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.

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Madam President, excellencies, our world is undergoing a profound disruption characterised by great-power contestation, the wars in Ukraine, the Middle East, Africa. We're witnessing the rise of trade barriers, supply chain disruptions, worsening climate change, and a new industrial revolution driven by digital technologies, biotechnology and renewable energy. This means we face both great peril and great promise. Yet we are in a more polarised and fractured world, and one that may be unable to protect the global commons at precisely the moment that we need that protection. Our inter-state relations are increasingly dictated by raw power, where the outcomes are determined on the basis of size, leverage and coercion. And this poses obviously, a clear and present danger for smaller states like Singapore. But the point I wanted to make is that even the more powerful states would ultimately pay a price, because hard power on its own cannot secure supply chains, protect populations from pandemics, or stabilise a warming planet. Even big powers need partners to secure their long term national interests. The bilateral and regional arrangements can complement global frameworks, but on their own, they cannot replace shared rules that apply universally. A system built on individual coercive bargains would inherently be more volatile and more unstable. And therefore, our thesis today is that multilateralism offers a different bargain, one that is, in every state's enlightened national interest. These shared rules and norms provide predictability. They constrain the capricious exercise of power, and they maximize autonomy even when power is unequally distributed. Actually the multilateral system today still works more often than the headlines would suggest. A few examples. The World Food Programme feeds over 100 million people a year. The common ICAO standards enable 100,000 flights to operate safely every day. With the ITU, our telecommunications networks and the internet continues to operate safely, smoothly on a planetary scale. The question is, therefore not whether we need multilateralism, but how to make it fit for purpose. And I suggest three priorities. First, we all have to consistently comply with international law and the norms of multilateralism. Second, we need to reform existing institutions where needed. And third, we need to collectively formulate new rules and create new institutions for new technologies.

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Mr. President of the General Assembly, Secretary General. Excellencies, ladies and gentlemen, multilateralism is not an ideal of the past.

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Mr. president, I extend my congratulations on your election as president of the 81st session of the General Assembly. I wish you every success as you undertake this important responsibility at a moment when multilateralism and indeed the United Nations faces profound challenges. I also express my sincere appreciation to your predecessor for her stewardship over the past year. I take this opportunity to record Guyana's gratitude to the Secretary General, His Excellency Antonio Guterres, for his distinguished service to the United Nations and to the cause of humanity. His place in the history of this institution is assured not merely by the office he has occupied, but by the principles he has steadfastly upheld, the courage and profundity with which he has spoken when silence would have been easier, and his rare ability to hold before the world a clear mirror of the perils that confront our age and the possibilities that still beckon beyond them.

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Mr. president, doctor Khalilur Rahman, Excellency, Mr. Antonio Guterres, Secretary General of the United Nations. Your Majesties Excellencies, head of State and government, heads of delegation, distinguished delegates. Ladies and gentlemen it is a distinct honor for me to address this assembly on behalf of His Excellency, Mr. Adama Barrow, president of the Republic of the Gambia. I bring to this hall the warm greetings of the government and people of the Gambia, together with our enduring friendship, solidarity and goodwill to all nations represented here. Mr. president allow me at the outset to congratulate you most warmly on your election as president of the 81st session of the General Assembly. The Gambia assures you of our full support and constructive cooperation as you guide our collective work under the timely theme you have chosen: restoring trust and managing transformation so that the United Nations can deliver for all. That theme speaks directly to the moment in which we meet. Permit me also to express our profound appreciation to your predecessor, Miss Annalena Baerbock, for the dedication, dignity and determination with which she presided over the 80th session of the General Assembly. I also wish to place on record The Gambia's appreciation for the Secretary General, Mr. Antonio Guterres, and Deputy Secretary general Amina Mohammed, whose steady and principled leadership, through years of compounding global crisis, have done much to keep the flame of multilateral cooperation alight even as the winds against it have grown fiercer.

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Over the course of your tenure, you have led United Nations through some of the most tumultuous periods in recent international history. You have stood consistently for multilateralism at a time when multilateralism itself was under enormous pressure. Vanuatu hopes that the next secretary general will carry forward that same commitment to all member states, large or small. Mr. president, Vanuatu comes to this 81st session of the General Assembly with a simple message the world needs the United Nations more than ever, and the United Nations must deliver for the people who depend on it. The theme of this session Restoring Trust, Managing transformation, a United Nations that delivers for all, therefore comes at an important moment. The 81st session opened against a backdrop of profound geopolitical uncertainty and rapid transformation. For Vanuatu, developments in international systems are never distant or abstract. The effects reach our villages, our markets, our schools, our hospitals, our oceans and our homes. Mr. president, the international political and security environment is becoming increasingly difficult. We are witnessing geopolitical competition, strategic rivalry and conflicts, growing military expenditures, economic fragmentation, technological disruption and weakening of confidence in the multilateral institutions. The rules that were designed to provide predictability and stability are increasingly being tested. The prohibition against the use of force is being challenged. The international humanitarian law is being tested, the peaceful settlement of disputes is being undermined, and the authority of international institutions is being questioned. For small states, this is deeply concerning. Small states do not possess the military, economic or technological capabilities of major powers. We do not have the ability to impose our will through coercion. Our security depends fundamentally on something else international law, multilateral institutions, diplomacy and the equal sovereignty of states. This is why Vanuatu has a profound interest in the success of the United Nations. The charter begins with a commitment to save succeeding generations from the scourge of war, and reaffirms the equal rights of nations, large and small. It establishes sovereign equality, peaceful settlement of disputes and the prohibition of the threat or use of force as fundamental principles of international relations. These are not merely legal concepts for Vanuatu. They are our security architecture. When international law is respected, a small nation has protection. When the charter is respected, a small state has a voice. When disputes are resolved peacefully, a small state does not have to choose between submission and confrontation. And when sovereignty is respected, independence has meaning. We therefore cannot accept a world in which international law applies differently according to the size, military strength or economic power of a state. The charter must apply equally to all. Mr. president, the security environment is also changing in ways that are particularly important for the Pacific region. The Pacific Islands are increasingly viewed through the lens of strategic competition.

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But it was not only the people of South Africa who were unchained when apartheid collapsed. The end of apartheid also marked the end of a system that exported violence and instability across southern Africa. Indeed, the fall of apartheid is a glorious story that attests to what multilateralism can deliver. Since democratic South Africa took its place in this assembly we have pursued a foreign policy anchored in ubuntu and international law, dialogue and multilateralism, and in the understanding that our fate is tied to the fortunes of our region and the continent as a whole. Millions more South Africans have access to education, electricity, water and sanitation, housing and social protection than they did at the dawn of our democracy or under apartheid. We have built a united nation of diverse people, steeled in their determination to never let history repeat itself. We have built a vibrant democracy capable of self-correcting and stepping back from the brink, a democracy strong enough to withstand and resist attempts at external supervision and tutelage. After the 2024 elections, political parties put national stability above narrow interests and formed a government of national unity within two weeks of the announcement of the results. Since the dawn of our democracy we have held no fewer than seven free and fair national elections. As we speak, South Africans are preparing once again to exercise their democratic right, this time in the local government elections on the 4th of November 2026. Again, the will of the people will prevail. The promise of democracy and international cooperation wanes when we cannot demonstrate that they can address inequality and insecurity. Compelled by our unenviable position as the world's most unequal society, South Africa made inequality a key focus of our G20 presidency in 2025.

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Mr. President, Excellencies, as the UN Secretary-General reminded us a few years ago, the United Nations is a product of hope. Eighty-one years after its birth, that hope is being tested. Technology, including artificial intelligence, is advancing at rapid speed; climate change is reshaping our societies; the international landscape is becoming more complex, more contested, and more unpredictable. The international order is not simply changing; it is being tested in an unprecedented manner. But it is in such times of uncertainty that the foundational values of multilateralism must be protected: international law, the UN Charter, respect for sovereignty and territorial integrity, the peaceful settlement of disputes, respect for human rights, the equality of states. All these are not principles of the past; they are principles that transcend time, the essential ingredient for the present and for the future. The challenge before us is therefore clear: as the world changes, our institutions must be able to respond to new realities and threats while guided by the painful lessons of history and the vision of the founding fathers of this organization. And this is the essence of the theme of the 81st General Assembly: restoring trust, managing transformation, a United Nations that delivers for all. Ladies and gentlemen, transformation is inevitable. What must remain constant is the UN Charter as our compass. It directs all of us, irrespective of power, size, and leverage. For small-sized countries, the principle of equality of states is fundamental, and it has formed the binding trust between us. We rely on an international system in which sovereignty and territorial integrity are respected. We expect international law, including the UN Convention on the Law of the Sea, to be applied consistently. We believe in the peaceful resolution of disputes, and we demand that the rights of every state be protected. These are the integral elements of our collective trust, and this is the code of conduct of Cyprus's diplomatic engagement. And in a rapidly changing world, small-sized states must seek synergies while continuing to pursue strategic autonomy. Preserving trust also requires institutions capable of responding to the world as it is today. The United Nations must therefore continue to evolve. The UN80 initiative is an important part of this effort. The Pact for the Future and the 2030 Agenda and its Sustainable Development Goals are also part of the effort to ensure that multilateral cooperation can respond to the needs of our time. This moment of reform also comes as the UN Secretary-General approaches the completion of a decade leading this organization. Cyprus wishes to acknowledge his leadership during a period of extraordinary global developments, his steadfast commitment to multilateralism, and his effort to strengthen and reform the UN. But reforming our structural setup is only part of the answer. What is also needed is a genuine willingness of member states to contribute and protect the multilateral system. After all, states bring different capabilities, experiences, and perspectives. Great powers have scale; smaller states must have persuasion. We cannot compel, but we can coalesce. We cannot dictate outcomes, but together we can help shape them. There is no doubt that the challenges of today require cooperation and partnerships based on the knowledge of regions and of the realities.

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We have prospered in the peace that Europe enjoyed for decades after 1945, and we have never forgotten that the peace could not be taken for granted. It was built generation after generation by those who chose cooperation over confrontation. Today, that peace is being challenged once again. Russia's war of aggression against Ukraine has brought war back to our continent. It is a stark reminder that peace requires constant commitment, and that the principles on which our international order was built must be defended. The United Nations itself was born from that choice. Its charter called upon us to unite our strength to maintain international peace and security, and above all, to save succeeding generations from the scourge of war. 81 years later, that promise is under considerable pressure, but it has not failed. Multilateralism may be imperfect, but disenchantment should lead us to reform, not to dismissal. The question is, therefore, not whether we still need multilateralism. The question is whether we have the courage to make it better.

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Excellencies, Mr. President, ladies and gentlemen, can we speak of development when international peace and security are being tested by multiplying crises around the world and persistent tensions? Restoring trust requires the United Nations to maintain and to restore peace. We must be concerned that the multilateral system is struggling to contain escalating tensions fueled by geopolitical rivalries. These crises now affecting different regions of the planet, have consequences for our states. They directly impact our economies and the daily lives of our populations through disruptions in energy supply chains and difficulties in the delivery of essential goods. These are all factors which further aggravate the vulnerabilities that we already face.

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Our world is changing at a pace far exceeding the ability of international governance institutions to respond. Our crisis does not lie in the absence of charters and principles, but rather in the widening gap between what we proclaim and what we implement, and between those who make decisions and those who are affected by them. Our world does not need a merely symbolic multilateralism that brings together states in open discussions. Rather, it needs effective multilateralism in which every state has a voice and every people receive a fair share of decisions, opportunities, and resources. It is no exaggeration to say that confidence in the effectiveness of collective action and the multilateral system has declined. There is an urgent need to restore adherence to international law to avoid policies based on power, polarization and double standards. It is no coincidence that the countries of the Global South, which comprise the overwhelming majority of the world's population, are among those most harmed by the decline of the rule of international law, the weakening role of international organizations, and the fragility of global governance and international cooperation frameworks. From this perspective, Egypt, as a founding member of the United Nations, believes that restoring trust requires three interconnected pillars justice and representation and decision making, justice and the application of the law and justice in the distribution of development and transformation opportunities. This is not a call to rebuild the international system from scratch. It is a call to fulfill its original promises and purposes. Notably, sovereign equality among states respect for law, peaceful settlement of disputes, international cooperation for the benefit of peoples, and enabling them to reap the benefits of accelerating scientific progress. The multilateral international system remains an indispensable choice. However, its survival depends on strengthening justice and ensuring the effectiveness and sustainability of its institutions. Instead of merely repeating the principles for which it was established without making meaningful action. Mr. president, if justice in the application of rules is the litmus test of the credibility of the international system, then the Palestinian issue remains the clearest example of the existing dysfunction.

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Mr. President, distinguished Heads of State and Government. Mr. Secretary-General, ladies and gentlemen. I have the honour of addressing this August Assembly on behalf of the government and the people of the Republic of Guinea-Bissau. Allow me to congratulate Mr. Khalilur Rahman on his election as president of the General Assembly of the United Nations. I am confident that his governmental and diplomatic experience will help guide the work of this Assembly with balance and in a spirit of dialogue. I also commend Miss Annalena Baerbock for the dedication she demonstrated during her term of office, and for her efforts to strengthen multilateralism and international cooperation.

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This very simple experience seems to me to have something to teach us about the world in which we live. Because we are going through a time of upheaval. The international order established in the aftermath of the Second World War is under severe constraints. Conflicts are multiplying and becoming deadlocked. The most fundamental principles of the United Nations Charter, the prohibition of the use of force and respect for sovereignty and territorial integrity are being openly violated. Added to this are transformations that are reshaping our societies: climate change and the increase in the number of disasters, humanitarian crises, inequalities and also technological upheavals, notably artificial intelligence which are often advancing faster than our collective ability to assess their implications. At the same time, multilateral institutions are having to respond to an increasing number of crises while facing pressure, pressure on resources and an erosion of trust. The theme of this 81st session of the General Assembly Restoring Trust, managing transformation, a United Nations that delivers for all, therefore aptly sums up the task before us to restore trust to support transformation, and to demonstrate through concrete results that cooperation remains possible. This erosion of trust extends far beyond the realms of peace and security. We are also seeing it in the global economy. Protectionism is on the rise.

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Our task cannot simply be to survive one crisis after another. We must transform the conditions that make people vulnerable in the first place. We must renew our global system strengthen our multilateral partnerships, and summon the collective will necessary to build a world worthy of the next generation. And that transformation must begin with people.

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Mr. president, your theme for this session could hardly be more timely because today, trust is in short supply. Wars and conflicts are devastating communities and displacing millions. Geopolitical tensions are deepening. Climate change is destroying lives, livelihoods, and decades of development in a matter of hours. New technologies, including artificial intelligence, are offer extraordinary promise while presenting risks we have not yet fully understood. And at the very moment when collective action is most needed, confidence in multilateralism itself is being tested. Jamaica's position is clear. The shortcomings of multilateralism cannot be solved by abandoning multilateralism. For small states like ours, a rules based international order is not an abstract diplomatic preference. It is fundamental to our sovereignty, our security and our development. But neither can we safeguard multilateralism simply by defending it. We must reform it. We must make it more representative, more accountable, more efficient and more responsive to the needs and realities of the people it was created to serve. That is why Jamaica has chosen not merely to call for reform, but to help lead it. Our permanent representative was privileged to co-chair with New Zealand, the UN 80 initiative's informal ad hoc working Group on mandate implementation review. That work culminated in General Assembly Resolution 80/251, an important framework for improving how UN mandates are created, implemented and reviewed. Jamaica now continues that work alongside Norway. Our objective is straightforward a United Nations that spends less time sustaining process for its own sake and more time fulfilling its purpose. That is the multilateralism Jamaica believes in. Mr. president, the selection of the next Secretary General will be one of the most consequential decisions before Member states this year. Jamaica proudly joins our CARICOM family in supporting the candidacy of Her Excellency Carolyn Rodrigues-Birkett of the Cooperative Republic of Guyana. Her candidacy also speaks to something larger. Small states have long served the international system as bridge builders, consensus makers, and problem solvers. We learned very early that influence does not depend only on size or power. It can come from credibility, from dialogue, from principle and the capacity to bring people together.

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The president of the General Assembly, the Secretary General Excellencies, distinguished heads of State and government. Ladies and gentlemen. We congratulate you, Mr. President on your election as the president of the 81st session of the United Nations General Assembly and pledge our cooperation and support during your tenure. We also commend the Secretary General for his strong leadership at a challenging time in our multilateral system.

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We also recognize the work carried out by your predecessor, Her Excellency Annalena Baerbock, in the service of this organization, whose contribution we greatly value. Mr. President, the topic chosen for this session—"Restoring Trust, Managing Transformation: A United Nation That Benefits All"— invites us to return to the opening words of the United Nations Charter: simple words, yet perhaps amongst the most powerful ever inscribed in an international treaty. We, the people, together, as the most comprehensive expression of our collective responsibility toward humanity. Eighty-one years ago, in the face of devastation caused by war, humanity chose cooperation over confrontation; the law over force and hope over fear. That promise has shaped generations; it has protected millions of lives in the whole world, and it gave voice to those that, during many times, remained on the margin of international decisions. Today, however, the promise that we face is one of the toughest tests, as we live in a world marked by protracted wars, growing geopolitical rivalities, persistent humanitarian crises, severe weather events, and other highly complex challenges in the world. At the same time, Your Excellency, the digital revolution, the demographic changes, and the organization of the value chains are transforming our economies every day and society at an unprecedented pace. Never has the world been so interconnected and, at the same time, so fragmented like today. And it is precisely in this context that the theme of this session takes on important significance:" Restoring Trust" requires consistency between the principles we proclaim as leaders and the decisions we make. It requires the fair application of international law and concrete results that translate into improvement in the lives of the people in the whole world. In short," restoring trust" means renewing the promise made eighty-one years ago. I repeat: we, the people. Mr. President, Mozambique knows from its own experience the value of multilateralism and the value of the United Nations, this organization. This organization has stood by our people at decisive moments of its history, on the path to our national independence as a people, in the pursuit and building of peace in Mozambique, and in the national reconstruction, in the responding to natural disasters, and in the promotion of sustainable development. Today, in the process of the national dialogue, thank you so much, UN. The trust of Mozambique is a result of a living memory of the Mozambican people. It is in this spirit that Mozambique would like to commend the leadership of the Secretary-General, António Guterres, whose tenure coincided with a period marked by enormous global challenges, and in which the limits of multilateralism were put to the test. He leaves behind a robust organization that is prepared to better respond to the challenges of our time. His legacy is, in our point of view, unquestionably positive and marked by transformative achievements of this organization. Thus, the best tribute we can pay to his legacy is to continue the work of strengthening this organization, because no generation is going to inherit the United Nations as a finished legacy.

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Distinguished Mr. President, Excellencies, I do want to congratulate first of all Dr. Rahman on his election as President of the United Nations General Assembly, and I also wish to thank Mrs. Baerbock for her leadership of the 80th Session of the General Assembly. And let me also make a special thanks to Secretary-General Guterres, whose stewardship of this organization and partnership with Montenegro over the past decade we deeply value. It is my great honor to address you today as President of Montenegro, a Balkan and Mediterranean country, a credible NATO ally, steadily advancing toward membership in the European Union, and deeply committed to regional cooperation and effective multilateralism.

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Technology is changing how we work, communicate, and understand the world. Climate change is reshaping economies, communities, and entire ecosystems. Conflicts are destroying lives and displacing families. Economic uncertainty is deepening inequality while progress towards achieving the Sustainable Development Goals has stalled. These challenges are not unfolding in isolation. They are interconnected, global in scale and beyond the capacity of any one nation to address alone. They demand stronger cooperation and renewed confidence in multilateralism. Yet, excellencies, at the very moment when collective action is most urgently needed, this organization stands at a crossroads. The question before us, therefore, is whether we possess the courage, solidarity and political will to shape that change and guide our world towards peace, justice and shared prosperity. I strongly believe that most right thinking individuals would agree that the UN system has substantially delivered for all countries over the several decades of its existence. For more than 80 years, this organization has embodied humanity's highest collective aspiration that countries large and small, rich and poor can work together to prevent conflict, protect human dignity and improve the lives of their people. The United Nations provides shelter and protection to people enduring conflict, displacement, and natural disaster. It supports education healthcare, peacekeeping, elections and development in communities that might otherwise be forgotten. These achievements matter and must never be dismissed or diminished. What the United Nations does not currently do enough is deliver at the transformative level. Too often humanity and the institutions we have created to serve us have had to concentrate on managing one crisis after another, without giving enough attention to the conditions that allow them to persist. Excellencies, there is no question that managing crises is necessary. It brings relief, restores hope, and saves lives. But we cannot stop there. Our responsibility must also be to address the root causes of these problems and build systems that are fairer, stronger and better able to serve our people. The true test of this organization, therefore is not only how well we respond after people have suffered, it is also whether we can work together to prevent that suffering in the first place. This is not to dismiss what has already been achieved. It is a call for us to build on that progress, strengthen our cooperation and deliver the meaningful change that our people expect from us. A fundamental question that one must ask is, can the international system still deliver?

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Be that as it may, former Secretary General Kofi Annan once said, and I quote, whatever our differences, we stand or fall together. End of quote. When we forget this wisdom of Kofi Annan, disorder is what happens. Last year, from this very podium, I stated that foreign policy is based on three pillars values, interests and power. This year I come with something much simpler a choice, a choice between cooperation or conflict. In today's world, cooperation is undermined by a lack of trust, disregard for rules, and the weakening of institutions. And we've heard that in so many speeches here today. Conflicts are spreading, bringing suffering, violence and injustice. According to some accounts, there are currently 65 active armed conflicts, more than at any time since the end of the Cold War. Now competition will always be there. Nations compete now harder than they did a generation ago. This doesn't worry me. What does is that more and more of them now compete against the rules on which the international order rests. So this speech defends these rules, and it calls for cooperation. It calls for multilateralism. Small nations need it to survive, and large nations need it to be great. Upholding the most basic rules, values and institutions is our best option to ensure that competition does not escalate into conflict and that cooperation gains ground. Now, I want to begin by analyzing how the world is changing today. And as a pragmatic Finn, I will always try to deal with the world as it is, because it often helps in building a world that I wish we would have. In other words, a world which we can build together. I will then make a few suggestions about what we should do next. So here we go. I think we should all be steadfast defenders of multilateralism. As Strobe Talbott reportedly remarked, multilateralism is hell and can be a real pain in the neck, but it is the best option for humanity as a whole. We need multilateralism in order to address our shared agenda, ranging from conflicts and climate change to sustainable development and artificial intelligence. Currently, however, we seem to be going the other way more towards a non-cooperative and multipolar world order. This order, as it turns out, is based on zero sum deals, transactions, and unrestrained power. This is a short sighted approach. Tempting as it may be for some, such a multipolar order will ultimately lead to conflict. It will turn against us, whether you represent a great power, a middle power, or a small state like Finland. Between these two approaches, there is of course, a third option: plurilateralism. It means building ad hoc coalitions when global cooperation is unattainable. And this is my first observation today the emergence of flexible forms of cooperation around different themes and interests, be it in the economy, climate, defense, or technology. Coalition building can be a force of good but with one condition it should not challenge multilateralism, but build on it. It should support the UN system, not substitute it.

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This is why multilateralism is not an abstract concept, for San Marino is a fundamental principle of our foreign policy and in many ways, a lesson drew from our own history. Our commitment to cooperation and shared rule is also reflected in our relationship with the European Union. The forthcoming signing of the Association Agreement with the European Union on 19th October will mark a milestone for our country. It represents an historical step towards closer cooperation, shared rule and greater integration within the European Union while fully preserving our sovereignty, identity and institutional specificity. For San Marino, this is not simply an agreement about economic relations. It is a long term choice to deepen our engagement with Europe while preserving the distinctive character of our republic.

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In the name of God, the All-Powerful, Most Merciful. Distinguished President of the General Assembly, Mr. Secretary-General, Excellencies, Heads of State and Government, ladies and gentlemen. As President of the Republic of Burundi and the current Chairperson of the African Union, allow me to first, on behalf of the people of Burundi and of Africa, congratulate His Excellency Dr. Khalilur Rahman, President of the General Assembly of the United Nations, on his election, and wish him every success in the fulfillment of his mandate. I would like to take this opportunity to extend my warmest congratulations and express my deepest gratitude to His Excellency Mr. António Guterres, Secretary-General of the United Nations, for the unwavering commitment and dedication he has demonstrated throughout his tenure in the service of peace, security, and sustainable development around the world. His good offices, exercised with wisdom, humility, and determination, have helped bridge the widest divergences of opinion and provided invaluable support to nations, particularly those in the Global South, in their quest for stability and prosperity. Burundi, which has always been able to count on the United Nations' generous support, wishes to commend his leadership and his unwavering commitment to the principles of multilateralism.

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That is why today I reaffirm our support for the full and meaningful participation of the Republic of China, Taiwan, in the United Nations and its specialized agencies. Taiwan has concrete contributions to make to peace, development, and human rights. Excluding it doesn't serve to strengthen the system. It deprives the system of capacities that could benefit us all. And it is a stain on the United Nations. But let's make no mistake: the problem is not Taiwan alone. What's happening there, in that part of the world, is simply too dangerous for us all. Dear friends, let us not stop at words or slogans. Let us move to concrete action. I assure you that at this negotiating table, at the table for peace and concord, Paraguay will be on the front row, ready to help. But the world's problems do not end in a single region or place. They go to the very heart of the international system. The United Nations— and I am neither the first nor the last to say so—needs renewal. It needs fresh impetus. And the admirable theme of this assembly calls for a United Nations for All. An admirable theme, certainly. But I fear that it's not enough. So I ask you today, respectfully but firmly: how can we have a United Nations for All when it is led by a security council of the few? Worse still, this is a council that was designed 80 years ago, for another era, for another scenario, another entire set of circumstances. One that all too often demonstrates it is simply unable to address today's problems. That original design, a product of its time, has achieved much, without any doubt. And today I recognize and celebrate those achievements. We all should. Nonetheless, as the great Nobel laureate Bob Dylan would say, things have changed. And the organization, dear friends, has to change too. Different problems need different solutions. Otherwise, this magnificent idea, the United Nations, will simply be overtaken by events and will be reduced to a forum for beautiful speeches with very little action for ordinary people. Some have concluded from all of this that multilateralism has failed. Paraguay reaches a different conclusion. The United Nations remains indispensable. It is the only system that enables all the countries of the world to coexist. But it must become more effective at preventing conflict, protecting people, and ensuring respect for the rules that states themselves have agreed upon. Our commitment to peace is summed up in the words of a distinguished Paraguayan, Manuel Gondra:" Since we cannot ensure that the just are always strong, we must strive to ensure that the strong are always just." Paraguay wishes to shoulder greater responsibilities within the system. But this system, as it stands, simply isn't working. That is why we believe that the selection of the next Secretary-General will be a fundamental decision. The time has come for that leadership to come from Latin America and the Caribbean. Our region has a vocation for peace, dialogue, and multilateralism. And it has candidates that are capable of taking up that responsibility. We need a Secretary-General who restores the organization's political leadership, one that strengthens preventive diplomacy, acts before crises become irreversible, and one that listens to the states and the peoples whom this organization serves. In short, the Security Council must cease to be a pretty snapshot of the world as it was in 1945. It must listen more closely to this assembly and must not remain paralyzed when peace is threatened. We need a UN for 2026 or for 2050, not one for 1945. Only then will the United Nations be able to truly deliver for all of its members.

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Mr. Secretary General, you have been a true champion of multilateralism and of small island developing states. Your unwavering advocacy on climate action and your repeated visits to our region told the world a simple truth that the Pacific matters, and that our challenges and how the world responds to them remain a litmus test for this organisation and for us all. We meet at a time when multilateralism is under serious strain, and when the notion that might is right appears to be making a return. Yet we continue to gather in forums and dialogues around the world. And here in the General Assembly, the pinnacle of multilateralism. That in itself is cause for hope. Mr. president, for my people, what is said in this hall is measured not in declarations but in results. Classrooms with teachers and books, clinics with medicines, roads that reach markets and villages that thrive.

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The theme for this session, Restoring trust, Managing transformation: United Nations that delivers for all arrives at a pivotal juncture. For developing and vulnerable countries, a well-resourced and responsive United Nations is an indispensable anchor. Restoring trust in our international system requires us to uphold predictable support, honour commitments and reaffirm our fidelity to the UN charter. For the Lao PDR, restoring and deepening trust begins with renewed commitment to inclusive multilateralism with the United Nations at the core. When dialogue is guided by mutual respect, transparency and genuine cooperation, multilateralism yields tangible benefit for all people.

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Mr. president, ladies and gentlemen heads of State and Government. Secretary General of the United Nations Organization, distinguished delegates, ladies and gentlemen. The Marshal of Chad Mahamat Idriss Déby Itno, president of the Republic, head of State, which be who because of pressing national issues, has given me this great honor of representing him and conveying his message to you at this August assembly. Mr. president, your election at the presidency of the 81st session of the General Assembly of our shared organization, bears witness to the trust that the international community has placed in you and in your leadership. Please be assured of the full support of the Republic of Chad as you carry out your term. I would also like to thank Madame Angelina, outgoing president of the General Assembly, for heading up the work of the 80th regular session so brilliantly. At a time when he is preparing to move on from being the head of our organization, I would like, ladies and gentlemen, to pay a very sincere tribute to the Secretary General. Mr. Antonio Guterres, his leadership and constant commitment to peace, conflict prevention and multilateralism warrant our recognition and respect. Chad is grateful to him for his ongoing attention to the challenges that our country, the Lac Chad Basin and Central Africa are confronted with.

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The second opportunity is strengthening climate action resilience. Mr. president, Malawi contributes negligibly to global greenhouse gas emissions, yet we remain on the front line of the climate crisis. In recent years, devastating cyclones, prolonged droughts and increasingly erratic weather patterns have destroyed infrastructure, devastated crops, displaced thousands of our citizens and inflicted severe damage on our economy. This year, we face the added threat of El Nino related extreme weather, which risks further undermining livelihoods food security and economic stability. As such, we are fighting back by embedding climate resilience into our national development planning and strengthening locally driven adaptation measures. However, our efforts are continually outpaced by the scale and speed of climate change. Climate shocks repeatedly destroy infrastructure, decimate agricultural production and make worse food insecurity and erode hard-won development gains. Mr. president, the global community must therefore move beyond rhetoric and translate commitments into meaningful action. We call for the full and effective operationalisation and capitalisation of the Loss and Damage Fund. Major historical and current emitters must honour their climate finance commitments by providing accessible, predictable, grant based and highly concessional financing rather than relying on debt-creating instruments that further burden countries already struggling to cope with the consequences of a crisis they did little to cause. Mr. president, Malawi, therefore, calls for enhanced, predictable and easily accessible climate finance, with greater emphasis on adaptation and disaster risk reduction. We need sustainable investment in early warning systems, climate-resilient infrastructure, sustainable land management, climate smart agriculture and locally led adaptation. Climate change is an existential threat to Malawi's development and to the hard won gains we have made. Mr. president, the third opportunity is to reform global governance and strengthening multilateralism. The current global challenges underscore a fundamental truth.

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Mr. president, distinguished delegates, I congratulate His Excellency, Mr. Khalilur Rahman on his election as the president of the 81st session of the General Assembly and assure him that he can count on Kazakhstan's full support throughout this session. Excellencies, Kazakhstan remains fully committed to the purpose and principles of the charter of the United Nations and to effective multilateral cooperation.

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Mr. President of the General Assembly, Secretary General of the United Nations. Excellencies, heads of delegation, ladies and gentlemen. It is a great honor for me to be speaking before this august Assembly. I would like to convey to you the warmest greetings of the Beninese people, and to carry before you the voice of these people, a voice resolutely committed to peace, dialogue and multilateralism, a voice which yearns to fully partake in our collective reflection about the future of our organization and the future of our world. If I may, at the outset, I would like to pay a glowing tribute to His Excellency Antonio Guterres. This is his last General Assembly as secretary general of the United Nations. At a time when the temptation to withdraw to turn inwards is strong, when many are saying that in the face of crises, we must do so. No nation can build lasting security and prosperity through isolation. I would like to extend to Mr. Guterres our heartfelt gratitude. Thank you for your commitment to serving humanity. I also wish to extend our heartfelt congratulations to His Excellency Khalilur Rahman, president of this 81st session.

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On this month, Tuvalu also celebrates its 26th anniversary of UN membership. Tuvalu reaffirms its strong commitment to the values and the principles of the UN charter, and to international law, and to a multilateral system that protects the dignity and security of all people. This year also marks the historical and first deployment of Tuvalu police officers to serve in the UN Mission in South Sudan, a deployment that confirms that even the smallest member of the UN can contribute meaningfully to international peace and security. Mr. president, the theme for this session,

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Excellencies, ladies and gentlemen. I am indeed humbled and honoured to be asked to deliver this statement by the Honourable Prime Minister of Antigua and Barbuda, the Right Honourable Gaston Browne, on behalf of the government and people of Antigua and Barbuda. Mr. president, we meet once again at a moment when history asks difficult questions of this institution. Can multilateralism still protect the weak as well as the strong? Can international law restrain power rather than merely record its consequences? Can development remain a promise for all rather than a privilege for some? For Antigua and Barbuda, these are not philosophical questions. For small island developing states, these are questions of survival. As we begin the 81st session of this General Assembly, we stand between two eras, one ending and another waiting to be shaped. At the end of this year, His Excellency Antonio Guterres will complete his tenure as secretary general of the United Nations. Antigua and Barbuda places on record our profound appreciation for his service to this organization and to the international community in general. For my country, our appreciation is deeply personal. In 2017, Hurricane Irma devastated Barbuda. The entire population had to be evacuated. Homes were destroyed, livelihoods disappeared. An island community was brought to its knees.

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Alhamdulillah. Salam rasulullah Mr. president, Excellencies, distinguished delegates, ladies and gentlemen. It's a great honor to address the eighty-first session of the United Nations General Assembly at the moment of profound uncertainty in our world. I congratulate His Excellency Khalilur Rahman on his election as the president of this session, and assure him of Somalia's full support and cooperation. I also commend Secretary General Antonio Guterres for his continued service to the United Nations and his steadfast in defense of multilateralism. He will be missed very much after he concluded his term as the secretary general this year.

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Mr. president. With a great sense of humility and respect, I address you and the excellencies here in this illustrious hall. More than eight decades ago, the founders of the United Nations understood that no peace built on brute force could stand the test of time. They opted instead for law, cooperation, and dialogue as pillars of a new international order. Today, this conviction is facing one of the toughest tests it has faced since the organization's foundation. The world stands in a period of deep rooted fragmentation. The world is deeply polarized. Armed conflicts are dragging on longer than before. Transnational organized crime is broadening its capacity to act. Its tentacles are growing longer. The effects of climate change are growing ever more intense. Development divides remain, and the technological transformation is posing unprecedented challenges to our institutions. At the same time, trust in multilateralism is waning precisely when we need it most. Standing before this landscape, Costa Rica reaffirms its belief that no state, no state can alone address challenges that are common to us all. Multilateralism is a prerequisite for the preservation of peace, to promote sustainable development and to protect human dignity. However, multilateralism will only preserve its dignity if it proves able to yield tangible results. Specific results for people for human beings. Costa Rica champions a United Nations which is more agile, more efficient, more transparent and more accountable to its member states. Our organization should establish priorities, do away with overlaps, make prudent use of its resources, and measure its results.

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I would also like to express our appreciation to Miss Annalena Baerbock for her leadership of the General Assembly during its previous session. Distinguished participants. The current international environment requires all states to demonstrate a high degree of responsibility, political foresight and readiness for concerted action. Rising conflict potential, the erosion of trust, economic instability, climate risk, and the rapid development of new technologies are becoming increasingly intertwined, directly affecting the security and well-being of peoples. In these circumstances it is particularly important to uphold the common purposes enshrined in the charter of the United Nations, ensure respect for the sovereignty and territorial integrity of states, their sovereign equality and non-interference in the internal affairs, and strengthen the rule of international law. Turkmenistan firmly believes that the United Nations must continue to serve as the universal and legitimate foundation of international cooperation, and as the principal mechanism for reconciling interests and developing solutions in the areas of peace, security and sustainable development. It is from this perspective that our country approaches the work of the 81st session of the General Assembly. Ladies and gentlemen, ensuring international peace and security remains a key priority for Turkmenistan.

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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.

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Mr. President, excellencies, at the outset, allow me to extend my warm and heartfelt congratulations to you on your election as president of the 81st session of the General Assembly. Your election reflects the confidence of Member States in your steadfast commitment to multilateral system and your vision for a United Nations that is responsive, effective, and capable of delivering for humanity. As you embark on this important journey, my delegation reaffirms its unwavering commitment to working closely with you and all Member States to ensure a productive and successful session. I also pay tribute to your predecessor, Her Excellency Ms. Baerbock, president of the 80th session of the General Assembly, with whom my delegation had the honour to serve as Vice President. Her dedicated leadership, zeal and tenacity of purpose in strengthening multilateral cooperation during a period of profound global uncertainty gave us hope that the future of this organization can be secured when all nations work together for the common goal of leaving no one behind. To the secretary general, Antonio Guterres, whose tenure is approaching an end, my delegation commends his exemplary leadership and commitment to the ideals of the United Nations. During his term the world confronted unprecedented challenges from the COVID-19 pandemic to the eruption of new conflicts, the catastrophic effects of climate change, and unstable trade regimes. Throughout these crises, he remained the moral force and steady anchor of the organization. We salute him for his distinguished service and will fondly cherish his historic visit to the Mountain Kingdom in December 2024, during which he witnessed firsthand the dividends of the UN's contribution to Lesotho. Mr. president, the theme for this session Restoring Trust, Managing Transformation: A United Nations that delivers for all, resonates deeply with Lesotho's aspirations for a more inclusive, transparent and result oriented multilateral system capable of advancing respect for international law, maintaining global peace and security, accelerating sustainable development, protecting human rights, driving climate action, and implementing long overdue institutional reforms.

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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.

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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.

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On exactly 66 years ago, six days only after becoming independent and sovereign Mali, under the leadership of President Modibo Keïta, was admitted to the UN with the support of the Republic of Tunisia and of Ceylon, currently Sri Lanka. We welcome the theme of the 81st session of the General Assembly, namely restoring trust, supporting Transformation, a United Nations organization that delivers for all. This theme is very timely and relevant because beyond encouraging reflection on how our organization can regain credibility and effectiveness amid multiple crises and challenges to multilateralism, it especially calls on member states to restore trust and seek common solutions to the many challenges of our time. And how can this be achieved? For its part, Mali reaffirms its unwavering commitment to reformed multilateralism founded on strict respect for the purposes and principles of the United Nations Charter, particularly sovereign equality, territorial integrity, non-use of force, mutual respect, and non-interference in the internal affairs of a state. The further we move away from these principles, the closer we come to cycles of conflict. And we all know that the blatant violations of international law its selective application, double standards in the management of crises throughout the world, abusive recourse to force and threats and policies of hegemony and domination in violation of the charter of this organization have seriously undermined public confidence throughout the world in international institutions, especially the United Nations. We therefore call for the lifting of unilateral coercive measures, which undermine state sovereignty and endanger the well-being of populations in approximately 30 countries throughout the world, which are affected by such sanctions. To these practices, which undermine the current governance, we need to add the slowness of anticipation within the United Nations, which too often leaves the organization reduced to observing crisis after they have erupted. That's the case in the Sahel, where for several decades we had a security crisis for. Also the crisis in Libya provoked by the NATO interference in 2011.

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Mr. President, Secretary-General, Excellencies, distinguished heads of state and government. It is my privilege to convey from this rostrum on behalf of His Excellency Mr. Félix-Antoine Tshisekedi Tshilombo, President of the DRC and Head of State, the Congolese vision of the future of our organization. I warmly congratulate His Excellency Mr. Khalilur Rahman on his election as President of this 81st Session of the General Assembly. I also pay tribute to Her Excellency Ms. Annalena Baerbock for the work she accomplished during the previous session. Lastly, I pay tribute in particular to Mr. António Guterres, Secretary-General of the United Nations, at a time when his mandate is coming to its end. During a decade marked by wars, the pandemic, climate emergencies, and exacerbated geopolitical tensions, he constantly defended peace, human dignity, and international cooperation.

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I also thank Her Excellency Ms. Annalena Baerbock for her stewardship of the 80th Session, and wish to thank the Secretary-General, His Excellency António Guterres, for his unwavering commitment to the United Nations." Mr. President, eighty-one years ago the United Nations was established in the aftermath of the Second World War to foster international cooperation and prevent future armed conflicts. As we convene here today, we must confront the reality of living in very uncertain times, shadowed by the persistent threat of global conflict. It is imperative that we work together to avoid warfare. We must reflect on the founding principles of the UN Charter and recommit ourselves to saving succeeding generations from the scourge of war, reaffirming faith in fundamental human rights and the dignity of human person, ensuring equal rights for all large nations and small, establishing conditions for justice and respect for international law, and promoting social progress alongside better standards of life. Uganda firmly believes that multilateralism and international cooperation remain the most vital mechanisms for addressing our shared challenges. Accordingly, we remain and reaffirm our commitment to the principles of the UN Charter as the cornerstone of global diplomacy, supporting the interconnected pillars of peace and security, human rights, humanitarian affairs, and sustainable development. We believe the United Nations must remain agile and adaptive to evolving global realities. Uganda is committed to working with the entire membership to build consensus on necessary systemic reforms, particularly within the UN Security Council. We call for a comprehensive reform to render the Council more equitable, transparent, democratic, and representative. In this regard, we demand Africa's rightful representation in both the permanent and non-permanent categories to correct historical imbalances in line with the common African position articulated in the Ezulwini Consensus and the Sirte Declaration. Regarding the ongoing UN80 Initiative, Uganda commends efforts to streamline the UN system to make it cost-effective, efficient, and well-coordinated.

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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.

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This cannot be a future of multilateralism. We must move from reaction to prevention. And nowhere is that task more urgent than in Gaza. Mr. president, Malaysia will not stand here and recite statistics that everyone in this hall already knows. We all know the scale of death in Gaza. We know how many children, families, medics, aid workers and journalists have been slaughtered. We also know that Gaza represents the highest number of children made orphans in a single conflict. Malaysia and many other member states have exhausted each and every effort in pursuit of justice for Gaza. We have consistently called for immediate ceasefire and unrestricted supply of aid. We have supported humanitarian work in Palestine. We have pushed for punitive actions towards Israel, and we have advocated for full Palestinian membership in this hall. And yet again and again, Mr. President, the collective will of this Assembly has encountered the silencing effect of the veto.

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As he prepares to hand over the leadership of our organization in an international context marked by tension and uncertainty, I extend my best wishes to his successor. At a time when confidence in international institutions is declining, and they are often perceived as favoring power politics over law, our organization must rise above partisan interests. God willing the next leadership will embody unity and the renewal of a more credible multilateralism, and this will have the full support of the Comoros. It will be essential for that voice to defend the aspirations of developing countries, particularly small island and vulnerable states, and to foster collective responses to the challenges we share. For 81 years, this General Assembly has remained the central pillar of multilateralism. And now that we are meeting in New York, humanity is at a crossroads. Despite our efforts the Sustainable Development Goals of the 2030 agenda remain unfortunately out of reach. Growing inequalities, the climate emergency, the fragility of international peace all require renewed clarity and determination on our part.

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We also wish to express our thanks to Mrs. Annalena Baerbock for her efforts during her presidency of the 80th session of the GA. We further express our profound thanks and appreciation to His Excellency Mr. António Guterres, Secretary-General of the United Nations, for his continued effort in furthering the purposes of the UN. Mr. President, the work of this session is taking place at a time when the world and the multilateral system are facing rapidly evolving and unprecedented challenges, while crises and conflicts continue in many parts of the world. There is an increasing need to uphold the principles of the UN Charter, respect international law and strengthen the effectiveness of international institutions in maintaining international peace and security and advancing sustainable development.

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Our efforts to address climate-related challenges continue to face unjustifiable obstacles, mainly from those contributing significantly to greenhouse gas emissions. Global efforts to address climate challenges are being frustrated by withdrawal of financial contributions supporting climate adaptation measures and initiatives by international and regional institutions, as well as individual states. Let us prioritize delivery on the pledges for climate action by increasing long-term concessional financing and deployment of new technology. On this agenda, Tanzania chose to address the just energy transition component through different measures. Some of these measures include, implementation of the national renewable energy strategy that comprises 2,115MW Julius Nyerere Hydro Power Project, 650MW solar and wind power projects, 130MW geothermal power projects, and the National Clean Cooking Strategy, which aims to ensure that 80% of households adopt clean cooking by 2034. In our efforts to reduce the use of fossil fuels, we have also opted for the electric railway to link the port of Dar es Salaam and neighboring countries of Burundi and DRC. We, therefore, appeal that climate financing be provided as grants and concessional financing to step up efforts on climate action. Tanzania joins Small Islands and Coastal States in pushing for a workable solution to address sea-level rise. We commend the President for convening today the HighLevel Event addressing the existential threats posed by sea-level rise, and we look forward to the adoption of the UN Declaration on Sea-Level Rise, which will provide a comprehensive framework for international cooperation, scientific advancement, adaptation resilience, and legal stability.

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Mr. President, Mr. Secretary General, Heads of State and Governments. Ladies and gentlemen, it is a great honor for me to take the floor before this assembly on behalf of the government and the people of the Democratic Republic of Sao Tomé and Principe. Allow me, first of all to congratulate His Excellency, Mr. Khalilur Rahman on his election as president of the 81st session of the General Assembly, and to wish him every success in the discharge of his duties. I would also like to express our appreciation to Her Excellency, Miss Annalena Baerbock, for the work accomplished during the previous session of the General Assembly. Allow me to pay tribute to the Secretary General, His Excellency Mr. Antonio Guterres, for his commitment to peace, sustainable development, human rights and the strengthening of multilateralism at a time of great challenges. Excellencies, we live in a context marked by conflicts, geopolitical rivalries, economic uncertainty climate change, forced displacement, inequalities, transnational crime, and rapid technological transformation. No state can face challenges of this magnitude alone.

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Your excellencies, ladies and gentlemen, heads of State and government. President of the General Assembly. Secretary general. Ladies and gentlemen, heads of delegations. Ladies and gentlemen, on behalf of the president of the Council, his Excellency Faure Essozimna Gnassingbé, of the government and the Togolese people, I would like, Mr. President, to convey to you my sincere and warm congratulations on your election to the presidency of this session of the General Assembly. To you, Secretary General, Sir, and Mr. António Guterres, I would like to convey Togo's sincere gratitude for your unfailing commitment to peace, to security, to solidarity, and to sustainable development. At a time when you are completing your term, Togo would like to pay a particular tribute to you for these years of commitment, of courage, of listening and of service, for the defense of the ideals of the United Nations and to reform our organization. We would like to express the desire that the legacy of your action will continue to inspire our organization, and to guide those people who will have the responsibility to continue your work. We wish you every success in the future for your future commitments. Mr. president, the topic of this session asks us to do two things to be clear in our diagnosis and to be strong in our commitment. To be clear, because we can no longer have insufficient responses to those challenges that affect our international system. Commitment, because noting the limits of multilateralism should no longer mean that we renounce multilateralism.

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Ladies and gentlemen, we support rule based multilateralism as the pinnacle of human cooperation, not because we are naive, but because we have seen and experienced the alternative. For smaller and medium sized states, international law is not an abstraction. It is the line between order and tyranny, between sovereign equality and the rule of force.

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The United Nations was born in 1945 from humanity's determination that the tragedies of war should never again define our common destiny. Eight decades later, the world continues to look to this organization as a sanctuary where nations can assemble, where differences can be resolved through dialogue, and where hope can be transformed into tangible action. Yet, at a time when conflicts persist, inequalities deepen, climate-related disasters intensify, and countless communities continue to struggle against poverty and insecurity, the international community must renew its commitment to global cooperation. To ordinary people across the globe, this Assembly must not be perceived merely as a forum where the world discusses its problems, but as an organization that actively solves them. The true test of international cooperation is whether a child in a conflict-affected community can live without fear, a young person can find decent employment, a family can afford food, and a developing nation can access the finance required to build its future. Trust among nations has eroded on multiple fronts. Multilateral commitments have too often gone unmet, financing pledges have not yet been fulfilled, and developing countries face trillions of dollars in annual investment gaps to achieve the Sustainable Development Goals. Furthermore, billions of people reside in countries where governments are forced to spend more on debt servicing than on healthcare or education. Restoring trust cannot be achieved through declarations alone. It requires that promises already made be honored, and that our institutions demonstrate the capacity and will to respond to changing global realities. Since the Ezulwini Consensus was adopted in 2005, sadly, Africa still has no permanent seat on the UN Security Council and yet the continent remains a global strategic partner in the world stage. The question is: how many more years should African leaders travel to New York and stand before this Assembly to call for a fair representation in the UN Security Council? Mr. President, we are being deprived of the opportunity to contribute to global security issues. We meet at a time when multiple wars and armed conflicts continue to claim lives, destroy infrastructure, and displace communities across various regions of the world.

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Friends, the United Nations is entering its ninth decade at a moment of great uncertainty and challenge for the global community. Conflicts are having devastating effects on the most vulnerable. The impacts of the climate crisis are felt in every corner of our world. Hard won rights are being rolled back. Narrow self-interest is breaking the bonds of solidarity, which have so often lifted us to meaningful progress. The international legal order is under tremendous strain. New and emerging technologies that offer unlimited potential could also, without human intervention, create unprecedented dangers. In such moments of uncertainty, it can be easy to question our foundations, to retreat, to turn inward, to say that international cooperation is too difficult, that multilateralism does not work, that the problems of others are not our problems. But that would be the wrong conclusion, because the answer to a world under strain is not less international cooperation. It is more. The answer to the weakening of principles is not to abandon them. It is to defend them. And if our multilateral system is not working effectively, the answer is not to walk away from it. It is to make it stronger, fairer and fit for the world we live in. That is Ireland's position, and that is what all of us, as members of the United Nations need to deliver on. We should also remember what our collective commitment to the United Nations has achieved. The multilateral system anchored in the United Nations Charter has been the foundation of many of humanity's greatest achievements. It has driven advances in poverty alleviation health care, education, social protection, and food and nutrition security. It has championed human rights and dignity and insisted that accountability matters. It has given voice to the marginalised. Mr. President, the people of Ireland understand that we live in an interdependent world, that the challenges we face are interconnected, cross borders and require collective solutions. Ireland currently holds the presidency of the Council of the European Union. Our stewardship of the European Union's agenda is deeply rooted in the principle of strength with unity, and this principle is at the heart of our vision for the United Nations, as well as our unwavering commitment to the pillars which guide its work. Peace and security. Human rights and development. These pillars equally bear the weight of our shared ambition for a better, fairer and peaceful world. Collectively, however, we are not delivering on their ambition. We are not staying the course. At a time when global needs are increasing and becoming more complex, our responsibility to act does not diminish.

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Mr. President, excellencies, friends, greetings from the government and people of Saint Vincent and the Grenadines. Mr. President, we congratulate you on your election to preside over this session of the General Assembly. You can count on our support and cooperation. Secretary-General António Guterres, we are extremely grateful to you for your bold leadership and determined advocacy for human rights, justice and peace. We thank you for standing up for small and vulnerable nations. The theme Restoring Trust, Managing Transformation a United Nations that delivers for all, speaks directly to the anxieties of our time, and also to the hopes of small states like mine. As we have heard from many speakers in this chamber, trust in the multilateral system is broken.

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There's another doctrinal concern that I wish to raise just as honestly globalism. Allow me to begin by clarifying what I mean by that. I'm not talking about international trade or cooperation among states, nor am I talking about a humanity that shares common problems and responsibilities. All of those things are absolutely necessary. I'm talking about a concept according to which national sovereignty, distinct identities, traditions, and the values of peoples are obstacles that gradually give way to increasing political and cultural uniformity decided by supranational bodies. I don't share in that doctrine, which I consider perverse and harmful. For me, multilateralism isn't about dissolving nations, but rather about facilitating cooperation among them. Loving one's homeland is compatible with respecting others. Defending history, culture, values, and traditions doesn't mean disparaging those of another. International cooperation is richer when those who sit around this table know who they are, where they come from, and what the people in whose name they speak represent. Several of the questions that I've asked are not unfamiliar to this organization. The UN80 Initiative has placed on the table issues of duplication, fragmentation, administrative burden, and the way mandates function as part of an effort to make the United Nations more efficient and more effective. President, Secretary-General, heads of State and government. Excellencies. Acknowledging an institution's imperfections doesn't mean overlooking its value. On the contrary, it might be a way of strengthening it. It has never been my style to hide behind political correctness or to tell my interlocutors what I imagine they want to hear. I'm not looking to please anyone, but rather to set out the position of the Republic of Colombia respectfully, cordially and clearly. No human institution is perfect. All can be improved perfected, and the United Nations is no exception. There is one specific area that Colombia wishes to reflect on further. That is the international fight against terrorism.

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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.

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Without it, treaties risk becoming little more than words. Institutions become arenas for accusation, and countries increasingly feel compelled to rely only on themselves. At a time of profound transformation, rebuilding confidence among nations lets us confront change and uncertainty together. Today we not only see declining confidence between countries, but also a growing crisis of faith in the rules meant to bind us together. When nations begin to believe that rules are applied differently depending on power or circumstance, the instinct is to turn inward and act alone. That weakens us all. Dialogue becomes harder. Multilateral institutions lose authority, and the international order becomes more fragile, leaving smaller and more vulnerable states particularly exposed. For Brunei Darussalam, multilateralism is not an intellectual concept. It is assurance that sovereignty and territorial integrity will be respected, that every nation, irrespective of size, has a voice, and that international law protects the weak as surely as it restrains the strong. The charter of the United Nations must therefore remain our common foundation. It cannot mean one thing in one crisis and something different in another. Its principles must be upheld consistently if this organization is to retain its legitimacy and credibility. Few issues demonstrate this more painfully than the question of Palestine.

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Protectionism produces no winners. Building walls, erecting barriers, decoupling and cutting off supply chains disrupt global industrial and supply chains, and harm the interests of all parties. We must firmly safeguard the WTO centered, rules based multilateral trading system, build an open world economy, jointly foster and strengthen new growth drivers, and see that economic globalization is inclusive and delivers benefits to all.

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Mr. President. Excellencies, distinguished delegates. First, I wish to extend my warmest congratulations to Your Excellency Doctor Khalilur Rahman on your election as president of the 81st session of the United Nations General Assembly. Cambodia assure you of its full support as you guide our work under the timely theme Restoring Trust, managing transformation: A United Nations that delivers for all. I express Cambodia's appreciation to Her Excellency Madam Annalena Baerbock for her active leadership of the Eightieth session. It is my great honor to pay tribute to Secretary General Antonio Guterres for his steadfast leadership and dedicated service to the United Nations throughout his two mandates, and for his unwavering commitment to multilateralism, peace and security, sustainable development, and the principles and purposes of the UN charter during a decade marked by profound turbulence and transformation.

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We meet at a perilous precipice, a tumultuous time marked by profound upheaval, relentless uncertainty and deep unpredictability. More than 50 active conflicts tear at the fabric of nations. Geopolitical competition strains our multilateral institutions, and global trust is fading, precisely when we need it most. 81 years ago, our forebears forged this organization to save humanity from the scourge of war and reaffirm our shared dignity. Today, we must ask, have we honored that sacred compact? When more than 645 million people face hunger, when our climate remains in a state of calamity, and when our collective conscience is stained by humanitarian catastrophes, reflection must give way to urgent, united resolve. We cannot continue down fragmented paths in an interconnected world.

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Mr. President, congratulations on your successful election as President of the 81st Session of the UN General Assembly. Secretary-General Excellencies, ladies and gentlemen, Alii and warm greetings from the people of Palau. Secretary-General António Guterres, thank you for your leadership and service to the United Nations. Your climate leadership, steadfast defense of multilateralism, international law, human dignity, and the voices of the vulnerable carries a special meaning for small island developing states. I stand before this Assembly for a people whose future depends on a healthy ocean and a stable climate, and the sovereign right to determine their own path. For us, sovereignty is lived in our ability to feed our people from healthy oceans, power our homes independently from distant fuel markets, and protect our shorelines from rising seas and chart our own path.

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Ours is a concerning financial situation. It's affecting the UN's operational capacity, and that is prompting questions about how effective the UN really is. Indeed, these questions are being asked about peace operations, just as they are about the SDGs. The implementation of these is lagging behind and significantly so. In view of this reality, it is true that some might be tempted to view multilateralism as a relic and might be tempted to move outside of multilateralism to take action in isolation. Senegal does not espouse that view. On the contrary, it is precisely because the world is beset by a whole host of unprecedented crises that we need a UN that is stronger, more representative and more effective. We will not settle crises by allowing the multilateral system to become ever more piecemeal. We will not achieve peace if we simply stage power struggles. We will not guarantee a just international order if we see right being replaced by might, doing all of that would imperil the very raison d'etre of our organisation that is dialogue, conflict prevention, the peaceful resolution of disputes, cooperation and respect for international law. In this vein, and with this in mind, the UN80 Initiative provides us with a historic opportunity to usher in the structural and normative transformations that we need to see. However, reforming the United Nations must not stymie its ambitions. On the contrary, it must make it less bureaucratic in how it functions. It must remove red tape, make it more agile, and make it more effective in its expenditure. And there must be better synergies between headquarters and the field, so we can better serve the people we represent. Senegal supports that very dynamic. That was the rationale behind our contribution to efforts to strengthen the UN system. We've used our own resources to build a UN house some 30km away from Dakar. This is a cutting edge institution and the site will house all UN system entities in the region, and that will foster greater coherence and effectiveness in the UN's work. However, a stronger organization and ensuring it is stronger also involves member states upholding their financial contribution pledges and making good on their assessed contributions. President, the years are ticking by, but our efforts to reform governance have yet to produce a significant impact. The status quo when it comes to reforming the Security Council bears witness to that fact. We all agree that the composition of the Security Council is out of step with the realities of our time. We agree that the expansion of the Council should not lead to further inertia, but given the fact the Council is lacking legitimacy and that is indeed the hallmark of the Council's current structure, we cannot simply issue observations. We are at a juncture where there is an urgent need for action. It's a matter of justice, credibility and balance across the international system, and this is indeed the rationale which underpins the Ezulwini Consensus, which outlines the African position in connection with the so necessary reform of the UN Security Council. In that vein, Senegal is presenting its candidacy to a non-permanent seat on the Security Council for 2032–2033. However, beyond reform, the organisation also needs experienced leadership to steer its work in these times of crisis and uncertainty. The UN needs a secretary general able to speak to one and all, able to listen and to build bridges between member states. That is the vision embraced and espoused by Macky Sall, former president of the Republic of Senegal. Here I wish once again to express my support for his candidacy. I wish to reiterate Senegal's request that you, as Member states, support his candidacy. Ladies and gentlemen at a time when our organisation is seeking to rebuild trust, Senegal continues to believe in the vision of a world based on peace, justice, the dignity of each and every human being and human brotherhood. The world does not need unilateral posturing. It needs a fairer, more inclusive and more effective multilateralism. Addressing our challenges requires bridges and not walls, dialogue and not confrontation. Cooperation and not isolation and not might. That is the very spirit in which Senegal will host the Youth Olympic Games in Dakar 2026.

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And yet, in this forum, there are no small or large states. Here, every one of the 193 members has a voice, one alone and of the same weight. Here the charter only recognizes states equal in sovereignty, equal in rights, but also, and I wish to stress this point, equal in terms of responsibility, because the equality that our organization bestows upon us is not a privilege that we enjoy. It is a responsibility that we bear. This responsibility is our shared, unique duty to uphold the law and multilateralism. Shared, because no state, regardless of how powerful it is, can preserve peace alone or address global threats alone. Unique because everybody must shoulder it without leaving it to others to honor the promise of San Francisco.

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people of Haiti continue to endure a humanitarian and security crisis that demands more than statements of concern. The theme before us, Restoring Trust, Managing Transformation: a United Nations that delivers for all, must not remain a slogan. Trust will be restored only when promises are matched by action, when commitments are honored, and when the United Nations delivers meaningful results for every nation. And when there is due regard for multilateral principles, not only for the most powerful, but for the weakest of us as well. This assembly should not be a place where the world expresses sympathy without accepting responsibility. We need action. We need justice. And we need a renewed international compact based not on power, but on principle. We need multilateralism, not unilateralism. And in the words of the former UN secretary general, the United Nations was not created in order to bring us to heaven, but in order to save us from hell. For Saint Lucia, climate change is not a distant environmental issue. It is a direct threat to national security, economic stability, food and water security, and human survival.

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Distinguished delegates. Selectivity does more than distort our attention. Over time, it destroys institutions themselves. The United Nations cannot defend the rule of law while silently watching its own mandates, procedures and institutions become instruments of political convenience. The rule of law must never become merely rule by law. It requires rules to be applied impartially consistently and transparently. When the same principles are invoked strictly in one case and conveniently overlooked in another, we do not strengthen international law. We hollow it out. And when institutions created to protect universal standards are instrumentalised for political purposes, we weaken the very multilateral system they were created to defend.

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Multilateralism allows us to project the power of our ideas rather than the might of our power. Tonga participates as an equal under the founding principles of the United Nations Charter, the sovereign equality of states. This is how we must approach our theme Restoring Trust, managing transformation, a United Nations that delivers for all. Enduring trust is restored when commitments produce results. True transformation is realized when our communities, economies and ecosystems can anticipate change and recover with greater strength. The small island developing states must not bear the disproportionate costs of the challenges they did little to create. Mr. President, too much of our international architecture still reflects the world of 1945 rather than today's realities. If the United Nations is to remain the principal vehicle through which sovereign nations confront global challenges, it must transform. We need a United Nations that enables innovation one that expands meaningful access to investment and technology, especially for the small island developing countries who are too often excluded from both. We need a stronger General Assembly and institutions that respond effectively to the needs of the majority of our members. We cannot keep negotiating climate biodiversity and the ocean in separate COPs when they are clearly an interconnected ecosystem requiring integrated and coherent solutions. We call on global processes to recognise the ocean climate nexus and address these interconnected challenges together. We need a more inclusive Security Council equipped for today's challenges. A Security Council that recognises the triple planetary crisis as a profound threat to peace and security. We need a financial architecture that delivers timely and accessible financing to those who most need them. Internationally pledged commitments must be actioned urgently. The next Secretary-General must understand these realities intimately. It is in this spirit that Tonga's nominated ambassador, Ivonne Baki of Ecuador, whose vision for a renewed reformed United Nations speaks to the needs of vulnerable states. To restore trust, every member state, large or small, must have a voice in shaping this organisation's future and a stake in its success. Mr. President, Your Excellencies, the Pacific region spans one third of the Earth's surface. It is our home.

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And in this regard, the Republic of the Congo is following very closely the selection process for the next UN Secretary General. We believe that Africa a continent at the centre of many UN challenges and global geopolitical issues, must remain at the heart of the future Secretary-General's agenda. The next Secretary General must embrace a truly universal vision of the United Nations, one that leaves no continent at the margins and which fully takes into account Africa's place, responsibilities and legitimate interests. Your excellencies, ladies and gentlemen, for the Republic of the Congo, restoring trust and managing transformation of our international institutions is a collective imperative. The theme of this session, Restoring Trust and Managing Transformation, resonates as a call for clarity and courage in a world where trust is eroding, tensions are rising and double standards and relationships of force threaten to replace both the spirit and the letter of the UN charter. Humanity has never needed a renewed, inclusive and representative multilateralism more than it does today, a multilateralism that can reflect the realities of a multi-polar world in which Africa occupies its rightful place. This renewal requires a deep reform of international institutions, foremost amongst them the Security Council. Africa, strengthened by its history, its demographic dynamism and geopolitical importance, can no longer remain on the sidelines of decisions that shape its destiny. It must become a full and legitimate actor in accordance with the consensus. Africa's demand for two permanent Security Council seats with veto power is not a request, but a right, a legitimate right, grounded, which reflects the realities of the 21st century. The world has changed and our institutions must evolve with it. This is an imperative, and Africa is not asking for a favor. It is claiming its rightful place. The Republic of the Congo is a member of the Committee of Heads of States and Governments of the African Union on Security Council reform. The C10 Committee will not compromise on this shared demand. Your Excellency, ladies and gentlemen, the Republic of the Congo reiterates its willingness to serve the international community. With your support, we renew our aspiration to serve as a non-permanent member of the UN Security Council for the 2030 2031 term. This candidacy of ours is rooted in a long diplomatic tradition, our sustained commitment to peace and a strong sense of international responsibility.

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Mr. President, Secretary-General, Excellencies. There is an idea that has accompanied Andorra for more than 270 years, and that continues to shape the way that we understand politics. The Manual Digest, one of the great works of our institutional heritage through which Antoni Fiter i Rossell condensed and recounted the essence of Andorran identity, reminds us that the legitimate exercise of power only makes sense when it places the common good above any other interest. This idea, written in 1748, long before modern international organizations came into existence, remains remarkably relevant today because multilateralism is nothing more than the application of this same principle to relations among nations: the understanding that the common good of the international community is inseparable from the well-being of each of our countries. In Andorra, this approach toward politics has enabled us to preserve more than seven centuries of peace, dialogue, and coexistence in harmony, not because history has been easier for us, but because we have learned the best way to protect freedom is to build trust, seek balance, and make compromise a form of governance. Perhaps it is precisely this experience that a small country such as ours can share with this great Assembly today.

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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.

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These words of the second Secretary-General of the UN, Dag Hammarskjöld compelled us to ask ourselves. Is the United Nations today capable of saving humanity from war, poverty, and disaster? Is the United Nations living up to its promise of restoring peace and achieving sustainable development? Ironically, the geopolitical crisis brought on by the turbulence in international order has reminded us of the cherished value of multilateral cooperation and international norms. In an era of fragmentation marked by fierce competition for immediate survival, values such as cooperation, mutual prosperity and solidarity can sound like hollow outcries. However, like the founders who, having witnessed the ravages of war, conceived the United Nations, the deeper the crisis, the more we need to return to the basic principles of the UN. Last year I proudly announced from this podium that the Republic of Korea, which will be a beacon of light for global citizens, has returned to the international community.

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Today, however, these ideas are not only being called into question; they are being attacked by political actors and governments that want to take us back to a dark past. And I don't need to point them out; we all know who they are and what their modus operandi is. They start by questioning the rules, then they break them, knowing full well that nobody will dare to hold them accountable. They cut their contributions to multilateral bodies like this one. They point to their leaders and officials. They obstruct these organizations' ability to act, to then write them off as useless entities that we can do without. What they're doing, nevertheless, is a planned and coordinated demolition attempt that is presented as something that we can't stop and that's necessary. However, the reality is that it runs counter to the structural currents of history and is based on three misguided pillars. The first of these pillars is selfishness, the absurd belief that the world is a zero-sum game, where some winning must imply that others losing. The second pillar is ignorance, disregarding scientific evidence and assuming that there are countries that are so powerful that they can abuse all of the others and they don't need anyone else to prosper. And the third pillar, the worst in my opinion, is cruelty. Cruelty that isn't even moved when it sees the ribs of a starving child or a hospital reduced to rubble. Over these 8 years, I've seen these selfish, ignorant, and cruel forces grow. I've seen how they took off their masks and seized power in many places. And then I saw them start illegal wars, massacre innocent civilians. I've seen them treat millions of human beings like livestock and take away aid from those suffering the most, from poverty and disease. I've seen them pollute the atmosphere and also the ocean as if it's their own property, and conspire to destroy this organization and everything it represents. I'm saying this because bearing witness to these things has changed the way that I understand the world. However, it hasn't led me to lose hope. Because also, over these 8 years, I've seen wonderful things that allow me to still have confidence in humanity. For example, I've seen millions of people mobilized to defend nature, peace, and civil rights. I've seen thousands of activists and public servants confront these reactionary powers, knowing full well that they're putting their professional careers and even their own lives at risk. I've seen scientists make progress that we thought was impossible. And I've seen many governments do things right, opting for cooperation, social justice, and environmental sustainability. All of this has taught me something that I want to share with all of you, and that is that humanity is not intrinsically good or bad. Humanity can actually be both. And every day, every year, and in each and every crisis, we must decide how to act. The United Nations is one of these spaces where these decisions are made at the highest level. And the UN doesn't always do it well. Of course, I myself, on several occasions, have called out the contradictions and lackings of this body. However, with the same belief, I must call out the fact that the majority of the voices that today insist on criticizing the United Nations are not describing its failure; what they're doing is trying to cause its failure. And I must also say that multilateralism is the best tool that humanity has to manage its diversity and its interdependence, especially in a globalized and multipolar world like the world we're living in today. And this is why what we need to do is ramp up our trust in this organization. We must renew it and strengthen it so that this century it can play the same key role that it played last century. And doing this will not be easy. However, the good news is that all of the guidance we need is right here, in the United Nations Charter. In this charter, they wrote the best chapters. Our forefathers wrote it, the men and women who saw the world burn, and even then, they dared to imagine a better future. These men and women laid down their wisdom and their hope in this charter. And they didn't ask us to keep it in a glass case. They asked us to fulfill it. They asked us to defend it, and for us to turn back to it in times of uncertainty and extraordinary difficulty. And today is one of those times. And therefore, it's our duty to rise to the courage and the ambition present in this text, in the United Nations Charter. And this is why, ladies and gentlemen, we need to reform the Security Council so that all of the regions in the world have fair representation, and so that we can do away with the right of veto of the permanent members. Because as the UN Charter sets out, no country should be judged in its own case, no matter how powerful they are. We therefore need to strengthen all of the other main bodies and reorganize the agencies, funds and programs, and provide them with more resources and more executive capacity so that they can have a more decisive impact on the great challenges that beset humanity. We must strengthen bodies like the International Criminal Court so that they can investigate, prosecute, and punish those that break the rules. It took humanity centuries to replace might is right with the rule of law. And we must not be the generation that backtracks on this. It's for this very reason that we must rebuild the nuclear non-proliferation and disarmament architecture to avoid a poorly designed security policy that brings us back to another global conflict. And we must impose strict regulations on the tech oligarchs who control the functioning of social networks and the development of artificial intelligence. Because at the end of the day, the future of our children is more important than the pockets of these tech oligarchs. And of course, doing all of these things will require compromise, time, strong leadership, being able to build agreements, to listen, to look beyond our known reality, and imagine a better alternative. And what I'm advocating for, for this leadership, is very clear. Nine men have served as Secretary-General of this organization in its 80 years of existence.

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And that is also what we wish to see reflected in the world. We need a world where our capacity to uphold humanity grows faster than our capacity to destroy it. That is the transformation we should seek. It is for these reasons that we are pained by the developments in Gaza and the occupied Palestinian territories. Mr. President, the global security environment has deteriorated significantly in recent years. It is difficult to accept that in a world with so much wealth and knowledge, vast resources continue to be spent on weapons while children face starvation and are deprived of medicine and education. Sri Lanka remains deeply concerned by the conflicts in West Asia, and by the heavy cost being borne far beyond the region. International law, including international humanitarian law, must be adhered to and respected by all parties. We reaffirm our position that dialogue is the only viable way forward. Sri Lanka continues to support the inalienable rights of the Palestinian people, including their rights to self-determination. We are among the countries that first recognise Palestine as a distinct state in the 1980s. We stand in solidarity with the international community in calling for an independent and sovereign state of Palestine, existing side by side with Israel in peace within the pre-1967 borders. We welcome the resolution of the Security Council on a ceasefire in Gaza and urge all parties to uphold it. Humanitarian assistance must reach civilians without obstruction. The recovery and reconstruction of Gaza must be an urgent priority. Mr. President, Sri Lanka is proud of its long standing contribution to United Nations peacekeeping in pursuit of global peace and security, having deployed more than 21,000 personnel on numerous missions since 1957. Our Blue Helmets, through their dedication and service over many years, have earned the trust of local communities and the commendation of UN Field Mission. Today, they continue to serve with distinction in some of the most challenging environments under the UN flag, protecting vulnerable civilians deterring violence and helping war-torn communities transition from conflict to stability. Sri Lanka has also long championed multilateral disarmament, from our early call for an Indian Ocean Zone of Peace to our leadership at the 1995 NPT Review and Extension Conference.

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My dear colleagues, this evening I want to talk about the need for nations to work together on the new challenges that we face climate change, emerging technology and the breakdown of international rules. Eight decades ago, the citizens and leaders of our nations made a solemn promise to future generations. Having known the untold sorrow of two devastating global conflicts in their lifetimes, they vowed to work together to prevent another. The pioneers who built this institution from the ruins of war, proud Australians among them, were also coming to terms with two terrible truths. The horrors of the Holocaust and the unprecedented horror of nuclear weapons. A depth of evil and a scale of destruction beyond imagining even a decade earlier. Yet rather than recoil from that reality, our leaders stood together to face it, learn from it, and most importantly, guard against its return. And instead of surrendering to fear or dealing in retribution, or abandoning their fate to a world governed by force alone, they came together to renew and affirm their faith in humanity, in the essential and equal dignity and worth of every individual, in the sovereignty of every nation and in the capacity and indeed the responsibility of all of us to give the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, life and weight and real meaning by engaging in the dialogue that builds trust and deepens understanding and backing those words with actions. In this moment, we need to lean in and strengthen and modernise the fundamental parts of the UN system that help to build peace and promote economic development and sustainability. Sovereignty, prosperity and peace are never guaranteed. They must be created, nurtured and protected by each generation, supporting the jobs, homes, schools and healthcare that represent the fullest expression of the UN's commitment to the economic and social advancement of all peoples. We know that the surest way to minimise the potential for conflict is to create the prosperity, opportunity and economic justice on which lasting peace depends. That means cooperating on the urgent challenges that confront each of our sovereign nations, and creating solutions that work for our citizens. This was the founding purpose of the United Nations. And for the leaders who have gathered here this week, this remains the test of our time. A test we can and we must pass. Whether it is climate change or artificial intelligence, there is always the temptation to say that our generation is being confronted by issues that our predecessors could not possibly have imagined while dealing with the world they would not recognise. But for all the transformation the past eight decades have brought, the fundamental stakes haven't changed. And just as its values, our values, our ideals, our commitment to dialogue and cooperation proved equal to that task then, we can rise to meet these new challenges now. We can reaffirm our national sovereignty and our shared humanity. We can seize and share and shape the opportunities this moment holds in the interests of our citizens. But we can only do it together. From the very first days of this forum, Australia has always known that. We understand that the UN mission cannot be entrusted solely to the great powers or the biggest countries, or even the loudest voices alone, nor can it be subcontracted to the world's richest companies, or dictated by the pace of technology. Then now and always, shaping a secure, peaceful and prosperous world is a task for all of us. And that world must be driven by the values and aspirations of all of us. We all have a part to play. And that is why Australia is seeking a non-permanent seat on the UN Security Council for 2029-2030. The world faces tough times and Australia wants to respond to partner and to make a difference. Should our Security Council bid prove successful, our purpose and approach will be consistent with how we have always conducted ourselves at the UN. We will listen with respect. We will partner as equals. And we will protect what matters most. Mr. President, a safer world is one governed by rules, not by power and force alone. It is a world in which all countries have the freedom to decide their own future. And all countries have their decisions listened to. As a member of the UN Security Council, Australia will safeguard the rules that protect us all by upholding international law, including the UN Charter and the sovereignty of all states. We will amplify the voices of small states and middle powers to ensure a wider range of perspectives shape the Council's decisions. We will work to prevent crises, resolve conflicts and protect civilians through diplomacy, peace building and practical action. Our objective will be to support a more effective, representative and responsive UN that is equipped to address the fast growing challenges of today. Listening, partnering, protecting. Colleagues. The world is changing rapidly. New issues are becoming international issues demanding our full attention. Climate change, where the science foretold of the increase in frequency and intensity of extreme weather events that we are now experiencing. Emerging technology, including artificial intelligence, which is evolving at a furious pace, and the breakdown of trust, civility and social cohesion, which is promoting conflict within and between countries. Clearly, the multilateral system we have all known and benefited from is under immense strain. To promote the peace, to create a world of human dignity, to do justice to the UN's mission, we must embrace change and we must embrace reform. Australia supports the rules and institutions that underpin open trade and connectivity. That order, based on agreed rules and institutions, faces massive disruption. This doesn't mean abandoning multilateralism, it means working to reform it, so it's up to the challenges ahead and building beyond multilateralism, with new coalitions and partnerships to address and solve complex problems.

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It is a carefully crafted agreement to safeguard peace and security, promote development, and uphold human rights. I still believe in that promise, enshrined in the United Nations Charter. But the world around us is changing, and not for the better. Over the past year in particular, it has become increasingly clear that the multilateral world order, with the United Nations and the Charter in its core, is at a profound turning point. Blatant disregard for international law and the principles of a charter, reinforced by the sense of impunity, too often dominates over adherence to the rule of law and cooperation between countries for a better future. Mutual dependence has come to be treated as a critical vulnerability. Aggression, wars, and conflicts are becoming the new normal. Millions of people are suffering in Ukraine, Gaza, Sudan, Haiti, Myanmar.

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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.

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Biodiversity loss and pollution are impacting key natural resources in our oceans. Natural disasters and the growing impacts of our changing climate are becoming more severe and more visible. In our region, these pressures are already affecting the lives, livelihoods and long term development prospects. All of this is of grave concern to New Zealand, whose sovereignty, security and prosperity depends on a functioning, inclusive, multilateral system grounded in agreed rules and norms, with the UN Charter at its centre.

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It helped Namibia achieve independence, supported Cambodia's transition from conflict, disarmed combatants in Sierra Leone and Liberia, and helped Timor-Leste take its place among sovereign nations. More than 2 million peacekeepers have served under the UN flag, proving that peace can be built, protected, and sustained. Its impact reached further into the lives of ordinary people. The United Nations system helped eradicate smallpox, vaccinated generations of children, fight hunger and disease, expand access to education and bring clean water and humanitarian assistance to communities across the world. Since the year 2000, deaths among children under 5 have fallen by more than half. These achievements matter. They changed borders, ended wars, defeated disease, and transformed lives. They tell us that multilateralism works when nations summon the will to make it work. The United Nations has not fulfilled every promise of its charter, but without it, our world would have been poorer, more dangerous, and less free. That is why Kenya speaks today, not from despair in this institution, but from conviction in its possibilities. Yet conviction in what this institution can be requires us to confront what this institution has become. Distinguished delegates, last year the world recorded 65 state-based armed conflicts, the highest number of documented incidences in eight decades of global conflict data.

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Mr. President, Mr. Secretary General, Your Excellencies, distinguished delegates, ladies and gentlemen, let me congratulate you, Mr. President on your election to preside over the 81st session of the United Nations General Assembly. You assume this solemn stewardship at the time of intense geopolitical fragmentation, deepening inequality, and eroded trust in our multilateral system? Ghana is confident that your proven commitment to inclusive, consultative and principled dialogue will guide this assembly well, and you have our full support. I also wish to commend outgoing UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres for his dedicated service to our world body over the last ten years. Mr. President, Ghana's national anthem contains a profound petition. It asks God to make us bold to defend forever the cause of freedom and of right.

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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.

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Mr. President. Mr. Secretary General. Excellencies, distinguished delegates, dear friends of Georgia, it's a privilege to stand before this assembly on behalf of Georgia, a nation shaped by centuries of history, resilience and engagement with the changing world. We meet at a time of considerable change in the international environment. Developments in different parts of the world are challenging existing arrangements and raising questions about the future of the international order. In this context, maintaining peace and strengthening international cooperation remain key priorities.

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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.

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Mr. Secretary General Antonio Guterres, to whom I pay tribute for ten years of tireless work in defense of the United Nations Charter, international law and multilateralism, heads of state and government, excellencies. Over the past few decades, the international order focused on promoting peace and stability has been essential to prosperity and socioeconomic progress in our societies. Wars and geopolitical tensions that characterize our times have had a terrible human toll, undermining international order and consequently, the chance of prosperity. That is why we must explore every opportunity for dialogue, diplomacy and peace. In the Middle East, the humanitarian tragedy must end, and we must move towards the two state solution, with Israel and Palestine coexisting as two sovereign states in peace and security. The aggressive actions by Iran and its associated armed groups must cease, including attacks on neighboring countries, merchant vessels and civilian infrastructures. Similarly, the blockade of the Strait of Hormuz must end and freedom of navigation must be guaranteed, including safe and toll free passage, including through the Red Sea. In Europe, we must achieve a just and lasting peace that puts an end to the brutal and illegal aggression of Russia against Ukraine. Ukraine is a partner that has the full support of Portugal and European Union. In Sudan, the most dramatic humanitarian crisis we face must come to an end. We must also remain resolute in combating the global threats of terrorism and nuclear weapons. And in the face of the new challenge posed by artificial intelligence, we must find together the right balance between innovation and regulation, one that allows us to harness its potential for the benefit of humanity while preventing it from distorting our very essence. Excellencies, the energy crisis, and the rising fuel prices we are facing due to international conflicts are affecting all our peoples.

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First, restoring trust among states. Second, ensuring there is reconciliation among peoples and nations with multilateral institutions. And third, working so that recent technological progress benefits all humanity. We are living in a time where the progress of science and technology have allowed for useful knowledge to flourish, such as the emergence of artificial intelligence in order to overcome the multiple challenges that humanity is facing. In recent decades, we have adopted agreements in different areas, and we continue to create the conditions for a world that is more just a world where we can all live in peace and security. Despite our efforts, nevertheless, wars and conflicts of all kinds persist. The arms race is intensifying. Humanitarian catastrophes, selfishness and intolerance are increasingly present, and with impotence, we watch the deterioration of international solidarity and multilateralism as we see the appearance and strengthening of different blocks that are in confrontation when certain challenges antagonize their specific interests. President, the time has come to return to the spirit and the very basics of the United Nations Charter.

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Restoring trust, managing transformation is a fitting theme for this year's session. It reflects both the scale of the changes our world is undergoing and the need to navigate them peacefully. After the Second World War, a robust multilateral system based on rules and global cooperation was built, spanning security, human rights, and economic development. For decades, shifts in global power unfolded within this largely predictable framework. Power has always been unevenly distributed. Today, however, we are witnessing profound changes that are reshaping the post-war system. The task of the international order is not to resist these changes, but to manage them peacefully. Our shared ambition should be to draw inspiration from the founders of the United Nations. Our goal should be to prevent war and destruction, and to build a predictable international order capable of adapting to change while providing fairness and stability. This is precisely why we need forums like this: places where dialogue can prevail and diplomacy can work. This is why we need rules. Not because all states are equally powerful, but precisely because they are not. Rules have value only if they bind everyone, especially those powerful enough to break them. When rules are cast aside, raw power fills the vacuum. A world dominated by great power competition is a volatile world, less able to address the most pressing challenges of our time. It is a world where a single spark can ignite a fire. Instead, we should insist that with greater power comes greater responsibility. Responsibility in the use of force. Responsibility to exercise restraint. But also responsibility to use one's influence to prevent force from becoming necessary in the first place.

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I am grateful to the Secretary General, His Excellency António Guterres, for his long lasting service and his focus on reforming the United Nations into a more effective, modern and responsive organization. This is the correct path to follow. There is no other way. No nation can confront today's challenges alone. Aggression cannot win. It is only through multilateralism, solidarity, and the unity of all Member States that we can uphold peace security and the rules based international order. It is also important to learn from the many lessons of history. Today, too many seem unwilling to recognize and confront the past crimes committed by totalitarian regimes, including Soviet crimes.

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I also wish to express my sincere appreciation to your predecessor, Her Excellency Ms. Annalena Baerbock, for her leadership during our 80th Session. Mr. President, we assemble at a historic moment for humanity. Sixty-three years ago, in 1963, Emperor Haile Selassie famously cautioned this global community by stating:" Lasting peace can be achieved only when nations recognize that their true strength lies not in the domination of others, but in cooperation anchored upon genuine equality." As a founding member of the United Nations, Ethiopia bears both the scars of historical betrayal and the unyielding conviction of a survivor. When the League of Nations abandoned our appeal against Fascist aggression in the 1930s, we did not surrender to despair and desolation. We resolutely stood firm as champions of collective security, helping the birth of the very organization in which we stand for. Today, we call upon the Community of Nations to summon that same foundational courage to actively reinforce the very ideals that help prevent global conflict and the scourge of war. The question, therefore, is: how much longer shall we wait before the pillars of collective security fractured beyond repair? This is exactly what drives the significance of multilateralism, not as a diplomatic convenience, but as a living shield rooted in sovereign equality to address the shifting tides of power politics. Mr. President, I would like to thank the Secretary-General for placing before us the defining imperatives of our era, namely artificial intelligence, the climate crisis, and deepening global inequalities. These are not only policy choices; they are the pivots upon which human destiny is determined. The United Nations has achieved remarkable victories against extreme poverty, but it has never been enough.

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These initiatives also show that strong, genuine partnerships can sustain locally led development. Mr. President, partnership continues to shape international cooperation as we believe that we are stronger when we work together. At a time when multilateralism faces growing challenges, partnership remains one of our most powerful affirmations of what we can achieve, collectively. Kiribati reaffirms its support for frameworks that embody this spirit of partnership, including the Antigua and Barbuda Agenda for SIDS (ABAS) and the Pact for the Future, which provide important foundations for strengthened international cooperation, solidarity and collective action.

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Although the region does not manufacture these weapons, the availability fuels gang violence, organised crime, drug trafficking and loss of life across our societies. While serving on the council, Trinidad and Tobago will advocate for greater international cooperation to address the sources, movement and diversion of illicit weapons, stronger tracing mechanisms, information sharing border and maritime cooperation and deeper cooperation among source transit and destination countries to disrupt weapons, narcotics and international financial flows. Trinidad and Tobago will bring the experience of the Caribbean to the council, where the impact of illicit firearms demonstrates how transnational organised crime can threaten the security and stability of states, even in absence of traditional armed conflict. On the priority area of superintelligence and global security, Trinidad and Tobago encourage a greater consideration of the implications of SI and emerging technologies for international peace and security, including cyber attacks, disinformation and deepfakes, autonomous weapons, criminal misuse of SI, and threats to critical infrastructure.

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In just 22 months, the 22 months to July 2026, intentional homicides declined by around 51%. This is the result of a national security strategy that is being strengthened thanks to international cooperation on shared challenges. And that, respectfully, um, I'd like to respectfully recall, is grounded in four principles one respect for sovereignty and territorial integrity. Two, shared but differentiated responsibility, three mutual respect and trust, and four, cooperation without subordination. This milestone was not achieved through war, nor by renouncing human rights or through reliance on force as the sole response. Mexico combines education and employment for youth with intelligence investigation, strengthening institutions and boosting the presence of the state where before it was absent. Today we can say proudly that our progress in security really make Mexico stand out on the international stage. That's why we wish to, um, put forward a truth to this assembly, um, a truth that is valid for all peoples, that peace cannot be decreed or imposed.

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International commitments must be translated into action and bring people lives of peace, security, dignity and happiness. It is for this reason that the Pact for the Future and the 2030 agenda, our promises to present and future generations must be implemented earnestly and in full. Commitments on financing for development, including. The severe commitment must be translated into concrete measures, expanding access to long term financing at affordable cost, supporting countries burdened by debt, and amplifying the voice of developing countries in international financial and monetary institutions. The multilateral trading system must be strengthened in an open equitable and transparent manner, ensuring development opportunities for all countries. Climate action must be accorded its rightful place in development cooperation, particularly via the adaptation finance, technology transfer and a just energy transition. Development must be people centred and leave no one behind. Growth must go hand in hand with social progress and equity environmental protection and the safeguarding of people's livelihoods, especially for vulnerable countries and communities.

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Your Excellency, Doctor Rahman, president of the eighty-first session of the United Nations General Assembly Your Majesties Excellencies, heads of State and Government, the Secretary-General of the United Nations, Mr. António Guterres, distinguished delegates. Ladies and gentlemen I congratulate you, Doctor Rahman, on your election as president of the eighty-first session of the General Assembly. Zimbabwe's confident that under your able leadership, the Assembly will advance meaningful transformation under the theme Restoring Trust, Managing Transformation a United Nations that delivers for all. You may count on Zimbabwe's full support. I wish to thank Miss Annalena Baerbock for her effective leadership of the 80th session and their contribution to the UN80 reform process. Zimbabwe also pays tribute to Mr. António Guterres in his final general debate as Secretary-General. We commend his defense of multilateralism as well as efforts to advance dialogue for conflict prevention and resolution, sustainable development and the Pact for the Future.

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It is precisely at moments such as this that international law, multilateralism and democracy show their worth. Law provides us with common rules. Multilateralism enables us to turn shared problems into concerted solutions, and democracy ensures that power comes from the people and is exercised for their wellbeing. I address this assembly on behalf of Guatemala, a country that knows from its own experience the value of these tools.

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Regrettably, however, the organization still fails to recover from functional paralysis owing to high handedness and unilateralism of a handful of countries pursuing only chauvinistic interests. All the crises the international community is faced with point one clear fact that infringement on sovereignty, threat to security interests and denial of a right to development of other countries are bound to breed regional instability and crisis and lead to aggression and war. In order to overcome all the existing crises and challenges and promote peace, security and sustainable development, all Member States should seek appropriate solutions to problems while strictly complying with the intrinsic purposes and principles of the UN charter and giving priority to unity and cooperation among nations.

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And this is the greatest contradiction of our time. We have more capacities than ever before, but we also face challenges that no state can tackle alone. As the United Nations, we need to commit ourselves and work to redefine the international order so that we can prioritize the common well-being of the whole of humanity, regardless of whether of where they live and their condition guarantee the well-being of our brothers and sisters, the whole of humanity. We need a multilateral system that is able to listen, but also to make decisions, to safeguard present principles, to respect the sovereignty of states. But that at the same time understands that no state can resolve problems that know no borders alone. The fact is that the credibility of the United Nations is not something that we can build exclusively with resolutions. On the contrary, its legitimacy is achieved when the organization is really, truly able to preserve and save people's lives and to ensure a decent future for all people. And this is something that El Salvador has firsthand experience in.

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Mr. President, Mr. Secretary General, excellencies, I ask every nation here. Are we still willing to work together? The principles in the UN charter, affirmed by each one of us taking our seat in this hall, are now tested, not by argument, but by neglect or ill intention. The credibility and effectiveness of multilateral institutions is imperative for small nations. It is past time to better turn the urgency expressed in political declarations and resolutions into results, not repetition. We speak from our own experience when we underscore the importance of acting together. An institution that takes decisions collectively must also be accountable collectively. Mr. president, the United Nations is long overdue to reflect and renew the same spirit with which our Marshallese people first came to the United Nations by delivering an apology and acknowledgement of the harm caused by impacts from the 67 nuclear weapons tested on our islands during our time as a UN Strategic Trust territory between 1946 and 1958.

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I also commend Her Excellency Amina Mohammed, the Deputy Secretary General, for her exemplary service and distinguished representation of Africa on the global stage. Mr. president, nearly 25 years ago, Sierra Leone completed disarmament and formally declared its civil war over. The formal declaration matters, of course, but peace became real in more practical ways. In the families that returned home in the communities that learned to live together again, in the citizens who chose the ballot, and in institutions that slowly earned back confidence. The United Nations stood with us through disarmament, election and the long work of peace building. So we know what international cooperation can make possible because we have lived it. The experience taught us that trust cannot be commanded by declaration. Trust grows when promises are honored, when the law protects everyone, when institutions serve their people and when citizens can see a future for themselves.

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I am appearing once again before this assembly on behalf of the Republic of Panama, a nation whose own geography defined its destiny. It's the bridge of the world and connects continents, cultures, and markets. At a time in history in which geopolitical fractures threaten to polarize us in a dangerous manner, Panama reaffirms its historic vocation to bring people together and seek common understandings. I must say that polarization is coupled with a large mass of people who feel that international organizations have forgotten the values and priorities of the majority of citizens. I'm referring to those who wish to progress in peace, to be able to work and return home safely. Also, those who defend the institution of the family that has its own credo and a culture forged throughout the centuries that today is being called into question. The majority feel under pressure due to the actions of progressive multiculturalism, that a large part of society is not prepared to accept, almost under coercion. I'm a president that comes from a great nation, a crucible of different cultural heritages that forged a society that's open to the world, with a strong belief in peace. This was all achieved over many years without any imposition, so this means that it happened naturally. I'm convinced that the United Nations has immense potential in a world with so much volatility and such strong asymmetries. But it needs to take up, again, its leadership in order to engage in preventive actions and corrective actions. I am a person who believes in and defends multilateralism, and I am convinced that peace and prosperity of nations must be grounded in international law as a guiding principle of relationships between nations. And these theoretical arguments must also be expressed with palpable results. We must recognize now that citizens do not believe that these types of meetings are that beneficial for them. And herein lies one of the reasons why we must restore trust. I want to give you a concrete example just to illustrate what I'm saying.

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But the risks are growing. Hurricanes are more intense. Weather patterns are less predictable, which makes anticipatory action more complex. New stressors, such as the unprecedented influx of sargassum along our coast, have no ready-made responses. Managing them requires innovation, capable institutions, and strategies that are properly financed. Yet even the best national efforts will fall short without coordinated international cooperation.

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The president of the United Nations General Assembly. Your Excellency, doctor Khalilur Rahman, the Secretary General, Mr. Antonio Guterres, fellow heads of State and government. Your excellencies, ladies and gentlemen. Ni sa bula vinaka. And a very good afternoon to you all. I bring warm greetings from the people of Fiji and from the Blue Pacific continent. Mr. president, although he is not here, I congratulate you on assuming the presidency of the 81st session of the United Nations General Assembly. Fiji assures you of our full support as you guide this Assembly through a period of profound uncertainty and transformation. Our Prime Minister, the Honourable Sitiveni Rabuka, joins me in wishing you and all Member states a peaceful, productive and a very successful session. On the same note, I acknowledge your predecessor, Her Excellency Annalena Baerbock, for her stewardship of the 80th session. I pay tribute also to the Secretary General, Antonio Guterres, who addresses the general debate for the last time in that office. Through a decade of turbulence, he has defended the multilateralism and stood with small island developing states, and Fiji thanks him dearly. Mr. president, the theme of this session is restoring trust and Managing Transformation, a United Nations that delivers for all, and it speaks directly to the condition of our world. We face deepening geopolitical rivalry, armed conflict and climate and environmental crisis.

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We would be remiss not to applaud the efforts, good offices and initiatives of the Secretary General aimed at strengthening multilateralism and that include initiatives such as UN 80 and the pact for the future, as well as the ongoing efforts to address global challenges, crises, conflicts, wars, climate change and terrorism, as well as the efforts to assist member states in order to achieve the Sustainable Development Goals and to strengthen international cooperation on artificial intelligence. We hope that these efforts will continue beyond the conclusion of the Secretary General's term in a manner to guarantee the continuity of work to reform and develop the organizations bodies to enhance its effectiveness and performance in discharging its responsibilities. In this context, we emphasize that Security Council reform and the Security Council is the body charged with maintaining international peace and security has become essential to keep pace with the significant increase in the number of member states and the changes in international relations since the establishment of the organization. There is an urgent need for the Council to become more representative, effective and transparent in carrying out its responsibilities.

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We also call for the strengthening of the rules based multilateral trading system and for fair, transparent and equitable mechanisms for resolving trade disputes. Mr. president, the rapid evolution of digital and emerging technologies, including artificial intelligence, is already shaping economic, social and institutional developments across the globe. We support the General Assembly resolution establishing the Global dialogue on AI governance, and we welcome the work being done by the Independent International Scientific Panel on AI. For Mauritius, digital innovation is a developmental imperative.

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Say our name. Naoero. Mr. president, Naoero is an ocean state. We are not merely guardians of the ocean, but rightful participants in its future. For Naoero, the ocean represents both opportunity and responsibility. Never one without the other. Both are essential, or the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea is left hollow. Today I focus on a part of it that belongs to no one, the deep seabed area beyond national jurisdiction. Mr. president, the convention established the International Seabed Authority and charged it with a clear legal obligation to put in place regulations and regulate activities in parallel with sponsoring states. Its role is not to determine whether deep seabed mining is, as a matter of public policy, a correct course of action. Naoero joined trusting in the commitment set out in the convention and the 1994 agreement. For 15 years, Naoero has invested critical resources in sponsoring the exploration of a portion of the deep seabed. Our sponsored entity, NORI or Nauru Ocean Resources, has contributed about one petabyte of data more than one third of all Clarion-Clipperton Zone data held in the authority's DeepData. We called on the authority to seek an advisory opinion on the responsibilities of sponsoring states, and we followed it. We established a national regulator with the powers and due diligence obligations that opinion requires. At every stage, our decisions have rested on the best available scientific evidence, on the convention and on that opinion. At every stage, we have called for the mining code to be finished, and when progress stalled, we looked to the 1994 agreement and invoked the two year rule. We were told then that we were rushing. That was five years ago, and today the rules remain unwritten. We are participating in the first contentious proceedings before the Seabed Disputes Chamber, because our obligations as a sponsoring state require legal clarity. For 15 years, we have done everything a member state can do, consistent with our obligations as a sponsoring state. And today we continue to wait. Mr. president, there is a general understanding within the authority's council that nothing is agreed until everything is agreed, and that the regulations will be adopted by consensus. Achieving that is a great challenge for an institution whose members remain deeply divided on whether deep seabed mining should proceed at all, a question the convention never asked the authority to decide. Naoero welcomes every effort to ensure that seabed mineral development proceeds responsibly, and I ask this Assembly to reckon with this. A principle declared in 1970 and a bargain struck in 1994, both in this hall still wait for the rules that would give them effect. When a multilateral process cannot deliver, the world does not stand still. Those with the means to act will not wait. And every year of delay makes that more likely not less. That is why the theme of this session matters. A multilateral system that cannot deliver for a state like mine does not deliver for all. That holds here, in this assembly and in any institution we build. Naoero therefore calls upon the authority to let the waiting end.

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It recognized the trafficking of enslaved Africans as the gravest crime against humanity. It approves a more accurate representation of the world map. Now it needs to focus on issues crucial for the future of humanity. We are called to choose between multilateralism or unilateralism, democracy or extremism, sovereignty or subordination. These choices require courage, political will and clarity of objectives.

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Japan will continue to work closely with relevant countries and the International Maritime Organization towards the maintenance of maritime order in the Middle East. Madam President, next I would like to set out Japan's efforts and commitments towards the United Nations and multilateralism. Since becoming a member state of the United Nations in 1956, Japan has acted decisively to address global challenges such as eradication of poverty, economic and social development women's empowerment, climate change and global health.

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As you are all aware, last year the international community marked the 80th anniversary of the United Nations. For 80 years, this unique global organization has been standing at the forefront of safeguarding peace, security and development. Although our organization brings together all countries of the world and serves as the principal platform for international cooperation, Wars and tensions still persist in various regions.

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Mr. President, Mr. Secretary General, excellencies, distinguished delegates, I bring you warm greetings and best wishes from His Excellency President Salva Kiir Mayardit, the president of the Republic of South Sudan. And I bring you greetings from the government and the people of South Sudan, together with a message of peace, unity, development and unwavering commitment to international cooperation. I wish to congratulate, Mr. President, on your election to preside over the 81st session of the esteemed Assembly of this General Assembly. I also express South Sudan's appreciation to the Secretary General. His Excellency Antonio Guterres has continued his service until the last speech he delivered here early this week, early last week. His commitment to the principle of the United Nations charter stands with us. Mr. President, the theme of this session Restoring Trust, managing Transformation, A United Nations that delivers for all, speaks directly to the experience and the aspiration of the people of South Sudan.

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He stood firm in defending our organization against attempts to undermine its foundations. He worked tirelessly to strengthen its role whenever efforts were made to diminish it, he devoted himself to keeping the voice of multilateral action strong whenever attempts were made to silence it. Today we meet at a crossroads. In many parts of the world, tensions are rising, conflicts are expanding, and crises are deepening. Meanwhile, trust among nations is declining. Isolationism and polarization are intensifying. Whereas selfishness and exclusion are prevailing at the expense of cooperation. Unilateral coercive measures are increasingly being imposed, and the logic of power is once again reasserting itself, eclipsing the virtues of dialogue and disregarding the benefits of consensus and understanding. In such a turbulent international context, the danger lies not only in the outbreak of wars, but also in the normalization and acceptance of war itself. It lies in the transformation of the exception into the rule, to a situation where the rules of international law become applicable at times and suspended at others, subject only to the dictates of power balances. What sort of international order can function properly when principles are selected according to the identity of those who violate them? What confidence can remain in international law when the aggressor is granted the right to self-defense, while the victim is required to justify even the right to survive? And what future await humanity if imposing fait accompli and once again becomes a tool for managing conflict or determining their outcome. This matter is not simply a temporary crisis facing the international system. Rather, it is a profound review of our collective conscience and our capacity to preserve and develop the order we established after two world wars, so that future generations would not suffer the scourge of war. Because we fail to learn the lessons of a not so distant history, and because we did not heed these lessons, and we did not transform them into measures that would protect us from the catastrophes of the past finally and in full. And because we built a system of international relations whose central purpose was to reject war. And to safeguard a lasting peace, but without providing the system with the means and instruments necessary to achieve an ambition of this size. For this reason, the theme that was chosen by the president of our General Assembly for this session, namely restoring trust and managing transformation: a United Nations delivering results for all, this theme not only reflects the challenges of our time, but also presents us with a fundamental question how do we restore confidence in an international system whose rules and institutions have lost credibility? Algeria believes that the starting point must be from the place where the will of the international community must be embodied, namely the United Nations itself, this very place and this very hall. Particularly reforming the United Nations system is no longer an institutional luxury, nor is it a choice that can be postponed indefinitely. It has become a necessity imposed by the profound transformations the world has undergone. It is imposed by the need for a more just international order, an international order that is more representative and more equitable. We cannot ask peoples to trust in multilateralism if its institutions continue to reflect the balances of a bygone era. We cannot speak of international justice without addressing the historical imbalances that still mar the structure of international decision making. Nor can we advocate for international peace and security while the system of international relations continues to favor war as a means of resolving dispute. Accordingly, Algeria calls for strengthening the role and the authority of the General Assembly. We call for a profound reform of the Security Council that would make it more representative, more equitable and more effective, and that would put an end to selectivity and double standards in the application of international law. In this regard, Algeria reaffirms its steadfast support for the common African position. We stress that correcting the historical injustice suffered by Africa requires permanent and fair African representation in the Security Council with full powers. If restoring trust begins with institutional reform, then it cannot be complete without doing justice to the peoples aspiring to self-determination and the realization of their national projects.

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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.

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They are what we allowed, what we still allow, and what we will answer for. There is a painful cry for a better world order as we witness the weakening into irrelevance of multilateral institutions. No country, regardless of size or power, can address today's interconnected challenges alone. Excellencies, leadership is not merely discovering the angriest instinct of the electorate and amplifying it. Leadership is sometimes telling our own supporters that they are wrong. It is explaining complexity when a slogan would be easier. It is asking people to consider tomorrow when they are angry about today. It is persuading citizens that humanity of others who may worship differently, speak another language, or vote for another party does not diminish their own freedoms. Statesmanship requires patience, persuasion, courage to compromise. And above all, it requires an understanding that power brings responsibility, not exemption. The Charter of the United Nations was not written to make the strong weak. It was written to prevent the strong from making the world unlivable. Soon we will elect a new Secretary-General. The regional rotation precedent must be preserved. Africa had an unprecedented continuous three terms: Boutros Boutros-Ghali, 1992-1996, Kofi Annan, 1997-2006. Now the Security Council will elect a Latin American as our Secretary-General for 2027-2032. And after more than 80 years of men at the helm of our organization, needless to say, we ought to have enough wisdom and elect a woman with unquestionable integrity, unblemished record, and in defense of human rights, a strong advocacy of gender equality and inclusion, rule of law, democracy, solid experience in senior management in national and multilateral institutions. Mr. President, Excellencies, for developing countries, particularly small island developing states and least developed countries, efficiency must translate into stronger delivery on the ground, not reduced essential support. Timor-Leste urges comprehensive reform, expansion in both the permanent and non-permanent categories, so that developing countries and historically underrepresented regions have a stronger voice in decisions concerning international peace and security. The veto is inconsistent with the sovereign equality of member states. President, Timor-Leste reaffirms the principles of climate justice, common but differentiated responsibilities and respective capabilities in the light of different national circumstances. Greater climate ambition must be accompanied by accessible, predictable finance: adaptation support, technology transfer, and capacity building. Artificial intelligence and other emerging technologies reshape our societies. Developing countries must actively participate in their governance and development.

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In the name of God, most merciful, most compassionate. May the peace of God be upon you. Mr. president, your excellencies, ladies and gentlemen, at the outset I would like to extend my sincere congratulations to His Excellency Mr. Khalilur Rahman on his election as president of the 81st session of the General Assembly. I wish him every success in leading the work of this session. I would also like to express our deep appreciation and gratitude to the Secretary-General, António Guterres, at the end of his term of office for his wise leadership in the service of peace, security, development and justice, and for his tireless efforts to preserve the standing of the organization and restore confidence in multilateral action at a time of extraordinary international complexity, when maintaining the effectiveness of the United Nations has become a demanding responsibility and an almost daily challenge. Mr. Guterres faced, with courage and dedication, unprecedented global crises. He leaves behind a significant legacy of committed diplomacy and principled positions that we shall continue to remember.

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Confidence will not be reborn in an organisation where some actors tolerate arbitrary behaviour. And the promotion and protection of fundamental rights for our states has an absolute responsibility. And we are engaging in this in a context of extreme violence imposed against our populations by terrorists. And when our state adopts exceptional measures as strictly contained by our national legislation and our international obligations, the idea is to protect the populations, to preserve public order and guarantee national security. The most important human right is the right to life, the right of a people to not live under terror. We see that these measures are often subject to selective, biased lectures from others without sufficient consideration for the realities on the ground. The Confederation reaffirms its commitment to impartial, objective and non-selective treatment of human rights. We call for dialogue based on mutual respect, good faith, and factual rigor. We accept impartial and objective reviews but we do reject political processes and being tried in the court of political appeal. Yes, to respect the law, but we reject its instrumentalisation. This is precisely due to these grave shortfalls, persistent selectivity and manifest politicization that our states made a sovereign decision to withdraw from the International Criminal Court and formally notified our withdrawal from the Rome Statute. International justice, yes. However variable justice, no. The Confederation remains committed to multilateral, independent institutions that are impartial and credible.

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We look forward to your stewardship of this assembly, and we move to restore trust and indeed to carry reforms from proposals to implementation. But reform cannot be selective. We cannot move swiftly to reorganise offices and reporting lines while allowing the most consequential questions of power and representation to remain unresolved. Transformation and development. Peacekeeping and humanitarian aid cannot succeed if member states are unwilling to fund it. Let's be very clear no organizational chart can overcome the refusal of states to respect decisions that they find inconvenient. We cannot continue to ask international organisations to do more, while failing to provide them with the resources necessary to fulfil the mandates that we ourselves have agreed. And if member states believe in the institutions that they have created, then we must also be prepared to sustain them. Barbados has consistently met that responsibility, and I give this body the assurance that we will continue to do so. Our commitment to multilateralism, to an international rules based order, must be measured not only by what we ask of these institutions, but by our willingness to support them. So yes, let us improve the machinery, but let us also reform the exercise of power. The Security Council still has 15 members, five of them permanent and armed with that veto. Africa, with 54 states has no permanent seat. And you've heard speaker after speaker after speaker come to this platform to say that this must change. Small island developing states equally confront threats that now reach squarely into the council's mandate from climate insecurity and illicit arms flows to organised crime and displacement. And yet, despite constituting one quarter of the world's states, we have no assured representation within the councils. This, to my friends, must change. And the world we know has already changed. The council has not changed with it. But reform is not only about who sits at the table, it is about how power is exercised. Barbados is therefore joining 123 other member states in supporting the Franco-Mexican initiative on the use of the veto in the cases of mass atrocities. Its principle is fundamental where populations face genocide, crimes against humanity, or large scale war crimes, the veto should not be allowed to paralyse the Security Council when action is most urgently needed. This is why people are losing trust in the United Nations and its council. Mr. President, it's not fair to the majority of member states who still believe in the promise of this body, even as we call for greater equity with the reform of the Security Council.

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Dear friends. Since this morning, we've heard a number of speeches from this rostrum about the state of the world, and I fear I will not be very original in my description. Every speaker has described the return of imperialism, of arrogance, the return of unrestrained force which knows no rules, a world in which we see power concentrated in the hands of the few, a world in which some believe that they can undermine the international order so as to push their borders outwards. Those that believe that people's sovereignty can be toppled over that they could use that sovereignty. People who believe that they can decide the fate of the planet, whether that be as regards the climate or AI. The question we must answer is very simple. The question is, do we want to live under this state of affairs with a return to the law of the jungle? Or do we want to live in a civilised international society? Our duty today, more than ever, is to hold firm here at the United Nations in order to make decisions to further our common interests so that people can choose their fate freely, their development model choose their future. To refuse their sovereignty being taken hostage by unjust forces, by fear. Therefore, the very raison d'etre of this organisation is to bring together free people on an equal footing. It is our charter that prevents the power wielded by some from making decisions for others. This is what compels us to work together to demonstrate our commitment and our capacity to act, and usefully so. You know just how committed France is to the United Nations and its ability to shoulder the responsibilities conferred upon it by the charter. I wish to reassert our commitment to take action hand in hand with each and every one of you, so as to revive multilateralism and to demonstrate that we are stronger, more effective, more capable of tackling common challenges if we do this together. Today's challenges, future challenges, ones we do not know about yet, challenges we haven't yet tackled. I talked about the climate. It also applies to war and peace, new technologies and development. Across all of these areas, wherever might is right is being imposed, we must defend justice and our common interests, and it is in the interests of each and every one of us as well, because our charter affords us the protection, the right to live together. Given the sorry state of the world, given what we're seeing today, and that is a growing number of wars we haven't solved, multiplying myriad crises and contemporary challenges which are weighing on new generations in new ways, I believe we are duty bound not to yield. And at the end of the day, the message I wish to convey to you today, as I've been doing over the last nine years, is a message of determination. Optimism through action. What I'm trying to tell you is that we will not yield to fatalism, to defeatism, which is very much in vogue according to this rhetoric. There's not much point coming here to deliver speeches. They say might is right. We can impose a different kind of peace. That is what they say.

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This year, under a new call to restore trust and deliver for all, we must be honest with ourselves: we are still far behind. The United Nations has yet to demonstrate that it can adapt to a changing and uncertain world, and it is up to member states to make this a reality. That gap is not abstract to Rwanda. Three decades ago, our country's future was also deeply uncertain. Our survival depended on our capacity to rebuild against all odds, and what made that possible was a simple principle and conviction that institutions earn legitimacy not by what they promise, but by what they deliver, year after year. We believe this principle holds true for the multilateral system as a whole, and for the United Nations in particular. It is the standard against which reform must be judged. Optimism, however important it can be, must be matched by willingness to change how we act.

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It can transform education, multiply productivity, and close historic gaps, but also entrench inequalities and serve those that seek to weaken our institutions. We need international governance that enables us to innovate without renouncing our values, and that does not leave those that have the least resources behind. They also need to be able to access this technology. Excellencies, confidence in the multilateral system is going through difficult times.

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Monsieur le président. Mr. president of the General Assembly. Mr. United Nations Secretary general. Excellencies heads of delegation. Ladies and gentlemen, president of the General Assembly. Allow me to begin by conveying to you the warm congratulations of His Excellency, Mr. Brice Clotaire Oligui Nguema, president of the Gabonese Republic, on your outstanding election to preside over this 81st session of the General Assembly. I wish to assure you right now of my delegation's full support and express the hope that your term of office will be marked by a spirit of listening and dialogue, and by the tireless pursuit of compromise in the service of international peace and cooperation. As the Secretary General of the UN, Antonio Guterres comes to the end of his second term, the president of the Gabonese Republic pays special tribute to him for his steadfast commitment to multilateralism and to upholding the principles enshrined in the United Nations Charter. Ladies and gentlemen, Gabon fully aligns itself with the theme for this session Restoring Trust, Managing Transformation: a United Nations that delivers for all.

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Hungary asked to be judged by what we do. We will be reliable member of the European Union, a committed NATO ally and an active member of the United Nations. These partnerships do not take away our freedom. They protect it. Hungary will defend its national interest, but it will do so as a partner. We believe that national interest and international cooperation do not have to stand against each other. For Hungarians, the reasons are part of our own history.

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Member states must remain at the heart of this work, but they cannot act alone. We must engage industries, scientists, researchers, civil society, academia, young people, the companies building this system and the people using them. Let us carry that ambition into the global dialogue on AI governance in 2027. Excellencies, the world leaders also spoke clearly about reforming the United Nations. Reform is not an exercise in rearranging structures or reducing budgets, or rearranging budget lines. Its measure is whether this organization delivers better, faster and more fairly for the people it serves. We will build on the UN80 initiative and the mandate implementation review. But administrative reform cannot substitute for deeper political reform truly led by Member States. In this regard, Africa's exclusion from permanent membership of Security Council is a continuing injustice. The common African position is clear no reform agenda, including UN80, is complete without addressing this long standing inequity in the Security Council. Excellencies, the appointment of the next Secretary-General also emerged as one of this Assembly's most consequential responsibilities, at a time when the organization is facing complex issues and challenges. The charter is clear about the selection process that the Security Council will recommend, and the General Assembly will appoint the next Secretary-General. Member states called for a process that is transparent, inclusive and merit based. The selection process must strengthen, not diminish, the legitimacy, independence and moral authority of the office. Excellencies, I chose restoring trust as the principal focus of my presidency. It resonated widely with the speakers during this high level week and the general debate. We heard of a crisis of institutional trust. We were reminded that trust cannot be taken for granted, and we heard a vigorous defense of multilateralism, but not as an end in itself. A delegation observed that the test of multilateralism is not how many resolution we adopt or how many meetings we hold. Its test is whether collective action changes realities on the ground. All this goes to the heart of the theme of our 81st session Restoring Trust, managing transformation: A United Nations that delivers for all. Trust cannot be commanded. It must be earned through consistency between words and deeds, equal application of international law, fulfilment of commitments, genuine representation, transparency, accountability and results. Restoring trust, therefore, means making our institutions worthy of their trust. Meaningful and often painful reforms need to underpin efforts to rebuild trust. This hall, where grievances are aired, differences negotiated and agreements forged is one of the humanity's greatest achievements. Dialogue can be difficult, it can be frustrating, but it is always better than a world in which we stop talking and take up arms. So I thank you and your delegations for showing up, for articulating your positions, for listening to others, and for trying relentlessly to advance peace development and human rights.

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Our world shaped by uncertainty, disruption and rapid change, but also by hope, innovation and opportunity. For Samoa, the theme is a promise the world must keep. Can trust be restored? Can transformation protect the vulnerable? The answer lies in the first words of our UN charter we the peoples. We must always put people at the centre of our decisions. For us, this is underpinned by the core values of our Samoan culture, the fa'asamoa and our faith such as respect, dignity, love, protection and service. Excellencies, every decision in this hall shapes the world that every child inherits. We meet at a pivotal moment in history. Profound and transformative changes are not only necessary, but inevitable. Across many societies, people are increasingly asking whether global institutions are delivering on the promises made to them. We must prepare ourselves to face the challenges ahead with resolve, and use the opportunity to herald in much needed reforms for the benefit of all, and leaving no one behind. For Samoa, multilateralism remains the cornerstone of our international engagement. Only through genuine cooperation and mutual trust can we craft solutions that no single nation could achieve alone. The UN80 initiative has merits, but also its risk, if not fully assessed and understood. Any reform must strengthen delivery on the ground by eliminating duplication, improving coherence and accelerating impact. Critically, such reforms must not weaken the operation of the UN Multi Country Offices or the Resident Coordinator system. Whilst Samoa reaffirms its unwavering commitment to the United Nations as the premier forum to address global crisis, we also caution against premature decision taken without the full consideration and endorsement by Member States.

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Mr. President, we are now well on our way towards a multipolar world. The post 1945 order is giving way to new realities. This process of adjustment, accommodation and acceptance will not be easy. Much of the turbulence that we witnessed today emanates from those very difficulties. Yet the march of an intrinsically diverse world towards a more democratic future cannot be halted. Peace in a pluralistic order requires civil conversations. It requires broad based consultations. It requires transparent decision making. Large sections of humanity cannot be excluded from that process. The case for reformed multilateralism only gets stronger day after day. Mr. President, after a decade of service and dedication to the cause of multilateralism, we will soon bid farewell to Secretary-General António Guterres. India deeply values his many contributions, in particular his personal support for Mission LiFE.

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Excellencies, there is a wider lesson here. Peace requires effective institutions, and international cooperation requires an effective United Nations. This is why Tajikistan supports the ongoing UN reform process. Reform is not an end in itself. It must make the United Nations more effective, agile, coherent and better able to deliver. We support reducing duplication, improving efficiency and strengthening accountability while preserving the organization's ability to fulfill its mandate. Member states must remain at the center of this process. Excellencies. A stronger UN also requires member states willing to assume greater responsibility. Tajikistan is ready to do so. For the first time in its history, Tajikistan is seeking election to the United Nations Security Council for the 2028 2029 term. We approached this responsibility with humility and determination. We congratulate brotherly Kyrgyzstan on its election to the Security Council for 2027 2028, and look forward to its contribution to the work of the council. Tajikistan would bring the experience of a country that has known conflict and built peace, that has faced difficult borders and chosen dialogue and compromise. A country that shares a long border with Afghanistan and understands firsthand the importance of prevention, stability and regional cooperation. And a country that has consistently advanced practical, multilateral initiatives on water, glaciers, counter-terrorism, sustainable development and peace. For us, membership in the Security Council would not be about status. It would be about responsibility to uphold the charter, to listen to all voices, large and small, to seek common ground where divisions persist, and to contribute constructively to the maintenance of international peace and security. Mr. President, we begin with peace. Let me end with peace. The challenges before us are great, but they are not greater than our capacity to overcome them.

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This is where regional cooperation has a vital role. The United Nations must remain the centrepiece of the multilateral system, but we cannot expect it to do everything. It cannot settle problems when member states are not willing to act. Regional institutions can help turn that willingness into cooperation. They bring countries together around shared challenges and translate global principles suited to local realities. In this way, regionalism becomes a building block of effective multilateralism. ASEAN has demonstrated this for almost six decades. It has grown from 5 to 11 member states. We do not always agree, but we have learned to manage differences and preserve space for cooperation. For my country, Thailand, that practical cooperation means serving as a trusted platform. We want to leverage our strengths as a logistical hub and manufacturing base to connect markets and supply chains across our region. Our conviction is that together, we should combine Asia's diversity for co-creation, bringing together the different strengths of our countries to promote shared prosperity. The same thinking should also extend beyond Asia. Thailand continues to pursue free trade agreements with partners across region, and to expand trade and opportunities for both sides. Additionally, our Thailand Africa initiative seeks to deepen political, economic and development cooperation to build partnerships of equals across our regions. Mr. President, excellencies.

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And as the world transforms, so must the United Nations. The UN80 Initiative is an opportunity to reduce duplication, improve accountability, and focus resources on results. But efficiency must not be measured simply by what we cut. It must be measured by what we deliver. And the United Nations must not retreat from the countries that need it most, in the name of efficiency. Reform must preserve a meaningful UN presence on the ground, particularly in SIDS. The UN Development System must respond to the needs of programme countries and remain guided by relevant international frameworks. The reform process must be Member State-led. It must be inclusive and transparent. This is how reform will restore trust, by bringing the United Nations closer to the people and the countries it serves. Reform must also confront one of this Organization’s oldest weaknesses: unequal representation. The Security Council cannot reflect the world of 1945 while deciding for the world of today. It must be expanded in both permanent and non-permanent categories. SIDS must have a rotating seat. Africa must receive the representation long denied to it, and the veto must be abolished. After all, representation is not merely symbolic. Who sits at the table shapes what the table sees. Small States understand how closely climate, finance, trade, supply chains and security are connected. We also know that international law is our strongest safeguard against unequal power. That principle must remain at the heart of the international system. The Maldives will take its seat on the Economic and Social Council for the 2027 to 2029 term. We are seeking election to the Human Rights Council for the 2028 to 2030 term. And we seek the support of Member States for a seat on the UN Security Council for the 2033 to 2034 term. We do so because small States must be decision-makers, not decision-takers. Representation matters not only within the bodies of this Organization, but also in its leadership. As Secretary-General Guterres approaches the end of a decade of service, the Maldives thanks him for his leadership and commitment to international cooperation. The process to choose his successor must be transparent and based on merit. It must draw from the full breadth of talent available to this Organization. For more than eight decades, every Secretary-General has been a man. It is time for a woman to lead this Organisation. A leader who will defend the Charter, without exception, who can turn reform into delivery, and who will listen to all Member States, including the smallest. The task ahead is immense. The choice we make must meet it. So, what should this Assembly do? The Maldives proposes a simple test for a sovereign future. When we act on conflict, climate, finance, technology or institutional reform, let us ask: Does this decision expand a State’s freedom to choose? Does it build national capacity and reduce dependence? Does it protect sovereignty and independent decision-making? If the answer is no, we must change course. And we must hold every State to the same standard. Let this be the measure of international cooperation, not what we promise, but what we make possible. That is the measure of a United Nations that delivers for all. In 1989, the Maldives asked this Assembly to protect small States from external threats. Today, we ask it to protect something just as fundamental: Every State’s freedom to choose its own future. A future chosen by its people, a future grounded in international law, a sovereign future for every State.

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Mr. President, Mr. Secretary General, excellencies, ladies and gentlemen. It is a distinct honor to stand in this historic hall where so many great leaders have stood before to deliver my country's statement to the world. On behalf of Micronesia, I extend my warmest greetings of Kamorale. Let me begin by congratulating you, Mr. President, on your election as president of the 81st session of the United Nations General Assembly. I also extend my appreciation to Secretary General Antonio Guterres for your dedicated and steadfast service, principled leadership and personal commitment to the values of the United Nations. As you conclude your tenure, we honor your advocacy for the most vulnerable and your tireless efforts in strengthening multilateralism. Micronesia stands in solidarity with all nations that have endured the recent waves of natural disasters around the world. The loss of lives, displacements, and destructions remind us of our common vulnerability. We extend our deepest condolences to the governments and peoples affected, and we honor the courage of those who chose to help in the face of tragedy.

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But we must also understand why this disaster matters beyond Nepal. Nepal contributes less than 0.1 percent of global greenhouse gas emissions. We did not create this crisis, yet we are paying a colossal price for it. Our glaciers are retreating, our mountain slopes are becoming unstable, our rivers are becoming less predictable, and every major disaster threatens to erase years of development. For Nepal, climate catastrophe is not just a humanitarian event, but a development emergency. It destroys roads, bridges, schools, homes, farms, and livelihoods. It destroys clean energy infrastructure that we need to fuel our future. And it forces a poor country to borrow money to repair damage it did not cause. But we are not here to blame any country or continent. We are not here to turn climate change into another geopolitical battlefield. We are here to ask everyone to recommit to shared responsibility and solidarity. Through the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change, the international community has already agreed to the principle of common differentiated responsibility and respective capabilities. Those who have historically contributed more to the problem, and those with greater capacity to respond, must do more. Climate justice cannot remain a beautiful phrase in a United Nations document. People of our country be allowed to build their future instead of constantly rebuilding their past. Excellencies, the Hindu Kush Himalaya is home to nearly 2 billion people. These mountains provide water, ecosystems, agriculture, and livelihoods to populations far beyond Nepal. The Himalayas are not peripheral to the planet; they are part of the planet's life support system. That is why, as an urgent first step, we propose that we establish a Himalaya Climate Resilience Mechanism led by Nepal, India, and China. Through this mechanism, let us share satellite data and expertise, let us monitor dangerous glacial lakes, let us strengthen joint early warning systems, and when disaster strikes, let us coordinate assistance across borders. Let the Himalayas become a laboratory of international cooperation rather than a frontier of fragmented information. Remarkable for a least developed country, Nepal is already playing a global role exceeding its ecological share. We have restored forests that cover nearly half of our territory. We are installing hydropower at a pace enough to power all clean energy needs and displace dirty sources abroad. We are promoting electric mobility with an adoption rate to match parts of Europe. We are strengthening climate adaptation at the local level, and we shall do more to withstand increased intensity and frequency of climate disaster. But Nepal cannot build resilience alone against a crisis made worse by the failure of global governance. This is why this assembly must note six words: relief, rehabilitation, reconstruction, and also responsibility, reparation, resilience. The first three are what we need after disaster. The second three are what we need to ensure that disaster does not become a permanent condition. When a climate-driven disaster destroys infrastructure of a poor country, the answer cannot simply be another mega loan or a patchwork of small grants. We need adequate grant-based support from the world. The Loss and Damage Fund, the Global Environment Facility, and other financing mechanisms remain grossly inadequate. Climate finance must not become another bureaucratic maze through which vulnerable countries spend years that they need help. When the house is burning, we do not ask family to complete 50 forms. We act. This is what climate justice must mean.

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However, we are convinced that our size shouldn't determine our ability to contribute, much less affect our own dignity. We need more effective, more representative multilateral institutions that are closer to the people and more able to respond to the challenges of our time. We need cooperation. We need solidarity and we also need to demonstrate austerity within these institutions. But above all, we need to restore trust in our collective ability to change things, because at its heart, the very idea of well-being and progress springs from something that is profoundly human, that is the ability to recognize suffering and refuse to accept inertia. Human beings are creative precisely because they refuse to resign themselves to things. They sense what causes pain, they sense what could be different, and then they are able to sense the desire for change. And this desire for change is perhaps one of the most profound expressions of our own freedom.

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Nova Scotians all know the same thing. The tide does not wait. You must move with it. The tide has turned in the global order. As well as Canadian historian Margaret MacMillan has observed, we have arrived in a new age of disorder. We are facing a rupture, not a transition. Great powers are walking away from global economic cooperation, dismantling economic integration. Great powers want the rest of us to accept what we are offered. And too often, state sovereignty, the cornerstone of the UN Charter, has been treated with disdain. We are facing serious challenges in the global order, but at their core, Canadians and billions of others around the world want to live peaceful prosperous and predictable lives. That is why, in the face of this rupture, Canada's goal is to achieve greater strategic autonomy, greater autonomy, to make our own choices, and to determine our own sovereign future. We can no longer afford to be overly reliant on any one partner. Instead, we are diversifying our ties and building stronger relationships with new and old partners alike so that our people can enjoy peace and prosperity. We will prioritize decisive, effective action by forging issue based coalitions of nations that share a sense of urgency on common challenges. We believe that these coalitions are the most flexible, effective, and immediate way to address emerging global challenges. We are already forming these coalitions with small states, middle powers and great powers alike. Through the Coalition of the Willing, Canada is working with over 30 allies and partners to bolster Ukraine and defend against further Russian aggression. And in regional groupings like the Arctic Seven and the Nordic-Baltic Eight, Canada and our Arctic allies are cooperating to keep our region stable and secure. To this end, I welcome Secretary Rubio's convening of the Arctic Seven earlier this week in Alaska. At a time when we are forming new coalitions, we should also strengthen the multilateral system. This is why Canada and our partners throughout the entire world have started a new initiative entitled Partners for Multilateralism. This initiative seeks to support United Nations reform and reform of other institutions to make them more representative, more effective and more trustworthy. Through a policy of values based realism, understanding the world as it is, we will make the right choices for Canadians while being guided by our values. We will diversify our ties. We will work with trusted partners to strengthen our strategic capabilities, especially in emerging technologies, critical minerals, defence production, and clean and conventional energy. And we will lead other middle powers to act collectively and decisively. Because middle powers are playing a key role in building the framework for the new international order, which is being established as we speak.

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The biggest strength of the United Nations is that it is firmly grounded in rules we have all agreed on, and that we have all agreed apply to all of us. This foundational agreement is increasingly challenged, with alarming trends to dismiss and ignore international law altogether, which can only result in a world where might makes right. This would result in catastrophic human costs, a further proliferation of conflict, and have devastating effects on development and on human security. We hope that both small and medium sized states will come together in our common interest for a strong multilateral system on the basis of respect for international law. This is the moment for us to unify in support of what the United Nations is built on. President. Naturally, we are also strong supporters of international courts, the indispensable enforcement mechanisms of international law. Liechtenstein joined the jurisdiction of the International Court of Justice four decades before we joined the UN. We have made more submissions to the court over the past decade than in its entire history before. We strongly support its work and its competence in both its advisory and dispute settlement functions. We encourage all to join us in submitting to the compulsory jurisdiction of the court. Liechtenstein is also strongly committed to the International Criminal Court, the first permanent international court with jurisdiction over the most serious crimes under international law, genocide, crimes against humanity, war crimes and the crime of aggression. We will continue to support the court and its mandate to ensure accountability and its central message that nobody is above the law. In joining the ICC, we have exercised our sovereignty and delegated the jurisdiction we have ourselves to an international court which we have helped create. We are proud of the way the court has addressed the challenges to its resilience over the past year, in the face of relentless political attacks and unprecedented sanctions. We hope that more states will join this project, which is one of the landmark achievements in the history of international treaty making. The Rome Statute also criminalizes the supreme international crime, the crime of aggression, which complements the prohibition of the illegal use of force, the core piece of the UN Charter. At the international level, by signing the UN Charter, we have all agreed to refrain from the threat of, or use of force against the territorial integrity or political independence of another state. This is the most ambitious collective commitment to end war that has ever existed. Amidst accelerating human suffering the world over, it has never been more important for us to implement this commitment. President.

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The theme of this session, Restoring Trust, Managing Transformation: A United Nations that delivers for all, reflects the core of our responsibilities towards the common goal of this organization that was established after the horrors of the 20th century. They decided to rely on the strength of law and not that of the might. They decided to choose dialogue instead of confrontation. Our responsibility today is to maintain the scores, and we have to counter the selectivity in applying international law, especially when there is a systematic avoidance of collective commitments. Some countries do not want to uphold the same rules that they call on others to uphold. This leads to weakened collective cooperation mechanisms. We no longer can prevent conflicts or settle them. This danger extends to institutions that might falter and fail. Multilateralism is not limited to the interests and sovereignty of states. It is not an example of weakness. Instead, it is a necessity to ensure human dignity, bring peace, and confront challenges. Defending the United Nations is a defense of the right of all peoples to determine their future and participate in decision making. Those decisions that define their destiny. We want a more just United Nations. A United Nations capable of confronting the current challenges. After more than eight decades since the establishment of the UN, the Security Council reform has become a necessity to ensure a fair representation of Africa, including permanent and non-permanent membership.

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A diary that would make its way into the world and inspire millions of people. And I think that one of the reasons people are so inspired by Anne is that she had an unshakable belief in the power of people to turn the tide so that good prevails. She wrote, and I quote, how wonderful it is that nobody needs to wait a single moment before starting to improve the world. And these words are just as powerful and true today. This week is the perfect example of that. And I realize that the United Nations does not carry the most positive associations for everyone. And indeed, there is much that can and must be improved. But let us not forget what lay behind the founding of the United Nations over 80 years ago, the realization that doing nothing had led to the darkest chapters in human history. And we now live in a different time. New generations have arisen, and we face new challenges. But when we look at the world today, we see similar challenges as which preceded the founding of the United Nations. We see that the international legal order is under pressure in more and more places, even though it is a very foundation to our freedom and prosperity. We see the unending human suffering in Gaza, Sudan and so many other places in the world. We see violations of international law and of human rights, which are in stark contrast to the UN's aims. And we see institutions being undermined, institutions that were established to protect people and populations. And we must not be naive about the causes. These constant threats and attempts to dismantle the legal order are fueled by people and groups with their own agenda, an agenda that runs counter to the interests of everyone else. Yes everyone, and even those who don't feel directly threatened because they think it doesn't affect them. Sooner or later, everyone is affected. As we saw in the time before the United Nations. And when major powers chose to pursue only their own interests, it is tempting to respond defensively, but as Mahatma Gandhi, an eye for an eye will only make the whole world blind. And so it is time for us, the global community, to choose to pursue the common interest, not by trying to build an entirely new world order, but simply by working together. And the middle powers must take the lead in fostering such international cooperation. And everyone must be able to participate, including those countries who are currently too often left on the sidelines. It is time that countries in Africa, Asia and Latin America had a fully fledged place not only on the Equal Earth map, but in the real world too. To start with, here in the UN, improved African representation in the Security Council at the very least. Because if we want to preserve the UN for the future, we must change the balance of power in line with the changing times and modernize our institutions. And this means that we must focus on core tasks and stable financing, but also that we must work to protect the multilateral order with all our strength. And because international law either works for everyone or for no one. Take the attempts we've seen to undermine the International Criminal Court, which is based in my country, in my city. This undermines the international legal order as a whole, and that affects us all. This court was established to protect us against impunity. This court was built on the foundations of the Nuremberg and Tokyo trials. In the words of the Nuremberg chief prosecutor, Robert H. Jackson, and I quote one of the greatest tributes that power has ever paid to reason. And now, with the ICC under attack, the writing is truly on the wall. After all, how can you possibly be opposed to prosecuting the very worst crimes? And I believe there can be only one response to say, hands off the ICC and all those other institutions that protect the international legal order.

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Human made conflicts have created situations of unrest in many countries. Vast numbers of people are being displaced, giving rise to humanitarian crisis. Wars and conflicts are placing immense pressure on the global economy. Energy security concerns, disruptions to global energy supply systems and rising inflation are worsening the economic situation. We believe that every conflict should be resolved through dialogue, diplomatic processes and mutual cooperation. Equality, fairness, protection of mutual interests and respect and dignity among disputing states should form the basis of bilateral and multilateral relations. We aspire to a peaceful world, a humane, global community where, rather than weapons of destruction, reason and debate, diplomacy, education and humanity become the instruments of change. Bangladesh sees the United Nations as the centerpiece for establishing an accommodative global community based on mutual respect for one another's independence and sovereignty.

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Mr. President, in a world marked by rapid technological change, environmental threats, renewed conflicts and deepening fractures in the international order, this year's theme Restoring Trust, Managing Transformation, a United Nations that delivers for all, is not merely aspirational, it is an urgent moral and political imperative. Every international institution, beyond its legal framework, requires mutual trust among its members to be effective. Moreover, trust is an ongoing process. Pope Leo identifies three essential words that must guide diplomacy, peace, justice and truth. He warns against the return of a diplomacy of force and reaffirms the indispensable role of multilateral institutions. Mr. President, the human person remains the measure of all progress. At the heart of this conviction stands the acknowledgement of the inviolable, God given dignity of every human person. From this flows the sacredness of life from conception to natural death, as well as the imperative to safeguard the human person that every society that aspires to be regarded as civilized, has a duty to protect. Pope Leo addressed in his first encyclical letter The New Technological Challenge, which he does not reject but calls for its ethical ordering.

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Here is the most uncomfortable thing I came to say. The hardest pill to swallow in my speech. This organization has not been commensurate with the challenges of our times. It's not only a leadership problem, one of the present or the future, but rather a problem in terms of action. For decades and for several reasons, the United Nations has not been part of the solution to the problems I've outlined. We cannot simply continue to play by the same rules of an order that was established in 1945 in 2026. What we've seen is the development of a UN architecture that holds too many discussions and is too quick to act. A Security Council that reflects the political arena of 1945 and the reality and not the reality of 2026. We have red tape that continues to proliferate, as is true for indeed many countries. We're seeing agendas that, however noble they might appear have ultimately postponed what this organization committed to do with its founding charter that is maintain peace, protect rights, life, and defend the freedom of its peoples. We believe in the United Nations, and believing in the United Nations means ensuring that the organization discharges its mandate. I propose three things reducing bureaucracy and focusing our resources where there are lives at stake. We must suspend agendas that are not priorities to return the spotlight to those that really are priorities. We must reform the Security Council, not as a symbolic gesture, but as a vital prerequisite to ensure that the council's decisions are once again respected and upheld. Chile signed the San Francisco Charter and has been present, ready and willing to defend all of its causes. We are committed to the High Seas Agreement known as the BBNJ, and we proposed Valparaiso as the headquarters of its executive Secretariat. That means that we now have the first UN body to ever have had a headquarters in Latin America and this is an agreement which brings together many different sectors in Chile to play this role, this housing of this headquarters is an expression of the multilateralism that we believe in a tangible, ambitious and able to yield results. There needs to be a multilateralism that is effective and efficient. And allow me to say that the reforms I talked about cannot wait.

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Mr. Secretary-General, Former Presidents of the General Assembly, Excellencies, Ladies and Gentlemen, Forty years ago, I stood in this very Hall as a newly minted member of the Cabinet of the 41st President of the General Assembly, Mr. Humayun Rasheed Choudhury. At the time, President Choudhury said, and I quote: “In recent years there appears to have been a crisis of confidence in the United Nations itself... there is a general feeling that the United Nations today needs revitalizing in a number of aspects in order to bring it into line with the priorities of a changing world.” This shows that questions about multilateralism and the effectiveness of the United Nations are not new. They have been part of this place since the first stone was laid. Yet, through it all, the United Nations has persevered. Not because it is perfect, but because it is irreplaceable, and because the alternative is simply unfathomable. The world of 1945 was in peril. The Second World War, the colossal devastation wrought by it, and the Holocaust, left humanity bankrupt, morally and fiscally. Something had to change. And this place was that change. It ushered in a long era of diplomacy, which continues: Member States coming together to work through their problems because they knew that the alternative, guns blazing and bombs dropping, simply was not an option. Perhaps the clearest evidence of its achievement is here in this very Hall. In 1945, 50 nations participated in the San Francisco Conference. Today, eight decades later, the Organization has 193 Member States. The UN has brought together humanity under one roof; this is unprecedented in human history. The core promise of this institution, its raison d’être, was and remains to prevent the unimaginable: a third world war. The fact that we have avoided such calamity is among the greatest achievements this institution could ever deliver. (BRIEF PAUSE) But survival alone cannot be our sole measure of success. Outside these walls, people are not asking whether the United Nations still exists.

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And very often the countries with the least economic room to maneuver bear the greatest burden in proportionate terms. The United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea confers rights, but it also imposes obligations. The safety of navigation, the protection of the marine environment, and respect for the rights of coastal states. A smaller navy doesn't mean fewer rights, nor does a larger one confer the right to impose its will. No country should have to surrender the rights the law gives simply because another can send more ships. That is why maritime disputes must be settled by law, not by intimidation. And that is why freedom of navigation depends on common rules, so that every country can exercise its rights while respecting those of others, but keeping our sea routes open also means keeping them safe all the way into our ports. The International Ship and Port Facility Security Code, the famous ISPS code offers a very concrete example of what multilateralism can achieve when it works. Piracy, terrorism and crime are scourges that we must fight together, and that code must be strengthened. Belgium understands its importance. Freedom and security are not opposing ideas. Security is a condition of freedom. I dwell on freedom of navigation because it illustrates something larger. Sovereignty doesn't require isolation. We can defend our interests while accepting that others have rights too. And when rules are clear and predictable enough, a space of competition can still remain a space of cooperation. The ocean, moreover, are far more than the highways of our trades. They feed populations, regulate our climates, and absorb much of the excess heat caused by global warming. For many small island states, rising sea levels affect the land on which the citizens live, in some cases, the culture and the very ability to remain where the families have lived for generations. The freedom to use the ocean, therefore, comes with a responsibility to preserve it. And on this point, allow me to be optimistic. The BBNJ Agreement entered into force this year after almost 20 years of negotiations, almost 20 years. Measured against a political cycle, this is close to an eternity. Measured against the building of international law, it is sometimes the time needed to reach a compromise strong enough to last. The agreement proves that even today, we continue to build international law rather than dismantle it, and Belgium has invested greatly in this process. It helped launch the Blue Leaders, a coalition of countries working to protect at least 30% of the ocean by 2030 and secure an ambitious high sea treaty. The agreement now gives us an essential tool to advance toward that protection goal. But 20 years of negotiations must not be followed by years of waiting. It is in that spirit that Belgium is offering to host the treaty's future secretariat in Brussels. We are ready to enable it to work from day one. It will be able to draw on our scientific expertise and on a community that brings together international organizations, embassies and civil society so that we have agreed together becomes real protection at sea. Beneath those same oceans run other vital routes: the cables that connect the continents and carry much of our digital communications and energy. Here too, our interdependence is plain to see. A break, an act of sabotage or an attack can have consequences thousands of kilometers away. Protecting those connections is essential, but our responsibility in the digital world doesn't end with infrastructure.

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And I do so at a moment of particular importance, as Greece reaches the end of our second year on the U.N. Security Council and is again preparing to assume its presidency next month. 12 months ago, as we marked the 80th anniversary of the United Nations, we spoke of the need to reinvigorate multilateralism. And one year later, that need has only become much more urgent as we are living through extremely perilous times. Conflicts are multiplying, tensions are deepening, and perhaps most alarmingly, we're witnessing a further erosion of restraint in international affairs. The rules and understandings that have long provided a relative degree of stability in international relations between states are increasingly being tested. Secretary-General António Guterres has steered these United Nations through this exceptionally turbulent decade, with a steadfast commitment to its charter and the values it embodies, and the selection of the 10th Secretary-General presents a historic opportunity for the reinvigoration of the organization when it is most needed. Ladies and gentlemen, the first step in restoring confidence in multilateralism is acknowledging where it has actually succeeded.

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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.

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Mr. president, Papua New Guinea comes to this assembly with profound respect for the charter of the United Nations and for the principles and purposes upon which this great institution was founded. The United Nations reminds us that whether we are big or small nations, rich or poor nations developed or developing, powerful or less powerful, we are all members of one international community. The challenges confronting humanity do not recognise the size of our economies, the strength of our militaries, or the boundaries on our map. No nation can address them alone. We must therefore continue to work together, respecting the sovereignty of all nations, upholding the international law and the United Nations Charter, resolving our differences peacefully and recognising that every nation, regardless of its size or economic strength or military might, has a voice and a place in this assembly. For Papua New Guinea and all the nations of the Pacific, multilateralism matters. The United Nations place provides a place rather, where small nations can sit alongside the largest, where voice can be heard and where we can work together on the common challenges facing humanity. And with this, I want to place on record Papua New Guinea's fullest acknowledgement on all speakers from the Pacific who have spoken, all leaders who spoke. We are fully, on behalf of Papua New Guinea, affirm all their points, the points that was raised. I also wish to acknowledge the Secretary General of United Nations, His Excellency Antonio Guterres as he approaches the completion of his tenure on behalf of the government and people of Papua New Guinea. I want to thank the Secretary General for his strong and consistent advocacy for humanity. At a time when our world has confronted war, displacement, poverty, inequality, climate change and many other challenges. He has consistently called for peace, human dignity, international cooperation and respect for the principles of United Nations. He has demonstrated the qualities of a global statesman. If there is anyone befitting of a Nobel Peace Award and label a global statesman, His Excellency Guterres is perhaps the leading person at this time. He has used his office to speak for humanity, including those voices that are often too dim and seemingly unheard. Secretary-General Guterres, on behalf of my 11 million people, Papua New Guinea, thank you for your service to the United Nations and to humanity. We remember fondly your three nights you stayed with us in the mountains and islands of Papua New Guinea. Thank you for being a strong voice of not just Papua New Guinea, but small nations, especially my small Pacific island nations. Your advocacy reminds us that beyond our national borders and political differences, cultures and beliefs, we belong to one human family. And we share one planet called the planet earth. Mr. president, it is in the spirit of common humanity that I wish to speak about human rights, human freedoms, and particularly freedom of conscience, thought, belief, and religion.

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This theme invites us to consider international cooperation in a world that is subject to profound challenges. For Equatorial Guinea, trust is strengthened when we fulfill commitments that have been made and decisions that have been adopted collectively, and when visible results can be produced. The countries of the Global South need cooperation that preserves peace, that drives sustainable and inclusive growth, and that expands the ability of each state to build its own future. Therefore, 21st century cooperation should provide opportunities for the mobilisation of financing to transfer, transform raw materials and to develop one's own knowledge and technologies. Excellencies, this vision is especially relevant for Africa, which needs investments that can allow it to develop local value chains, build infrastructure, advance industrialization, strengthen human capital, incorporate new technologies and generate employment, especially for the continent's large youth population. A more productive and industrialized Africa will be a stronger partner for the benefit of all of those wanting to halt its emigration. Excellencies. When the 2030 agenda was adopted, the world embraced its deeply human vision: eradicating poverty, protecting the planet, and making sure that all people can live with dignity, leaving no one behind. However, as we approach its end date, we are far from meeting its goals. Poverty persists, inequality is expanding, and climate change continues to rage. It is clear that we need an international financial architecture that facilitates productive investments, that takes into account the real vulnerabilities of developing countries, and supports the efforts of each nation. It is therefore urgent to implement the resolutions adopted at the conferences in Addis Ababa in 2015 and in Seville last year.

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Ladies and gentlemen, heads of state and government, our recent experience permits me respectfully to state a certitude: when governance models are tailored to reflect the historical, social, and cultural realities of each nation, rather than haphazardly being imposed, that is when development accelerates. Let us consider Asia. Let us consider certain nations in the Middle East. They did not wait for an external model to be endorsed in order to become prosperous. They drew inspiration from the universal experience while at the same time tailoring that to their national brilliance. In one generation they managed to achieve what others spent a century attaining. Africa too can embark upon this path. This is not reflective of a rejection of the world, nor rejection of international cooperation.

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We see it not only as a place that showcases the past, but as a house of knowledge, thought, and enlightenment. Today, in an era when social networks and artificial intelligence are spreading hatred and stereotypes at a rapid pace, it is important to remind this truth once again. Uzbekistan will consistently continue international cooperation aimed at strengthening dialogue between cultures and religions, enlightenment and tolerance. Dear President, ladies and gentlemen, all of us want to live in a world where human dignity is the highest priority.

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It entails the humility to recognize that no country alone has all the answers, and it only makes sense when what we learn together is translated into action, because this is, after all, the true essence of multilateralism. In a time of fragmentation, we need to regain trust. In a time of confrontation, we need to strengthen cooperation. In a time when force so often prevails, we need to reaffirm the law. Cabo Verde is a small country, but our history has taught us to engage in dialogue, to build bridges, and to seek consensus. Our history also taught us that no country is too small to have a voice, and no challenge is too big to tackle when we work together. The United Nations must continue to be the space for this collective endeavor, and I will recall what Amílcar Cabral taught us: learn always. Learning today also means understanding that educating a child, providing opportunities for young people, protecting our planet, fighting poverty, promoting development, and building peace are not separate missions. They are, indeed, different ways of us caring for the future. And perhaps this is the greatest lesson that our times require of us: the future is not simply what we receive; rather, it is what we are able to teach, to learn, and build together.

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Ladies and gentlemen, without identifying the causes of the crisis facing contemporary humanity, we cannot solve its problems. The politics of force cannot bring progress to humanity. Instead of force, we need respect and strengthening of the existing international norms, rules and institutions that we have built over more than 80 years. The multilateral system today faces a serious challenge a crisis of institutional trust. Trust is weakening because some actors in the international community undermine the values enshrined in the UN charter. The future of humanity does not lie in policies of violence and human rights violations. Conflicts and wars are not the purpose of our civilization. Let us build a culture of dialogue, cooperation, and peace. In this context, I believe it is of utmost importance to reaffirm the importance of the UN charter, revitalize the role of the UN as the Global Center for Coordination and Cooperation, support the reform process and strengthen the credibility of the United Nations, consistently implement the Sustainable Development Goals, build mutual trust, inclusiveness and democratic vision of leadership, and strengthen preventive diplomacy at a time of numerous tensions and conflicts.

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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.

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For decades, the UAE's commitment to the Palestinian people has remained unwavering. Today, that commitment continues through our role as the largest provider of humanitarian aid to Gaza, along with our humanitarian and development projects in the West Bank. This role reflects the core values of our foreign policy, which is driven by the spirit of giving through effective international partnerships, while reconfirming the principles of international humanitarian law and protection of civilians. Across all these dossiers, the importance of developing and reforming regional and international multilateral institutions remains paramount to strengthen their capacity to fulfill their responsibilities, foremost among them the UN, including the Security Council, the United Nations.

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Austria will be a reliable partner in the Security Council during the next two years. Austria throughout the campaign has made a promise to spare no effort on the Security Council to protect our common rules, to engage in dialogue with everyone, and to rebuild trust in our global order that has been eroded by a dangerous zero sum logic. But for all of us, the road ahead is not easy, because today that order is being tested in conflict after conflict. For more than four years, Russia's war of aggression against Ukraine has violated the UN charter, and it still does. During my last visit to Kyiv, I witnessed the pain it causes firsthand. Austria's position remains clear we will not accept a change of borders by force. We need an urgent cease fire to create a credible path to negotiations between the parties. In the Middle East, the continuous escalation teaches us a similar lesson. After years of bloodshed and suffering, it is obvious no one can bomb their way to peace. We want a prosperous and safe Israel. But the same applies to the Palestinians and to Israel's neighbors. Israelis and Palestinians deserve to live side by side in peace and security, with a credible path to a two state solution. Any unilateral actions that undermine this prospect, including the continued settlement expansions in the West Bank, only perpetuate the conflict and must be firmly rejected by all of us. Palestinians in Gaza desperately need peace and stability, with Hamas disarmed and the IDF withdrawing from the strip. Iran and the United States must come back to the negotiation table to end the suffering, to credibly revive the nuclear talks, and to stop holding global supply chains hostage to political ends, especially when there are bilateral deadlocks and conflicts are impacting the whole world. We believe we must pursue for multilateral solutions. In Lebanon, we need a sustainable arrangement to support the Lebanese armed forces in disarming Hezbollah. The withdrawal of UNIFIL must not create a vacuum that will leave the region worse off than before. The same set of international rules must protect civilians in Sudan, in the DRC, in Yemen, Haiti, Myanmar, Ethiopia or other conflicts that receives far too little international attention.

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This theme is particularly relevant in the current international context. We are living through a critical juncture, exacerbated by the proliferation of conflicts, deepening existing crises, and the emergence of new crises with devastating political, economic, humanitarian and security consequences. In the face of these challenges, we must reaffirm the essential mission of the United Nations and strengthen a renewed, more inclusive and more effective multilateralism that takes full account of the interests of all states, large and small. The region that is home to my country also continues to face crises, the consequences of which extend beyond our national borders.

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Second we stand for international cooperation that is peaceful, fair and based on equality. A new nationalism would be a misguided path. Whatever its prophets may preach, the truth is that it would make our lives narrower, poorer and less secure. Instead, global trade relations need to be diversified and deepened in the framework of a fair trading order. No country should have to accept raw materials being used to force obedience or supply chains becoming instruments of pressure. None of us is powerless in the face of this. Where we cooperate, we free ourselves from one sided dependencies and open up new spaces of freedom. With our partners in the European Union, we have begun this work through new trade accords, cooperation agreements and partnerships. These partnerships are built on mutual respect, on common rules and a shared respect of international law. They also take into account the fortunate fact that many countries of the Global South are developing with extraordinary success. The same principle for partnership and cooperation also applies for technology. Access to computing power, data, expertise and infrastructure will increasingly shape who can innovate and who merely has to accept the rules set by others.

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This purpose binds our national advancement to our continent's progress, and to our responsibility to contribute to a peaceful, equitable and prosperous world. We understand that governments and multilateral institutions earn trust when their decisions improve lives. Yet none of these gains will matter if we turn a deaf ear to the threats gathering around our borders and farther afield. We inhabit the only planet known to sustain human life, and as long as that scientific fact holds, we cannot pretend that we are insulated from conflicts elsewhere. Geography offers no exemption from the consequences of a fractured world.

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Finally, as the United Nations approaches change in its highest leadership, current realities and approved mandates require the next Secretary-General to portray strong commitment to multilateralism, dialogue and the rule of law. Many capable candidates, including women leaders who have taken up the challenge, have been put forward. And for the first time in history, we have a female candidate from the Caribbean. CARICOM endorses this candidate. We are at that time in history where trust in the United Nations must urgently be restored. We make efforts. Suriname is dead to protect our forests.

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Strong institutions, effective UN peacekeeping operations, and closer international cooperation are necessary. Bulgaria will continue to defend this approach. Lasting security is not only built through responding to crises but also through our capacity to prevent them. Excellencies, as a member of the UN Human Rights Council 2024-2026, Bulgaria is striving to create a public environment free of discrimination, racism, anti-Semitism, and hate speech.

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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.

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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.

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We commend him for overseeing the largest part of the implementation of the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals that have energized international support, including the actions in the Pact for the Future. Namibia stands ready to work with the incoming Secretary-General. However, let me point out that since the establishment of the United Nations in 1945, no woman has served as Secretary-General of the organization. The leadership of the organization has yet to reflect the principle of gender equality that is being promoted across the international system. Namibia, therefore, believes that it is time that a woman is elected as Secretary-General of our organization. Mr. President, the United Nations is the only platform through which all nations can collectively advance shared aspirations, achieve common goals, and address global challenges. Namibia will remain a constructive partner in strengthening multilateralism cooperation and restoring trust in the United Nations. Let us, therefore, continue to defend our organization. Let us collectively place human dignity at the center of the United Nations, so as to restore trust, effectively manage transformation, and deliver for all.

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Excellencies, we are drawing close to the end of the tenure of the current Secretary General and the appointment of the next one, an act of greater importance, given that the person must possess the qualities of independence, integrity, competence and courage to build consensus, uphold the charter, promote conflict prevention, lead the necessary reforms, and seek solutions to address the organisation's financial crisis. The Republic of Angola reaffirms its commitment to the United Nations, convinced that only at the level of this institution will it be possible to safeguard the achievements of the recent decades in terms of respect for international law. Only within the framework of the United Nations can we make progress in seeking peaceful solutions to the conflicts ravaging the world within a framework in which multilateralism serves as the mechanism for bringing together ideas, political wills and initiatives conducive to global peace. We, political leaders and rulers of today will be judged in the future by our ability to replace confrontation with dialogue, predatory competition with cooperation, exclusion with solidarity, and the force of arms with the force of law. Only in this way will we build a more just, peaceful and inclusive international order capable of ensuring progress and wellbeing of humankind, leaving no one behind. No weapon is more powerful than diplomacy, since all others are used only to destroy lives, infrastructures, dreams, and life plans, whereas diplomacy is the only weapon that exists to unite, repair, build and save lives, peoples, nations, and humanity itself. For this reason, the United Nations organization must equip itself with appropriate tools and means to fulfill the theme of this 81st session of its General Assembly, namely restoring trust, managing transformation, empowering it to become an organization that delivers for all. Thank you very much for your kind attention.

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None of that happened because the powerful suddenly found their conscience. It happened because the balance of power in the room was changed. That is the lesson of history. Change is not given. It is organized. It is not the small states who are dismantling the rules based order. Small countries cannot dismantle a rules based world, but we will be the first to be crushed beneath its collapse. Great powers can survive the end of the rules. Small states cannot. For us, a rules based world is our shield. The rules have not always been applied fairly. But the answer is not a world without rules. It is rules that bind the strong as firmly as the weak. An international order whose rules apply only to the weak is not order. It is a hierarchy. When the Bahamas defends multilateralism, we're not defending a bureaucracy. We're defending the only successful arrangement in which a nation of 400 000 people can stand at this position as the sovereign equal of a nation of a billion people. A world without rules is not a free world. It is Milos. Mr. president, I do not appeal to conscience. Small states have done that for decades. Today, I appeal to your interests. What is in your best interest? No wall is high enough to keep out rising, warming seas. No border strong enough to stop a pandemic. Narrow self-interest asks what you can take today. Enlightened self-interest asks what kind of world you will have to live in tomorrow. The international rules based order. It benefits all. They're not arbitrary, having been arrived at through lived experience. Every rule you break today is the rule you will need tomorrow. Every institution you starve is one you will want one day. Every small nation you abandon

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This aggression is being accompanied by a brutal media and cognitive warfare aimed not just against the Cuban people, but also against the citizens of the United States and the internal and international public opinion. It is characterized by its gross and brazen attempts to interfere in the internal affairs of Cuba, which is also another international crime. We are often asked, well, what is the U.S. pursuing with such aggressive behavior? And the question usually surprises us, because the representatives of this government have outrightly declared their purpose to take Cuba to control the country and to dominate its economy. In other words, to nullify through aggression or economic suffocation, the national sovereignty which several generations of Cubans have struggled for since the 19th century, first to achieve it and later on, after conquering full freedom in 1959 to tenaciously defend it against the biggest risks, including that of a Holocaust. The U.S. behavior relies on the fallacy proclaimed early on this year that Cuba is an unusual and extraordinary threat to the national security and the foreign policy of the United States. A nonsense shamelessly repeated by that government. In a futile attempt to substantiate such an assertion, the U.S. government then inundates its huge communication platforms with false claims, using the spokespersons and publications it hires, taking advantage of the increasing control exercised by its government over them. The U.S. president himself repeated this lie a few days ago in this chamber. Any minimally informed observer would understand the unrealistic and barbarous intention to portray a relatively small and developing nation such as Cuba, with a modest economic performance as a threat to the biggest nuclear military, technological and economic power on the planet. This organization and its member states have abundant evidence of the fact that we are a peace loving country of the efforts of Cuba in favor of international cooperation, understanding and the peaceful settlement of disputes, as well as the active role that we have always played in support of the United Nations. Cuba is not a threat. What is is the blockade. Cuba is not a threat. The blockade, yes, is a threat.

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The old world is dying and the new world struggles to be born. Now is the time of monsters. President, distinguished delegates. These words stem from the Italian philosopher Antonio Gramsci, written in one of Mussolini's prison cells in the 1930s. The monsters he refers to were the dark, political, social and ideological phenomena of his time. Gramsci describes the time of transition, of insecurity and the collapse of hegemonies. His worries were not unwarranted. His era ended with the largest catastrophe of them all the Second World War. Our United Nations was founded by leaders who had lived through two world wars, a devastating economic collapse and the rise of fascism and Nazism. They had experienced firsthand that all nations suffer in war and conflict, and when international cooperation fails. We too are living in turbulent times. Yet at the very moment when we need it most, our United Nations faces its most serious challenge. We see an erosion of respect for international law, a loss of confidence in the merits of cooperation, of financing, and of effectiveness. These are symptoms of the same disease, a growing belief that power matters more than principle. A growing temptation to seek national advantage at the expense of common rules. But history teaches us a simple lesson. When rules are undermined, instability grows. When cooperation weakens, instability spreads. Smaller countries like my own, and in fact, the vast majority of this assembly are particularly dependent on common international rules.

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Mr. President, the future of multilateralism also depends on its leadership. Saint Kitts and Nevis proudly joins CARICOM in endorsing Her Excellency Carolyn Rodrigues-Birkett of Guyana for the office of the United Nations Secretary-General. Her understanding of the challenges facing developing nations reflects the leadership this moment demands. Her candidature as an Indigenous woman from a small developing state also reaffirms that global leadership must be defined not by the size of a nation, but by the vision, integrity, and capacity of those called to serve.

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There is also need for refraining from the use or threat of use of international relations, and avoiding the imposition of coercive sanctions merely on the basis of political disagreements or the exploitation of these sanctions as instruments to achieve specific political or economic objectives. Sudan has lived under sanctions imposed pursuant to chapter seven for more than two decades. These sanctions have negatively affected its economy, security and territorial integrity. They have undermined Sudanese sovereignty and status, exacerbated cycles of violence, affecting the protection of civilians and vulnerable sectors, and hindered national reconciliation. The continued disregard for and violation of the purposes and principles of the UN charter through the use or threat of use of force in international relations and through interference in the internal affairs of States in various forms, and through disregard for the established principles of international law threaten confidence in the multilateral international system and in the charter of the United Nations itself.

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In that regard, we fully share President Trump's vision. Mr. President, we are living through one of those strange moments in history when one world begins to disappear before the next has finished being born. These are dangerous times, but they are also extraordinary times. Because during long periods of stability, nations manage the world they have inherited. During periods of transformation, some have the opportunity to build the world that is to come. Argentina wants to be one of them. We will continue to participate in multilateral fora in good faith, because some problems mean that we need to work together. But we mustn't confuse cooperation with subordination.

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Yes, but now it must also be digital. The change must then be reflected in the way we work together to achieve our different and common goals. I know that I am preaching to true believers, Mr. President and Mr. Secretary-General, when I say that there must be no letup, no slowing down in the relentless drive for reform of how this United Nations and its agencies does its business and delivers its services, to take our foot off the gas would be to let down the millions who need this United Nations to do better, be better at tackling the problems that blight their lives. That is why the goal of this General Assembly, a United Nations that delivers for all, is so important and so urgent. If we are to have any hope of renewing the trust of the citizens we serve in global institutions and the global order. We have to show that those institutions, this institution, can indeed deliver in ways that change tangibly lives for the better. We must never lose sight and never lose faith in the values that brought us together in the first place. As nations united. Malta is and always, of course, will be a passionate advocate and promoter of and passionately committed to multilateralism. At the core of all we do must be the code and conscience of the founding charter of this United Nations. But the implementation of those values, the way we turn those fine words into fine actions, must always be a process of constant evolution. We can never stand still if we are to keep cooperation alive. So Malta remains thoroughly committed to the implementation of the Pact for the Future and all of its associated actions. Reforms must, yes, remain Member State driven and firmly anchored in the intergovernmental process, and efficiency must not come at the expense of effectiveness on the ground. Malta solidly backs a strong and effective Resident Coordinator system as the key anchor of UN action at a country level, and I can't reiterate often enough or restate strongly enough, that the only effective antidote to the cancer of cynicism and suspicion is effective and concerted action to tackle the greatest threat to our people and our planet. And alongside spreading conflict and the dangers of uncontrolled technology, the greatest threat to us all, and especially island nations like Malta, is man made climate change.

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We have understood that and that is why we stand closely together. We believe in international relations rooted in cooperation, dignity, sovereignty, and mutual respect. We are convinced that no country, however powerful it may be, can claim to be the world's policeman. That time is over. To conclude. Niger respects others' choices. And is not asking anyone to share our choices. We ask everyone to respect those choices. Niger intends to fully exercise its sovereignty over its natural resources and will never again accept any restriction imposed from outside on its sovereign right to freely choose its partners. That right is inalienable, and it is non-negotiable. We declare that trust will be reborn when every nation, big or small, is treated with the same consideration. When the right to sovereign equality, to territorial integrity, to freely choose one's partners, and to non-interference when those rights are respected. This is the condition for restoring trust, for making transformation just, and for the United Nations to truly provide results for all and for the United Nations to be respected by all. And for the United Nations to ensure that it is respected, and to ensure that everyone believes it is an organization for all. Long live international cooperation! Long live the Confederation of Sahel states. Long live the Republic of Niger!

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Poland has no colonial past. Our historical experience is different, marked by the struggle for our own freedom and resistance to domination imposed by force. In international relations, we advocate an approach based on mutual respect, sovereignty, and equality of states. Poland does not seek an advantage over others. On the contrary, it builds cooperation that strengthens all participants. In a world of growing geopolitical rivalry, we need more partnerships that create real value rather than deepening dependencies. That is why Poland consistently works toward a model of international cooperation that gives countries room to develop, strengthens their resilience, and allows them to make sovereign decisions. This approach is reflected both in our own regional policy and in our global engagement.

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These are real problems, and there is no benefit in glossing over them. Yet it by no means follows that we need the United Nations less. We may need it more than ever. It simply must be more effective, more focused, and more prepared to address the issues for which it was created. Over the past eight decades, states have not come to this building because they share the same interests, but because they understood that the cost of settling disagreements by force of arms was too high. That is why multilateralism came into being and why we are here today. Serbia supports the United Nations and reform of the UN system so that the organization may become more effective and better adapted to today's realities. We advocate a more representative UNSC through greater representation of developing countries, particularly those from the African continent, as well as more inclusive regional representation and the addition of another seat for the Eastern European group.

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