morning I ratified 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. We urge all Member States to do the same and to do their part to address climate change, overcome pollution and reverse biodiversity loss. The transformation the Maldives seeks cannot be achieved without an enabling global environment. Small countries like mine need a multilateral system that champions us and delivers for us. The United Nations is the epitome of the multilateral system. It is well positioned to promote sustainable development, maintain peace and security, advance and protect human rights and enforce equality, the rule of law, inclusivity and representativeness. But what we are witnessing is the opposite — an inability to stop climate change and environmental degradation, war and genocide, exploitation and suffering and unequal representation. The United Nations therefore needs reform and revitalization. It needs to be representative. The Maldives cannot and will not stand idly by and watch while the multilateral system fails, because our development, advancement and survival are tethered to the world. That is why the Maldives is seeking election to the Economic and Social Council for the 2027– 2029 term, and we count on the Assembly’s support in that effort. If elected, the Maldives will strive to make the United Nations development system more relevant to our times, constantly recalibrating and adjusting, utilizing the latest science and evidence and listening to the various opinions and views. The United Nations must enforce its decisions across the United Nations system and at the local level. It is relevant only when it makes a real difference in our lives. Fifty-nine years ago, the Maldives reached out to the United Nations as its first port in a sea of uncertainty. We came here to this great Hall, seeking recognition and a partner. We came to the United Nations as a poor and impoverished country, but with a vision for prosperity — a vision on which we made great progress with United Nations support. Today we come to the United Nations once again, aiming higher to reach further and do better, with a vision for making the Maldives a developed nation

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

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

On behalf of the General Assembly, I have the honour to welcome to the United Nations His Excellency Mr. Emomali Rahmon, President of the Republic of Tajikistan, and to invite him to address the Assembly. President Rahmon (spoke in Tajik; interpretation provided by the delegation): At the outset, I would like to warmly congratulate His Excellency Mr. Philémon Yang on his election to preside over the General Assembly at its seventy-ninth session. My heartfelt thanks also go to His Excellency Mr. Dennis Francis in recognition of his fruitful efforts as President of the Assembly at its seventy-eighth session. Today the world is facing turbulent and complex situations. Controversial geopolitical processes, rapid weaponization, an escalating cold war and armed conflicts, together with the consequences of climate change and other global dangers and threats, will undoubtedly have long-term negative consequences. In that context, it is more critical than ever that we consolidate the joint efforts of the international community to improve security, maintain stability and ensure overall sustainable development. We are clearly capable of bringing about lasting peace and building harmonious lives for humankind and prosperity for our countries, founded primarily on a basis of mutual understanding and constructive cooperation. We should be united in working to achieve those objectives, end all wars and conflicts and reach other peaceful goals. It is high time to take bold and effective steps forward to strengthen the key role of the United Nations in resolving conflicts and restoring peace and stability throughout the planet. In that regard, I would like to propose the adoption of a special General Assembly draft resolution declaring a decade of the promotion of peace for future generations. As I have said many times, Tajikistan always advocates for settling all conflicts by political and diplomatic means alone. At the same time, I would like to emphasize that Tajikistan continues to unwaveringly support the achievement of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) through the implementation of the 2030 Agenda For Sustainable Development. It is worth noting that the 2030 Agenda’s principal message is also reflected in Tajikistan’s National Development Strategy 2030, and our efforts to achieve its primary goals are ongoing. Nevertheless, there is a wide range of difficulties that present obstacles to the timely achievement of sustainable development. Such challenges include insecurity, economic and financial crises, unprecedented global warming caused by climate change, the loss of biodiversity and the outbreak of contagious diseases. In the Political Declaration of the High-level Political Forum on Sustainable Development Convened under the Auspices of the General Assembly, Member States conceded that the achievement of the Sustainable Development Goals The activities of the international financial and economic system should meet the needs of developing countries so that it can facilitate Member States’ timely response in countering today’s threats and challenges. In that context, in order to implement the goals and programmes that we have outlined, we believe it is important to continue to provide financing to countries in need through international financial institutions, especially the International Development Association. Digital technologies and artificial intelligence can pave the way effectively towards achieving the Sustainable Development Goals. Tajikistan is taking the constructive and essential measures needed to gradually transition to a digitalized system by adopting a national strategy and relevant conceptual laws. In that regard, I propose that the General Assembly adopt a special draft resolution on the role of artificial intelligence in creating new opportunities for socioeconomic development and accelerating the achievement of the Sustainable Development Goals in Central Asia. Tajikistan recognizes the importance of the Summit of the Future, held in the framework of the General Assembly at its current session. The intergovernmental document, the Pact for the Future (resolution 79/1), which was adopted during the Summit, plays a key role in ensuring peace, security and sustainable development, and we welcome the willingness of the international community to implement it. The Pact was adopted at a time when millions of civilians are exposed to security risks and dangers in various regions around the world. We believe that the international community must take joint and effective action to withstand the threat of terrorism, extremism, radicalism, cybercrime, trafficking in narcotics and weapons smuggling and fight other manifestations of transnational crime. Furthermore, the rise of Islamophobia, as well as the trend of practising double standards in international relationships in recent years, has become a matter of deep concern for Tajikistan. Our country constantly undertakes joint actions in cooperation with the United Nations and its specialized agencies, as well as other international partners, to counter security threats and challenges. Consequently, Tajikistan and the State of Kuwait, in cooperation with the Office of Counter-Terrorism, will hold, in the Kuwait City in November, the next high-level conference in the framework of the Dushanbe process on countering terrorism. We believe that this platform will focus mainly on subjects related to maintaining inclusive security and stability and will contribute to the continuation of an extended and hopeful dialogue. We believe that it will also facilitate the exchange of helpful experience and ideas among stakeholders. Turning to security matters, I would like to emphasize that the Palestinian crisis remains a matter of deep concern to our country. The current tragic situation in that region once again proves that there is absolutely no military solution to the Palestinian case. Tajikistan believes that a definitive and tangible solution to this conflict would be possible only through the implementation of the United Nations resolutions on the recognition of an independent State of Palestine based on the 1967 borders. We hope that the parties to the conflict will take action for a ceasefire Moreover, we uphold the establishment of enduring peace and stability, as well as economic and social development in neighbouring Afghanistan. To that end, Tajikistan stands ready to assist in the revival and development of a wide range of sectors of peaceful life in Afghanistan. Accordingly, I reiterate Tajikistan’s call on the international community to spare no effort to help the long-suffering people of Afghanistan, including in regions affected by natural disasters, to prevent a humanitarian crisis in this war-torn country. It has been more than a year since the United Nations 2023 Water Conference. According to reports from the relevant United Nations agencies, progress in water supply and sanitation, despite some improvements, does not meet our expectations. Much more needs to be done. As a result, Tajikistan, as a champion country, actively cooperates with all stakeholders to implement the commitments stemming from the Water Action Agenda of the United Nations 2023 Water Conference. The successful achievement of those and other water-related commitments and goals will depend on effective multistakeholder partnerships that ensure an integrated, systematic and coherent approach. In that regard, it is important for us to take advantage of the Dushanbe water process platform to monitor the outcomes of the United Nations 2023 Water Conference. We believe that Dushanbe water process will play a pivotal role as a platform for broad, inclusive dialogue among stakeholders for comprehensive preparation for the United Nations Water Conference to be held in Dushanbe in 2028. Against the backdrop of climate change and its impacts, the international community must work on collective approaches and initiatives, the proper use of natural resources and relevant activities in various fields of human life. In recent years, natural disasters, along with a series of droughts, have caused enormous damage to agriculture, the environment and the economies of developing countries in general. With 93 per cent of our territory covered by mountains, Tajikistan is also vulnerable to climate change, as natural disasters occur frequently, doing annual damage of hundreds of millions of dollars to our national economy. In addition, unfortunately, in many cases, this also results in fatalities. Climate change is causing the accelerated melting of glaciers and reduced water volume in rivers in various parts of the world, including Central Asia. That process has a negative impact on very real sectors of our national economy, such as energy, industry and agriculture. Today more than 1,000 out of 14,000 Tajik glaciers, which are the main source of drinking water in the region, have completely melted, and the pace of their melting is dramatically increasing. Precipitation and the glaciers of Tajikistan make up to 60 per cent of the water resources in Central Asia. The General Assembly’s declaration of 2025 as the International Year of Glaciers’ Preservation (resolution 77/158), at the initiative of Tajikistan, provides a suitable basis for developing cooperation among stakeholders. Pursuant to that resolution, 21 March was declared World Day for Glaciers, and an international trust fund to promote glacier preservation was established under the auspices of the Secretary-General. Concurrently, the first high-level international conference on glacier preservation will be hosted in Dushanbe in 2025. I wish to take this opportunity to call on partner countries and organizations to actively participate and contribute in the preparations for and holding of that conference. We believe that that important international conference, which is scheduled to be held in cooperation with UNESCO and the World Meteorological Organization, will play an effective role in assessing the global glacier problem and exploring specific approaches and ways to effectively resolve it. We invite all partners to join us in contributing financially to the international trust fund for glaciers. Clearly, one of the ways to successfully mitigate the challenges related to climate change is by developing the green economy, which in turn calls for the development of green energy. Considering the importance of that reality, my country has approved and is currently implementing its Green Economy Development Strategy 2023–2037. We currently produce 98 per cent of our electricity from the country’s hydropower resources, and we are ranked sixth in the world in terms of the share of green energy we produce from renewable sources. The goal, in implementing our relevant plans in the area, is to turn Tajikistan into a green country by 2037. Today, finding solutions to the daily issues of adapting to climate change and mitigating its negative effects is considered one of the international community’s top priorities. We hope that developed countries, the United Nations and its specialized agencies, influential international financial institutions and other international and regional multilateral entities will further continue to pay serious attention to these important and critical issues. We are convinced that the international community can succeed in achieving its common goals and objectives through the development of trustful dialogue, mutual understanding and constructive and rewarding cooperation.

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

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

On behalf of the General Assembly, I have the honour to welcome to the United Nations His Excellency Mr. Gitanas Nausėda, President of the Republic of Lithuania, and to invite him to address the Assembly. President Nausėda: Over the past two days, in this very Hall, global leaders have welcomed the adoption of the Pact for the Future (resolution 79/1). Together, we reaffirmed our commitment to multilateralism anchored in the three pillars of the United Nations: sustainable development, peace and security, and human rights. Those are all great and noble principles that have defined the essence of the United Nations system since the end of the Second World War. Most significant global political developments, from decolonization to the end of the Cold War and the singing revolutions in Europe, have seemed to bring us closer to a bright future of peace, freedom and human dignity. While this international rules-based world order has never been perfect, it helped us to search for joint solutions. For many decades, we have been trying to resolve multiple conflicts and crises and address emerging global challenges such as climate change, unequal development, food insecurity, terrorism and illegal migration. And then, more than 10 years ago, something entirely different happened. Today, although we face yet another distressing crisis in the Middle East, as well as rising tensions in the Indo-Pacific region, Russia’s war of aggression is the most dangerous threat. The entire international order, defined by sovereignty, territorial integrity and the inviolability of borders, is under assault in Ukraine. Each and every member of the United Nations — every sovereign nation — has much to lose as well. To fully understand what is currently at stake, we must all start paying attention to the words of Russian leaders and their representatives at the Security Council. How many times have they openly admitted that the Kremlin intends to wipe Ukraine from the face of the Earth? If any sovereign nation is under the threat of complete destruction, no country is truly safe anymore. If the international community looks away and ignores the unpleasant truth, no country is safe anymore. And if mass killings, deportations and deliberate actions targeting the civilian population become the new norm, no country is truly safe anymore. That should be perfectly clear to everyone. It should disturb us all. What Russia presents to the world is a return to the era of imperial conquest, colonial domination and genocide. And I do not believe that we are ready to follow that path. I do not believe that any of us want to see powerful neighbours convincing themselves that from now on every dispute should be settled by force. Therefore, right now, Ukraine is not only fighting a war of self-defence. Ukraine is also fighting for the future of all those countries who believe in the Charter of the United Nations and its principles. Ukraine is fighting for us all. Nevertheless, our joint collective response to this day has been insufficient. We have not been able to stop this madness. We have not been able to force Russia to reconsider its dangerous course. We have not been able to hold it accountable for so many violations of the United Nations Charter. Why has that been the case? It is because to this day, the aggressor is hiding under the cover of the Security Council’s permanent membership — hiding in plain sight and mocking every one of us with its unrestricted veto power. It is a terrible blow to the very credibility of the United Nations system. And still, we keep hearing some calls for Ukraine to surrender, to compromise on its sovereignty and territorial integrity or to accept Russia’s ultimatums. Why should the aggressor be rewarded? Why should appeasement work this time, when it failed so spectacularly nearly 90 years ago? Why should the victim agree to the demands of the aggressor, sitting safe in the Kremlin, after so much bloodshed and loss of innocent lives? Ukraine is still fighting. Ukraine is still going strong, regardless of all the appeasers and doomsayers. Only Ukraine has the right to determine the actual conditions for peace. Meanwhile, we have a duty to support Ukraine, to restrict Russia’s ability to wage war, to ensure the accountability of those responsible for the crime of aggression and crimes against humanity, to reform the Security Council and to rebuild the credibility of the Charter of the United Nations. To withstand enormous pressure and win the war, Ukraine will need more military equipment, ammunition and medical supplies. Ukraine also urgently needs humanitarian and financial aid. The upcoming winter will be extremely difficult for the Ukrainian people. Constant deliberate Russian attacks on critical energy infrastructure have destroyed more than 80 per cent of Ukraine’s thermal energy generation and a third of its hydropower generation. To prevent a humanitarian catastrophe, our assistance should be swift and focused on the energy sector. There is only one path towards comprehensive, just and lasting peace: Ukraine’s Peace Formula. It deserves universal support because it is based on the universal principles of the United Nations Charter: sovereignty, territorial integrity and international law. Lithuania urges all peace-loving countries to actively engage in those efforts, including preparation for and participation in the next Peace Formula summit. The war could enter its end phase tomorrow if only Russia would agree to disengage and withdraw its forces from all occupied territories. Ukraine does not want Russia’s territories. It wants to liberate its own people, not Russia’s. It wants to see its prisoners of war and its abducted children returned in their thousands. It wants the constant deliberate bombing of civilian infrastructure — of so many schools, hospitals and power stations — to finally stop. In order to achieve lasting peace, more actions must follow. Justice will have be served. Russia will have to atone for its many crimes and pay damages. The main culprits of the war of aggression and numerous war crimes will have stand before the courts. Vladimir Putin is already under an arrest warrant by the International Criminal Court for his crimes, specifically the unlawful deportation and transfer of children. Immobilized Russian foreign assets should also be used to pay for the damage done to Ukraine. Finally, we must all join forces in pushing for a comprehensive Security Council reform. There is simply no place for Russia in the Security Council, which was created to maintain international peace and security. Lithuania hopes to witness Ukraine’s victory soon. Until that becomes a reality, Lithuania’s position remains steadfast. We will not recognize Russia’s illegal annexation of any Ukrainian region, be it Crimea, Sevastopol, Donetsk, Kherson, Luhansk or Zaporizhzhya. We will not stop demanding that Russia end its grave violations of human rights and fundamental freedoms in the occupied territories of Ukraine. Lithuania will continue providing shelter to Ukrainian war refugees. Lithuania will continue supporting Ukraine with all possible means. Today, as political divisions deepen and democracy seems to falter all around the world, multilateralism remains our greatest hope. The United Nations has a crucial role to play not only Ukraine, but also in the Middle East, the Sahel, the Horn of Africa and the Indo-Pacific region. As representatives of the international community, we cannot remain indifferent in the face of global crises. We cannot stay silent on breaches of international law and universal human rights, thereby normalizing them. The pursuit of peace and justice requires our collective determination. It requires our unwavering adherence to the guiding principles of the United Nations. Now, as always, Lithuania is committed to promoting democracy, human rights and accountability on the global stage. We call on all States Members of the United Nations to unite in securing a better future for all — a future in which every sovereign country is protected from imperialism and every human being from arbitrary violence and war. Let us build a safer future together.

On behalf of the General Assembly, I wish to thank the President of the Republic of Lithuania for the statement he has just made. Address by Mr. Julius Maada Bio, President of the Republic of Sierra Leone

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

On behalf of the General Assembly, I have the honour to welcome to the United Nations His Excellency Mr. Julius Maada Bio, President of the Republic of Sierra Leone, and to invite him to address the Assembly. President Bio: I congratulate His Excellency Mr. Philémon Yang on his election as President of the General Assembly at its seventy-ninth session, and I express Sierra Leone’s support to him during his tenure. I extend my deep gratitude to His Excellency Mr. Dennis Francis for his principled stewardship as President of the General Assembly at its seventy-eighth session. I appreciate and thank His Excellency Mr. António Guterres, Secretary-General of the United Nations, for his tireless efforts and global leadership. More than 30 years ago, Sierra Leone was plunged into a decade-long brutal civil war. More than 50,000 people were killed, and millions fled their homes as refugees and internally displaced persons. The situation in Sierra Leone at that time was not unique. Conflicts existed in other parts of West Africa, in Africa and around the world. In Sierra Leone, however, we overcame our challenges with a common vision for peace through genuine dialogue, committed leadership and action. Notably, the hard-won peace we enjoy is not without its fragility, and we remain vigilant in safeguarding it. Sierra Leone’s peace journey exemplifies the values of ownership, engagement through dialogue and partnership, especially with the Economic Community of West African States, the United Nations and the broader international community, which yielded the peace dividend. That story has shaped our engagement within the Security Council since the commencement of our second tenure in January. For almost nine months, Sierra Leone, as an elected member of the Security Council, has endeavoured to be a voice of reason and a bridge-builder with balance and objectivity. We will continue to promote respect for, and adherence to, international law and the Charter of the United Nations, ensure the protection of civilians, end impunity through accountability and foster dialogue for the peaceful settlement of disputes. Our commitment to those principles is even more imperative than ever, as we are confronted with conflicts of great magnitude in the Middle East, Africa, Asia and Europe. The need for a ceasefire in Gaza and the wider Middle East, as well as in the Sudan, the eastern Democratic Republic of the Congo and Ukraine, is not just pressing, but urgent. Immediate action is required to prevent the further loss of precious lives and human suffering. We need collective action to stop all conflicts and engage in meaningful dialogue so that the countries can move forward with their development agenda in peace, security and stability. As a country that has experienced the devastating consequences of armed conflict, Sierra Leone acknowledges that peace cannot be achieved in isolation. It requires inclusive political processes, economic development and respect for human rights. For the millions of civilians trapped in the ongoing armed conflicts, words of condemnation and empathy alone are not enough. It is imperative that we act together, as the United Nations, with a sustained commitment to end the cycle of violence and give innocent civilians the opportunity to enjoy lasting peace and prosperity. Our current term on the Security Council has reinforced the view that there is an urgent need for reform. Nearly 80 years after its creation, the Security Council remains stuck in time. Its imbalanced composition is unjust and at odds with current realities, undermining its legitimacy and effectiveness. Unfortunately, Africa remains the unquestionable victim in all of this. Without structural change, the Security Council’s effective performance and legitimacy remain questionable. In a historic and successful debate (see S/PV.9702), which I presided over during Sierra Leone’s presidency of the Security Council, in August, on addressing the historical injustice and enhancing Africa’s effective representation in the Security Council, I spoke as a representative of a continent that has long been underrepresented in the decision-making processes that shape our world on matters of peace and security. That debate had indisputable resonance: first, that the historical injustice being perpetrated against Africa must be rectified; secondly, that Africa must be treated as a special case; and, thirdly, that it must be prioritized in the reform process. In expressing appreciation for the active and supportive engagement by the many interests and regional groups as well as the Member States invited to the debate, we made the facts and issues clear to all. Africa has long been marginalized in global decision-making processes, and its voices are often drowned out. The legacy of colonialism, economic exploitation and political marginalization has left deep scars on the African continent, thereby affecting its development, stability and influence in international affairs. That results in the lack of meaningful representation on issues that directly affect the continent, such as conflict prevention, conflict resolution, peacekeeping operations and sustainable development. Addressing contemporary global security challenges requires the collective wisdom and cooperation of all nations, not just the privileged few or the most militarily or economically powerful. We argue that the equitable representation of Africa will better equip the United Nations to tackle global challenges and foster a more just, fair and peaceful world. As the coordinator of African Union Committee of Ten Heads of State and Government on the reform of the United Nations Security Council, Sierra Leone remains fully committed to promoting, defending and soliciting support for the common African position, as espoused in the Ezulwini Consensus and Sirte Declaration. Africa, therefore, demands no less than two permanent seats, with all rights and privileges of permanent members, including the right to the veto, and two additional seats in the non-permanent category of the Security Council. Sierra Leone welcomes the consensus that has emerged from the General Assembly intergovernmental negotiations, as reflected in the Pact for the Future, to Let us work together to redress this historical injustice and re-create a Security Council that truly reflects the diversity of the world that we live in today. As I stated in the Security Council debate, the time for half-hearted measures and incremental progress is over (see S/PV.9702). Africa’s voice must be heard, and its demands for justice and equity must be met now. The Summit of the Future, for Sierra Leone, is about delivering peace, human rights and the dividends of democracy for everyone, everywhere, now. Accordingly, my Government has laid out a strategic vision for Sierra Leone, as captured in Sierra Leone’s medium-term national development plan 2024–2030  — a framework for delivering socioeconomic development and prosperity for its people. Aligned with the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) and the Agenda 2063 of the African Union, our development plan serves as a comprehensive blueprint for transformative acceleration in critical areas, such as agriculture and food security, human capital development, job creation for our youth, infrastructure development and technology. With the adoption of the Pact for the Future (resolution 79/1), including the Declaration on Future Generations and the Global Digital Compact, at the Summit of The Future, my Government is reinforcing its commitment to championing and investing in human capital development. Human capital development is a profound commitment to our people’s well-being and future. By investing significantly in education, healthcare and agriculture, my Government is laying the foundation for a prosperous and equitable Sierra Leone. Over the past six years, our achievements through our Free Quality School Education Programme, legislative reviews, governance reforms in the education sector and radical inclusion strategy have been highly impactful, well acclaimed and seen as a good model for the world. We welcome the Global Digital Compact’s principle of ensuring safe, secure and trustworthy emerging technologies, including artificial intelligence, to offer new opportunities to accelerate development, leaving no one behind. In the area of gender equality and women’s economic empowerment, significant strides have been made, and they are some of the legacies my Government will bequeath to our current and future generations. I recently signed into law this year a bill prohibiting child marriage, following the historic signing into law of the Gender Equality and Women’s Empowerment Act of 2023. That is all meant to ensure the realization of the national aspiration for our women and girls to build an inclusive and equitable society. I remain steadfast in my commitment to ensuring that every girl and woman lives in a safe environment, with ample opportunities to realize their full potential and thrive equally in the world. From prioritizing the women and peace and security agenda at the Security Council to the adoption by the General Assembly of a resolution condemning all forms of sexual and gender-based violence and urging all countries to provide victims and survivors with access to justice, reparations and assistance (resolution 76/304), we will continue to advocate for women and girls across the globe. Therefore, I am pleased to announce that Sierra Leone will commence preparatory work that will lead to the convening of a diplomatic conference to conclude an international legally binding instrument on access to justice for sexual violence survivors — the proposed Freetown treaty — in furtherance of the success of resolution 76/304 on access to justice, remedies and assistance for survivors of sexual violence. Leaving no one behind and acting together to achieve sustainable development similarly means that we have to end global economic inequalities and ensure that Governments in least developed countries can deliver the dividends of democracy. The At the International Development Association (IDA) for Africa Heads of State Summit in Nairobi in April, Sierra Leone unreservedly expressed its endorsement of the Nairobi IDA communiqué. The communiqué exemplifies the collective aspiration of the African Heads of State present to raise the level of development support in Africa through the IDA21 Replenishment. I wish to re-echo that endorsement at this gathering. IDA’s affordable, concessional finance allows Africa’s leaders to develop their economies, enhance education and healthcare, deal with the increasing effects of climate change and expand electricity and digital access — without becoming buried in unsustainable debt. In conclusion, the end of the Second World War in 1945 did not only unite leaders but also urged them to cooperate. That was the birth of multilateralism. As the African proverb says, “Our two hands do not wash themselves; they wash each other”. As leaders, we must cooperate to achieve the purposes of the United Nations and deliver peace, security, stability and prosperity for our people. Divisions and unhealthy competition will lead only to humankind’s destruction. We must ensure unity in diversity, where the rights of the weak and the minority are protected. Therefore, let us safeguard our multilateral system. Let us cooperate, acting together for the advancement of peace, sustainable development and human dignity for present and future generations, leaving no one behind.

On behalf of the General Assembly, I wish to thank the President of the Republic of Sierra Leone 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: Mahatma Gandhi said that there is no path to peace. Peace is the path. In the same spirit of fraternal love and with an open heart, I address the General Assembly today on behalf of the Republic of Serbia, a founding country of the United Nations and a country of freedom and justice. It is my honour to address the Assembly as President of the Republic of Serbia, the country on whose behalf I stand proudly before everyone today. It is a country that, despite the current global challenges, consistently perseveres in defending the principles of the Charter of the United Nations and international law and that, through its activities and principled policy, strongly advocates the idea that is the main topic of this year’s session. When we talk about the current moment, this year again, to my immense regret, I have to state that the situation in the world seems even more difficult and dark than a year ago. Tensions are growing and challenges are becoming more numerous and complex. What worries me the most is that, despite our declaratory efforts for This year, we are once again talking about tragic conflicts and destruction that bring suffering and enormous human losses, as well as about the numerous serious consequences that inevitably accompany armed conflicts. The Republic of Serbia and the Serbian people deeply sympathize and share the grief for all the lives lost in the conflicts happening around the world, including the tragic events in the Middle East and Ukraine. It is unforgivable that today, in the twenty-first century, we are talking about gruesome figures related to children who have died in conflicts. It seems absolutely incredible, but the world is on the verge of nuclear disaster and nuclear Holocaust. In a desire to win and to destroy the other, step by step, we had been getting closer to the verge of the precipice and, eventually, we got there. We live in a world in which no one listens to anyone — people are listening only to their own arguments and their own truth, while the other must disappear because they always threaten people’s universally false values. We need to talk, even when we disagree. We need to restore the eroded credibility and authority of the United Nations. And that is why Serbia will continue to strongly support an increase in the presence of African countries on the Security Council, which we believe would mean a lot for ensuring global peace. We need to stop the application of double standards in order to restore faith in international law and the principles we all agreed on long ago. We must restore faith in peace — the only path, to which there is no alternative. We owe that to every innocent victim anywhere in the world and to all the current and succeeding generations. The future of the world in the next five or 25 years is a matter of our choice, but it is also our responsibility. All of us who have gathered here from all over the world have done so for what we would say are noble reasons but are, first and foremost, selfish reasons. Almost always, the leaders from all the countries, even the most powerful ones, speak before the General Assembly, allegedly addressing the members, but they are actually addressing only their own public and not caring substantially for the real concerns of the world today. I am not much different, but today I will speak to the Assembly not only about Serbia, a founding country of the United Nations, its successes and rapid growth rate, because I have the opportunity to brag about the results we have achieved in my country. And incidentally, I know that not everyone here is very interested in that regard. Today I will speak about how the collapse of the modern world started, and about when and how the Charter of the United Nations was discredited and when we stopped believing in law and started appeasing the logic of force. I will explain it using the example of my country, Serbia, which, to me, is the most beautiful country in the world, and how it was being destroyed and trampled on, and how today, because of its tenacity and freedom-loving tradition, it is a small stone in the shoe of the big and powerful countries. After the big victories won by the better part of humankind in the First World War and the Second World War, after the Serbs had suffered the biggest losses proportionally to the size of their nation in the First World War and in the Second World War, in which Serbia was one of the few nations in South-East Europe to confront the Nazis from the very beginning  — which is perhaps why Belgrade, Serbia’s capital, was the only city that had been brutally bombed and devastated already at the beginning of 1941. We Serbs, unlike others, did not welcome Nazi tanks with flowers, and we paid a high price for that. Why am I mentioning all of that? I am mentioning it because even today we have heard from many that, as a result of Russia attacking Ukraine, Pandora’s box has been opened and international law is being undermined, in a precedent not seen in Europe since the Second World War. That is utterly false. To be clear, Serbia supports the Charter of the United Nations and Ukraine’s territorial integrity and has never questioned those in the least, nor shall we in the future. However, when the big leaders speak vigorously and ardently here about the need for Ukrainian freedom and about the observance of the United Nations and its Charter and resolutions, I ask myself why they do not observe the Charter of the United Nations and resolution 1244 (1999) when it comes to the territorial integrity of Serbia. Why did the West use its own power to strike us in moments when it thought that it could violate the norms of international law the way it wanted, to the extent it wanted and as long as it wanted because it had finally won against all its opponents — which made it possible for it to spill its rage upon one small nation and to relentlessly and swiftly commit violations of all norms and regulations, without even attempting to provide any explanation for doing so. That is why, in 1999, the Security Council attempted to adopt a draft resolution on the attack and aggression against Serbia (see S/PV.3989). No consensus had been reached in that regard, but the decision was nevertheless taken to attack and bomb Serbia and to commit aggression, because at that time the Western Powers could not care less about the Charter of the United Nations, United Nations resolutions or international law. They were the uncontested Powers that did not ask anyone about anything, and they thought it would go on like that for hundreds of years. It was by accident that we, the citizens of Serbia, were the ones who paid the high price. It could have been anybody else. That is why it does not even occur to me to say that we were angels and had no responsibility in all that. But essentially, the destiny of one small nation was decided by the big and mighty Western Powers, without regard for its rights or for justice. It is interesting that first they helped tear apart the big Yugoslavia along the lines of internal communist borders. Interestingly, once they were finished with that, we thought it was the end, but there was no end. That is when they started tearing down Serbia — an independent, democratic and internationally recognized country and a member of the United Nations and the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe — and only Serbia. I would ask that members pay attention to that today. They will speak passionately about defending the alleged sovereignty of States from secession and separatism only until the next opportunity for secession and separatism to be justified by alleged humanitarian disasters and everything else that they will never accept as an argument in certain other cases. When we ask them which international document they are acting in accordance with in doing that — because it is all an attempt to provoke a war in violation of the norms of the United Nations — like a fig leaf, they cover up with the stupidest possible answer in the world: “Well, we do not accept the Charter of the United Nations nor United Nations resolutions, because for us the situation has changed, since we recognized the independence of Kosovo 15 years ago.” But what is their message to us, my dear friends? Their message is that they have the power, that they are God and that they do not care about the United Nations and its resolutions, nor about the law. Their message is that they can do whatever they want, the way they want and for as long as they want. And now, I am asking my dear friends and representatives  — not of those obedient satellite and puppet countries, but of those freedom-loving nations and countries — what we, as a small country, can do. How can we fight? Because everyone in the world speaks about Ukraine, yet no one dares speak about Serbia. And even if they do, they claim that we will start a war in the Balkans on Russia’s order. But they have been lying the whole time, for more than two and a half years. We are servants neither of Russia nor the United States of America. We have our own politics and our own interests. And that is why I want to tell representatives that the only hope — not only for my country, which I love more than anything in the world, but also for their countries — is to understand well the mechanisms of lies and fraud in international relations and to gather here, in the most important Organization, to try to change that and to try to respect it, because that is the only way to preserve peace. The world is on the verge of disaster, and everyone is allegedly defending principles, yet no one admits any mistakes. It is clear to us all that there are no principles anywhere and that no one has them. Only the small countries that have nowhere else to go have principles, which are all they can grasp. And all that the big ones have left to do — once they have crushed all the small ones — is to eat one other. Only when their bites are no longer so easy and small do they remember the principles, and then accuse the others of violating those same principles. When the aggression against Serbia started on 24 March 1999, a representative of my country, Vladislav Jovanović — a highly respected and exceptional Serbian diplomat — made, in the Security Council, on behalf of the Government of the then Federal Republic of Yugoslavia, an urgent appeal to all countries to categorically oppose the aggression against the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia at the time. Listen to his words 25 years later: “If the aggression is not stopped, the precedent of such unpunished aggression will, sooner or later, lead to aggression against a number of other, smaller and medium-sized countries. The real question is: Which country is next?” (S/PV.3988, p. 14) Members may have heard several proposals today as to which country will be next. “[P]eace is more than the absence of war. A lasting peace — for nations and individuals — depends upon a sense of justice and opportunity; of dignity and freedom.” (A/66/PV.11, p. 10) The unreasonable nature of the policy pursued by Pristina and the so-called Kosovo authorities and the fanaticism surrounding, and the persecution of, everything Serbian in Kosovo and Metohija are reflected in a series of disturbing moves. Such moves range from the ban on payments in the Serbian currency — the dinar — in Kosovo and Metohija, which has lasted for more than six months, and the ban on postal services, which is unique in the world — even in conflict areas — and endangers the daily life of Serbs and other non-Albanian populations, to the ban on the visit by the Head of the Serbian Orthodox Church, Patriarch Porfirije, to the Patriarchate of Peć. Can the intrusion by the armed so-called Kosovo special police on 9 September onto the premises of an association that provides support to children with developmental disabilities and their parents be described as anything other than brutality and cruelty, as well as insanity? As stated by Nelson Mandela, real and lasting peace can be reached only through justice and respect for human rights. How can there be peace in Kosovo and Metohija if the legal order and fundamental rights of an entire nation are being systematically undermined? In the light of all of the aforementioned, the key question today is: What is the path forward for Serbia, and how can we resolve the situation? First and foremost, Serbia is on its European path and sincerely wants to be a part of the European Union (EU). Serbia’s economy is currently the most successful economy in the entire Western Balkans region, but even today, the very same EU we strive to be a part of makes it clear to us, through the statements of its spokesperson Peter Stano, that it does not observe the principles of the Charter of the United Nations nor even the decisions of its own European Council by supporting the independence of the so-called Kosovo, because that is in the interests of the biggest and most powerful countries on the European continent. Serbia is a small country that cannot compete with the big Powers. We are fully aware of that. Nevertheless, we have an obligation — to ourselves and to our people, as well as to all our friends around the world — not to lie to anyone, and to tell everyone the truth. Since all the big countries are interested neither in law nor in truth, there is nothing left but for small but proud Serbia to be dedicated and committed to its economic progress, accelerated growth, new technologies and innovation and to look towards the future, waiting for the moment when observance of the principles of international law is brought back to the world’s political stage. We will remain committed to the dialogue with Pristina and under the auspices of the EU, and we will fight to preserve peace. There is only one thing that we will never give to anyone, and that is the freedom and independence of Serbia. As the President of Serbia, I believe in a world based on real, not false, values. I believe that the strength of developing countries — all of us who have raised our heads and dare to speak the truth — will provide the foundation for a new, different and better world.

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 Republic of Angola.

On behalf of the General Assembly, I have the honour to welcome to the United Nations His Excellency Mr. João Manuel Gonçalves Lourenço, President of the Republic of Angola, and to invite him to address the Assembly. President Lourenço (spoke in Portuguese; English interpretation provided by the delegation): It is with a very special sense of honour that I address all the participants in the seventy-ninth session of the General Assembly, which is taking place within a very worrisome international context, in which tensions in international relations are worsening owing to the multiplicity of conflicts of different natures and intensities in various areas of our planet. It is naturally understandable that, in the face of such a high level of instability and insecurity, it is much more difficult to achieve the principal Sustainable Development Goals and other goals of the Organization, with a view to attaining all the targets that we have set out. I would like to extend a special greeting to His Excellency Mr. Philémon Yang and congratulate him on his election as President of the General Assembly at its seventy- ninth session, which takes on special significance for the entire African continent and his country, the Republic of Cameroon, where he has effectively discharged his duties with demonstrable dedication, and which places him in a position to successfully guide the proceedings of this session. Allow me to sincerely wish him every success in carrying out those functions, with the belief that his commitment will make an important contribution to strengthening the role of the Organization as a decisive and irreplaceable actor in global governance. I also congratulate the outgoing President, His Excellency Mr. Dennis Francis, to whom I express our great appreciation for the way in which he carried out his work and for what he has achieved during his term of office. I would also like to praise and commend Secretary-General António Guterres on his outstanding dedication to our common cause of building a world of peace, security, harmony, concord, development and equal opportunities for all. We value his work all the more as he is carrying it out in a complex global context, full of challenges and threats, which he has successfully addressed with pragmatism, responsibility and great wisdom and courage. Since the founding of the United Nations, after the end of the Second World War, the people of our planet have longed for peaceful coexistence at the global level, with the belief that events that could jeopardize harmony, peace and universal security would be the object of careful attention and preventive measures taken within the framework of the Organization so that they would not degenerate into conflicts and wars that would revive the traumatic experiences of the period from 1939 to 1945. After almost eight decades, we can objectively observe today that not only has that goal not been realized, but we seem to be moving away from the founding purposes of the United Nations. In view of that reality, we need to consider where we have failed and what collective measures we should take to make the United Nations actions more effective in the search for solutions that contribute to conflict prevention, strengthen world peace and security, boost trade and international cooperation in order to ensure the prosperity of nations and the well-being of the people of our planet. Today we are witnessing an attempt to undermine, ignore and even replace the role and importance of the United Nations in resolving the major issues that afflict humankind, particularly those related to universal peace and security. In that regard, there is no more appropriate stage than the General Assembly to undo that situation The reform of the Security Council and of international financial institutions based on the Bretton Woods system is urgently needed in order to give a voice to the countries of the global South, namely, those in Africa, Latin America, the Middle East and the Indian subcontinent. The imperative of multilateralism must prevail as the only framework truly capable of safeguarding the common interests of all humankind, within which we must reaffirm our resolute commitment to diplomacy, inclusive dialogue and the use of peaceful means to resolve conflicts. It is in that spirit that the Republic of Angola is deeply committed to the process of finding solutions to conflicts in Africa, while noting that currently the greatest effort has been focused on the conflict prevailing in the eastern Democratic Republic of the Congo, without neglecting those taking place in the Sudan and the Sahel region. As part of the Luanda process, a ceasefire was reached in eastern Democratic Republic of the Congo, which came into force on 4 August. In order to consolidate the gains made, a draft peace agreement was proposed by the Republic of Angola, involving the Democratic Republic of the Congo and the Republic of Rwanda, the terms of which are being discussed by the parties at the ministerial level, aimed at reaching a mutual understanding to convene a summit-level meeting to seal the signing of a final peace agreement and the re-establishment of relations between the Democratic Republic of the Congo and Rwanda. We are deeply concerned about the situation in the Sudan, where a violent war is being waged with dramatic humanitarian consequences in the face of a certain apathy on the part of the international community, which must seek to pool its efforts and act in coordination with the African Union to foster and achieve lasting peace. We are providing, for the benefit of peace in Africa, Angola’s experience in resolving its internal conflict, which, after several decades, was definitively resolved through inclusive dialogue between the warring parties. We have learned from our own conflict that there is no peace without dialogue, and no peace without concessions on both sides. That is a path that cannot be ignored in the context of all efforts to resolve the serious security crises facing the world today. Russia’s war against Ukraine has seriously and profoundly shaken stability and security in Europe, with serious repercussions for the rest of the world in terms of economic stability and food and energy security. We have witnessed the worrisome continuous escalation of the conflict, which has had devastating effects on the internal situation of the warring countries, owing to the use of increasingly lethal weapons, without any prospect of a solution to that complex issue. Although increasingly sophisticated military and other means are being deployed in the theatre of operations, no military victory is in sight in that war, which is likely to spread to the rest of Europe, unless a negotiated solution is found, based on respect for the principles of the United Nations, which safeguard the sovereignty of States and the indivisibility and territorial integrity of countries. Failure to uphold the principles of the Charter of the United Nations is the root cause of many of the problems and tensions that proliferate all over our planet, where particular geopolitical interests and ambitions, contrary to the values advocated by the international community, often affect the security and stability of entire regions of our planet. In the Middle East, we witnessed and have condemned the killing and kidnapping of defenceless Israeli civilians on 7 October 2023. As a result, although Israel has the right to protect its territory, to guarantee the safety of its citizens and to We are witnessing an alarming number of deaths of journalists from international networks, United Nations employees and workers from international humanitarian organizations, which is unacceptable and condemnable. We cannot continue to allow that in just 11 months, in a small territory with no escape, nearly 43,000 people have been killed, and the perpetrators have not been held accountable by the international community. The international community cannot remain indifferent to that situation which threatens the existence of the Palestinian people, who have the same right to live in peace and security in the territory of their ancestors as the Jewish people do. We are concerned about the spread of the conflict to other countries, because it threatens peace and security throughout the Middle East and opens up the dangerous possibility of the direct involvement of the major world Powers and thus the internationalization of the conflict with all the possible consequences on a global scale. That is a fact that once again highlights the role of the United Nations, its decisions and resolutions, which, if strictly and rigorously upheld, will resolve the impasse surrounding the creation of the sovereign State of Palestine, the only way to put a definitive end to the problem that the Middle East has been facing for decades. I would like to take this opportunity to call once again for an end to the embargo against Cuba and the sanctions against Zimbabwe, the current Chair of our regional economic community, the Southern African Development Community (SADC), because they are unjust and inhumane, increase the suffering of their peoples and greatly hinder the economic and social development of those countries. As part of the collective effort undertaken by the nations of our planet to consolidate peace, African countries have sought to make an increasingly effective contribution to United Nations missions aimed at bringing stability to countries and regions in conflict. Often, those peace operations are not carried out within the time frame and with the effectiveness required owing to the financial constraints of the countries willing to participate. Fortunately, that constraint seems to have finally been overcome at the Security Council level, which represents a decisive step in strengthening the operationality and effectiveness of the peacebuilding missions led by the African Union, which now has a financing mechanism more suitable to its operations. I warmly welcome those developments, especially because Africa wants to be increasingly present not only in the discussion, but also in the decision-making and resolution processes regarding major global issues. We intend to be part of the construction of a new international financial architecture, in which closer cooperation among States is essential, with a view to effectively fighting the illicit flow of capital and the recovery of assets, which is often incomprehensibly hampered by the countries that hold the funds under their control, even without plausible justification. It is important to note that funds that come from asset recovery processes have a direct effect on the implementation of the Sustainable Development Goals and, consequently, on improving the general living conditions of our populations. Angola has made significant progress in the fight against corruption, with specific cases of citizens who have been tried and convicted who saw their assets forfeited in favour of the State, by virtue of the sentences handed The Republic of Angola advocates the urgent implementation of reforms that will lead to a fairer representation of African countries within the main international financial institutions, in order to advocate decision- and policy-making that impacts the daily lives of the populations of the countries concerned. We are firmly committed to leaving no one behind, acting together for the advancement of peace, sustainable development and human dignity for present and future generations. In line with that motto of the seventy-ninth session of the General Assembly, we must mobilize efforts, capacities and all the resources at our disposal to promote policies, measures and programmes that make it possible to achieve the intentions contained therein. The Republic of Angola is making a great effort to set the country on the path to progress and development, based on policies that establish priorities contained in the national development plan, which has as its main pillars the diversification of the economy, the reduction of public debt, the mobilization of domestic revenue, the optimization of public spending in the priority areas of health and education and the implementation of specific social protection programmes. The tasks that we have set ourselves in those areas are complex and require time and sufficiently skilled human resources for them to be carried out successfully. Nevertheless, we are making encouraging progress, the benefits of which will be felt over time. Among the successful initiatives, I would like to mention the construction of water transfer systems for the areas heavily affected by drought in southern Angola, where poverty and misery are making way for the prospect of prosperity and a more dignified life for the people, who can now count on having enough water available to transform arid areas into areas for agricultural production and animal husbandry, without the risks that used to jeopardize human and animal survival. As part of the Government of Angola’s action to improve the national social framework and create factors that boost the development of industry and agriculture, we have embarked on the path of electrifying the country in all its latitudes. We have invested in clean energy production, with the construction of large hydroelectric dams and photovoltaic parks, meaning that 67 per cent of the country’s energy matrix already comes from clean sources and with plans for the thermal power stations still in operation to be phased out in the next three years. In terms of clean energy production, in addition to the more than 6,500 megawatts that we produce today, we are building the Caculo Cabaça hydroelectric dam, which will produce more than 2,000 megawatts, and we will soon begin construction of the country’s largest photovoltaic park, with funding of $1.5 billion from the American EXIM Bank, to supply off-grid power to a considerable number of towns in the provinces of Huíla, Cunene, Namibe and Cuando Cubango. With those additional energy production projects under way, our main focus at the moment is on public investment and public-private partnerships to build high- and medium-voltage Angola is developing a series of initiatives that are part of the effort to ensure the implementation of the international climate agenda, highlighting measures aimed at mitigating and adapting to climate change, always taking care to exploit our fossil resources responsibly in order to guarantee the development and well- being of our populations. It is important to highlight the great public investment that Angola has been making in the health sector throughout the country, with the rapid construction of well-equipped hospital infrastructure at all three levels of care and with an ambitious programme for training and recruiting health professionals for our national health system. Nowadays, one of the main priorities for the African continent is development based on promoting and stepping up trade, for which it is essential to build infrastructure that guarantees connectivity among African countries and the mobility of economic operators and encourages free trade between them, within the framework of the African Continental Free Trade Area. With that in mind, the Republic of Angola has established partnerships at the international level to ensure the operationalization of the Benguela railway and the Lobito mineral and commercial ports as part of the major transnational transport and logistics project of the Lobito Corridor, which will ensure the faster, safer and more competitively priced transport of minerals and agricultural and industrial products produced in the Republic of Zambia, the Democratic Republic of the Congo and Angola across the Atlantic Ocean to the rest of the world. That is a catalysing project that will change the economic landscape in Angola and southern Africa, allowing for the emergence of a number of ventures along the Lobito Corridor, with a direct impact on the economies of the southern subregion of Africa and others on our continent. The Republic of Angola is a hospitable country, open to the world and always ready to act as a proactive partner to help to increase global cooperation in favour of development and the implementation of joint and complementary actions that help to meet the permanent challenges in the fight against international terrorism and other threats to peace, world security and sustainable development. With the improvement in the business environment in recent years, we are open to tourism and direct private investment in practically all sectors of our economy that are of interest to investors. The international community is welcome in Angola.

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

We have heard the last speaker in the general debate for this meeting. The eighth plenary meeting to continue with the general debate will be held immediately following the adjournment of this meeting.