Allow me, Sir, as this is the first time I take the floor, to congratulate you warmly upon your election to serve as President of the General Assembly at its sixty-eighth session. I promise that I will definitely keep my remarks to less than 10 minutes.
People are ever more aware that the challenge…
Switzerland would like to congratulate and thank the Secretary-General and his Special Representative on Sexual Violence in Conflict, as well as her entire team, for the work that provided the basis for the Secretary- General’s report (S/2013/149).
We welcome the Special Representative’s commitmen…
Switzerland welcomes the Arms Trade Treaty as an important step forward for international law that sets a new standard for the responsible transfer of all conventional weapons. We are convinced that the broad ratification and rapid implementation of the Treaty by States will help to significantly re…
Switzerland thanks the Secretary-General for his report on peacebuilding in the aftermath of conflict (S/2012/746). We remain convinced that, in order to respond to the challenges of our times, peacebuilding in general must be strengthened, and in particular, the United Nations peacebuilding archite…
My delegation would like to thank the Secretary-General for his excellent reports. We endorse his analysis of the challenges facing humanitarian action, which emphasizes the need to strengthen the leadership, coordination and accountability of the international humanitarian response. He can count o…
Switzerland thanks the Guatemalan presidency for proposing this discussion, as well as the Indian presidency, which took it up again after Hurricane Sandy. We would also like to thank the Deputy Secretary- General for having presented the report (S/2012/732) on the implementation of the strategic fr…
At a time when the world is witnessing the deterioration of several crises in various parts of the globe, there is only one organ mandated under the Charter of the United Nations to play a key role in preventing, mediating or ending conflicts. That is the Security Council. It sometimes lives up to i…
We thank the President for this opportunity to discuss the annual report of the Security Council (A/67/2). As we know, it is the only occasion on which the General Assembly can assess the Council’s work in the area of peace and security.
We have before us a 275-page document that covers the Securit…
In line with your wishes, Mr. President, I should like to read only a condensed version of my statement. I would ask that the full text be distributed later on.
I will skip the congratulations, but I wish to state that I agree fully with the statement made by the
Permanent Representative of the Ne…
Once again, the past year has been very important for the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA). The challenges facing the IAEA are no less important. Switzerland would like to underline three.
First, Switzerland welcomes the fact that, unlike last year, the IAEA General Conference in September…
At the outset, I would like to thank the Government of Brazil for its excellent hosting of the United Nations Conference on Sustainable Development (Rio+20) and for its decisive role in the summit’s success. Furthermore, my thanks and congratulations also go to the two co-Chairs of the process, Amba…
I am pleased to take the floor on behalf of the Group of Friends on the Protection of Civilians, which is composed of Australia, Austria, Belgium, Brazil, Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, Liechtenstein, Norway, Portugal, the United Kingdom, Uruguay and Switzerland as the Chair.
I would like t…
On behalf of the group of five small States (S-5) — Costa Rica, Jordan, Liechtenstein, Singapore and Switzerland — I have the honour to introduce draft resolution A/66/L.42/Rev.2, submitted under agenda item 117, “Follow-up to the outcome of the Millennium Summit”.
When our leaders were united her…
I would like to thank the President for organizing today’s debate on the annual report of the Peacebuilding Commission (A/66/675). Before going into the substance of my remarks, I should like to follow the example of my Belgian colleague and thank the outgoing Chairperson
of the Peacebuilding Commi…
Mr. President, I welcome your initiative in convening this meeting, and I appreciate the frank and open briefing of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights.
Since the Human Rights Council’s eighteenth special session, held in December 2011, on the human rights situation in the Syrian …
We thank the Secretary-General for his report on global economic governance and development (A/66/506*), which provides a useful basis for our discussion. As a member of the Global Governance Group, we are naturally in full support of the statement to be made shortly by the representative of Singapo…
Switzerland reaffirms its support for the Monterrey Consensus and the Doha Declaration on Financing for Development.
In the context of a financial crisis that is increasingly limiting traditional financing mechanisms, new ways should be explored to improve access to finance for developing countries…
Mr. President, in my personal capacity, I would like to express my pleasure in seeing you preside over the Security Council and also in seeing someone wearing a bowtie as President of the Council.
I have the honour of speaking on behalf of the group of five small nations (S-5), comprising Costa Ric…
I have the honour of addressing the Security Council on behalf of the informal group of like-minded countries, which have taken a specific interest in strengthening fair and clear procedures for targeted sanctions and in making United Nations sanctions regimes more effective. This group is comprised…
Last year, when we were assembled here in the Chamber to commemorate the tenth anniversary of resolution 1325 (2000), I mentioned that I had travelled to Burundi to meet with women’s peace organizations whose peaceful demonstrations had a significant impact in limiting violence during the elections …
