The transcripts are AI-generated from the UN's English audio and can contain mistakes. We are checking them against the statements the missions publish; some errors are still expected.
It is now ten years since Brexit. My country has lived through the disruption it brought, and it has given us a unique perspective that I want to share with you today. Britain is back. We are restoring our stability, building a more dynamic economy a nation that wants to trade with the world and work together to solve the shared problems we face. But we have also learned that we need to adapt to meet the challenge of these times. We need to rebalance power in our country and bring it closer to people. We need to work harder to fight the forces of division and instability which threaten us not just through hard power, but through softer, slower means that sow fear and despair. We need to do more to help people with the everyday cost of living, and seize the opportunities that give them hope for the future. And we need to embrace the incredible potential of technology to improve people's lives.
Africa must move beyond its historical role as an exporter of raw materials towards greater value addition, manufacturing, technological innovation, and knowledge driven growth. Our abundant natural resources must become engines of shared prosperity rather than sources of perpetual dependency. Mr. President, no nation, however formidable its defenses, can secure itself completely against dangers sustained beyond its borders. Terrorism, organized crime, cyber attacks and illicit finance exploit the gaps between our national responses, drawing strength from the divisions that weaken collective action.
In this regard, the Dushanbe Water Process can help sustain that momentum beyond 2028, connecting global commitments with national and regional action. Our success will be measured by the commitments we deliver. Excellencies, we must also prepare for a world that is changing before our eyes. Artificial intelligence is transforming our economies, our societies, and the way we approach development. As the Secretary General recently reminded us, used well and shared widely, AI could compress decades of development into years. This is the opportunity before us. AI should not become another source of division. It should become a force for development opportunity and reducing inequality. Last year, at the initiative of Tajikistan, the General Assembly adopted the resolution on the role of artificial intelligence in creating new opportunities for sustainable development in Central Asia. This year, we took another step forward. On August 31st, the General Assembly proclaimed the International Day of Safe, Secure and Trustworthy Artificial Intelligence, also at the initiative of Tajikistan.
For us, the European Union is not simply a destination we wish to reach, but a value-based journey that we have embarked on. When the European perspective of the Balkans was reaffirmed at the Thessaloniki Summit in 2003, the world looked very different. Multilateralism and international cooperation were expanding back then. The European Union was one of the most attractive political projects in the world and would welcome 13 new member states over the following decade. At the same time, the Balkans was still emerging from the devastation and divisions of the '90s. More than two decades later, we live in a profoundly different international environment. The international order is entering a new and uncertain phase, and this is why enlargement of the European Union is an act of strategic foresight. It is one of the best investments Europe can make in peace, security, and long-term stability. And Montenegro is proud to stand today at the forefront of that process, ready to serve as an example for the other countries, not because our journey has been without difficulties, but because our journey demonstrates something essential: that progress is possible, that reforms matter, and that democratic political culture pays off. Earlier this year, leaders from across Europe gathered in Montenegro for the European Union-Western Balkans Summit. For Montenegro, that gathering carried a meaning far beyond the protocol. It demonstrated how far our country has traveled and how close our European future has become. And it also sent an important message about our region: that the future of the entire Balkan region lies within the European Union. Our region has carried the weight of division for too long, and a new chapter is being written through cooperation, connectivity, economic opportunity, and European integration. And my generation has a responsibility to help complete that chapter. These responsibilities are not important because of the titles they carry. They are important because of what they allow us to contribute: to reconciliation, connectivity, democratic resilience, and the European future of our region. And lasting reconciliation cannot be built on denial, selective approaches to justice, or the glorification of those convicted of war crimes. It requires respect for the judgments of international courts and equal dignity for every single victim, regardless of their identity or background. And in a world searching for proof that cooperation still works, Montenegro is contributing to the vision that the Balkans become that proof. Excellencies, the principle that guides us at home guides us here as well, in this very organization. Our engagement with the United Nations system is guided by the same principles. Montenegro is a reliable, credible, and predictable partner, committed to an effective multilateral system with the UN Charter at its core, aligned with the European Union's Common Foreign Security Policy, and working closely with our NATO allies and EU partners in support of international peace and security.
Mr. president, as we commence this 81st session, we have the opportunity to build a United Nations that is truly fit for purpose. The crisis confronting multilateralism can become the catalyst for its renewal. The United Nations must not be a monument to the past. It must become an instrument for the future. We need a Security Council that reflects the geopolitical realities of the 21st century, not the power structures of 1945. A council that embraces the emerging multipolarity of our world, including permanent representation from Africa and Latin America and the Caribbean. Mr. president, if the United Nations is to remain humanity's best hope, then this is not the hour to retreat from multilateralism. This is the hour to reclaim and to renew it. For it is in times such as these, when wars rage across borders, when the shadow of existential threats falls across the future of human civilisation, when the old certainties are dissolving before our eyes, that multilateralism must rise. Multilateralism rests upon the proposition that our destinies are bound together, that the security of one cannot be at the insecurity of another, and that in an interdependent world, cooperation is a necessity, and where there can be no enduring prosperity, when inequality deepens and no just international order, when rules are applied selectively. It is to that truth that this 81st session of the General Assembly must recommit itself. But recommitment cannot mean merely repeating the language of yesterday. The world has changed and multilateralism must change with it. We need a new and invigorated multilateralism, one equal to the turbulence of our age, sufficiently courageous to confront its trials, sufficiently imaginative to navigate its transformations, and sufficiently principled to defend the rule of international law. To make the United Nations fit for purpose, we must make it more transparent, accountable, and responsive. We must strengthen the General Assembly and give greater weight to its deliberative and representative authority. We must bring greater coherence to a system too often divided by institutional rivalries, bureaucratic silos, and competing mandates. We must ensure that the resources of the UN match the responsibilities we have entrusted to it. But institutions do not reform themselves. They require leadership capable of seeing beyond the present and imagining the institution the future demands. The United Nations needs leadership that can bring its different organs, agencies and programs into greater unity of purpose, leadership that can build bridges where division has become habitual. Leadership that can defend the principles of the charter without fear or favour. The United Nations needs its next Secretary-General to work with all Member States to restore confidence in the organisation, mobilise its energies and turn the language of multilateralism from aspiration into action. The reform of the United Nations, the restoration of trust and the need to manage transformation, is therefore inseparable from the question of leadership, and the choice of its next secretary general will be, in no small measure, a choice about the kind of United Nations we wish to leave to the generations that follow. It is in this spirit that Guyana has put forward the candidature of Her Excellency Carolyn Rodrigues Birkett for the office of Secretary General of the United Nations. She has served her country, represented the developing world and worked within the multilateral system with a deep understanding of both its promise and its imperfections. We believe that her experience, her convictions, her record of service, speak directly to the kind of leadership this moment demands. Her candidature, therefore, acquires special significance amid the profound challenges confronting the United Nations and international order. We need leadership capable of restoring trust without compromising principles, of listening, without surrendering conviction of building bridges across the widening chasms between north and south, between large states and small, between the developed and developing world. We need a secretary general who will defend the charter not only when it is politically convenient, but precisely when its principles are under pressure. On a personal note, Mr. President, Carolyn Rodrigues Birkett. Come from every experience. Her very upbringing crossed every struggle, every aspect of our accomplishment defined and broke barriers. An indigenous woman coming from a small indigenous village defying the odds. The odds against indigenous persons, the odds against women, the odds against poverty. Defining every challenge and rising to the top amidst those challenges. Her character is built on struggle, sacrifice, commitment her accomplishments are crafted in her humanity. This is an individual of extreme qualities not because she is a Guyanese, not because she come from Guyana, but because I know personally and many of you know this too, the permanent representatives sitting here in New York, you know, her character knew who? You know her integrity. You know her will. You know her commitment. You know her love for humanity. You know her love for this world. And I know that this world will be a better place with Carolyn Rodrigues as the secretary general of the United Nations. In the humblest of ways, I call on the P5, the Security Council and every member here to look beyond the small country that nominated her. Look beyond the small country that nominated her. CARICOM as a body has endorsed her. And let us rise to the challenge of giving this indigenous woman the chance of helping us craft together the United Nations we want to see succeed. The responsibility for recommending the next Secretary general rests in the first instance with the Security Council, and we therefore respectfully place before its members the candidature of Carolyn Rodrigues Birkett, endorsed by the Caribbean Community. We invite all to consider her candidacy on its merits and to judge whether her vision, experience, expertise and record can help restore confidence in the United Nations at this critical moment. Mr. president, the United Nations was conceived in hope, and that hope remains alive in the pursuit of peace, security and human progress over the perpetuation of division and war. This is why we must not abandon multilateralism because it is imperfect. We must renew it because humanity still needs it. Let us therefore build a United Nations that does not merely reflect the world as it is, but help create the world as it ought to be. A world where law restrains power, cooperation overcomes division, and every human being can look to the future with hope. Guyana believes that the choice remains ours as to whether the divisions of our age will define the future, or whether nations can summon the will to build a more peaceful, secure and prosperous international order. The United Nations must be at the heart of that endeavour, not as an institution looking back at the world it was created to serve, but as one helping humanity shape the world that is yet to come.
Mr. President, the theme of this session strikes at the core of our contemporary global crisis. Trust has eroded, yet structural transformation is urgently upon us. In a world increasingly fractured by geopolitical rivalry, the answer cannot be a retreat into isolationism. It must be a revitalised commitment to multilateralism. The United Nations must prove that dialogue can bridge division, that international law must prevail over force, and that collective action achieves what unilateralism never can. Seychelles approaches the world guided by an enduring fundamental principle we are a friend to all and an enemy to none. Our commitment to non-alignment is not a passive indifference. It is an active choice for peace. It is the conviction that principled diplomacy, mutual respect, and international law are the true foundations of global stability. Small states like ours do not seek strategic competition. We seek shared solutions. This requires a multilateral system that is principled yet practical, ambitious yet accountable and representative yet effective.
It strengthens our ability to exercise it. And, Mr. President the call to restore trust must also apply within our own nations. Fiji's democratic journey has not been easy. We have known political upheaval, constitutional change and periods of deep division. We cannot change that history, but we can learn from it. This year Fiji undertook a national review of its 2013 constitution and informed by consultation across the country and on the 1st of September, the Commission presented its report to my office as Head of State. That did not end the process. It began the next stage, and the report must now proceed through Parliament and the democratic processes transparently and in accordance with the rule of law. What Fiji seeks is not a constitution for a government or a party or one generation, but a settlement that every Fijian recognises as their own. Alongside it, our truth and reconciliation process continues. Renewal strengthens institutions and reconciliation heals divisions. Together they can carry Fiji from memory to understanding and from division to trust. Mr. president, if the United Nations is to restore trust, it must also be willing to reform itself.
Libya paid a heavy price when regional and international balances of power were transformed into balances within its own territory. Accordingly, our vision for Libya's external relations is clear. We do not seek to replace one influence with another, one axis with another, or one dependency with another. We want strong relations with our Arab surroundings, especially our neighboring countries. We want Libya to regain its natural role within its African continent. We want balanced strategic partnerships with our Mediterranean neighbors and our regional international sphere based on a single principle, namely common interests, mutual respect, non-interference, and respect for national sovereignty. Libya's true ally is not one who seeks out the strongest party within it. The true ally is one who wants a strong Libyan state. The true partner is not one whose interests are tied to the continuation of division. The true partner is one whose shared interest with us grows as Libya becomes more united, stable, and prosperous. We want states to compete in Libya on investment, reconstruction, energy, technology, and development, not for influence within its institutions. Ladies and gentlemen.
The trials of history have also taught us that sovereignty can never be taken for granted, that stability must be protected, and the strength of the international order ultimately depends on these same principles being upheld for every nation. Our commitment to these principles carries particular meaning for Georgia. 20% of our country remains under the occupation of the Russian Federation, while hundreds of thousands of our citizens continue to live in displacement, unable to return to their homes. While restoring trust is the major theme of this year's session, I would like to address our Abkhaz and Ossetian brothers and sisters. We have shared our homeland and a history for centuries. The divisions of today cannot erase that history, nor should they determine the future of our children. We believe that the dividends of peace and economic growth of Georgia should know no artificial boundaries.
Mr. President, 81 years ago, in the aftermath of the devastation of the Second World War, the nation that founded our organization made a solemn pledge to save succeeding generations from the scourge of war. That commitment remains as vital today as it was in 1945. While the world has thus far been spared another global war, armed conflicts continue to inflict immense human suffering across many regions. Concurrently, geopolitical rivalries, climate change, widening inequalities, rapid technological transformation, and transnational threat are placing growing strain on international peace, stability and cooperation. At a time when international cooperation is more necessary than ever, trust among nations is being tested, while confidence in multilateral institutions and their capacity to respond effectively to common challenges is under increasing pressure. Our response cannot be retreat. The world needs the United Nations, not less, but more. But it is only a United Nations that commands trust, because it is principled, representative, effective, and capable of delivering the purpose and principle of its charter. Trust is not restored by declaration alone. It is earned through consistency: when commitments are honoured, international law is respected, disputes are settled by peaceful means. Sovereign equality must remain a fundamental principle of international relations. The charter does not prescribe one standard for the powerful and another for the less powerful. All member states, large or small, are equal before the charter and are bound by the obligations it establishes. Mr. president, Cambodia understands the value of trust from its own history. Our country endured decades of conflict, genocide, division, and immense human suffering.
Madam president, excellencies, distinguished delegates. A compass does not change with the weather. It helps you find a way in fair weather as well as in storm. 81 years ago, the world gave itself a compass. We named it the United Nations Charter. It has helped us stay the course even when the seas have been anything but calm. It has pointed us toward a world of equal rights, self-determination of peoples and territorial integrity of all states, large and small, towards a rules based international order. The progress has been real. More than a billion people lifted out of poverty. Standards of living transformed. Colonial empires brought to an end. Independent nations emerged. Peoples gained the right to shape their own future. That progress was made possible because we kept consulting the compass, because we stayed the course. Today it seems we are losing our way. Wars and conflicts are at the highest level since World War Two. Extreme poverty is on the rise. Extreme weather and climate related disasters are hitting record highs. Mistrust, polarization and divisions are growing both among states and within societies. Even the most basic principles of international law, including international humanitarian law, are violated with impunity. To get back on track, we must turn our attention to the compass. Excellencies, respect for the charter, for Human Rights, for international law is not a courtesy we extend when convenient. These are binding obligations we all agree to. Respecting them is the precondition for international peace and security.
It is time to move beyond power politics and establish a new human ethic that transcends divisions of race, color and belief, whilst safeguarding our shared ecosystems. Created in 1945 from the ruins of the Second World War, our organisation was founded to guarantee peace, security and sovereign equality of states in strict respect for international law. Without these principles, it would be little more than an empty forum. Since our last meeting here in September 2025, the genocide in Palestine has continued.
Excellencies, ladies and gentlemen. This session is taking place against a deeply troubling international backdrop. Conflicts and hotspots of tension are multiplying, and geopolitical divisions are deepening, while the rise of terrorism and violent extremism threatens an ever growing number of regions. At the same time, climate upheavals are hitting our countries hard, not to mention the humanitarian crises and deep inequalities that are weakening our societies. Added to this are the very real risks to the survival of humanity posed by the uncontrolled development of artificial intelligence. The world is thus at a difficult turning point. It is looking on at the gradual fragmentation of its peace architecture and an alarming reconfiguration of the international landscape before our very eyes. Multilateralism is being sorely tested, weakened by an erosion of trust between nations and trust in the institutions that underpin the world order. In these times of multilateral fracture, it is imperative to find appropriate solutions to put an end to these dangerous escalations, prioritize dialogue and rebuild trust. With regard to international institutions, this trust is measured by their ability to translate the universality of their principles into concrete actions, and to treat every state, large or small, with the same standard of fairness. The trust of peoples, for its part, is nourished by tangible results and by the certainty that the decisions taken on their behalf genuinely serve their security, their dignity, and protect their future. This year's theme, therefore, aptly captures the expectations of our time. It calls on us specifically to restore trust in our collective capacity to respond effectively to global challenges, and to support the current changes and reforms of the United Nations architecture so that our organization is once again able to deliver concrete solutions to the concerns of all peoples. For Cote d'Ivoire, this means reinvigorating multilateralism and consequently, restoring diplomacy's rightful place and credibility so that it can act effectively. In light of these challenges, a monumental task awaits the next Secretary General of the United Nations, whose selection process is now well underway.
And if there is one word that sums up much of our vocation as a country, that word would be peace. We do not view peace simply as an absence of war. We understand it as something that has to be constantly built. The possibility for people to live, to work, to educate their children, pursue their aspirations, and to look to the future without fear. Uruguay, with its virtues, but also, like every country with its darker times, has been a country that has sought to resolve its differences through institutions, through dialogue and through the quest for agreement. In this assembly, we reaffirm our enduring willingness to contribute to peacekeeping missions with a deep sense of responsibility and solidarity. Uruguayan men and women can bear witness to the value of this instrument in easing suffering and guaranteeing respect for the human lives of the most defenseless populations. You can continue to count on Uruguay here. We are not a country given to grand gestures. We are a country of deeply held beliefs. And one of these beliefs is that peace building is never finished. We can't take it for granted. Every generation has the responsibility to build it anew. There can't be peace for some and another peace for others. No suffering matters more because it happens closer to home, and no lives are worth less because they were born in another country. When people suffer, humanity as a whole bears a responsibility. When a people is displaced, when a family loses its home, when young people can see no way out and their mental health is under threat. When a child grows up under the sound of gunfire, when millions of people live in poverty or without any opportunities, we can't stand indifferent to that, nor can we stand indifferent to the pain caused by a state of endless war, the fear and pain generated by organized crime, or the constant threat of terrorism, the repression born out of tyranny, or the suffering triggered by a rigid economic blockade such as that endured by the Cuban people. We don't believe that taking one side or another in a war, confrontation or dispute necessarily contributes to resolving it. Indeed, very often it only serves to further the divisions. We have a different commitment, that is, to seek paths towards understanding, to open spaces for dialogue, and to help to ensure that conflicts find a peaceful resolution. This doesn't mean indifference. It doesn't mean downplaying suffering. It doesn't mean overlooking responsibilities. It means understanding that peace demands something more difficult than merely taking sides. It means that we need to work so that that confrontation can be brought to an end as soon as possible. And to do that, we also have to recover something that at times seems to have been lost in international debate. Humility.
Croatia will continue to support merit based EU enlargement. EU membership can turn borders of division into lines of cooperation and reforms on paper, into stronger institutions and better living standards. But European transformation requires honesty about the past. Reconciliation becomes possible when responsibility for the crimes of the past is acknowledged and their glorification rejected. That standard allows no national exceptions. That means respect for victims and clear rejection of historical revisionism, not the glorification of war criminals. Ratko Mladić was a convicted war criminal responsible for the Srebrenica genocide, the first genocide in Europe since the Holocaust. While his criminal record reached its nefarious culmination in Srebrenica, his trail of war crimes stretches further back to the shelling of Croatian cities, the murder of civilians the mining of dams and the destruction of cultural heritage and industrial facilities. The military and official honours accorded to Mladić in Serbia were an affront to his victims and to the judgments of international courts. The participation of state representatives and the public acclaim that accompanied the ceremony is totally incompatible with the values of a Union Serbia seeks to join. The same commitment to equality and reform should guide Bosnia and Herzegovina. As a signatory to the Dayton Peace Accords, and a neighbour and a friend of Bosnia and Herzegovina, Croatia is one of the strongest advocates of its European future. The Dayton Peace Accords ended the war and established the constitutional framework for Bosnia and Herzegovina. One state, two entities and three constituent peoples Croats, Bosniaks and Serbs. That balance is the foundation on which peace was built. Yet the Croats of Bosnia and Herzegovina are still being denied legitimate representation, including in the presidency of the country. That is unjust, destabilizing and contrary to the spirit of Dayton. The solution is neither division nor domination.
It has held back conflict where it could and named it where it could not. It has given the powerless a language of rights. It has built one instrument at a time, the body of international law, on which every state in this hall, large or small, now depends. It has survived a Cold War, as it has division and doubt, because each generation that comes through its doors understood the same simple truth. No nation, however powerful, can secure peace, prosperity, or a habitable nation on its own. That was true in 1945. It is truer today. The Charter is hope. It speaks to our common humanity. It speaks to the rule of law, to the dignity of every person, to the sovereign equality of states, and to our duty to keep the peace. These are not the words of one region or one era. They belong to all of us. They bind all of us. Few in this hall would question that mission. But let us be honest with one another.
For my country, for Cyprus, this is not an abstract principle; it is a painful existential reality. Fifty-two years have passed since the illegal Turkish invasion of Cyprus, an act of aggression violating the core principles of the UN Charter, an ongoing, flagrant violation of international law, with more than a third of the territory of Cyprus remaining under Turkish occupation. For fifty-two years, the tens of thousands of displaced and their descendants are prevented from returning to their homes. For fifty-two years, Varosha remains sealed off, with Turkey still in defiance of its clear and very specific obligations set out in the relevant UN resolutions. For fifty-two years, we are experiencing violations of fundamental human rights, the destruction of religious and cultural heritage, and the organized transfer of settlers amounting to demographic change. Pain and immense suffering are the daily reality of the relatives of the missing persons that, to this day, are demanding answers as to the fate of their loved ones. And for fifty-two years, the principles at stake have remained the same: respect for sovereignty and territorial integrity are not rhetorical vehicles, nor are they to be applied selectively depending on who the perpetrator is. These principles do not become less important with the passage of time, nor do the resolutions of this organization. UN resolutions cannot be upheld in one case and disregarded, fully disregarded in another. And the sovereignty and territorial integrity of a state cannot depend on its size, its power, or the passage of the time. And this is not only a question for Cyprus. It goes to the credibility of the international system itself. If we ask states to believe in multilateralism, if we expect them to be active contributors, then they must be able to trust that the principles and decisions of our institutions will be upheld without exception. Ladies and gentlemen, I listened very carefully to the speech of President Erdogan yesterday: references to international law, to the respect for the sovereignty and territorial integrity of all states, to illegal occupation, to the drama of refugees. Yet, in relation to my country, in relation to Cyprus, Turkey is doing exactly the opposite: hypocrisy of the highest form. President Erdogan yesterday also quoted extensively from the UN Charter. But politicians are judged not by their words, but by their deeds. And if Mr. Erdogan wants to quote from the Charter, he must first apply the Charter. The UN Security Council has established the framework for the solution of the Cyprus problem. That framework of a bizonal, bicommunal federation with political equality remains the only basis on which a comprehensive settlement must be reached. And I remain fully committed to achieving a factional and viable solution. I'm ready. I'm ready to resume negotiations from where they left off, building on the substantial work already achieved. The common ground is there: the relevant UN Security Council resolutions, international law, and the law, values, and principles of the European Union. What is now required is political will by all parties and genuine willingness to return to meaningful negotiations, to engage seriously, to build on the body of work already achieved, and to reach a settlement that reunifies our country and our people. A settlement that allows Greek and Turkish Cypriots, Maronites, Armenians, and Latins to live together in peace, security, and prosperity. On my side, let me repeat it, I'm fully committed. Because, ladies and gentlemen, division will not be accepted. This cannot and will not be the future for my country and my people, ever. Our determination to reunify our island is firm. I therefore call on my Turkish Cypriot compatriots to perceive our future together as the opportunity for prosperity. And of course, I call on President Erdogan to give the green light for substantive negotiations within the UN agreed framework. Excellencies, I mentioned several times how change is inevitable. But the choices we make in response to change are ours. For countries like Cyprus, the answer must be cooperation with purpose.
They are two sides of the same coin. Accordingly, Algeria promotes an approach that is based on supporting the security of states in the region and accompanying their development efforts, and encouraging reconciliation and dialogue, and addressing the underlying causes of instability while respecting state sovereignty, territorial integrity and the choices of their people. As a neighboring and brotherly country, and in keeping with its historic commitment to solidarity, Algeria will remain ready to support the countries of the Sahel in confronting security and development challenges. We will extend a hand and support political solutions that preserve the stability of the region and open before its peoples broader horizons for development and progress. As for sisterly Libya, now in the 16th year of its crisis, Libya remains another example that shows that protracted crises cannot be resolved by deepening divisions but rather through dialogue, reconciliation and the unification of institutions. Algeria renews its support for a peaceful and comprehensive and Libyan led political solution. Algeria renews its support for the efforts of the United Nations and our confidence in the United Nation's ability to accompany the Libyan people towards a settlement that preserves the unity of their country and its institutions. Only the Libyans can build the consensus needed to safeguard their nation. Only the Libyans are entitled to take decisions related to their destiny of their nation and their future. Algeria firmly believes that ending foreign interference in all its forms and manifestations, be they political, military or security ending this is an essential element in creating the conditions necessary to end division and build a Libyan state that is single and unified and stable, Libyan state that is able to determine its own future with the will of its people. Based on the same convictions and in response to the same imperatives, Algeria expresses its steadfast support for the legitimate authorities in brotherly Yemen and the Sudan as they both seek to respond to their people's aspirations for security, stability, unity and fraternity. This leads us to a truth that cannot be ignored.
Generations move on. But the institutions and powers created on the pretext of those alleged emergencies remain. And if for a moment we allow ourselves to believe that the lesson had been learned after so many failures, the arrival of artificial intelligence demonstrates quite something else. The printing press, the steam engine, electricity, the internet— every great technological revolution has been accompanied by fears about what it would destroy, particularly jobs. There is no doubt that this is one of the most effective ways of instilling fear in human beings, given the role of work as a means of subsistence. Take the Industrial Revolution as an example. When it began, the world was home to some 800 million human beings. If, in keeping with the Luddites and the perennial pessimists, employment had at best remained constant, then, given that the world's population has since increased more than tenfold, the global unemployment rate today would be at 90%. That is absurd, something that few of us seem to have stopped to consider, except perhaps those of us with a passion for reading Borges, who love his approach for testing an idea by taking it to its logical extreme. Ultimately, these technological advances have not only failed to produce any of the catastrophes, but in addition, all of these ended up bringing an end to what human beings were able to do. Today, we have built machines that are able to carry out tasks that only a few months ago seemed out of our reach. Where many see a threat, we see a new frontier: artificial intelligence, or superintelligence, as Donald Trump said, can double our productivity in a way that we do not yet comprehend. To invoke Adam Smith, artificial intelligence will be the pin factory of the 21st century, and much more besides. It can transform our economies, our medicine, our education, even the way we govern. That calls for prudence, yes. But prudence doesn't mean fear. Moreover, under no circumstances should fear automatically translate into obedience. Indeed, the dystopian scenarios commonly invoked to instill fear and justify state control make no sense from an economic standpoint. The answer lies with Adam Smith. Artificial intelligence, like the division of labor in the case of the pin factory, is an accelerator of productivity growth. Smith noted, however, that the division of labor is limited by the extent of the market. Growth will therefore be constrained by its counterpart in genuine demand, without fiscal deficits or spurious money creation. But that's not all. Those projects must also be financed, and that should be done with the resources of human beings. That is, their initial endowments and level of wealth, which correspond to the size of the market. Moreover, the purpose of producing more is to achieve a higher level of consumption. Yet the satisfaction generated by consumption increases at a decreasing rate, while the loss of satisfaction involved in surrendering leisure in order to produce more rises disproportionately. Consequently, the point at which the gain from greater consumption is equal to the loss of leisure brings the system to an equilibrium, leaving no room for dystopian terror. That is why, when we hear that the state should control artificial intelligence, we should remember something basic. The state is not an abstract creature. It is made up of people, officials, and bureaucrats. Granting it control over innovation means granting some people, in the best and most naive of cases, the power to limit what everyone else can create. History gives us reason to scrutinize such power carefully. For centuries, fear over tomorrow has been used as an argument for restricting freedoms today, always with the same promise: give us a part of your freedom and we will protect you from this new threat. We will apply a different principle. In the face of uncertainty, we propose determination. In the face of fear, courage. In the face of decline, ambition. And in the face of resignation, we propose optimism. That is why I tell you that when it comes to artificial intelligence, Argentina will stand at the forefront of freedom. We have the critical minerals, the energy, the talent, and the capacity to compete at every link in that value chain. And we want to become the most competitive place in the world in which to develop it, with a cutting-edge legal framework, a commitment not to regulate preemptively, limited liability for companies operating with AI agents, and tax incentives. Because artificial intelligence is not geopolitically neutral. The West must lead the development of this technology to ensure that it is consistent with our fundamental libertarian values, namely respect for life, liberty, private property, and the notion of human dignity.
Excellencies, peace first. Peace is the source of all good. Peace in our hearts, peace in our societies, peace in our countries. Let us begin by restoring peace within our own community. Let us consolidate peace in our respective countries. Let us rebuild trust among our peoples and restore the image of humanity in our midst. This year, when Burundi holds the rotating chairmanship of the African Union, we are keenly aware of the responsibility that falls to us. As the African Union champion for the youth, peace, and security agenda, I have, this year, once again convened a continental youth dialogue coupled with the women, peace, and security agenda. During this dialogue, I sense the enthusiasm of young people and women to build a community with a shared future in the spirit of Ubuntu. In these young people, I sense the desire to connect with one another and to live together, side by side. But unfortunately, there are still states that prevent their citizens from living together with other peoples as brothers and sisters. They cultivate and perpetuate xenophobia and intolerance. They sow division by failing to implement preventive and corrective measures, by highlighting disparities in development, labeling some as rich and others as poor, and thereby creating a divide among peoples based on wealth and material possessions. And on that basis, they have come to regard themselves as saints while reproaching others for being inferior. How, then, can we build trust among nations without first starting with building connection and cohesion among our peoples? We, the leaders, must rekindle the spirit of Ubuntu within ourselves, the Ubuntu with which God created us. Indeed, God did not create a man who was selfish. He created a man of Ubuntu, the Ubuntu that I see in you and that you will find in me. Ubuntu is the common denominator that must restore trust among all human beings. Excellencies, as an African and a voice for Africa at this time when I hold the rotating chairmanship of the African Union, I must also state the following: we are here to convey a conviction.
They resolved to save succeeding generations from its scourge. They reaffirmed faith in human dignity and in the equal rights of nations, large and small. And they pledged social progress, better standards of life, and the economic and social advancement of all peoples. These were not mere words; they were the foundations of a new global order: peace over war, law over force, sovereign equality over dependency, cooperation over division, and human dignity over ambitions of power. On 16 December 1963, four days after our independence, Kenya took its seat in this Assembly. We arrived with one vote and the same sovereign rights as every other state. The promise made in San Francisco now belonged to us as well. And that promise changed the world.
Mongolia welcomes the convening of the 81st session of the United Nations General Assembly under the theme Restoring Trust Managing Transformation a United Nations that Delivers for all, reaffirming its belief in the central role of the United Nations in fostering mutual trust, mutual respect and cooperation among the nations and peoples of the world. Mongols say if you do your best, fate will do the rest. The United Nations is an organization based on the trust and commitment of each member state, and the UN is strengthened by their dedication and sustained efforts. Therefore, it is incumbent upon us, Member States to uphold the mission of the United Nations with a sincere heart. Rather than simply expecting support and assistance, we must remain deeply conscious of our own responsibilities and duties and dedicate our wholehearted efforts to strengthening the United Nations. It is through trust and hope, dedication and commitment and engagement and participation of every Member State that we can strengthen the United Nations. A stronger United Nations, in turn, will deliver more efficiently towards global peace, security and sustainable development, thereby creating conditions for all Member States to benefit. As the conflicts and confrontations flash across the world, the walls of distrust rise higher and the chasm of misunderstanding grows deeper, it is becoming crucial to shape and develop international relations, not through a form of multipolarity that risks driving the world toward division, but through a multi-pillared principle that respects the pluralism inherent in each nation's history, culture, civilization, core national interests and chosen path of development. Eight centuries ago, our ancestors established the great Pax Mongolica, promoting, for the first time the idea to the world that nations could mutually recognize one another's values, and that peoples of diverse civilizations and faiths could coexist. This historic contribution of the Mongols to the advancement of humankind continues to be recognized by the international community. Let us strengthen multilateral cooperation through the multi-pillar principle, inspired by the ideas of Pax Mongolica, so that we may restore our trust and hope through shared responsibility, reform the United Nations with a common purpose and build a better, more peaceful world through the strength of our collective action. Mr. President, despite the remarkable heights of development and progress humanity has reached, our planet is currently confronted with more than 90 armed conflicts, around 30 of which are international, demonstrating that global peace and security remain unstable and that geopolitical and geostrategic competition continues to intensify. This results in the disruption of global economic supply chains, a rise in the prices of energy, fuel, raw materials and food, as well as economic strains on nations around the world. All of this is weakening the international order established since the Second World War, changing the universally recognized norms of international law and undermining the stability of multilateral relations and cooperation. Mongolia shares the view expressed by United Nations Secretary General Antonio Guterres in his annual report on the work of the organisation that in a world marked by turbulence, division and uncertainty, the United Nations is more necessary than ever. Hence, Mongolia underscores the tangible progress made under Secretary General's UN80 initiative to improve the effectiveness and efficiency of the United Nations in response to the challenges of our time and reaffirms its active support for this initiative. The effectiveness of the United Nations, the decisiveness of its actions, and the ability of nations to unite their efforts will ultimately depend upon us, the Member States. Mongolia is confident that the soon to be appointed Secretary General will steadfastly uphold the principles and purposes of the United Nations and international law, ensure that the voices and positions of all Member States are equally heard and reflected, and provide strong leadership in restoring trust and managing transformation within the UN. Believing that reform of the Security Council should be at the core of broader United Nations reform, Mongolia maintains its principled position in support of expanding the number of both permanent and non-permanent members of the Security Council ensuring equitable representation of developing countries in the Council, and promoting greater openness and transparency in its work. Mongolia is one of the 58 countries that have never served as a non-permanent member of the United Nations Security Council. Therefore, Mongolia aspires to actively participate in the work of the Security Council and contribute to finding collective solutions to the problems and challenges facing the international community. In manifestation of this aspiration, I officially announce from this rostrum today that Mongolia is presenting its candidature for a non-permanent seat of the UN Security Council for the term 2048 2049. Mr. President, on behalf of the people of Mongolia, I extend my heartfelt gratitude to the United Nations and its system organizations for their valuable contributions to our country's development and progress and their long standing, constructive cooperation over the 65 years since Mongolia's accession to the United Nations as a full fledged member. Mongolia has been contributing with honor to the efforts on strengthening international peace and security, advancing social and economic development and protecting human rights, the core pillars of the United Nations.
Mr. President, Excellencies, Ladies and gentlemen, The faultlines in our world are widening. Cracks have become canyons. Over the last decade, wars erupted with devastating consequences and dragged on with despicable cruelty. Civilians were targeted. Human rights trampled. Hunger weaponized. Humanitarians killed. International law cast aside. Geopolitical divides have deepened. Inequalities have intensified. Trust has frayed. The climate crisis went from distant warning to daily reality. And artificial intelligence moved at a speed that has blindsided even those who created it. These are not separate crises. They are chapters of the same story. The story of power. Who has it. Who is denied it. How it is used. And how it is changing. Excellencies, Power is being reshaped in three fundamental ways. First, among States. New centres of economic, political and technological influence have emerged. Second, we are witnessing an extraordinary transfer of power away from governments to a handful of private corporations and individuals. Their reach now extends across politics, economies, information flows, technological development, and the civic space on which societies depend. And, third, humans are increasingly handing over power to machines – with Artificial Intelligence agents going rogue, and lethal autonomous weapons going from science fiction to military reality. Yet our institutions and systems of global governance continue to reflect the power realities and interests of a largely bygone age. That is the defining challenge before us. At the very moment when humanity faces an unprecedented convergence of threats, our mechanisms for collective action are under growing strain. Excellencies, We are clearly moving towards a multipolar world. And that movement is irreversible. But there are different ways that multipolarity can take shape. One possibility is a world of fragmentation and transactionalism. A world of rising tensions and deepening mistrust. Of fractured markets and weakened institutions. Of shrinking cooperation and zero-sum calculations. In many respects, that is the trajectory we are on today. But there is another path. A path towards networked multipolarity. A world built on interdependence – and sustained by a dense web of economic, political, social and technological connections. A world in which multiple centres of influence coexist within a common framework of international law and shared rules. Such a world can help us avoid hegemonic tendencies and what I have called the Great Fracture: The division of the world into two rival blocs with separate economic, technological and security systems. A networked world recognizes that no power can solve today’s challenges alone. Of course, competition will remain a permanent feature of international relations. But competition does not have to mean confrontation. Healthy competition can drive innovation, strengthen resilience, and expand opportunity. But only when it operates within frameworks that preserve stability and enable cooperation where cooperation is indispensable. Building a networked future begins with a recognition, especially by superpowers: That their power isn’t so super. That their power has limits. The events of recent years have made that unmistakably clear. Military power alone cannot secure peace. Economic power alone cannot command stability. And technological power alone cannot guarantee security. A networked multipolar world can create the conditions for more balanced and representative global problem-solving. But it requires a multilateral system centred in the UN that is balanced and representative. Strong, effective institutions that reflect the realities and the progressively changing relative weight of countries and economies in today’s world – not the power arrangements of 80 years ago. Fortunately, we are not starting from scratch. We already have a binding foundation: The Charter of the United Nations. And the principles that give it life. The primacy of international law. Upholding human dignity. And the pursuit of justice in all its dimensions. These are the backbone for the effective, legitimate and responsible exercise of power in the 21st century. Excellencies, It comes down to this: Will we act to ensure that power is governed by law or by force? By cooperation or coercion? By responsibility to young people and future generations or indifference to their fate? Because the defining challenges of our age are not separate from the question of power. They are expressions of it. And they will determine whether we drift deeper into division and instability – or move toward cooperation, justice and collective security. Looking ahead, our future will be shaped by how we address four great tests of power: The power over war and peace. The power that concentrates wealth and drives inequality.
But institutions do not have hearts. People do. Charters do not keep the peace. The men and women who honour them do. Beyond every declaration and commitment, each of us carries a profound responsibility to be agents of peace, champions of goodwill and keepers of the fragile bonds of friendship among nations. The world has never needed that spirit more than it does today. Mr. president, permit me a word from the Christian faith that has shaped my people. Our Constitution was established under the guiding hand of God by a people conscious of our common destiny. We believe that is true not only of Solomon Islands, but of this whole family of nations. We live in a time when division has become the calling card of the day. Nations are sorted into camps. Neighbours are asked to choose sides. Small states are too often treated as prizes to be won rather than partners to be heard. But the destiny of nations does not finally rest in this General Assembly, nor in any capital, however powerful. King Solomon, among the wisest rulers of antiquity, wrote, there are many devices in a man's heart. Nevertheless, the counsel of the Lord shall stand. That truth does not make us passive. It makes us humble and it makes us accountable. So I call on my fellow leaders to do three things. First, let us ask for wisdom before we ask for advantage. When Solomon was offered anything he wished, he did not ask for riches or long life or the defeat of his enemies. He asked for an understanding heart so that he might judge his people well. I can think of no better prayer for every leader in this room. Second, let us stay at the table. The same king taught that in the multitude of counsellors there is safety. That is the oldest case I know for what this organization is meant to be. Many nations, large and small, sitting together because none of us sees far enough alone. Third, let us measure greatness rightly. Righteousness exalts a nation, not its arsenal, not its alliances, but its justice: how it treats the poor, the displaced and the small. Powers rise and powers fall. The purposes of God endure. Let us choose cooperation over division, dialogue over confrontation, peace over hostility and action over inaction. And let us lead as people who know we will answer for it one day. Our national motto teaches us that to lead is to serve.
Mr. president, at the end of August, the Vanuatu government initiated proceedings against France before the International Court of Justice concerning sovereignty over Umaenupne and Umaeneg/Leka islands, or Matthew and Hunter, as they called in English, and the maritime boundaries between Vanuatu and New Caledonia. These islands are integral part of Vanuatu's territory, grounded in customary governance, long standing historical connections indigenous ownership and is seen as part of our duty as ancestral custodians to protect and preserve. We recognise France as a steadfast champion of the international rules based order and under the leadership of President Macron, a strong supporter of international judicial institutions. France has stood alongside Vanuatu in advancing global climate action, including through its support for initiatives before the International Court of Justice. We greatly value this partnership and France leadership on issues of international importance. It is in the same spirit of mutual respect and commitment to international law that we respectfully invite France to consent to the jurisdiction of the court. Mr. president, trust is important for the United Nation's credibility. It cannot be restored through declarations alone. Trust must be earned through action. People will trust the United Nations when they see it preventing conflict. They will trust it when international law is respected. They will trust it when humanitarian assistance reaches those who need it. They will trust it when development commitments become real projects. They will trust it when climate finance reaches vulnerable communities. They will trust it when small states are heard and they will trust it when the international system treats all nations with equal dignity. For Vanuatu, restoring trust also means restoring confidence in multilateralism itself. We must resist the temptation to conclude that because the international system is imperfect, it is therefore irrelevant. The UN80 reforms currently implemented are paramount to rebuild trust again at the United Nations, and therefore needs to be managed diligently. Vanuatu supports efforts to strengthen the United Nations. But reform must preserve what is most important the principle of sovereign equality. The United Nations cannot become an institution where the voices of the most powerful states dominate, where smaller states are expected merely to follow. Reform must strengthen General Assembly. It must make international institutions more accessible to developing countries. It must address the financing and capacity constraints facing small delegations. It must strengthen preventive diplomacy. It must improve the implementation of international decisions. It must ensure that the development pillar remains resourced and that the implementation on the ground is effective and efficient. And it must ensure that international law remains central to the international system. Vanuatu calls for UN Security Council that is more representative, transparent and accountable, with membership and working methods that reflect today's realities and give all regions a meaningful voice. But reform cannot be limited to institutional structures. The deeper reform we require is political and renewed commitment by member states to the principles we have already agreed to. That charter does not need to be reinvented. It needs to be respected. Mr. president, excellencies, for Vanuatu, the United Nations Charter remains our compass. It tells us that the nations are sovereign equals. It tells us that disputes must be settled peacefully. It tells us that the force must not be used against the territory or political independence of states. It tells us that the nations must cooperate. And it reminds us that the ultimate purpose of the international system is not power for its own sake. It is peace, justice, human dignity, development, and cooperation. And it is a better future for succeeding generations. These principles are particularly important to Vanuatu because we know what independence means. Our independence is not merely the absence of colonial rule. Independence means the right of a people to determine our future. It means sovereignty. It means dignity, it means equality, and it means having an equal place in the family of nations. That is why Vanuatu will continue to defend the multilateral system. That is why we will continue to defend international law, and that is why we will continue to speak for the principle that every nation, regardless of size, matters. Mr. president, we meet at a critical moment in international affairs. There are wars that remain unresolved. There are communities facing humanitarian catastrophe. There is growing geopolitical rivalry. There is economic uncertainty. There is climate disruption. There is technological transformation. And there is declining confidence in the international institutions. Yet I remain convinced that this is precisely the moment when we must choose cooperation over confrontation. We must choose dialogue over division. We must choose law over force. We must choose solidarity over indifference. And we must choose multilateralism over fragmentation. Vanuatu comes from a part of the world where our ancestors navigated vast oceans using the stars, the winds, the currents and the knowledge passed from generation to generation. Today the international community is navigating another uncertain ocean. We need a compass. The United Nations Charter is that compass. It provides the principles by which we can navigate a world of competing interests while preserving our common humanity. The theme of this 81st session Restoring Trust, Managing transformation, a United Nations that delivers for all reminds us of what is required. But ultimately, restoring trust will depend not on the words we adopt here, but on the actions we take when we leave this hall. Let us therefore, build a United Nations that is strong enough to prevent war, fair enough to protect the vulnerable, courageous enough to defend international law, and inclusive enough to give every nation a meaningful voice. Let us build a United Nations where the concerns of a small island nation in the Pacific and all over the world can stand alongside those of the largest powers of the world. Let us not allow division to rule our era. Instead, we choose cooperation. We choose peace. We choose justice. We choose solidarity. And we choose to renew our faith in the idea that together, nations can build a world. We can build a better world.
Mr. president, the theme of this session Restoring Trust, managing transformation a united nation that delivers for all frames, in our view, a lingering crisis of legitimacy and relevance that demands urgent attention. Trust in multilateralism is broken and needs to be restored, not because the principles of the charter are no longer relevant, but because we have applied them inconsistently and selectively, fueling global fragmentation. Our answer to that maturity is a better, more multilateralism. 80 years ago, Liberia was among the only four nations to sign the charter establishing the United Nations, believing then, as we do now, that a peaceful world rests on international law, respect for human rights and dignity, a commitment to development. Having risen from the ashes of conflict to become resilient democracy, Liberia is living proof that dialogue can overcome division, that institutions can be built.
Transformation is already taking place. We must ensure it strengthens cooperation rather than deepens division. In Southeast Asia, ASEAN offers a practical example of how these principles can be applied at the regional level. Despite our differences, ASEAN has chosen dialogue, restraint and continued engagement. This year marks the 50th anniversary of the Treaty of Amity and Cooperation in Southeast Asia, or the TAC. The TAC gives regional expression to the same fundamental principles found in the United Nations Charter respect for sovereignty, peaceful settlement of disputes non-interference, and cooperation among states. In this sense, the TAC does not stand apart from the multilateral system.
And no sphere is more urgent than that of sustainable development. The 2030 agenda is at risk. The financing gap is growing. The climate crisis is worsening. Geopolitical divisions are curbing progress. We need to continue to work to reform the global financial architecture. The European Union stands steadfastly committed to the Paris Agreement, the pact for the future and the Sustainable Development Goals, funded in line with the Sevilla Commitment. The EU and its member states together represent more than 40% of official development assistance at the global level and through our Global Gateway Initiative, we are investing in all fields in connectivity, health, education and eradication of poverty. But we mustn't lose any more time. For this reason, the Sustainable Development Goals by 2027 should be a turning point to pick up the pace, to correct the mistakes and to commit to 2030 and beyond that. The European Union is clear about its choice cooperation over confrontation over power, partnership over isolation, action over paralysis. We are ready to work together with all those who share this conviction.
If AI is available only to a few, new divisions will appear. Entire communities may be left behind. The growing use of AI-powered weapons and autonomous systems also requires urgent attention. One principle must remain clear: machines should never be allowed to make life or death decisions on their own. Just as the international community developed rules for nuclear, chemical, and biological weapons, we also need strong international frameworks for these new technologies. The United Nations can and should play a leading role in this effort. AI is not only a potential threat on the battlefield; it is already having a negative impact on society, especially in education. An entire generation of young people is being affected. Recent assessments show declining test scores across the vast majority of countries. This is a concerning trend that deserves open and serious discussion on international platforms such as the United Nations. At the same time, we should not see AI only as a risk. It can be also a tool for peace. It can help us analyze information, identify patterns, and overcome language barriers in real time. It can support better decisions, faster responses, and more effective prevention. With responsible use, proper human oversight, and good governance, we can move this technology away from the battlefield and toward diplomacy, mediation, and conflict prevention. And prevention matters. Every conflict we prevent saves lives. It protects development. It preserves human dignity. Once violence begins, every solution becomes harder, more costly, and more painful.
Bismillahirrahmanirrahim. In the name of God, the merciful, the compassionate. Mr. president, our region and the world are undergoing a period of rapid transformation marked by intensifying challenges and divisions. Against this backdrop, the United Arab Emirates stands tall, guided by a clear vision and unwavering determination to transform challenges into opportunities, to turn ambitions, into achievements, and to open new horizons for peace, development and prosperity for our people, the peoples of the region and the world. This stems from our principled approach rooted in de-escalation, bridge building, the promotion of diplomacy and dialogue, the peaceful settlement of disputes and the rejection of the unlawful use or threat of use of force as well as coercion. This approach is grounded in full respect for the sovereignty of states, good neighbourly relations, international law and the UN charter.
Managing transformation requires institutions capable of adapting to a rapidly changing world, and delivering for all requires us to move beyond declarations toward tangible improvements in the lives and livelihoods of our peoples. Ultimately, our declarations, communiqués, and resolutions must travel the difficult road from this assembly hall to the daily lives of the peoples we represent. Persistent conflicts, geopolitical tensions, and growing divisions have tested trust between nations. Concurrently, our world is undergoing transformation driven by technology, climate change, demographic shifts, and changing patterns of economic power. The pertinent question is how we strengthen multilateralism so that the United Nations can deliver meaningful results for all member states. Humanity has traveled far enough to know that, on the great challenges of our age, none of us can go it alone. Whether a nation of a billion people or, like Botswana with just over 2.5 million people, we share one fragile planet and one imperfect but irreplaceable United Nations. The choices we make will determine whether multilateralism restores trust, manages transformation, and delivers for all, or becomes a cautionary tale of promises made and forgotten.
Mr. President, this session is taking place at the time of a twofold need: to restore trust and to manage transformation, to understand the urgent need for action. Let us gaze upon the world as it is, first. It has been a long time since peace has seemed so fragile. On all continents, conflicts are multiplying, becoming entrenched, and fueling one another. Each has its reasons, its history, its instigators, but they all have one thing in common: they are costing civilian lives, destroying schools and hospitals, and displacing entire families. These crises never remain contained. Disruptions around the Strait of Hormuz are causing energy and fertilizer prices to skyrocket. Migration—forced migration—routes are growing crowded. Terrorism, trafficking, and armed groups are flourishing in zones beyond state control. However far they may be from the front line, no state is safe from the repercussions of these conflicts. At the same time, divisions within the Security Council— the body charged with protecting international peace and security— are paralyzing action where it is the most urgently needed. International law is supposed to protect the weak from the ambitions of the powerful, and yet it is increasingly being dismissed as optional.
Mr. president, Grenada approaches the future with confidence. We recognise the challenges before us, but we also see enormous possibilities. Our Vision 75 embodies our determination to build a stronger, healthier, a more resilient and more prosperous Grenada. Our commitment to the Sustainable Development Goals reflect our belief in shared global progress, and our engagement in this United Nations reflect our conviction that partnership remains one of humanity's greatest sources of strength. But partnership must deliver. So let this assembly send a clear message. Let us restore hope in Haiti. Let us protect children and civilians wherever conflict threatens their lives. Let us choose dialogue over division.
Salve, om namo Buddhaya rahayu. May peace be upon all of us. 81 years ago, from the ashes of the Second World War, Indonesia and the United Nations were born. We emerge from a world devastated by war with a shared conviction that never again should humanity lose its future to war and division. And we shared a founding promise to build a future of peace. For eight decades, we have worked to turn that promise into progress. Nations freed themselves from colonialism. Globalization connected our economy, technology transform our societies and development improves the lives of billions. But progress has never been linear. We have lived through financial crisis, a global pandemic, climate disasters, geopolitical rivalries, and conflicts around the world. With every transformation and every crisis, one lesson remains clear for peace and prosperity to endure, multilateralism must be resilient. It must be able to adapt, to respond, and most importantly, to deliver. Because multilateralism that cannot deliver will lose people's trust. And without trust, multilateralism will never endure. Building resilient multilateralism begins at home, begins with resilient nations.
For Micronesia, success must be measured not by declarations, but by tangible improvements in our people's lives, security and dignity. We call for equitable partnership with small island developing states through accessible finance, technology transfer, strong capacity and a meaningful voice in global decision. In the spirit of Kamorale, let us choose cooperation over division and build a peaceful, just and sustainable future in which every nation can thrive.
Yet our ocean faces increasing pressures from pollution, biodiversity loss, overexploitation and the impacts of climate change. Pursuing economic growth has come at a great cost to our marine ecosystem. Coupled with unchecked exploitation of deep seabed mineral resources, our oceans face a crisis of limitless proportion. And these planetary changes have no middle ground. Weak governance frameworks threatens what remains. Without urgent action, small island states face a future without land and no usable ocean. It is time to transform how we value and interact with the ocean, from a resource we exploit to one we protect and cherish. And we must do more on this front. Samoa has ratified the BBNJ Agreement, and we remain actively engaged in negotiations toward a global treaty on plastic pollution, particularly to protect our marine environment. We remain committed to implementing the Apia Commonwealth Ocean Declaration, the 2026 Pacific Islands Forum Leaders' Ocean Statement, and our own Samoa Ocean Strategy. These are critical to the implementation of SDG 14. Our maritime domain is increasingly exploited by transnational criminal networks involved in illegal trafficking including illicit drugs moving through our region. Illicit drugs enter homes, harm young people, fuel violence and place increasing pressure on communities and essential services. Excellencies. Non-communicable disease represents one of the most serious development challenges to Samoa's public health and economic productivity. In response, we are shifting towards prevention through strengthening health literacy, reforming school nutrition and food environments, and early intervention programs. And this includes our early childhood development framework, a multisectoral roadmap to ensure every child from pregnancy to age five receives nurturing care, protection, and early learning. Excellencies. In many of our Pacific countries, our water systems are highly vulnerable to disruptions, and these realities demand that the global water agenda fully recognise the special circumstances of SIDS. Samoa's priorities are fourfold. First, climate resilient water systems must be scaled up urgently. Second, access to finance must be significantly improved, and third, capacity and partnerships must be strengthened. And finally, we need a transnational water governance regime informed by the outcomes of the various water conferences held over the last eight years. Excellencies. Samoa remains a peaceful country, steadfast in our commitment to human rights and justice. We remain concerned by the ongoing wars in Ukraine, Gaza and Iran, the terrible loss of civilian lives, displacement of people as well as the destruction of infrastructure and the environment, is something we do not condone. The continued supply of weapons to fuel conflicts must end. We also reiterate our long standing call for meaningful reform of the Security Council to ensure that it remains effective, credible and representative of today's realities. It is imperative that the UN resolves disputes peacefully and strengthen international peace and security. The world needs a stronger commitment to peace, not more division, not more conflict and not more suffering. Excellencies.
Last year at this rostrum, I noted that Suriname is diversity. And at a time when diversity is too often manipulated as a source of division, Suriname has chosen the path to recognize the distinct histories of its people, while strengthening their unity and their shared responsibility for the future. Our experience affirms that diversity, when grounded in equality, mutual respect, and meaningful participation, is not an adversity. It is a source of national resilience and prosperity. Last month, the Republic of Suriname observed its first heritage month under the theme "Hoe wij hier ook samen kwamen, hoe wij samen verder gaan", meaning as much as "However we came here, united we move forward". This initiative was conceived not merely to celebrate our culture and the diversity in it, but as a deliberate national undertaking centered on growing inclusion, mutual respect, and unity. And this process is also relevant for the global community. Mr. president, the development of Suriname's offshore natural resources, including oil and gas, will present significant, significant opportunities to accelerate national development and improve the well-being of our people. Yet, we are equally conscious that oil and gas cannot and should not become the only foundation of our economy. Our approach is therefore clear. We must transform temporary resource wealth into lasting national prosperity, using resource revenues strategically to strengthen our economy and make it more resilient through diversification. Additionally, we will need to improve our energy security. And although we are preparing for gas to shore and gas to energy, renewable energy will be part of our national energy mix.
We need institutions capable of dealing with issues that transcend national borders. We need multilateralism. But multilateralism will only retain its credibility if it is also able to evolve. Switzerland therefore supports efforts to reform the UN system as part of the UN80 initiative. This reform must make the UN more coherent, more effective and more results oriented, while respecting the powers and responsibilities of member states. The UN must focus its efforts where its action brings real added value: when problems transcend borders, when national or regional capacities are insufficient, or when a universal institution is needed to provide a common framework. The key question is therefore a simple one how can we ensure that the resources, expertise and energy invested in the multilateral system yield better results for those it is meant to serve? Because our institutions do not exist for their own sake, they exist for the people, for those who live in fear of conflict, for those who have lost their home following a disaster, for those seeking work or building a future for themselves, for the children whose lives depend on access to education and the new opportunities we are creating today. It is on this scale that the value of multilateralism is ultimately measured. Ladies and gentlemen, Your Excellencies, we cannot make the diverging interests of our countries disappear. We cannot erase disagreements, rivalries, or borders, nor can we remove all of the mountains that stand between us. But we can determine how we wish to tackle them. We can preserve open dialogue rather than erect more barriers. We can keep the channels of communication open rather than resign ourselves to silence. We can ensure that technological progress creates more opportunities rather than new divisions. And we can reform our institutions rather than accept their gradual demise. Switzerland will continue to play its part, using the means at its disposal by upholding international law, promoting dialogue, providing its good offices, supporting effective multilateral institutions, and by remaining a country where the world can continue to come together and engage. We do not claim to have all the answers, but our experience in the Alps has taught us one simple thing. While a mountain might separate us, it can just as easily be crossed. Crossing it brings people together. Coming together encourages dialogue, and dialogue fosters trust. Perhaps this is where our shared responsibility begins: to keep open the pathways that allow us, in spite of our differences, to continue moving forward, hand in hand.
In the Asia Pacific, nearly six decades of the ASEAN's development have demonstrated that countries can transform suspicion into trust, confrontation into dialogue, division, into cooperation, and individual strength into collective might. In that spirit, Vietnam remains steadfast in its commitment to resolving disputes, including those in the East Sea by peaceful means in line with international law, particularly the 1982 UNCLOS. Vietnam is resolute in safeguarding its sovereignty, sovereign rights and jurisdiction. The seas and oceans must remain spaces of peace, cooperation, connectivity and sustainable development.
Ladies and gentlemen, as global challenges become increasingly complex, no country can address them alone. And yet the growing limitations of multilateral mechanisms continue to undermine our collective ability to respond effectively to current and emerging threats. Meeting these realities requires joint action but true transformation is impossible without first restoring trust in the international order and demonstrating that multilateralism can once again deliver tangible results for all. In an era marked by division, growing intolerance and stark double standards, Azerbaijan advocates for a reinvigorated and reformed multilateral system underpinned by strict adherence to consistent and non-selective application of universally accepted norms and principles of international law. Azerbaijan supports a more effective UN capable of delivering tangible results for member states, especially in peace and security development, climate resilience and humanitarian action. Through inclusive multilateralism, all states, large or small, particularly developing countries, must have the opportunity to participate equally in global decision making. In this context, reform of the UN Security Council is essential to make it more representative, effective and responsive. Ladies and gentlemen, restoring global trust begins first and foremost with respecting international law, sovereign equality, and peaceful coexistence.
We expect his successor to have the vision, courage, and leadership skills to restore trust, overcome divisions, and to act for change. Your Excellencies, peace and security are among the main responsibilities of the international community. In light of conflicts that have taken thousands of lives and caused immense destruction, we must step up our efforts to prevent and end hostilities. The main challenge remains the war against Ukraine, the consequences of which have spilled far beyond the immediate combat zone. Can we resolve this problem? Can we find a solution? Of course we can. I am convinced of this. Is it not time to rethink European security policy? Bulgaria, as a member state of the EU, calls for the holding of a debate on this topic and on the broader goal of the future of a post-war Europe, as well as the Europe before the war. And to begin this debate, it is high time to transfer this conflict from the military sphere to the political and diplomatic realm. This involves negotiations which require dialogue and a minimum level of trust, supported by the appropriate guarantees. Europe, however, cannot be a simple mere observer. It must be a real participant in negotiations on the post-war security architecture of the continent after the end of the war. Europe must be able to guarantee its own security. Military security must be complemented by the second pillar of security, that is to say, the contractual and legal pillar, which must guarantee that defensive capacity building provides more security rather than a new arms race. For the security of Europe, we must add robust diplomacy to military and economic security, because we cannot, dear colleagues, negotiate without the participation of two countries, Ukraine and Russia. It would be irresponsible if, after the end of the war in Ukraine, we were unable to offer anything better to European citizens than a new cold war, or worse. We need a vision for tomorrow, in line with the concept of a Europe of peace, thanks to dissuasive defense and shared security. From this lofty platform, we call for Europe to move toward this goal. Bulgaria believes that security and stability in the Black Sea region is an integral part of its national security in all of its aspects. But it is not only our national security that is at stake; it is global security. The war in Ukraine and other territories has expanded beyond the territories of the conflict parties and directly affects Bulgaria today.
We deeply value this partnership and remain committed to ensuring a strong and enduring United Nations presence in our country, including the establishment of a permanent UN home in Eswatini. Just as partnerships at home are vital, so is inclusive participation on the international stage. Taiwan plays a vital role in global supply chains. It has much to contribute to the international community and can play a highly meaningful role in building a sustainable future for humanity. The United Nations should seek appropriate ways to facilitate Taiwan's substantive participation in UN meetings and activities, enabling it to share its expertise and actively engage with international partners. Mr. President, as we convene at this pivotal moment in the life of the United Nations, let us remember that our differences need not prevent us from finding common ground. The world does not require perfect consensus on every issue. It needs the courage to identify areas where cooperation is possible and the will to act upon them. Let us restore faith in diplomacy and dialogue. Let us reestablish trust in international cooperation and, above all, reaffirm our belief that humanity's shared challenges can be addressed when nations choose cooperation over division. The United Nations must remain a house where every nation, large or small, has a voice and where the sovereignty and dignity of all member states are fully respected. As world leaders, we come here every year to promote dignity, peace, justice, humanity, and cooperation in order to create a better world and we should never give up to fight for it.
The Republic of Guatemala reaffirms its commitment to the peaceful settlement of disputes and the observance of international law We welcome the fact that the International Court of Justice has set the date for the oral hearings concerning the territorial, insular and maritime dispute with Belize. For my country, this is more than a procedural milestone. With the notification of the hearings, the final procedural stage before the court delivers its judgment has begun. It marks the culmination of a legal dispute that has accompanied the people of Guatemala and successive governments since independence, and whose conclusion we eagerly await. We recognize that the court's judgment, once delivered, will bring the dispute to an end, and we trust that it will provide legal certainty to both parties and lay the foundations for a new chapter in relations between Guatemala and Belize. In closing, I wish to say that Guatemala will continue to do its part strengthening democratic institutions capable of meeting the needs of our people, resolutely confronting transnational organised crime, and those who seek to capture institutions defending international law, consistently promoting regional responses based on shared responsibility, and working for a United Nations capable of transforming itself to fulfil the promise contained in the opening words of our charter, we the Peoples. Restoring trust will depend on our ability to show that even in times of uncertainty and division, we remain capable of building together solutions that none of us could achieve alone. Thank you very much.
What distinguished some of the past's best moments was our response. Countries came together, built institutions and negotiated treaties. They created Human Rights Council, ICC, UN Women and the UNFCCC. They placed Women, Peace and Security on the agenda of the Security Council and recognised sexual violence as a weapon and tactic of war. They adopted the Millennium Development Goals and later the Sustainable Development Goals. To put it simply, none of this happened by itself. It happened because political leaders consciously chose cooperation over retreat. That choice is before us again. Madam president, the United Nations next Secretary general must continue reforming this organization, make difficult choices and direct resources where they make the greatest difference. That will require courage from her. Yes, Iceland stands on. This is very clear. And so will the choices made by every Member State represented in this Hall. We must choose whether to uphold the law when it's inconvenient, whether to defend the rights of people who are not our citizens, and whether to protect and respect our system, even when that system does not deliver the outcome we want. That is the real test of our commitment to multilateralism, not what we say when the rules favor us, but what we do when they do not. For Iceland, the choice is clear. We choose international law over selective obedience, accountability over impunity, cooperation over isolation, human dignity over division. The generation that founded the United Nations had seen firsthand what could happen when restraints on power collapsed. The Charter, international law and the institutions that followed were their answer. In that sense, the United Nations is a gift from a generation that learned that lesson at an extraordinary cost. And now we need the courage to remember it. Thank you.
These are all different fronts of a single, profound transformation. The world order that emerged after World War II is coming apart. It was an imperfect order. It did not prevent wars, injustice or suffering. But today, the world balance has been disrupted, and history, which someone has declared has reached its final chapter, is once again moving at a galloping pace. But every race needs a finish line. Our task cannot be to stand and watch passively the fragmentation of our world, but it must be to build a new framework of rules, responsibility, and cooperation capable of governing change. Change that can happen only through political will, through dialogue among nations, through the awareness of peoples, and through the ability of multinational, multilateral institutions to rediscover a mission equal to the challenges of our time. The United Nations cannot simply record the divisions of today. It must have the ambition to imagine the future and recognize its limitations, overcome its paralysis, and reform its instruments without abandoning its deepest raison d'être: to be the place where conflict gives way to dialogue, confrontation to diplomacy, and fear to the search for shared solutions. The United Nations remains the most universal place for pursuing this aspiration, not because it's perfect, but because no other institution can bring together, around the same table, such different interests, cultures, religions, and visions of the world. It is precisely when the world is divided that the value of dialogue grows rather than diminishes. Italy believes in this institution, in its value, in its central role. We believe in peace, which remains our guiding star, the guiding principle of Italy's foreign policy. It is rooted in our history, enshrined in our constitution, and integral to our identity. Dialogue, however, is not a sign of weakness, nor does it mean neutrality.
Mr. president, we express our country's grave concern as the world continues its slide toward uncertainty and division. The erosion of trust among nations is rapidly reshaping the international order. Our collective inability to prevent conflicts, our collective indifference toward humanitarian crisis, and our collective reluctance to seek common solutions to shared challenges are all becoming normalised. Trust cannot be restored when international law is applied selectively and commitments remain unfulfilled. Our response must be grounded in the fundamental values we have affirmed together freedom, equality, justice and respect for human dignity. President Tokayev has repeatedly underscored the indispensable role of the United Nations as a single universal platform, uniquely capable of bringing the states together to address the challenges we face. But to fulfil its potential, UN must be able to act, adapt and deliver. We fully support the UN-80 initiative. The success of the reform should be measured not by what is cut or reorganised, but by whether the United Nations prevents conflicts more effectively, responds more rapidly to crisis and delivers better results for all member states. Central to this renewal is reform of the Security Council. Broader representation of Asia, Africa and Latin America in the Council, as well as greater voice for developing countries and for middle powers, is a moral imperative. Equitable geographical representation must apply throughout the United Nations system as a condition of legitimacy and credibility. The selection of the next Secretary-General will be one of the defining moments of this session, and Kazakhstan supports a transparent, inclusive and merit based process conducted in full accordance with the Charter. Mr. president, the international security environment continues to deteriorate. World military expenditures reached a record $2.9 trillion in 2025. Our small planet is home to more than 12,000 nuclear weapons, each one capable of untold damage and sorrow. Every year we seem to lose more biodiversity, yet gain more armaments. For Kazakhstan, nuclear disarmament in particular is not an abstract doctrine. It's a responsibility born of national experience. This year marks 35 years since the closure of the Semipalatinsk nuclear test site 30 years since the CTBT opened for signature, and 20 years since the signing of the Treaty on Nuclear Weapon Free Zone in Central Asia. Our experience of renouncing the world's fourth largest nuclear arsenal did not weaken our state. To the contrary through international trust, it strengthens sovereignty, enhanced security and promotes development. Today the trust is again in danger. New START has expired, while the 2026 NPT Review Conference ended without substantive outcome for the third consecutive cycle. Nuclear weapon states must never confuse the absence of agreement with the vacuum of obligation. They remain responsible until we secure a world free of nuclear weapons. Kazakhstan advocates the relaunch of high level dialogue among nuclear powers, and is ready to host one of their next meetings. We will also continue advancing our earlier proposal to strengthen the BWC through establishing an international agency for biological security. Distinguished delegates. Peace and stability are prerequisites for sustainable development. We stand firmly for diplomacy and dialogue, and against the escalation of tension and the use of force.
President, Liechtenstein joined the United Nations 36 years ago as its 160th member. We did so driven by the conviction that we, as one of the smallest members of the international community, should be part of the most important conversation on global governance, with the participation of all states, big or small, in developing international norms and standards, and also in upholding respect for them. Sovereignty was a key theme of our domestic discussions, resulting in our UN membership. We joined out of enlightened self-interest the belief that we need the UN to secure respect for our sovereignty through upholding international law as the basis for our security and prosperity. To this end, we also decided to make our own contribution to make best use of the opportunity offered to us as a small state, to be an active part of the biggest peace project in the history of humankind. President, our belief in the United Nations remains steadfast. This is the place where we can make our voice heard, where we can put ideas forward, and where we can gather to try to solve the issues that affect us all. We have greatly benefited from our membership, and the UN has consistently been a key platform for our foreign policy. Our membership has consistently enjoyed high levels of support in our population. But today we also find ourselves in a moment where instability and uncertainty dominate the conversation. Our organization no longer seems able to deliver on the key promises of the UN Charter to save future generations from the scourge of war. It can no longer count on the unconditional support of its most powerful members for the guiding rules of international law. It is increasingly ignored or sidelined in efforts to address both the traditional and new challenges, such as the regulation of artificial intelligence. It is permanently squeezed financially. Legal obligations to pay are turned into tools to exercise political leverage. As a result the United Nations has moved down the foreign policy agenda, even of states who have a strong history of supporting it. We can no longer take it for granted that our people will continue their strongly positive views of our organization. President. This is the difficult moment in which we find ourselves. But rather than engaging in doomsday scenarios, we have to find the opportunities hidden in the challenge. The overwhelming majority of the states present in this room believe in the United Nations. They want to see positive change for the UN to emerge stronger, more effective, more relevant. But we all have to be prepared to be part of the change that we want to see. Resisting the temptation of collective inertia and of waiting for positive change to happen on its own, will require our active political investment. We are grateful to Secretary-General Guterres for his service to the organization, and for his proposals to adapt the organization to the needs of today. On the basis of his ideas, our delegations here have done good work that will show positive results over time. This is important. It shows that we can come together also during times of deep political division. It is also not enough. The steps we have taken are just the beginning of what we need, a political agreement that combines significant structural change with a reliable financial commitment and firm support for the UN Charter from all. This is also the vision we are looking for in the person that will be appointed as the next Secretary-General. We hope that this decision will come very soon, in order to give the new Secretary-General the time she needs to prepare for this most unique of jobs. And we remain convinced that having a woman at the helm of the United Nations is long overdue for an organization that prides itself on its role in gender equality. President. At its core, the United Nations is a peace organization.
Madam president, the world is becoming more fragmented. The international order is under strain. We need to recognise this reality. But we should not mistake a world of competing centres of power for a more just or stable international order. For Luxembourg, the answer is clear. Our experience has taught us that international law and multilateral institutions give countries, whatever their size, a voice and place at the table. It is not about resisting a changing world, but to make multilateralism fit for that world. I believe this is ultimately what the United Nations asks of us, not that we agree on everything, not that we abandon our national interests, but that we recognise that there are challenges for which no nation, however powerful, can find lasting solutions alone. We can look at the imperfections of multilateralism and conclude that it no longer works, or we can reform it fairly, strengthen it, and make it worthy of the trust that future generations will place in us. I know which choice I want to make, because this is the world I want to leave to my children. A world where dialogue is stronger than confrontation, where respect between nations allows differences to become sources of strength rather than division. Where international law protects the weak as well as the strong. If we restore trust, if we listen to the next generation, and if we have the courage to act together, the United Nations can continue to be more than a reflection of the world as it is. It can remain an instrument for building the world we want to leave behind. A world worthy of the trust of those who will inherit it. Young people do not expect us to solve every challenge, but they do expect us to try. They expect us to act with responsibility. And above all, they expect us not to lose faith in our ability to shape a better future.
Of course, nations have legitimate security needs, but the speed with which the world finds resources for war compared to prevention and development, reveals a grave disorder in our priorities. The credibility of international law also depends on who has the voice in applying it. The credibility weakens when institutions entrusted with the law preserve an unequal distribution of power. The Security Council still reflects the world of 1945. Africa, home to more than 1.6 billion people and the subject of most of the council's work still has no permanent seat. That's not fair. Africa seeks its rightful place because the council cannot be fully legitimate or effective while an entire continent remains permanently absent from its highest level of decision making. No durable global solution on peace, climate, food, energy or technology can be built without African leadership. The common African position espoused in the Ezulwini Consensus and Sirte Declaration calls for no fewer than two permanent seats, with all the rights and privileges of permanent membership, including the veto if it is retained, and five non-permanent seats. As coordinator of the African Union Committee of ten, Sierra Leone will continue to advance that position. Years of intergovernmental negotiations without realizing the reform has tested the credibility of the process. Before this session concludes, member states should have a consolidated model, which we committed to in the pact for the future. Sierra Leone speaks with the authority of service. During our time on the Security Council in 2024 2025, we worked as a voice of reason and a bridge across Division. We convened the Security Council's first high level debate on redressing historical injustice against Africa, placed conflict related food insecurity at the centre of its agenda and with Guyana, Co-drafted unanimously adopted resolution 2807 on youth, peace and security, strengthening young people's role in conflict prevention and peace building. Mr. president. Representation becomes meaningful when it changes decisions and improves lives.
We call it Heritage Day. It is a day upon which we recommit to not just a united, but also a diverse nation. A day where we reassert that diversity is not a cause for division, but for celebration. Our strength is in our diversity.
Nine months into my service as Prime Minister, I stand here mindful that Pacific leaders have come before me, raising the same warnings, making the same appeals. Today I'm compelled to make them again. The question before us is not whether the world has heard our message, but why has it still not acted? We live in a world more connected than ever, but greater connection has not brought greater unity. We meet amid deepening division, geopolitical conflict and competition. For Tonga, navigating such stormy currents is not new. As descendants of voyagers, we have been in the survival business much longer than most have appreciated.
For that solidarity, Antigua and Barbuda thank him. But excellencies, gratitude for the past must now match by courage in shaping the future. The next Secretary general of this institution will inherit a United Nations confronting wars and conflicts that devastate lives and undermine international stability. Deep geopolitical divisions will exist. Financial constraints, the climate emergency and declining trust will test our organization's capacity to respond. Excellencies, the choice before us is about more than selecting an individual. It is about the future direction of this organization. That is why Antigua and Barbuda has nominated María Fernanda Espinosa to serve as the next Secretary general. We believe that she is the right leader for this moment. After more than 80 years, no woman has ever served as Secretary general. The time is now. Our case for Miss Espinosa rests not on gender. It rests on competence, experience, independence and leadership. At a time of fragmentation, the United Nations needs a credible bridge builder capable of restoring confidence in multilateralism. Antigua and Barbuda believes that María Fernanda Espinosa demonstrated that when she was a leader here of the General Assembly. We believe that she can provide the leadership we need now. Mr. president, multilateralism is under profound strain. Economic uncertainties continue to grow. Technology is racing ahead of governance. Artificial intelligence offers extraordinary possibilities, but it also raises profound concerns about who will control its development and share in its benefit. Small island developing states must not be left out as spectators, nor can we accept an international system in which rules are binding upon the weak but negotiable for the powerful. International law must apply equally. Sovereignty cannot depend upon power, nor justice upon one's friends. Antigua and Barbuda commands neither a great army nor large markets. International law, cooperation and multilateralism are fundamental to our security and stability. For us, the United Nations is not optional. It is essential to our survival. We support a more efficient, coherent and accountable United Nations. But efficiency cannot become another word for retreat. The UN reform process must be judged by whether this organization serves people better. For SIDs, that means protecting the development pillar, advancing implementation of the Antigua and Barbuda agenda for SIDs, ABAS, and bringing effective support closer to those who need it most. Mr. president, trade disputes, tariffs and economic fragmentation raises the cost of food, transport and the development. Too often, small island states pay the price for disputes we did not create. We call upon the major economies to choose dialogue and cooperation.
Both are priorities during our membership in the Security Council. No discussion of development today is complete without addressing the technology that is reshaping that development. From this podium two years ago, His Royal Highness the Crown Prince and Prime Minister called for the adoption of an international treaty governing the development of artificial intelligence. It would ensure that this technology contributes to peace rather than exacerbating conflict. Since then, the General Assembly has taken positive steps. However, dialogue can bring positions closer, but it is not a step that creates obligations. The aim is not to halt a technology that no one has the power to halt, but to ensure that its growth is surrounded by safeguards, just as the international community surrounded nuclear energy with safeguards that preserved its benefits without preventing it. This technology knows no borders. A safeguard adopted by a single state is not a safeguard, just as a rule that applies in a single strait is not a rule. Therefore, we renew our call for a binding international framework to ensure that this technology becomes a driver of innovation rather than division. And this, in our view, is what it means to manage the transformation that you chose as a theme of this session.
The way we see it, climate justice is not about pitting development and transition against one another. It's about allowing developing countries to build a growth model that's more resilient, inclusive and sustainable. Excellencies, ladies and gentlemen, we must also prepare for the next great transformation, that of artificial intelligence AI, which could become one of the greatest accelerators of human development. AI can broaden access to knowledge, improve health systems, support agricultural workers, and make state administrations more efficient. Having said that, AI can also amplify or exacerbate existing divides. If Africa was to solely consume technologies designed and controlled outside the continent, a new form of dependence could emerge linked to data infrastructure, computing power and critical technologies. We must avoid this scenario. Therefore, Benin is in favour of international AI governance that's inclusive, responsible and development oriented. Africa should not just be a market for frontier technologies, it should also be a platform for design, innovation and production. This is the prerequisite for AI to become not a new driver of divisions, but a tool for achieving emancipation, progress and shared development. Excellencies, ladies and gentlemen, trust in international institutions is also linked to the trust people bestow upon their own institutions. For its part, Benin is continuing the process of consolidating our institutions and our democratic framework with full respect for our Constitution and our legal order. We deem stability, public responsibility and citizen participation, we deem them essential preconditions for sustainable development. Our experience confirms our conviction. Robust institutions are one of the pillars of peace infrastructure.
And I would like to begin by talking not about the government, but rather the people, the Bolivian people, the homeland people that has gone through difficult times, a people that knows poverty, but also that knows the meaning of work, that knows division, but also knows how to recognize one another in unity. That has been through economic and political crises, social conflicts, and times of uncertainty, but which has never lost sight of something fundamental. And that is the hope of building a better life. I come from a country that today is facing a reality that we cannot hide. But first of all, allow me to say one thing. A part of those 20 years of the reality of a country that has been dragged along, is due to the consequences of a time of ideological construction on our continent. In the case of part of South America, where one leader came here and said, this smells of sulfur. It was part of a political and ideological line, which was being built upon by another leader who brought a coca leaf here. And he turned a traditional leaf into a historic leaf, a leaf that is part of our culture. He turned it into a betrayal. So that construction and development and the vision of the development of a nation would be betrayed. Today the Bolivian economy in 2026 had inflation of more than 20%. But it was a country that was an energy power in gas and hydrocarbons and mining. Nevertheless, we were reduced to a country that now has to be negotiating with multilateral institutions and with various different nations, and that is not right. They said that they were socialists. However, we carried out a campaign ten months ago, in the ten months since I've been president, with the concept of capitalism for all of resources financial capacities, being able to invest and develop. Socialism and ideology does not put food on the table. What does is employment and the development of our economies and our production. When I took on the challenge of government, there were $51 million in our reserves because the reserves of the central bank had been entirely liquidated. Now, ten months on, we have nearly 1.2 billion and we, by the end of the year, are heading towards nearly 4 billion. And in the following 18 months, nearly $10 billion. For many nations, that might not be much, but for Bolivia it is a record, a milestone, a challenge, and a process of construction to build, strengthen our democracy and to strengthen our productive model within the country. I say this clearly, being able to look at the reality in my country, which decided to engage in a change and a transformation and to not turn back to the past. We are indeed doing this. We are ordering our economy. We are putting our house in order. We are facing up to the shortage of fuel. We are rebuilding our reserves. We are reforming our institutions. We are trying to restore internal and external trust in the country. We are doing something that we thought was even more important. We are trying to restore that trust in Bolivians so that we can move forward, because a nation that does not rebuild its trust cannot move ahead with money alone, with clear rules, with labor, with institutions that work, education, security and justice.
I also commend the tireless efforts of Secretary General Antonio Guterres. Since he assumed the leadership of our organization amid the major divisions the world has experienced over the past decade, he has emerged as a voice of wisdom, consensus and pragmatism, defending tirelessly and courageously the United Nations system and international law as the two fundamental pillars for the maintenance of international peace and security. Mr. Guterres has remained a symbol of multilateral diplomacy and of international cooperation in overcoming the turmoil and obstacles facing our world today. Mr. president, the most apt description of our international reality is the one expressed by His Majesty King Mohammed the Sixth, may God assist him, when His Majesty said, and I quote, the world is changing at an unprecedented pace and certainties are steadily receding. This has led to a blurring of standards and concepts. Alliances have become open to question. International law is frequently violated. And its capacity to regulate international relations faces numerous challenges. End of quote from His Majesty the King. We are therefore facing a world whose fundamental features are the following. First, the escalation of acute and diverse international crises military, economic, energy related and environmental. Second, the spread of confrontational tendencies as a key determinant of relations between states. Third, the difficulty of predicting the outcome of crises. We know when they begin but not when they will end. Fourth, the diminishing capacity of existing regulatory structures to play the role in preventing and managing crises in this complex international context. Mr. president, I wish to focus on three areas to which the international community must accord priority. First, confronting non-state armed groups as a threat to international security and stability.
Mr. President, Mr. Secretary General and distinguished delegates when it comes to peace on the Korean Peninsula, the Republic of Korea knows firsthand the change that the United Nations has brought about. 35 years ago, the two Koreas were admitted to the UN as members on this very stage. It was a crucial turning point that laid the foundation for peaceful co-existence, freeing us from the relentless rivalry and confrontation that followed our division. One year ago, I stated from this stage that the Republic of Korea would begin a new journey toward peaceful coexistence and shared growth on the Korean Peninsula. Today, as we set out on this new journey, I would like to present to the international community the three blueprints for the road to peaceful coexistence on the Korean Peninsula. First is inclusive peaceful coexistence built on mutual respect. Based on the respect for each other's systems and acknowledgment of our differences, we will explore ways for shared growth through cooperation. We will continue to respect the North on the international stage and seek cooperation wherever possible. We hope that opportunities will emerge for us to work together in the international community in areas such as public health, disaster response and the climate crisis. Second is stable, peaceful coexistence that renders conflict unnecessary. We will work to institute mechanisms for preventing crisis and managing conflicts. Reestablishing basic channels of communication, and building trust will be the first step toward a stable, peaceful coexistence. Third is responsible peaceful coexistence contributing to world peace. We will go beyond building a Korean Peninsula free from war and nuclear weapons to promoting stability and cooperation in Northeast Asia, while actively contributing to global efforts to build a world free from war and conflict. The most critical task is to bring an end to this decades old war on the Korean Peninsula and establish a lasting peace regime. For decades, the two Koreas, along with key countries such as the US and China, have recognized the need for a peace regime on the Korean Peninsula and discussed ways to achieve it. Fortunately, President Trump's resolve has recently created a hard won opportunity for change. I hope the long suspended dialogue between North Korea and the US can resume without delay. We will lay the groundwork for this to develop into a dialogue among the parties aimed at ending the war on the Korean Peninsula and transitioning to a peace regime. I am confident that the dialogue for establishing a peace regime on the Korean Peninsula can provide a valuable framework, not only for normalizing relations among the parties concerned, but also for fostering shared growth through multilateral cooperation and promoting stability and cooperation in Northeast Asia.
Mr. president, for more than 17 centuries, San Marino has shown that a small state can preserve its independence through dialogue, respect for the law, and engagement with the international community. This is why San Marino will continue to defend the United Nations charter, international law, human rights and multilateralism. At a time when the world is tempted by division, we must choose cooperation. When force challenges law, we must stand firmly by the law. And when despair grows, we must choose peace. San Marino will do its part. Together, we must ensure that the United Nations remains what it was created to be a shield for the vulnerable, a forum of dialogue and a guardian of peace, dignity and international law. Thank you.
Ultimately, powerful engines and good brakes and common rules do not stop us or slow us down. They give us the assurance and the confidence so that we can move faster and more effectively for the benefit of all our peoples. Madam President, excellencies, effective multilateralism requires institutions that can deliver, and that begins with a reform of the UN itself. I welcome the progress of the UN80 Initiative. But reform must be strategic, not merely fiscal. Reform must strengthen the equal standing of all members. The goal is not a smaller UN for its own sake, but one that delivers better and more equitably. In this session, we will appoint the 10th Secretary-General of the UN. No one today under the age of 80, has lived in a world without the United Nations. But the UN has to earn the confidence of successive generations, and it does this through what it delivers, not what it declares on paper. The next Secretary-General must lead a UN that turns multilateral cooperation into practical results and communicates these results in an effective way to all our people. Let me at this point, also pay tribute to Secretary-General António Guterres. He is a good man with the courage of his convictions, and he has ably steered this organization through some very difficult years of global division. He has been a consistent voice for the charter, for our climate and oceans, and for the rules that hold the global commons together. Finally, Madam President, effective multilateralism requires all countries to be prepared to contribute to the institutions that sustain it. For Singapore, this begins with international law. The rule of law requires institutions to give it effect. Currently, the International Court of Justice has its fullest docket in its history, at precisely the moment when the relevance and effectiveness of international law is being questioned. States continue to bring their most serious disputes before the world's principal judicial organ. That's actually a good sign that demonstrates trust in the peaceful settlement of disputes and we must safeguard that trust. Singapore has nominated our ambassador for international law, Rena Lee, for election as a judge of the ICJ and as a tiny small state, Singapore has been a beneficiary, has been an active practitioner and a builder, a contributor to international law. We now ask for the chance to serve the cause of the rule of law. Madam President, this is the case for multilateralism. It's not some pie in the sky idealism, but a hard headed recognition that cooperation ultimately serves all of us. For every state, large or small a world governed by rules is infinitely better than one governed simply by the exercise of hard, crude power. In 1945, the founders of the UN hoped that the rules could restrain power. If we want to keep that hope alive, we must defend those very same rules that continue to serve us consistently everywhere across the globe. We have to adapt to a changing world, and we have to build new rules, new institutions and new processes where the challenges demand. Thank you all very much.
We took the difficult path of navigating a wilderness, of sensitivities and marshalling our limited resources to rescue and look after the wounded and sick. Hard as it was, we went on to rescue hundreds more. We saw human lives in danger and we acted, founding ourselves on international law and on humanity while safeguarding our neutrality. We placed humanity above all else. As President Dissanayaka has reiterated, we will never hesitate to protect humanity if there are actions that must be taken to protect human lives. We will not hesitate to take them under any circumstance. This, Mr. President, is the Sri Lanka we wish to bring before the world, a small island nation with a big heart, which believes that even in times of conflict and profound division, there remains space for humanity.
We want it to be a country that they want to return to, and not just one they want to flee from. I wish to say to all the Venezuelans who suffered the material and human losses of the earthquake, if they're wondering if it's worth carrying on, I say, yes, it is. The strength of a people is not measured in easy times, but rather at times like these. We've lived many a catastrophe as a nation, but we have always emerged more united than we were before it was unleashed. To the Venezuelan people, I say the following: I do not promise you an easy way forward. The country's recovery will take time. Rebuilding our national soul will be our priority. Let us walk united as one nation that decided, in the wake of pain, to choose hope. May this political and geopolitical juncture go down in history as the time at which we decided to get back on our feet together, to rise up, and to allow Venezuela's rebirth. On the 16th of December, we will mark 200 years since the anguished appeal of the father of our freedom, Simón Bolívar. He spoke to them to save them from dissolution, division, and civil war. He said, "Venezuelans, you will be consulted so that you can say when, where, and according to which terms you wish to convene the great national convention. There our people will exercise fully their power. There we will establish our fundamental laws. Only a man can know his worth and be the master of his own fate. An all-powerful individual, a party or a faction, cannot be that figure. Only a people is sovereign. No all-powerful individual, no party, no faction must prevail. We will all work together. We must pool our strengths to ensure the rebirth of our homeland, the homeland that our daughters and our sons deserve. May God bless Venezuela. The union of our people must be the flag that we hold high. We will rebuild a Venezuela that is dignified and which can forge ahead along its own path. Thank you.
We wish them well as they complete their tenure at the end of this year. Mr. president, few institutions embody the principle of sovereign equality as visibly as this assembly. Within these walls, differences in power, wealth and influence may shape the realities our nations confront, but they do not confer a greater claim to membership or participation. And perhaps more than anywhere else, this assembly reminds us of a simple truth: Our differences are real but so is our interdependence. This is why this organization was created with the understanding that disputes must be resolved through dialogue, human dignity must be protected, and that nations must work together if development, peace and human rights are to be sustained. In other words, that our common future requires common institutions. Eight decades later, we must ask ourselves whether we have remained faithful to that insight. And perhaps more importantly, do we still trust one another enough to act on it? Because today, Mr. President, trust is being tested. Geopolitical divisions are widening. Wars have become more protracted, with devastating humanitarian consequences. Respect for the United Nations Charter and international law is under visible strain, with developing countries facing intensifying debt burden, climate vulnerabilities, huge gaps between commitments made and implementation, and feeling of marginalization and inadequate representation in the global system. Therefore, the task before us is building stronger, better equipped, representative responsive and effective multilateral system and global financial architecture that delivers for all nations and regions. Mr. president, The Gambia's own experience within this organization gives us grounds for optimism. We have seen within this very institution that multilateralism can still deliver. During the 80th session of the General Assembly The Gambia had the honor of chairing the second Committee at a time of profound disagreement over some of the most consequential economic and development issues before us. That experience reminded us that multilateralism does not require unanimity on every issue. It requires the willingness to remain at the table to listen, negotiate, and courage to make compromises. Our experience demonstrates that in this period of deep disagreement, progress remains possible when member states approach negotiations with political will, mutual respect, and a sense of responsibility.
I return to this issue of belonging at the end of my speech. But, Mr. President, last year, from this very podium, I made a solemn pledge on behalf of Africa and the global African diaspora to seek full international recognition of the transatlantic trafficking and racialized chattel enslavement of Africans as the gravest crime against humanity. Some cautioned that we were reopening old wounds, but we came not to provoke division or render empty judgment. We came to seek healing. And true healing requires truth, and truth requires acknowledgement, and acknowledgement must lead to meaningful repair. Mr. President, for centuries, this tragedy was rendered in the passive voice as though the millions of African men, women and children just vanished into the shadows of time. Mr. President, they did not vanish. They were hunted. They were captured. They were trafficked. They were bought, they were sold. They were exploited and exchanged for profit. They were ripped from their families and communities they belonged to. Their unpaid labor built the cities, industries, banking institutions, and empires of the modern Western world. Meanwhile, the African continent was left depopulated, split families, structural disruption and generational trauma. Mr. President, on 25th March this year, the International Day of Remembrance of the Victims of Slavery and the Transatlantic Slave Trade, Ghana had the honor of tabling resolution 80/250 in this very August Assembly. Mr. President, 123 nations voted to affirm this fundamental truth that the transatlantic slave trade and chattel enslavement were the gravest crimes against humanity. I stand with respect at this podium to thank every nation that voted for justice, and am deeply grateful to our brothers and sisters in the African Union, the CARICOM, CELAC and our partners across the Global South. That resolution was not a mere gesture. It was adopted because the structural legacies of those historic crimes continue to fuel systematic racism, economic marginalization, and a global financial architecture that is weighted against Africa and people of African descent. Since the passage of the historic resolution, we welcome the positive overtures from many countries and institutions that have joined the dialogue on reparative justice. The Netherlands, Germany and France have all made positive moves to join the conversation on Reparatory justice. Mr. President, real repair demands structural transformation. It requires dismantling the persistent engines of exploitation, unfair global trade, predatory resource extraction, discriminatory credit ratings, unsustainable debt burdens of the global South, and the continued export of raw materials from Africa, while real value addition and job creation occur elsewhere. Mr. President, the injustices of the past remain embedded in today's power structures.
And taking the floor at this General Assembly, I feel the weight of history. More than 80 years ago, in the wake of a war that plunged the world into chaos, Haiti, a founding member of the United Nations, joined the nations of the world to make a pledge for peace, for dialogue and respect for human dignity. Today, while deadly crises and conflicts have proliferated and the climate emergency is intensifying and new divisions are threatening stability in Haiti and throughout the world, this founding endeavor is being put to the test. It is imperative that, given the crises that Haiti is grappling with and given those that are causing so much upheaval throughout the world, it is imperative for nations to close ranks around what is essential. That is peace, security and the well-being of all peoples. This is the whole point of the topic that brings us together this year. Mr. president, I congratulate you on your election as president of the General Assembly. I also wish to hail the Secretary General, Antonio Guterres, for his unwavering commitment to peace. I still remember fondly his visit to Port-au-Prince on the 16th of June 2026, which bore witness to his solidarity toward the Haitian people. In these difficult times that our country is undergoing, Haiti wishes to extend its gratitude to all of its partners and friends that have continued to stand by its side. In this regard, I would like to hail the commitment of the United Nations system, and especially the commitment of the Security Council and that of the Organization of American States, Caricom and the European Union, whose support remains essential. More than ever, I want to pay a particular tribute to the kindred peoples who, by contributing to the gang suppression force and supporting its full rollout, have chosen to share with us the burden of fighting for peace and security. Haiti will never forget the solidarity nor their sacrifices. I also want to underscore the privileged partnership with the United States of America and the steadfast support of Canada and the invaluable assistance of our partners such as France, Chile and Mexico in the modernization of our national security capacity. Also, the opening of the Dominican Republic to dialogue and its advocacy for a sustainable resolution to the Haitian crisis. I express my gratitude for that. Finally, we wish to recognize the Integrated Office in Haiti, the funds and programs present on the ground, as well as all of our multilateral partners.
It is precisely a state that is confident in its democratic and strategic choices that can engage and cooperate with greater confidence, with countries that have different histories, different interests, and different political perspectives. The world does not need yet another division into permanent camps. It needs competition with limits and rules that all must respect, alliances that take responsibility, and international institutions that remain a space for a dialogue precisely when dialogue is most difficult. That is why the United Nations matters, not because they can resolve every conflict. Clearly they cannot. Not because every resolution is given effect. Clearly, that is not always the case, and that should not discourage us. It should strengthen our determination to protect these United Nations and the rules upon which they are founded, and to stand for multilateralism grounded in values, mutual respect and rules. Because a world without a place where all states, regardless of their size, can sit under the same roof and invoke the same principles, would be even more dangerous than the world we see today. In 1954, Dag Hammarskjöld reminded us of a thought: the United Nations were not created to take us to heaven, but to save us from hell. Seven decades later, it is worth understanding the essence of that statement. We should not demand perfection from United Nations. We should demand relevance, the capacity to prevent and to mediate the capacity to protect human dignity and ultimately, the capacity to uphold principles, even when applying them is politically inconvenient. Today trust in the international system is being jeopardized precisely because too many people have a justified sense that the rules do not apply equally, that power sometimes take precedence over principle, that commitments are conditional, that agreements last only as long as interests remain unchanged. For small sized states, this is an especially dangerous world. Our own history has taught us that international compromises are very difficult and that peace, stability and integration require political courage and hard sacrifices.
Just like Papua New Guinea. Yet we must be united in respecting and tolerating the differences we all have. Mr. president, Papua New Guinea knows something about diversity. We have more than 800 languages and many different cultures and traditions. Yet for 51 years as an independent nation, we have remained together as one Papua New Guinea. We have disagreements and challenges. We do not claim perfection, but our own experience demonstrates something important. Diversity does not mean division. People can speak different languages and still belong to one nation. People can come from different cultures and live, but still live under one constitution. And people can worship differently and still be neighbors, colleagues, and fellow citizens. Mr. president, Papua New Guinea therefore calls upon all member states to defend freedom of conscience, thought, religion and belief.
We are, therefore, entering a period marked by a more complex and less predictable distribution of power, in which the risk of potential conflict is greater than it has been for decades. This is no longer confined to conventional armed conflicts between states. Confrontations are increasingly taking the form of economic pressure, technological restrictions, competition for resources and markets, cyberattacks, disinformation, and attempts to influence other societies. Cultural and identity-based divisions are also becoming more pronounced, increasingly exploited for political purposes, and further deepening mistrust among peoples. The boundary between peace and conflict is becoming ever less distinct, while the consequences of confrontation among global and regional powers increasingly affect even those countries that are not directly involved. For small and medium-sized countries just like the Republic of Serbia, such an environment represents an enormous challenge. The space for independent decision-making is narrowing, while pressure on states to choose sides is steadily increasing. At the same time, disagreements among the most powerful actors are increasingly paralyzing the very institutions that should be protecting all countries equally.
The transformation we seek for a better world will only happen when we trust each other and we accept our responsibility for each other. We in the Caribbean understand something about the necessity of living together. We had no choice. Barbadian novelist and essayist George Lamming once described the Caribbean as perhaps the first global experiment in human history, bringing together, and I quote, every branch of the human family, from the indigenous peoples of the Americas to the diverse peoples from Africa, Europe and Asia. It is as though that we, through this tortuous and shared history of migration, conquest, slavery and the difficult work of constructing a common national and regional destiny that we give the world an example to follow. Against all the odds, the Caribbean produced what Lamming called a new kind of global family. Our history has taught us that difference need not mean division. That coexistence requires dialogue and negotiation, and that those without the power to compel must learn the power of persuasion. These are not merely Caribbean lessons. The universal. And it is.
Sovereignty for all peoples across the board. My third conviction is that we must not yield to a divided world. Many describe this rift. Many talk about this rift between the North and the South. We won't be able to tackle any of the challenges our planet faces if we give in to this rift, and it is fueled by double standards, this rift. However, we need the North and the South to reconcile so that they can tackle climate health development challenges. And that's why over the last few years, we've launched many more initiatives. and the African Union. When it came to shoring up economies together with the International Monetary Fund to reform special drawing rights and make progress for African economies. And we held our word $100 billion in special drawing rights allocated to helping African countries. We must stay the course, ensuring that we remain united without pitting anyone against anyone else. That is why it's important that the global health infrastructure must remain intact. We will continue reforming that architecture, but we will never weaken the WHO. We must put the finishing touches on the Pandemics Treaty. Africa CDC should be in a position to combat Ebola ever more effectively. We must be clear sighted as we reform our official development assistance, ODA. We must ensure that our investments exhibit greater solidarity, that they're more effective. This is what we did with the Paris Pact for people and Planet in 2023. Also at the Africa Summit in Nairobi, we also agreed to build a new consensus around investment that stands in solidarity with other states. Countries are allocating funds, and yet the needs of the countries of the global South are growing as well. We need to go faster and go further to help the IMF and the World Bank To be more effective, we must bolster the effectiveness of the instruments at their disposal so that we can mobilize the private sector better, creating guarantee mechanisms to ensure that in emerging economies, middle income countries and developing countries, a more effective response can be mounted to the problems they face. This is the kind of new partnership we must forge in order to ensure that there is no gap, no division, between the North and the South. In a similar vein, this north south partnership requires and will require us to wield our capacity to reopen a dialogue about our common history, our cultural relationships and remembrance.
