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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.
As a frontline state in combating the menace of terrorism, we have fought terrorists in our own cities, in our own mountains, and along our frontier. Pakistan sacrificed almost 100,000 precious lives and suffered economic losses exceeding $150 billion. The world is safer today. And let me say this in all humility, the world is safer today, thanks to the valuable sacrifices of our valiant armed forces and brave civilians who took on these terrorists and mercenaries. The peace loving world must never forget this reality. Afghan territory continues to be exploited by the TTP, Fitna al-Khawarij, and the BLA, Fitna al-Hindustan. These foreign funded groups operate from sanctuaries inside Afghanistan with the aim of destabilising Pakistan. All such attacks, including incursions from the territory of Afghanistan, must come to a grinding halt. The Afghan authorities must fulfill their international commitment and take verifiable, decisive action to ensure that Afghan soil is never again used against Pakistan or any other country. Fundamental rights of the Afghan people, especially women and girls, must be respected under all circumstances. Mr. president, United Nations peacekeeping remains one of the strongest expressions of collective security. For decades, Pakistani men and women have served under the blue flag, protecting civilians and helping countries emerge from conflict.
Let me begin by paying my deepest respect to all the martyred freedom fighters of Bangladesh. I respectfully remember the contributions of those who have made the ultimate sacrifice in the struggle to establish democracy, justice and people's rights in our country since independence. I also pay my sincere respect to all those who were martyred and injured in the mass uprising of courageous students and people in July August 2024 against fascism. After more than a decade and a half of movement and struggle against fascist rule and exploitation, and through the sacrifice of thousands of lives, Bangladesh is now free from fascism in a free, fair and impartial national election held on 12th February this year. The people entrusted the Bangladesh Nationalist Party BNP with the responsibility of governing the country. I congratulate the democracy loving people of Bangladesh. We believe that the people are the source of all our political power. Standing on this world stage of the United Nations, I am somewhat nostalgic at this moment. It was from this very world stage that my father, Shaheed, President Ziaur Rahman. The proclaimer of Bangladesh's independence and my mother, former Prime Minister Begum Khaleda Zia, addressed the world on behalf of the country and its people. Today, I too, stand here to speak for the interests of my country and its people, and in the hope of a peaceful world community. In this age of globalization, whatever happens in any part of the world has, to varying degrees, a negative impact on every country.
First and foremost requires consistency between what we share here and what we do when the microphones are turned off. The choices that Chad makes, the responsibilities that it shoulders and the sacrifices that it makes, all stem from the belief that multilateralism only has a future if it knows how to reform, if it can correct any imbalances, and if it can be applied, if rather the same principles can be applied to all. Chad remains firmly committed to the ideals that prevailed at the time of the establishment of the United Nations, despite disappointments. We still believe in the force of law against the right to use force. We believe in a more representative organization of the world, as it is now more effective in its work and truly delivering for all. Long live international cooperation. Long live Chad.
Nigeria stands ready to assume greater responsibility on the strength of obligations honoured and sacrifices made over decades in the service of peace from Liberia and Sierra Leone to Darfur, Mali and The Gambia. We have committed personnel resources when international solidarity required action through a course the African Union and our Gulf of Guinea partnerships we continue to advance mediation, democratic governance, counter-terrorism and maritime security. Mr. president, our foreign policy rests on the same conviction that guides our economic reforms through sound macroeconomic management, stronger institutions, private sector development and strategic public investment. We seek to give practical meaning to our sustainable development commitments.
Those who are ill, innocent people, the poor, the least privileged in our society, are the targets of these sanctions. And this is what the United States seeks to do with all countries: to sacrifice the population of a country in order to achieve her illegitimate goals. If we seek true peace and stability, we must apply a single standard for all. Iran does not seek special treatment.
Yet while our African nations, such as Burundi, make these major sacrifices to build their future, these young talents are prematurely lured away by actors who offer better material and financial conditions without having needed to make any prior investment in their training. Let us be clear: it is imperative to establish a fair partnership so that our countries receive a fair return on the investments made in the education of our youth. The other actions we must all take also include giving young people a real voice in decision-making, peace, and development processes. Youth should not be regarded solely as beneficiaries of public policy. They must be integrated both upstream and downstream in the design and implementation of these policies. This is what would make it possible to create a secure future and restore hope to these young people. This emerged from the discussions at the 5th Continental Dialogue on Youth, Peace, and Security held in Bujumbura from August 10 to 12, 2026, a dialogue that highlighted the link between water, peace, conflict prevention, and inclusive leadership by young people and women. The discussions at this dialogue made it clear that there can be no lasting peace in Africa without the full, effective, and institutionalized participation of its youth. For too long, we have spoken of youth as a generation called upon to take the reins tomorrow. But African youth is not only the future of our continent; it must also be its present. We, therefore, call for strengthening the Continental Youth, Peace, and Security Agenda and providing it with resources commensurate with its ambitions. We have a duty to create more opportunities for young people to contribute to conflict prevention, mediation, reconciliation, and peacebuilding.
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 immoral, 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, 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 great 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 general Secretary 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 Burkitt. For the office of Secretary General of the United Nations. She has served her country, represented the developing world and work within the multilateral system with a deep understanding of both its promise and its imperfections. We believe that our experience, her convictions, her record of service, speak directly to the kind of leadership this moment demands. Her candidature, therefore, requires 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 Burkitt. 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 Caroline 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 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 Caroline Rodrigues Burkitt, 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. Ghana 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. May God bless all of you. May God bless our humanity. May God guide us to peace and keep our world safe, our children safe, and give us all the worth, all to build nations that are prosperous.
Second, a state does not regain the trust of its citizens through reform alone, but also by reclaiming its national decision making. In that spirit, we did not merely affirm the principle that weapons must be exclusively in the hands of the state, and that decisions on war and peace rest solely with its constitutional institutions. We translate that commitment into decisions taken by the Council of Ministers, notably in August and September of last year and again in March of this year. That was after Lebanon found itself in a war that it did not choose. It was imposed upon us despite our repeated warnings. Again repeated warnings of the dangers of being drawn into it. As the war in the region widened and initiatives to end it multiplied, we held fast to a non-negotiable principle. No one speaks for Lebanon and no one negotiates on its behalf except the Lebanese state through its constitutional institutions. It is true that Lebanon is affected by developments in its surroundings. That does not mean, however, that we accept its becoming once again an arena for the conflicts of others or a burning bargaining chip in their hands. Lebanon's future. Will not be decided on its behalf, nor may its security and stability become the price of settlements concluded in its absence. Third our position on the war has been clear from the outset. We want it to end. We want the cease fire consolidated. We want Israel to withdraw from all Lebanese territory up to our internationally recognised borders, in accordance with the 1949 General Armistice Agreement and as affirmed by resolution 1701. We want the release of all our detainees, the safe and dignified return of our people to their villages and towns, and the reconstruction of what the war has destroyed. It was in that spirit that the Lebanese state entered into negotiations with Israel under the kind auspices of the United States of America and its president, for which we are grateful. With a view to reaching arrangements that ensure an end to the war and the restoration of Lebanon's full sovereignty. The sovereignty to which we are committed is indivisible. It requires Israel's withdrawal from all Lebanese territory. It equally requires the extension of the authority of the Lebanese state through its own forces, over the entirety of its territory, with weapons held by the state alone. It is on these two principles, and on the basis of reciprocity and phased implementation, that the tripartite framework reached in the negotiations rest. However, the success of any agreement is measured not by declared intentions but by fulfilment of commitments. What is required today, therefore, is to complete the translation of this framework into practical steps within a clear timetable and with a verification mechanism that ensures the implementation of all its provisions. Mr. president, in this context, I must pay tribute to the role played by the United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon, UNIFIL, and to the courage of its leadership, personnel and staff and their sacrifices in preserving stability, supporting the Lebanese Armed forces and implementing resolution 1701. To all the countries that have contributed troops to this force, Lebanon extends its profound thanks and appreciation. We have taken note of Security Council resolution 2790 of 2025, which decided to terminate UNIFIL's operations at the end of this year and to begin its gradual withdrawal, and requested the Secretary general to explore available options for the continued implementation of resolution 1701. What we wish to stress here and today is the need to avert the vacuum that UNIFIL's withdrawal could create, were it to take place without agreement on a new international force to replace it. Such a force should ensure the continuation of monitoring, reporting and liaison functions and its role should complement the requirements for implementing the tripartite framework.
Today, on the occasion of the 60th of the anniversary of the Revolution of the 26th of September, we reaffirm our commitment to the values and objectives of the September and October revolutions and to the principles of our national struggle principles that are non-negotiable with determination of the Yemenis, their sacrifices and perseverance, Yemen will regain its security and its stability. Bab el Mandeb, Bab el Mandeb will remain, as geography intended it to be, a bridge between peoples, a route for commerce and a gateway to peace Allow me to conclude this statement with words by a Yemeni poet expressing faith in the Yemeni people, Yemeni homeland and future, and affirming that Yemen belongs to its free people, not to Iran, nor to its proxies, he said. We are the land, its custodians and its inhabitants. To us it belongs, for we are its people, and its home today belongs to the people in yesterday. The glorious yesterday belongs to them as well. To them belong the future. History and time itself. Long live Yemen, free, secure and great.
We have no other choice. At no time was this demonstrated more clearly than on October 7th, 2023, the darkest day in Israel's history On that horrific day, thousands of Palestinians terrorists stormed into Israel from Gaza. Now, I want you to know there wasn't a single Israeli then in Gaza. Not a civilian, not a soldier, not one. But it didn't matter one bit. The Hamas terrorists committed the worst slaughter of Jews since the Holocaust. They went house to house, shooting Israeli civilians point blank. They did so with with fiendish glee, with sadistic joy. They live streamed as they murdered. And who did they murder? The very Israelis, their neighbors. Who gave them jobs, who picked up Palestinian children at the Gaza border and drove them to Israeli hospitals for cancer treatment and then brought them back. Can you imagine such monstrosity? This these Hamas monsters, they slaughtered Holocaust survivors. They burned babies alive in front of their parents. They beheaded our men. They brutally raped our women, and then they murdered them. Altogether. They slaughtered 1200 Israelis that day. I want to give you an idea of what this means for a country of 10 million. Proportionately, this is equal to 40,000 innocent Americans slaughtered in less than 24 hours. That's 16 times nine, 11 16, nine, 11. That occurred not very far from here. On that darkest of days. Our enemies expected us to collapse. Well, we didn't collapse. Instead, we rose and fought like lions. For the past three years, our heroic soldiers have fought day in and day out in a seven front war. Do you know any other country the size of new Jersey capable of fighting a seven front war? And for three years, seven fronts Hamas, Hezbollah, the Houthis, Iran, militias in Iraq, militias in Syria, Palestinian terrorists in Judea Samaria. They all ganged up on us to wipe us off the face of the earth. They failed because instead of collapsing, we delivered crippling blows to all of them. With our great American friends, we crushed Iran's army, navy, air force, and nuclear facilities. Israel hammered Hamas, we pummeled Hezbollah. You remember the beepers? Remember these things. Remember them? Yeah. Well, I can tell you this. Hezbollah certainly remembers them. Guess what happened to the bulk of the Hezbollah's vast arsenal of 150,000 ballistic missiles and rockets, all aimed at our civilians. They're gone. Hezbollah's leaders dead, their spirit broken. The arch terrorists, the worst mass murderers on earth. Not only killing Israelis, killing Americans, killing Brits, killing citizens of hundreds, dozens of countries. Khamenei, death, Sinwar, Haniyeh, Nasrallah and thousands of other terrorists who sought to destroy us. They're all gone to. The remaining terrorists are desperately trying to regroup. Every day they try to murder our people. And in particular, they try to murder our people in our historic homeland in Judea. By the way, that's where the word Jew comes from. Judea. That's our land. They try to murder us. Thousands of attempts per year on families, peaceful families driving along the roads. They shoot at pregnant women. They shoot entire families. Of course, none of this is covered in the international press or in the social media. None of it None of it. What they cover is a handful of young juvenile delinquents, about 150 in number who go, who throw stones who chop down olive trees. Occasionally they do. They fire up. They lit some fires. I can't stand that. I won't stand for vigilantism. We're a country of law. So we put our Shin Bet on them. But that's what they call settler violence And the number of casualties a year, maybe two. Three in the total time that this is being discussed, maybe 2 or 3 dead compared to the thousands of terrorist attacks against the peaceful settlers, honorable people, law abiding people. What a distortion. It's an obsession. I hear this discussion here. I mean, leaders of countries seriously talk about that. And they say it with such importance. We can't stand settler violence. You don't know what you're talking about. And listen, two days ago, two days ago, two days ago. I say this to my colleague Emmanuel Macron. Two days, three days ago, a French citizen, Netanyahu shukran, a father of six, was gunned down when he visited a spring with his 16 year old son and a Hamas terrorist in Judea. Samaria comes and fires point blank at him in the last words he uttered flee, flee, son, save yourself. That was three days ago. Two days ago, in Judea, Samaria, a reserve officer, a reserve soldier near your leader was mowed down by a drive down terrorist Palestinian terrorists. He's fighting for his life now in a Jerusalem hospital. I visited the family right before I boarded the plane to come here. Najjar, a father of four, is the son of Yahia Lider, our brilliant ambassador to the United States. Three years ago, Israel's oldest son, Moshe, a father of six, was killed while clearing a booby trapped building in Gaza. You killed my brother. Your pain is immeasurable. The entire people of Israel and many outside of Israel are praying for Neerja's life. But despite the pain, despite the agony, we do not give in. In a recent post before he was attacked, Najjar wrote this. Listen to this. We have no other country. It's a privilege to defend it to an area and to all the heroes of Israel. I pledge a sacred vow. Your sacrifice will not be in vain. We will continue to defend our state. We will continue to win because we have no other choice. In this battle against the barbarians. We've had no greater partner than President Trump, I thank him. I thank him for his bold leadership. He boldly confronted an enormous danger to America, Israel and the world decades ago. He understood that if left unchallenged, the fanatic ayatollahs who chant Death to America, death to Israel would eventually carry out their mad fantasies. So Israel and America acted together not only to protect ourselves, but to save civilization. Brave American pilots, alongside brave Israeli pilots, flew joint missions over the skies of Iran. America and Israel also worked together to bring back our remaining hostages. We brought back every last one of them. You ask, why are we winning?
I would also like to commend the memory of the late General Sadio Camara, Minister of Defense of Mali, whose ultimate sacrifice will forever be associated with the history of the Confederation of the States of the Sahel. May Allah grant him eternal Paradise. Amen. Ladies and gentlemen, we remain open to any security cooperation, of course, which takes into account our strategic interests, mutual interests and respect for our sovereignty with Burkina Faso and Mali. Niger, within the Confederation of Sahel states, is developing cooperation that is focused on defense and security, diplomacy and development. This responds to a requirement for solidarity between peoples that face common challenges. On the 16th of September 2023 in Bamako, Niger, Mali and Burkina Faso signed the Liptako-Gourma Charter, giving birth to the Alliance of Sahel States on the 6th of July 2024 in Niamey. Our three heads of state, President Assimi Goita of Mali, President Ibrahim Traoré of Burkina Faso and President Abdourahamane Tiani of Niger took the historic step of creating the Confederation of Sahel states. Two years later, the institutional structure of this confederation is practically complete. A unified force of 5000 men is conducting the coordinated fight against the mercenaries afflicting our three territories on our borders. This force can be mobilized to a ceiling of 15,000 men. That must be underscored. A confederation investment and development bank has been created. It finances our projects and programs using our own resources. A Confederation biometric passport has been in use since the 29th of January 2025. A television channel, a press agency and a shared radio carry the voice and the message of the AES. More recently, from the 26th to the 29th of August 2026, the first meetings of the Confederation Parliament were held in Niamey, thus completing our institutional architecture. Excellencies, ladies and gentlemen, Niger is a country of peace. Truly a country of peace.
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.
