Mr. Distinguished President of the General Assembly, distinguished Secretary-General, excellencies, ladies and gentlemen. I take the floor on behalf of the Central African Republic, with the full sense of responsibility bestowed by this podium and the pride of a people that has never given up hope.

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.

This is the paradox of our time. We have never had so many reasons to act together, and we have never found it so difficult to do so. This paradox comes with a price, and this price is primarily being paid by the most vulnerable. According to the UN itself, more than 147 million people in 19 countries and territories experienced acute food insecurity caused by conflict in 2025, and yet at a time when need is soaring, resources are shrinking. Humanitarian funding has fallen to its lowest levels since 2016. Official development aid is crumbling. Peacekeeping operations, including in my own country, have been forced to cut back their patrols, shut down bases, and suspend local dialogue initiatives. Each budget cut adopted in New York or in some faraway capital is an opportunity for armed groups on the ground.

The trap is an insidious one. A fragile country needs security to develop, and it needs development for stability. When health care, education, roads, energy, and youth employment are placed on the back burner, it is not only the SDGs that move out of reach; it is peace itself that is jeopardized. I would like to emphasize that abandoning fragile countries will not lead to savings.

It is simply putting off a bill that will have to be paid with interest. The CAR understands this trap, and it also knows how to escape it. It has undergone trials that remain fresh in our memory and has learned a lesson: peace cannot be decreed; it must be built day after day through dialogue, justice, and shared development. No peace imposed by force can be lasting. Only a negotiated peace that is just and inclusive can truly restore trust between nations. That is why we made the difficult and often criticized choice of an inclusive political dialogue, negotiated disarmament, and national reconciliation, instead of a military response alone. This olive branch policy has led to tangible results that I would like to share with this Assembly. Out of the 14 armed groups that signed the Political Agreement for Peace and Reconciliation, 11 have already voluntarily disbanded as part of the disarmament, demobilization, reintegration, and repatriation program. The last two groups involved in this process are continuing the process of disbandment in accordance with the N'Djamena Accord. I say this with the conviction of lived experience: holding out one's hand to yesterday's opponent is not a sign of weakness. It is often the safest path toward a lasting peace. And that is why I renew the proposal that the CAR has been making for several sessions now, to establish a global conflict prevention and mediation mechanism with predictable financing, and that is managed with complete transparency.

Mr. President, we cannot restore trust without tackling climate change with the same resolve. There cannot be lasting security without climate security. There cannot be climate security without climate justice. My country will bring three demands to the 31st Conference of the Parties in Antalya, Turkey: that the Loss and Damage Fund become fully operational and accessible; that adaptation financing should no longer be the forgotten stepchild of climate finance; and that the countries of the Congo Basin, the second-largest lung of the planet, should finally be justly compensated for the services they provide to humanity by protecting their ecosystems.

This demand for justice also applies to global health. We call for equitable access to vaccines and health care technologies, and for strengthening health systems in the most vulnerable countries. Restoring trust, Mr. President, is not limited to interstate relations. First and foremost, it is built within our own borders between the state and its citizens.

This is the goal of our National Development Plan 2024-2028, which has five pillars: security and governance; human capital; resilient infrastructure; economic production; and environmental sustainability. These pillars are not only a planning framework, but are also a renewed social contract with our population. At the heart of this ambition lies our youth. Our youth is our greatest asset, our greatest responsibility. A well-trained and employed youth, involved in decision-making, is the best guarantee against recruitment by armed groups. The same is true for women, whose role in peacebuilding is not a bonus but a prerequisite. Mr. President, my country, like so many others, is experiencing the impact of crises surrounding it, from refugee movements to pressure on our borders. The war in neighboring Sudan has pushed more than 27,000 refugees to settle around the city of Birao alone.

The population of Birao has more than doubled, exerting intolerable pressure on water resources and on already strained services. The town of Am Dafok last June experienced an escalation of violence that put more than 11,000 of our compatriots on the street, while the arrival of Sudanese livestock farmers fleeing with their flocks has inflamed new tensions with our rural populations over access to water and land. Tensions that armed groups eagerly exploit. My country, with its legendary hospitality, is not complaining.

We are asking for regional and international solidarity to be commensurate with the challenges we are facing. The CAR, like all sovereign nations, aspires to take full charge of its own security. And I say this with the same gravity: any drawdown of MINUSCA ought to be gradual, based upon objective and agreed criteria, and not be based on an arbitrary timeline untethered from realities on the ground. Mr. President, the transformation that is the theme of this session is what we want, but we refuse to allow it to take place without Africa or while exploiting Africa.

This transformation first requires a bold Security Council reform. We cannot claim to represent the world of 2026 with the proportions of 1945. A continent of more than 1.3 billion inhabitants, whose crises make up a large portion of the Council's work, ought to have at least one permanent seat in it. The Pact for the Future has opened a window, but two years after its adoption, negotiations on Security Council reform are still ongoing. The decision that is urgently needed has yet to be made. The African position, represented for years now by the Ezulwini Consensus and the Sirte Declaration, is not a favor we are asking. It is a demand for justice and effectiveness. Transformation, next, requires peacekeeping operations with realistic mandates and predictable financing. We support strengthening the UN-African Union partnership, including through predictable financing for African-led operations. Lastly, the transformation requires an international financial architecture that stops penalizing fragile countries. These reforms are not favors; they are investments in the world's stability. The UN must benefit all of its members.

Mr. President, digital transformation and the rise of artificial intelligence are rightly considered to be one of the great promises of our time. The Global Digital Compact must become a reality: affordable connectivity, skills transfer, data protection, and a governance of AI in which developing countries decide instead of simply being users. The transformation also requires facing history with lucidity. The wounds left behind by colonization are still being felt on our continent.

Reparations are not simply reopening a feud of the past. They are a demand for justice for the future, recognition of the wrongs committed, restitution of cultural goods and archives, equitable cooperation, debt relief. There are many possible paths. The African Union has prioritized this, and the CAR fully supports these efforts.

Transformation calls for real respect for the sovereignty of states. Sanctions and restrictions must be tools for peace and must be adjusted in accordance with the progress made. They must not be retaliatory measures serving geopolitical interests. Mr. President, we are at a crossroads. We have our diagnosis. It is now time for decision. That is why the CAR calls upon the UN to act. Saving the world is not a task for one nation or one continent.

It is our collective will to action. Let this 81st Session be one in which we stop taking stock and begin taking action. Thank you for your kind attention.