The transcripts are AI-generated from the UN's English audio and can contain mistakes. We are checking them against the statements the missions publish; some errors are still expected.
Well, Yoni said it simply. We have no other choice. And throughout this long war, our goal never wavered. To win. To win with unwavering resolve. To win with unrelenting courage. Because this is Israel. One nation fighting for one future left and right, young and old, religious and secular. Do we have our differences? Of course we do. Who doesn't? But in critical moments, those moments that shape our destiny, we stand together because what unites us is so much stronger. Our history, our values, our courage, the courage, the courage of our brave people who withstood 1000 massive ballistic missiles that Iran rained down on our cities, on our civilians. Ladies and gentlemen, you're sitting here in the General Assembly Hall of the UN. Do you know what? Just 1 ton ballistic missile would do if it hit this place. It would obliterate the entire compound. In fact, two such missiles would obliterate the U.N.. So you can imagine think about 1000 gigantic missiles falling from the skies on your cities, on your homes. I salute the courage of the people of Israel. I salute the courage of our brave soldiers, Jews, Christians, Druze, Muslim, the most moral army in the world, the IDF. For three years our brave soldiers have been valiantly fighting a seven front war. But there's an eighth front to this war. It's the war for truth. It is waged in the world's media and most perniciously in social media. Several foreign countries have spent untold billions to spread lies about my country. The first to do so was Qatar. Decades ago. It started massively funding American universities and toxic media outlets like Al Jazeera. They did the same in Europe, by the way, and their goal was clear brainwash young minds to hate Israel, hate America, hate the West. This is the same Qatar that hosts the Hamas butchers of October 7th, now the latest country to become a super spreader of anti-Semitic lies is Turkey.
And those words give my compatriots and I courage to uphold the Pan-African and anti-colonial heritage that was bequeathed to us by our forebears. Another line in our item petitions God to fill our hearts with true humility and make us cherish fearless honesty. That prayer inspires me today to follow in the footsteps of Doctor Kwame Nkrumah, Haile Selassie, Nelson Mandela and other global icons who have stood at this very podium before me and have spoken boldly and fearlessly about the state of affairs in our world. The words the world may not transform overnight because of the speeches that we deliver here in this August assembly, but history would faithfully record the truths we choose to speak and the silences that we choose to keep When we are granted the privilege of addressing this global town hall. Allow me, therefore, to begin by reintroducing myself to the General Assembly. I stand before you as president of the Republic of Ghana. Yet we too often ascend these heights draped only in the ropes of our titles, forgetting that alongside each of us stands a history, a people, and a legacy I was born in a little town, Damango, which was then a modest community in northern Ghana, and it's now the capital of the Savannah region of my country. I was born to Mr. Emmanuel Adama Mahama of Berlin and Madam Abeba Naba of both of blessed memory. I belong to them and I belong to the foremothers and the forefathers who gave birth to them, who named them, who nurtured them, and who passed down the enduring values by which I live today. I grew up at the crossroads of several Ghanaian cultures. I speak Gonja, which is a language I speak three and Ghana. I am fluent in Hausa, spoken across the West African savanna and the Sahel.
Without that capacity, sovereignty over the land, over the sky becomes just an illusion. And then comes the third layer: reach. For centuries, the great threat to freedom of speech was censorship. Today, freedom of speech is threatened by the weaponization of the freedom of reach. Speech is the right to express an idea. Reach is the power to place that idea before millions of people. Speech belongs to human beings. Reach can be purchased, automated, manipulated and secretly assigned by platforms, corporations, criminal networks and foreign states. The right to speak is universal, but there is no universal right to anonymous, unlimited and artificially amplified reach. When one lie can be multiplied a billion times, truth does not need to be censored anymore because it is simply buried. The citizen remains formally free to speak, but speaks into a storm that no human voice can match. Freedom of speech can therefore be defeated without banning a single book, without imprisoning a single journalist, without deleting a single post. The answer to bad speech remains more speech, but the answer to covert industrial amplification must come and must come sooner, more than it will be too late. And it's called exposure. Who created the message? Who paid for it? Was it spread by people or by machines? Why was the citizen targeted? Was the apparent public reaction authentic, coordinated or foreign directed? Defending democracy and defending a way of life and defending the freedom of each and every nation to live in its own way does not mean controlling what people are allowed to think. It means revealing the hidden powers, seeking to control what people are made to see. If we protect freedom of speech while leaving the control of reach completely opaque, we defend the door while surrendering the whole room. Some respond by demanding that artificial intelligence be slowed or stopped. We are too small, but we respectfully have to disagree. A pause by democracies will not produce a pause by dictatorships.
In the name of God, the Merciful, the Compassionate. We have always focused on people. Between good and evil, reconstruction and destruction, peoples have struggled. This struggle between good and evil continues; however, good people choose the right path. Those who fight are very different from those who engage in bloodshed. People can be very cruel to each other if they resort to injustice. When land is usurped, when sanctity is violated, people suffer. And people pay the price. Falsehood forces people to confront evil. Many wars were waged over history. Unfortunately, our region has seen many of these wars. Sometimes the truth prevails, sometimes the truth does not. Not all peace is just. Wars have taught us that injustice does not continue forever.
Mr. president, on the 26th of September 2025, almost to the day a year ago, right here before this August assembly, I challenged the universal conscience on the distortion of the map of the world, which wrongly shrunk the size of Africa on the map of the world and in the global collective imagination. Just a few days ago, on the 4th of September 2026, to be precise, in this very hall. Togo's call was heard, and a reform of the map of the world was adopted. The international community made history by adopting, with a very large majority of 164 votes, by adopting resolution called correct the map. Togo is delighted that this resolution was adopted. This decision has a simple requirement. Is it the need to represent the world based on scientific truth and respecting the equal dignity of the people Correcting the map is not just rectifying a geographical distortion, it's also correcting the perceptions that come with, in particular in education, in information and in public action. Correcting the map of the world on behalf of scientific truth, on behalf of responsibility, in the face of history, on behalf of justice and equity, on behalf of repairing cartographic map distortions that were inherited from the past in English. Ladies and gentlemen, the adoption of this resolution is not the end of our journey. The adoption of this resolution is now the beginning of our resolution. For us as Africans. The adoption of this resolution is far more than a cartographic decision. The adoption of this resolution is an act of recognition. The adoption of this resolution is an act of reparation. The adoption of this resolution is an act of justice. The adoption of this resolution is for justice in the world. That way. Today we have not redraw the world. We have corrected the way in which the world is represented. Togo intends to breathe on this historic momentum.
Mr. President, last year from this very podium, Italy's Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni recalled that 56 armed conflicts were raging across the world, the highest number since World War II. Today, those same sources put that figure at 61. It's the stark truth of the numbers. Pope Leo XIV issued a warning that Italy has made its own: we must never grow accustomed to war, because first we'll become accustomed to the words, then to images, and finally to the victims. When war becomes something we grow accustomed to, peace itself risks becoming a mirage. We will not give up. Against the law of the strongest, we choose the strength of the law; against the politics of force, we choose the force of politics. This is the message Italy brings today to the United Nations. This is the mission of Italian diplomacy: to build bridges, open new paths, and keep dialogue alive even when it seems impossible. To work for peace, prosperity, and growth, because growth creates prosperity, and prosperity in turn consolidates peace. Ukraine, the Middle East, the Gulf, Sudan, and the Sahel are not separate crises, nor are trade wars, AI competition, hybrid attacks, and their economic and social repercussions, nor is terrorism in all of its many forms, which we continue to fight in every corner of the world.
Mr. president, excellencies, my friends, we meet at a time when the obstacles confronting human progress are multiplying, obstacles to peace, obstacles to food and clean water, obstacles to finance, medicine and education, obstacles to movement and opportunity. Obstacles to technology, to the knowledge and infrastructure needed to use it, and increasingly, obstacles between nations, between communities, and between people who no longer agree on the same facts or trust the same institutions. War continues to destroy lives and communities. Even though the international community possesses more tools than ever, ever before to prevent conflict and to facilitate dialogue. The climate crisis is accelerating. Even though the science is clear enough for us to act, and many of the solutions are already known. And despite unprecedented global wealth, millions remain without reliable access to food, water, health or shelter. These challenges, my friends, are creating the crises of which we constantly speak, and at the same time, new challenges are emerging. Artificial intelligence is opening extraordinary possibilities in health, education, science, and productivity while also creating new risk of exclusion, exploitation, surveillance and the distortion of truth. And yet, the cooperation needed to confront these challenges is under strain. It is why I believe the theme this year is so apt. Restoring trust. Managing transformation. A united nation that delivers for all. The theme reminds us that we have institutions created to preserve peace, to advance development, and yes, to protect human dignity. The institutions are these very United Nations. We have shared principles grounded in sovereign equality, and in the recognition that our responsibilities extend beyond borders. The reality is that we understand that there is, regrettably enough, for us to be able to invest in prevention rather than waiting to finance reconstruction. We understand enough about the climate crisis to reduce the emissions that are warming our planet, and take the necessary steps for our populations to adapt. We equally now understand enough about the rapid development of AI to know that as we welcome its promise, we must anchor its development in a universal, humanizing framework that does not imperil our existence as human beings. The failure, my friends, to address these challenges, therefore, is not one simply of knowledge or capacity. It is a repeated failure to convert what we know into what we do. To turn principle into practice and global capacity into solidarity So beneath our many crises lies yet another one. And yes, it is a crisis of responsibility. Mr. president, that responsibility begins here in these halls.
This is not about reducing emissions; it is about reducing vulnerability to imported fuel, external shocks, and prices we do not control. Palau is carrying that regional commitment into national action. Our latest commitment targets a 44 percent reduction in fossil fuel use by 2035, supported by renewable energy generation and practical policies that make the transition affordable and reliable. Our energy future reflects a larger truth: resilience requires partnership shaped by our priorities and respects our sovereignty.
Mr. president, the Secretary. General of the UN, the Deputy Secretary General, Excellencies Heads of State and Government, distinguished delegates, ladies and gentlemen, I extend my warmest congratulations to you, Mr. President, on behalf of President Bola Ahmed Tinubu on your election as president of the 81st session of the United Nations General Assembly and assure you of Nigeria's full cooperation and support. I commend your predecessors stewardship of this assembly. I also salute the Secretary General, His Excellency Antonio Guterres, and the Deputy Secretary General, Amina Mohamed, for sharing the United Nations through storms that have sharpened our awareness of the cost of inaction. None of us can pretend that countries within our borders or in lands far beyond them do not exert a price from us, such as the rich of our interdependence. Such is the urgency of this session sacred duty to restore truth in the international institutions we establish to reconcile our differences and advance our common interests.
Mr. president, excellencies, I am appearing addressing this assembly representing the first female president of my country, doctor Claudia Sheinbaum Pardo whose government places people at the heart of the actions of the state and works on a daily basis to achieve freedom, democracy, social justice and substantive equality. Mexico conducts its public life according to a conviction that I'm bringing to you today, from this rostrum, to make shared prosperity a reality for all people. This conviction coincides with the commitments that we all made in the United Nations Charter, whose first article establishes as goals to maintain international peace and security, to engage in friendly relations between nations, and to cooperate to resolve economic, social and cultural problems and humanitarian problems. Promoting respect for human rights without any type of distinction. Mexico, a culture with more than 3000 years of history, is experiencing a profound transformation that is a continuation of the journey that, uh, was started with the independence movement, the reform, and then the revolution the three defining moments when my country expanded the rights of its people. My country today aspires to achieve a prosperous society with rights and a decent life for all. This is a transformation with clear goals to bring about shared well-being, to strengthen our competitivity, to develop our own capacities, and to determine our own destiny. It's for this reason that my country has come to share the experience of a nation that decided to show, through concrete actions, that it is possible to improve the quality of life of our people by expanding their rights and their capacity to exercise these rights. Please allow me to underscore some of the progress made. The first is the reduction of poverty. Between 2018 and 2024, more than 13 million people were lifted out of poverty in Mexico, the most significant reduction in the history of our country. It's also important to underscore that in 2025, we had the lowest in white poverty rate in our history. This effort continues with a national social policy. In 2026, the well-being programs of our countries reached 42.8 million people. In addition to this, we have sustained investment in infrastructure, healthcare, trains, highways, schools and water infrastructure. Looking towards 2030, the investment in infrastructure for development with Well-Being plan plans to make investments in energy, transport, water, health, education and emerging technology. The second concrete action is security that the government of President Sheinbaum understands from a comprehensive perspective, addressing the causes that push youth towards crime and also zero impunity. And the results speak for themselves. 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. It's built with social justice. The third action is focused on employment. Since 2018, the minimum wage has increased in real terms by 154% And today we have the highest purchasing power in more than four decades. And we achieved this with dialogue between the government workers and employers. With inflation under control and one of the lowest unemployment rates of any OECD economy. We've demonstrated in practice something that was denied for decades in theory, and that is that, um, paying workers better does not make economies poorer. It actually strengthens them. The fourth, fourth action that we've engaged in has transformed the history of our country. For the first time in two centuries of independent life, Mexico is being governed by a woman. And this did not happen alone. Um, and she's not governing alone either. She, uh, has a cabinet with gender parity, a Congress with gender parity, and a reform that made substantive equality a constitutional mandate.
Mr. president, we meet during a pivotal moment when the world is facing numerous interconnected and complex crisis conflicts are spreading, climate shocks are intensifying and technology is advancing faster than the rules that govern it. As the current crop of leaders, it should concern us that today, somewhere a child is born into war, a families displaced by conflict. A farmer loses another harvest to drought, and the young person wonders whether technological progress will expand opportunity or deepen inequality. Through separated by geography, those separated by geography. These experiences reveal a common truth. Humanity's challenges are increasingly interconnected, and no nation can overcome them alone. The trust deficit among nations has continued to erode the gains that cooperation fostered within the United Nations system. We must therefore choose between purposeful reform or unmitigated repression. Trust will be restored when conflicts are prevented. International law is applied equally. Development commitments are fulfilled, and all nations are fairly represented in global institutions. Multilateralism is a crucial equalizer. It ensures that all have an equal voice under international law, and an equal role in shaping our shared future. Undoubtedly, the charter remains our common compass sovereign equality, political independence, territorial integrity, non-interference, peaceful settlement of disputes and international cooperation must be applied universally, not selectively. International law cannot be a shield for some and a sword against others. The United Nations has a sacred duty to save succeeding generations from the scourge of war.
I had prepared a speech to present to you yesterday. The United States President described us as terrorists. We have been the victims of terrorism. I come from an Iran in which our esteemed Supreme Leader was assassinated without any legal framework or reason. I come from an Iran where, in truth, they bombed a school. You see these children? These children perished under bombs, with weapons used by the United States and Israel. They were innocent, had committed no crimes. Lamerd, one of the small cities in a province in Iran, a sports hall where children were busy playing. The United States, by using weapons with multiple warheads, targeted that sports hall. They martyred, assassinated, our scientists, our men, women, and children. Innocent children who, in truth, had committed no crimes, no sins. Those who are terrorists and train and protect terrorists describe us as such. We have only defended ourselves. We are not terrorists. Our innocent people have been the targets of cowardly attacks and aggressions imposed upon our country, and we defended ourselves with utmost strength.
it did not make. The promise of our generation was made 81 years ago with the founding of this United Nations from the ashes of the worst war in human history. Its ideals have proven its worth. No nation is too small to be sovereign, no people too poor to be equal. And the strong should be bound by the same law as the weak. Sad to say, United Nations has drifted from its promise. The Bahamas comes today to insist on it. Mr. president, all week we've been told this is an age of uncertainty. With respect, I do not agree. Uncertainty is the language of those who have already decided and do not wish to say so. Treaties are being torn up, institutions are being starved, rules are giving way to deals, and the benefits of the deals go to whoever holds the most leverage. Once again, we hear the language of spheres of influence, of backyards and hemispheres. For 500 years, the Caribbean was somebody's backyard. We did not win our freedom to once again become somebody's backyard. The message to small nations is very clear be as sovereign as we allow you to be. Mr. President, a sovereignty that must ask permission is not sovereignty. It is a lease. Our ancestors did not break their chains so that their children could become tenants. These are not uncertain times. These times are very certain. The only uncertain thing is how we respond to the opportunities and challenges of this time. People often say that the world lacks political will. I do not agree. The world has never lacked political will. In 2008, when the banks of the richest nations were failing, trillions of dollars were found in a matter of weeks. When a global pandemic reached the capitals of the powerful, the political will returned. The will exists. It is simply pointed elsewhere. Somewhere, a bank is always too big to fail. Similarly, a nation should never be too small to be left behind. What the world lacks is not political will for change. It is political change itself. A change in who writes the rules. A change in whose suffering counts. A change in who decides and who pays. Political will is a feeling. Political change is a decision about who holds the power. And Mr. President, that is what I have come to speak about today. Power. 2500 years ago, the envoys of Athens stood before the small island of Milos and told his people a simple truth about power. The strong will do what they can. The weak will suffer what they must. 81 years ago in San Francisco, humanity wrote a different law: the sovereign equality of nations, not equality of size or wealth, equality of standing. The United Nations was the world's answer to Milos. But in 1945, nearly 1 in 3 people on earth still lived under colonial rule. The people of my islands were among them. The Bahamas was not in that room, but we were on the map. Then came political change for us. Not granted from above, demanded from below. And so on the 18th of September 1973, the Bahamas took its seat in this assembly. Then in 1985, Commonwealth leaders met in my own capital and agreed the Nassau Accord against apartheid. We were told pressure would never work. Less than five years later, Nelson Mandela walked free. 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
Mr. president. All these issues, however far apart they may seem are bound by one fundamental truth. Security and prosperity are not two parallel objectives Instead, they are one single objective pursued along two paths. There can be no prosperity without security and no sustainable security, without interconnected economies and societies in peace. This is not a golf perspective dictated by our geography. Instead, it's a lesson that humanity has learned from its wars, a lesson that Europe learned when it built its peace, not through treaties alone, but on interests so intertwined that separating them became costlier than preserving them. It is in this light that we view freedom of navigation. A waterway is not merely a security issue of concern for coastal states. It is an artery of development through which the food, medicine and energy of entire nations flow. When a single waterway is disrupted, the cost is felt by a family. In a country that does not have a coastline, an economy that is difficult to disrupt is difficult to coerce, and interdependence, once firmly established, becomes a shield against coercion. This approach is not a position shaped by the current circumstances.
The possibility before us are immense. We have the possibility of silencing the guns through dialogue and diplomacy. The world does not need more sophisticated instruments of destruction. It needs a more sophisticated capacity for peace. In this regard, I reiterate Guyana's call for a just and lasting solution to the crisis in the Middle East, one that brings an end to the suffering of innocent civilians and recognises the Palestinian people's legitimate right to self-determination and to secure a homeland of their own. Reiterate our support for a two state solution. We call as well for an end to the Russia-Ukraine war and the war in Sudan, and for peaceful resolution of all conflicts that continue to consume lives, uproot families and extinguish the hopes of millions in other parts of our world. We reiterate our call for a viable solution for Cuba, one that is peaceful, people centred, development focused and allows for a full aspiration of the Cuban people to be realized. Guyana reiterates Caricom's offer to play a meaningful role in achieving this objective in Haiti. Resolving the multidimensional challenges remains central to achieving democracy, stability, peace and prosperity for the Haitian people. The sustained support of the international community through the provision of key financial and material resources, is critical to realising these objectives. Ultimately, the future of Haiti must be Haitian led and Haitian owned. Mr. president, turning to my own country, Guyana has always advanced the peaceful settlement of the controversy in relation to our border with Venezuela. Despite the historical truth clearly outlined in the arbitral award of 1899 that determined the full, perfect and final settlement of our border with Venezuela, we endured long and repeated provocations and aggression. The matter was referred to the International Court of Justice by the Secretary General, acting pursuant to the Geneva Agreement, and the court twice pronounced on its jurisdiction to hear the matter. Recourse to the ICJ came after decades of efforts to resolve the controversy bilaterally, including through a mixed commission and the good offices of the UN Secretary General. In full respect for international law. Guyana participated and encouraged Venezuela to participate in the proceedings of the ICJ. Now that we have both participated in the hearings, which were completed in May 2026, we urge Venezuela to abide by the forthcoming ruling in accordance with their obligations under the UN charter. As Guyana will do, we look forward to a new era of neighborly relations in the interests of our peoples.
Just as managing transformation is not an option up for debate. Together they constitute the very essence of the mission. We pledged before our people, before our Arab brothers, and before the entire world. On the day I was entrusted with leading the government of Lebanon, we assumed this responsibility at a time when our country faced three existential challenges. The first was to regain the trust of its people. After the financial collapse and the Beirut port explosion and the tragedies and wounds they left behind. The second was to reclaim its national decision making so that no authority stands above that of the state. No weapons exist outside its armed forces, and no decision on war and peace is taken outside its constitutional institutions. The third was to recover all of its territory from Israeli occupation, and to extend its sovereignty over the entirety of its national soil through its own forces. In implementation of the Taif Agreement and in sincere respect for the relevant international resolutions on Lebanon. Foremost among these is resolution 1701, which remains to this day a fundamental point of reference governing relations between Lebanon and Israel. Trust rebuilt decision making. Reclaimed. Land liberated. That is the equation for Lebanon's recovery. These are not three separate challenges. They are three facets of a single cause. Restoring a state that its citizens trust that is master of its own decisions, and that exercises sovereignty over the whole of its territory. Mr. president, first, the trust we seek to restore is not trust in words. It is trust in institutions that protect rights in a judiciary that guarantees justice, in an economy that restores prosperity to the people and gives young people the opportunity of a better future. We cannot speak of restoring trust without recalling the Beirut port explosion. The wound of the 4th of August remains open. It cannot heal without truth, justice and accountability, and these will inevitably come. Some may feel that our government has not yet fulfilled all of its commitments. We do not claim that the task is complete, but fairness demands that we not overlook the scale of legacy we inherited paralysed institutions, a public administration of diminished effectiveness, an economy stripped of the foundations of growth, and a state weakened by compounding crises and by decades of external interference. Even though we have not used the difficulty of our circumstances as a pretext to retreat from our commitments and we will not retreat. Lebanon has launched reforms on several fronts, namely revitalizing the public administration, strengthening the independence of the judiciary, modernizing the media law and abolishing the death penalty. It is also advancing towards the completion of financial reforms aimed at restoring order to the financial system and recovering depositors funds. These reforms should pave the way for an agreement with the IMF. Such an agreement is an indispensable tool for restoring international confidence in Lebanon, and a gateway to securing the financing needed from all our regional and international partners for economic recovery and reconstruction. Our aim in pursuing reform is not to ask our people to renew their trust in the state. Rather, through reform, we seek to rebuild a state worthy of its people's trust.
Mr. President, a few situations illustrate so painfully the gap between international commitments and lived reality as that of the East of the DRC. For more than three decades, millions of Congolese have been suffering attacks, forced displacement, and bereavement. Territories have been occupied, families dispersed, women and girls have suffered sexual violence, while children are recruited by armed groups or deprived of education. At the same time, the looting of our resources continues to fuel international trade. My country continues to face a war of aggression led by Rwanda through its proxy, the AFC M23, in violation of its sovereignty, our sovereignty, and our territorial integrity, as documented by the UN. The atrocities committed by other armed groups, especially the ADF and CODECO, are exacerbating this humanitarian crisis even further. To combat this challenge, the DRC has chosen the path of diplomacy without ever abandoning its rights. The peace agreement signed in Washington on June 27, 2025, the commitments made as part of the Doha process, and the roadmap coordinated by the African Union have opened up prospects that we have constantly supported. I commend the United States, Qatar, the African Union, African facilitators, regional partners, and all those who are sincerely striving to restore peace. However, for the sake of truth, we must recognize that for millions of Congolese, this peace remains only a promise. Resolution 2773 of the Security Council has laid out an unambiguous path. It calls for an effective cessation of hostilities, the withdrawal of Rwandan forces from Congolese territory, and, to all support for armed groups, the disengagement of the AFC M23, the dismantling of parallel administrations, the restoration of state authority, unhindered humanitarian access, and the safe and dignified return of displaced persons and refugees. But we don't need new texts to replace those that have already been adopted. What we need is their implementation. With regard to the issue of the Democratic Liberation Forces of Rwanda, the FDLR, long cited by Kigali to justify its military presence on our territory, the DRC is shouldering its responsibility. The protocol signed by the political and military leadership of the FDLR on May 30, 2026, provides for the disarmament, demobilization, and containment of their combatants, with a view toward their repatriation or resettlement without prejudice to potential judicial prosecution for serious crimes, until the movement is disbanded. The repatriation on September 8, with the support of MONUSCO, of 120 persons associated with the FDLR, is a first testament to the protocol's implementation. The issue of the FDLR, therefore, should no longer serve as a pretext for maintaining foreign military presence in our territory. The coordinated implementation of the mechanisms of Washington, Doha, and the African Union must be subject to a precise time frame, independent verification, regular information exchange, and clear consequences in case of violations. In this context, MONUSCO maintains a vital role in protecting civilians, monitoring the ceasefire, and supporting agreed-upon mechanisms. Any change to its presence must be determined by the conditions of security on the ground, the strengthening of national capacity, and the guarantee that no vacuum of power will remain to the detriment of populations. The DRC, for its part, will continue to fully shoulder its responsibility, especially through pursuing reforms of its defense and security institutions, through bolstering state authority, and through reconstruction on territories affected by the conflicts. And because the peace sought after in the subregion ought to go hand in hand with cohesion within our nation, the President of the DRC launched on August 28 a national dialogue for peace, cohesion, and the rebuilding of the state. This dialogue is open to the political and social forces that are committed to the Republic, our constitution, our territorial integrity, and to the rejection of violence.
We wish them well, and they as they complete their tenure at the end of this year. Mr. president, fellow, few institutions embody the principle of sovereign equality as visibly as this assembly with the. Within these walls, differences in power, wealth and influence may shape the realities our nations confront, but they do not confer a greater claim to membership or participation. And perhaps more than anywhere else, this assembly reminds us of a simple truth. Our differences are real but so is our interdependence. This is why this organization was created with the understanding that disputes must be resolved through dialogue. Human dignity must be protected, and that nations must work together. If development, peace and human rights are to be sustained. In other words, that our common future requires common institutions. Eight decades later, we must ask ourselves whether we have remained faithful to that insight. And perhaps more importantly, do we still trust one another enough to act on it? Because today, Mr. President, trust is being tested. Geopolitical divisions are widening. Wars have become more protracted, with devastating humanitarian consequences. Respect for the United Nations Charter and international law is under visible strain, with developing countries facing intensifying debt burden. Climate vulnerabilities, huge gaps between commitments made and implementation, and feeling of marginalization and inadequate representation in the global system. Therefore, the task before us is building stronger, better equipped, representative responsive and effective multilateral system and global financial architecture that delivers for all nations and regions. Mr. president, the governments own experience within the. This organization gives us grounds for optimism. We have seen within this very institution that multilateralism can still deliver. During the 80th session of the General Assembly the government had the honor of chairing the second Committee at a time of profound disagreement over some of the most consequential economic and development issues before us. That experience reminded us that multilateralism does not require unanimity on every issue. It requires the willingness to remain at the table to listen, negotiate, and courage to make compromises. Our experience demonstrates that in this period of deep disagreement, progress remains possible.
Mr. president, the theme of this session, Restoring Trust, Managing Transformation: a United Nations that delivers for all, perfectly chimes with the concerns of those peoples aspiring to peace and progress, even while bombs and other devices of mass destruction are endlessly causing death and devastation in every corner of our planet. How can we restore trust and manage transformation in the world, so that the United Nations can effectively bring peace and good fortune to all peoples? How then, can we achieve this goal? I would recall that our previous session called upon us to act better together. That message remains just and it remains relevant, but it requires us to take stock to look at what has been accomplished and to acknowledge what has not been accomplished. Because trust is not built through more and more promises, but rather through their effective implementation for the benefit of the peoples. Excellencies, ladies and gentlemen, trust cannot be decreed. It is built, it is earned, and it requires truth and justice. How to restore trust when for decades, propaganda has been used to maintain the idea of a poor Africa condemned to do everything it is told to do to survive, thanks to the assistance of supposed international generosity, even while its resources, its riches are stolen and locked away for the benefit of other agendas. How to restore this trust when the international institutions that are supposed to protect us have become the tools of a world order in which some peoples count and others merely survive, and in which international law does not apply equally to all. What can we say of the crimes committed in Libya, in Iraq, in Palestine in Lebanon, in Cuba, in Venezuela, and in our Sahel, the Sahel, in the name of supposedly universal values, which nevertheless remain unpunished. Those crimes, even while sovereign nations are threatened with sanctions for simply having wanted to decide on their own fate. Niger, my country is following with deep concern the tragic situation in Palestine, particularly in Gaza where civilians are paying an unbearable human cost. We call for the effective protection of civilian populations, for unhindered humanitarian access, and for the pursuit of just and lasting peace. Niger reaffirms its support for a two state solution, allowing the State of Palestine and the State of Israel to live side by side in peace, security and dignity. How to restore trust when 81 years after San Francisco, Africa, with its more than around 1.5 billion inhabitants and its 54 states, still does not have a single permanent seat on the Security Council. Through me, Niger reaffirms its commitment to the Ezulwini Consensus and calls for this historic anomaly to no longer be the subject of sterile debates, repeated day after day to at long last, become subject to a full and concrete decision. Excellencies, Mr. President, ladies and gentlemen, our Sahel is at war. It is in a war of liberation against a conspiracy aimed at recolonizing it. What is happening in the Sahel is not merely not simply an armed rebellion or a war of religion, nor is it the inevitable result of our own weaknesses, what some call terrorism in our region is the cynical machinery of recolonization dressed in the trappings of extremism.
If small sized states are expected to comply with the rules, then the rules must also provide them with predictability. If candidates for membership in an organisation are required to meet certain criteria, then meeting those criteria must lead to progress. If we ask citizens to trust institutions, then institutions must demonstrate that their word has value and that their commitments endure. The rule that applies today cannot be different tomorrow, simply because the balance of powers has changed, and a commitment undertaken cannot be a temporary political convenience. It must be a foundation on which people can plan their future. We ask our citizens to believe in cooperation, in good neighbourly relations, in compromises and in mutual respect. We tell them that lasting peace is worth more than a short term political victory, that respecting agreements is a sign of strength and wisdom, and that it is the right thing to do, not a sign of weakness. The European and Euro-Atlantic integration means accepting rules that apply equally to all. But that argument becomes much harder to sustain when citizens see that in international relations, principle sometimes gives way to power, that criteria can change while the process is already underway, or that some are expected to demonstrate consistency that others do not always demand of themselves. We cannot tell people trust the rules when they can see that the rules do not apply equally. We cannot convince them that compromise is a virtue if every compromise produces a new demand, and we cannot expect trust in international institutions if citizens come to believe that their fate is created more often by the political weight of their state than by the strength of an agreed principle. This is a question of legitimacy, because our authority as elected leaders does not derive from the office itself. It derives from the people who elect us, who hold us to account, and who every day compare what we tell them with what they see. And today they see more than ever before. We live in an age in which information travels around the world in seconds. Never before has humanity had access to so much knowledge, but never before has it been exposed to so much manipulation, half truths, fabricated images, propaganda, and organised disinformation. That is precisely why politics is entering a new, more difficult and more complex era. Our task is no longer simply to inform our citizens.
Ladies and gentlemen, threats to human dignity no longer belong exclusively to the physical world. They are increasingly emerging in places where, until recently, neither the law nor accountability extended. In the digital realm, shaped by the development of new technologies. New technologies such as artificial intelligence or superintelligence should always serve humanity as they develop, rather than exploit people or their weaknesses. This raises the question of whether, in a world of advancing artificial intelligence, humans will remain subjects or become merely objects of algorithmic influence. I'm fully aware that groundbreaking technologies bring not only enormous opportunities but also certain risks. As early as in the 1980s, an eminent Polish writer, Stanisław Lem, in his novel Fiasco, warned that the moment we teach machines to think, we will face questions not only about their capabilities but also about their ambitions. For if they begin to imitate humans in their thinking, a natural consequence may be the drive to surpass them. Today, this challenge takes on a special dimension. It is precisely the development of technology that is playing a decisive role in co-shaping the realities of the 21st century. That is why we need a serious conversation about the limits of artificial intelligence development. We need rules that will actually be enforced and that clearly define where innovation ends and a threat to humanity begins. Artificial intelligence must not be used as a tool for destabilization, manipulation, or undermining the international order. Technology must serve humanity and the truth, not chaos and manipulation. Ladies and gentlemen, Poland's priority is order based on truth, enshrined in our constitution and resulting from our historical experience. That is why we view the United Nations not merely as a forum for discussion but as an institution that must be capable of taking action.
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.
Islamophobia, which is spreading like a plague in the West, is at the forefront of these issues. In particular, Muslim women and girls have been subjected to greater discrimination in recent years. We regard the headscarf introduced in schools by certain countries as an attack on women's most fundamental rights. Rising xenophobia, cultural racism and anti-Semitism are also toxic trends that must be combated with determination. Global gender neutralization policies have also turned into a siege, targeting innocent children and targeting the institution of family. We can break the siege only by protecting the family consisting of women and men. Turkey will continue to take initiatives in protecting families and children, in spite of attacks from certain lobby groups. Another threat that undermines social peace is the spread of disinformation on social media. Standing up for the truth has become more important today than ever before. We are also facing the same risk with artificial intelligence AI, which is becoming increasingly difficult to control. It is long overdue now to establish a common international legal framework for AI. It is crucial to accelerate the work, which is already being carried out to draft and bring into force the UN International Convention on Artificial Intelligence. Distinguished delegates. The realities I have spoken of here today with an open heart will for sure upset some people, will for sure disrupt their comfort and unmask their lies. I also know well that they will resort to all kinds of perception management operations in an attempt to silence our voice. A late poet said the following quote. They think that if we remain silent, the issue will disappear. But even if we remain silent, history will not. Even if history remains silent the truth will not. They believe that if they get rid of us, the problem will be solved. Yet even if they get rid of us, they will not be able to escape the pangs of their own conscience. Even if they escape the pangs of their conscience. They will not be able to escape the pangs of history, even if they escape the pangs of history. They will not be able to escape the punishment of God. Unquote. As Tayyip Erdogan, as the president of a great nation guided by its conscience, its history, and its compassion. God willing, for as long as God grants me life, I shall continue from this podium here to defend the rights of the oppressed, the rights of the aggrieved and the voiceless. And I will continue to be their voice, to speak on their behalf and to fight for them. If necessary, we will endure hardship. If necessary, we will pay the price, but we will not remain silent in the face of injustice and will never consent to oppression. Now, when we look at the course of the world today, we can see that there are two paths before us. Either we will deepen uncertainty through fear, through conflict and isolation, or we will build the future together through justice, solidarity, and common will. Of course, it is easy to punch darkness.
Monsieur— Mr. President of the 81st Session of the General Assembly of the United Nations, Mr. Secretary-General of the United Nations, Excellencies, ladies and gentlemen, heads of state and government, Excellencies, ladies and gentlemen, heads of delegation, ladies and gentlemen. Mr. President, at the outset I wish to convey to you, on behalf of the sovereign peoples of the Republic of Guinea and our delegation, our warmest congratulations upon your election to the presidency of this 81st Session of the General Assembly of the United Nations. I cherish the hope that our proceedings under your skillful stewardship will allow the United Nations, our organization, to best address and meet the legitimate aspirations of the peoples of the world. I also wish to applaud the continuous and consistent efforts of the Secretary-General, Mr. António Guterres, at the helm of our United Nations. It is with a profound feeling of pride and of humility that I speak before this august body on behalf of the sovereign people of the Republic of Guinea. As we seek to describe to the international community the progress that my country has achieved, ladies and gentlemen, three years ago, from this rostrum, I, with the candor that my country and our continent are bound by, I spoke the truth and I stated that the model of imported governance, without being adapted, on our continent was not generating the fruits that had been expected by our peoples, and this is something which I stand by.
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.
If international finance is to serve reality, it must first measure reality correctly. Looking ahead, we must also address the rapid rise of artificial intelligence and emerging technologies. Whilst these tools offer immense opportunities for development and ocean management, they also risk widening the global divide and enabling new forms of warfare and cybercrime. We must ensure technology serves human dignity. We call for global digital governance anchored in human rights, ethical standards and international law, with a United Nations playing a central role in steering this transformation. Mr. President, excellencies, across every crisis we face, one fundamental truth endures. Our ultimate duty is to the people we represent our families, our youth, our coastal communities, and future generations.
The victims of the genocide and the employees of the Memorial Centre, Srebrenica, are facing unacceptable pressures from the police of the Republika Srpska. We must not allow that the police and other institutions of Republika Srpska, which committed the genocide against Bosniaks, today threaten the survivors and those that are preserving the memory of the victims of the genocide. Those seeking to destroy the Dayton Peace Agreement are attempting to create the conditions for the secession of the Bosnian entity, Republika Srpska. In the period ahead, they will intensify their activities primarily with the aim of weakening and abolishing the mandate of the High Representative of the international community, which is also envisaged by the Dayton Peace Agreement, weakening the institution of the Constitutional Court of Bosnia and Herzegovina and seizing the state property of Bosnia and Herzegovina, contrary to the national and international law. Ladies and gentlemen, Bosnia and Herzegovina is an unconquerable state. There is not a single map of Southeast Europe from the past 1000 years on which Bosnia or Bosnia and Herzegovina does not appear. Bosnia and Herzegovina is home to people who love freedom more than their own lives. Finally, as the chairman of the Presidency of Bosnia and Herzegovina, I wish to emphasize that I am proud of the brave people of Bosnia and Herzegovina. These are people who have suffered injustice, yet they continue to fight for justice. These are people who have been victims of lies, yet they continue to fight for the truth. These are people who support the struggle for justice, freedom and human dignity throughout the world. These are the honorable and proud people of my homeland, Bosnia and Herzegovina. Thank you for your attention.
Africa has waited far too long in the shadow of global decision-making. Now it is demanding immediate justice through the comprehensive reform of the United Nations Security Council. With genuine political goodwill, how can a world with a right conscience justify the denial of 1.6 billion Africans the right to equal representation? That indeed is a generational quest for truth and for morality.
But the answer is not withdrawal. The answer is to reform, renew and reinvest. The UN 80 initiative offers an opportunity to make the United Nations more efficient and more effective. The European Union also continues to call for a comprehensive reform of the United Nations Security Council to make it more effective, inclusive, democratic and accountable. The European Union will continue to contribute to strengthen the United Nations politically, financially and through concrete actions. Because the best argument for multilateralism is what it delivers on peace and security. With the treaty of Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons on Climate action, with the Paris Agreement on Poverty and Health, with the global response to Covid 19. The truth is, when we act together, multilateralism delivers for people. And that is why this week, the United Union, the European Union has launched together with Australia, Barbados, Brazil, Canada, India and Kenya. The P4M partners for multilateralism, international law, peace and prosperity. Our initiative aims to be an open platform for partners from all parts of the world who are ready to defend common principles and work towards practical solutions. It is a network for dialogue, coalition building and practical cooperation. It will support the work of United Nations and other multilateral formats. It will help to build bridges across regions, and it will contribute to advancing the reform and modernization of the United Nations and the multilateral system, helping to turn shared commitments into concrete action. And I invite all the nations in the chamber to join this initiative and endorse the P4M. The P4M declarations, excellencies, excellencies.
Thirty-seven years ago, the Maldives asked this Assembly to face a simple truth: that “Small States can be highly vulnerable to external threats and acts of influence.” In response, this Assembly adopted resolution 44/51, an initiative led by the Maldives, affirming the importance of protecting the sovereignty and territorial integrity of small States. That was true then, and it is true even today. But the threats have evolved. Insecurity now travels through sea lanes, supply chains, financial markets, digital networks and new technologies. Today, sovereignty can be weakened without a single border being crossed. It can be undermined when external powers limit a State’s freedom to choose. This is why the Maldives comes before this Assembly with a clear message: “Every State, large or small, must have the freedom and capacity to shape its own future.” A sovereign future. And that future begins with peace.
It is less about doing things for others than doing things with them. This principle takes on particular significance in the face of current technological revolutions. AI is the most obvious illustration of this. It offers considerable new possibilities in science, the economy, medicine, education, and the management of resources. But it also highlights the risk of a new divide between those who have the skills and infrastructure needed to participate in this transformation, and those who are likely to feel only its effects. We must ensure that technological progress broadens opportunities without widening the gaps. This means that as many countries and societies as possible must be able to benefit from advances in AI, develop their skills and contribute to the debate on the rules that will govern its development and use. This is exactly the aim of the Geneva AI summit, which will take place on the 21st and 22nd of June 2027 under the motto Bridging Innovation and Trust. These two concepts must go hand in hand. Innovation in which societies no longer have confidence risks being rejected. Conversely, rules that would prevent all innovation would deprive us of enormous potential. Our responsibility, therefore, is to strike a balance to enable progress and promote its benefits, while creating the conditions for the reliable and responsible development and use of these technologies. Artificial intelligence thus reminds us of a simple truth. Certain changes are so far reaching and so fast moving, that no single state can manage all of their consequences by itself.
Your excellencies, we see the cost of that neglect every day. In my region, from Lebanon to Yemen to Sudan, protracted conflict is deepening humanitarian suffering. And if anyone had any doubt that a crisis in our part of the world stays there, just look at the energy and grocery bills of ordinary families, from Mumbai to Madrid to Minnesota. The Iran war has shown how quickly instability can disrupt trade, investment and lives beyond the region. And then there is Gaza. For decades, I've stood before this assembly and warned of the dangers of leaving the Palestinian-Israeli conflict unresolved. But the international community chose to manage the conflict, not confront it. And every new Israeli violation was treated as temporary, diverting attention from the reality being created on the ground until temporary became permanent and permanent became policy. Of course, this is not the world's only injustice, but one of the world's longest running occupations forces a basic question if international law can be ignored for decades, then what exactly is that law worth and how can we enforce it if we won't even call out its violations? In Gaza, the evidence is overwhelming. In the first 300 days of the so-called cease fire, at least 300 Palestinian children were killed. Jordan's field hospitals have also been targeted. President Trump has pushed hard for peace and a path to end this war. But this Israeli government keeps moving the goalposts, continuing its attacks and destruction of civilian infrastructure, refusing to withdraw and squeezing Palestinians into barely a third of Gaza. This can no longer be dismissed as temporary military measures or a consequence of war. Accountability begins when we call things for what they are, an attempt to erase Palestinian life and impose a new territorial reality in Gaza. And while the world has been focused on Gaza, something extraordinarily dangerous is unfolding in the West Bank. Some may think we have seen this before settlements, violence, displacement, more of the same, but it is not. Nor is it simply an escalation. This is a fundamental shift. What was once a creeping process has exploded into something far more aggressive. Settler violence is rampant. Palestinians are being beaten, shot and terrorized, homes torched, property destroyed, families driven from their land and Israel is tightening its grip on more of the West Bank, seizing land, expanding settlements and pushing the Palestinians out. It is time to see what is happening for what it really is, because when the language is sanitized, the actions become normalized. Demolishing Palestinian homes to expand illegal settlements is not law enforcement. It is forcible transfer. Appropriating occupied land is not land registration. It is de facto annexation. A choking network of checkpoints and barriers is not security infrastructure. It is a system of subjugation. Systematic attacks on Palestinian communities are not settler unrest. The Israeli government criticizes the violence before the international audiences. They call those responsible a handful of rioters. They assure us that Israel is a country governed by law. Yet what's happening on the ground says otherwise. Israeli soldiers stand by as settlers attacked Palestinians, often protecting the attackers or joining them. They have blocked ambulances from reaching the injured. They have targeted international journalists who are trying to say the truth. And when soldiers watch, enable and sometimes even participate in violence against civilians, this is no longer about a handful of rioters. And the question is no longer whether a few extremists are breaking the law. The question is, is this the behavior of a democratic state governed by law? What is unfolding across the West Bank is not a series of isolated acts. It is elements of a single policy to compel an entire population to leave their land. And there is a name for that forced displacement, and that is a war crime. Your excellencies, if we are to resolve the Palestinian Israeli conflict, the world must abandon some illusions. The first is that Gaza and the West Bank are separate stories. They are not. They are two fronts of the same Israeli strategy. In both, Palestinians are being killed. In both, the reality on the ground is being remade. Gaza through destruction. The West Bank through de facto annexation. The objective is the same to make a viable Palestinian state impossible. Another illusion is that this Israeli leadership's rejection of Palestinian statehood is a position that might yet change. It is not. It is cemented on the ground. This government has been accelerating settlements and land seizures, but it began long before. Since Oslo, the map has changed piece by piece, settlement by settlement, and the most dangerous illusion that the Arab world never sought peace. The Arab Peace Initiative of 2002 offered Israel normalization with 57 Arab and Muslim states, including Iran and Iraq at the time, in exchange for peace and Palestinian statehood. For over 20 years, that offer has stood. The obstacle hasn't been the absence of a partner for peace, but the absence of an Israeli government willing to accept it. This Israeli government understands the power of attention, and lately it has not liked the attention it's been getting. When confronted with evidence of wrongdoing, rather than change the course, it opts for distraction, discrediting its critics. It has also tried to cast this conflict as a war of religions Islam on one side, Judaism and Christianity on the other. It is not. This is about whether Palestinians, Muslims and Christians are entitled to the same rights as everyone else. Distractions will not fly anymore. People across the world are paying attention. The question now is, will we act? Because the world's political inaction is not for lack of options. So let's call it for what it is a choice. We have tools, sanctions, asset freezes, embargoes, diplomatic isolation, and we have a record of using them elsewhere. Yet with Israel, resolutions end where they began on paper. The result is a state without restraint. This government's sense of impunity has reached terrifying levels. It no longer feels compelled to ask, can we get away with this? It already knows the answer, and that is precisely why no one in this assembly should assume its ambitions stop at Palestine. This Israeli government's expansionist appetite is now a regional threat. And today Syria is the warning the international community is choosing not to see. Repeated incursions, creeping territorial expansion, new facts imposed on the ground, including around vital water resources, step by calculated step, Israel is testing how far it can go, and every time the international community looks away, Israel learns that it can go even further across borderlines and legal limits. For Jordan, there is no ambiguity, any threat to our northern border or our water security is a threat to our national security. Jordan will not look away. We will protect our security, our water and the interests of our people. And the question here is, if Israel continues its antagonistic approach in southern Syria, will the international community stand by and let that happen?
Madam president, this brings me to a question that is very dear to my heart. What kind of world do we want to bequeath to future generations? We often talk about young people as if they came from the future. Truth be told, they are already shaping the present. Therefore, it is incumbent upon us to ask ourselves if we're really preparing a future that is going to earn their trust. My personal experience has done nothing but reinforce this conviction. This year I had the privilege of succeeding His Majesty King Carl Gustaf of Sweden as honorary chair of the World Scout Foundation. My long standing commitment to the Scout movement has taught me a great deal about the power of intergenerational dialogue, solidarity, and the values of the Scout movement. It's also taught me something absolutely fundamental. Placing our trust in young people means giving them responsibilities, allowing them to take action. They are growing up in a world in which there are extraordinary possibilities. But it's also a world where uncertainty runs deep.
From the offgoing and in the spirit of the charter for a United Nations that delivers for all, the UN has a responsibility to protect and facilitate the participation of its all members and observers in its work. Mr. President, the adoption of the United Nations Resolution on the Trans-Atlantic Slave Trade in March 2026 is the beginning of a journey—a journey towards truth, acknowledgment, healing, and justice for millions of Africans and people of African descent whose lives were forever changed by slavery, colonialism, and other historical injustice. As we commemorate the 25th anniversary of the Debent Declaration and Program of Action, we are reminded that racial discrimination must not have any place in our societies, and that restorative remedies, including reparations, must be put in place to address those historic injustices. Mr. President, Namibia, congratulate the outgoing Secretary-General, Mr. António Guterres, as he nears the end of his tenure.
Nowhere on earth is a planet warming faster than in Western Europe. But in the Caribbean, part of our kingdom, including the countries of Aruba, Curacao and Sint Maarten the effects of climate change have already been felt for much longer. And the same is true for many of your countries. For too long, the consequences of climate change have been trivialized or simply denied. But after the horrors experienced by Nepal and a long series of forest fires, the truth should be clear to everyone the climate crisis will not just disappear if we pretend it doesn't exist. We are living on borrowed time, and the generations that come after us will pay the price. And if you want to prevail that prevent that, we must commit now to both mitigation and adaptation. And we all know what needs to be done. Countless reports are agreed on that. And we have all the technology we need. Unfortunately, we are making progress. Last year, the electrical vehicle market grew by 20%. Wind power capacity grew by 14% and solar power by more than 30%. And this growth in renewable energy has exceeded even the most optimistic projections from ten years ago. And the challenge now is to accelerate this transition in all sectors and all parts of the world. And at the same time, to reduce carbon emissions and phase out fossil fuels. That is why the Netherlands, jointly with Colombia, organized the world's first conference on transitioning away from fossil fuels. This event in Colombia was attended by 57 countries, and together these countries account for one third of global GDP, one third of energy demand and one fifth of supply. And together we worked to find concrete and practical solutions to take the transition forward. But climate action requires everyone to contribute. In November, we will gather at a cop in Turkey. And I know that many of you don't have high expectations. But in my view, this can only be explained by the pessimistic idea that we are somehow powerless. But that is not true We have the knowledge and we have the technology to combat climate change. And a better world is really within reach. Thanks to our joint efforts on the Sustainable Development Goals, 92% of the world's population now has access to electricity. And since 2015, we have doubled the amount of renewable energy we generate. Child mortality has dropped sharply to because of this axis So climate action can be a catalyst for everyone to work together on solutions that concern us all. And we don't need to reinvent the wheel. A lot of good things are happening already. For decades, the Netherlands has been working with partners around the world to develop climate smart agriculture and future proof water management solutions. And we are keen to share our knowledge and knowhow And we want to learn from what other countries are doing. There are so many great initiatives on the way. But I also know there's much more to be done. The need to accelerate and scale up our efforts is only to clear. And that demands our common commitment. The Netherlands wants to build practical partnerships with other countries, so we are once again making funding available for this purpose. And at the same time, we need to adapt to climate shocks that can no longer be avoided. These adaptations will require major investments, both public and private. Because here too, we cannot do it alone. Today, I call on all countries to stick to these ambitions because one way or another, a climate transition is coming. But we can decide how it unfolds. It can be chaotic, or it can be carefully planned with an inclusive approach and economic benefits for all. Ladies and gentlemen, as I come to the end of my remarks, I have an even stronger sense of what Anne Frank was telling us.
We commend and thank him for his sincere and positive leadership of this organization. In the same vein, Saint Lucia wishes to express its endorsement of the candidate of the Republic of Guyana, Ms. Caroline Rodrigues-Birkett, for the post of Secretary General. Her distinguished record of public and international service speaks directly to the kind of leadership this moment demands. On 25th March 2026, the General Assembly approved one of its most historic and consequential resolutions that declared the trafficking of enslaved Africans and racialised chattel enslavement of Africans as the greatest crime against humanity. This resolution, and the subsequent establishment of the High level Global Advisory Council on Reparatory justice is a very significant step in the search for reparations for the transatlantic slave trade and the enslavement of Africans in the Americas and the Caribbean. I want to thank the President of Ghana for spearheading and championing this resolution. Saint Lucia congratulates the Government of Jamaica on its successful petition to the British monarch for him to refer three questions to the Judicial Committee of the Privy Council over the legality of the enslavement of Africans in Jamaica. Mr. president, reparations are not about vengeance. They are about truth, acknowledgement, repair and transformation. Reparations are not about seeking charity or revisiting history for its own sake. History is not behind us when its consequences remain embedded in wealth, power, institutions, and opportunity. Reparations are about addressing the continuing effects of slavery and colonial exploitation, restoring dignity, advancing development, and building more equitable
Mr. president of the General Assembly. Mr. Secretary General excellencies, distinguished ladies and gentlemen. I congratulate His Excellency Khalilur Rahman on his election as president of the 81st session of the General Assembly. President Rahman assumes this responsibility at a moment that demands principled and steady leadership. He has Sierra Leone's full support. I pay tribute to His Excellency Secretary General Antonio Guterres, who is in the closing months of his mandate. He has served this organization with steadfastness, moral clarity and the courage to speak difficult truths.
Uruguayans have an expression that sums up an understanding of coexistence. No one is better than anyone else. No country holds the absolute truth. No nation has a monopoly on their solutions. No society can claim that its historical experience is universal, and no people should be doomed to choose between models imposed from outside. Our understanding of relations among countries stems from that notion of humanity humility. This is a humility that doesn't mean weakness. On the contrary, it means recognizing our own limitations, while at the same time trusting in the abilities of others.
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, 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. Listen 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 crisis, resolve 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.
This is what we expect from a statesman, Yasser Arafat and Zaki Rabin were statesmen. They challenged the past to envision a future of peace. They were defeated by hatred. Generations of Palestinians will carry the pain and trauma left by the genocide of women and children perpetrated. By Netanyahu. Government in Gaza. Israeli civilians pay the price for radicalism and intolerance of Hamas terrorist acts, persecuting the International Criminal Court and its members encourages these crimes to go unpunished. The U.N. special rapporteur, Francesca Albanese, must not be silenced for telling the truth. Illegal settlements in the West Bank. Are making the two state solution increasingly unviable, essential for Israelis and Palestinians to live in safety, threatening civilizations with extinction will not bring stability to the Middle East. The Strait of Hormuz became has become a battleground, when it should have remained a vital passage for international trade Families around the world are paying for the rising. The price of fuel, fertilizers and food. The war between Russia and Ukraine has dragged on for five years in a humanitarian drama that continues to claim lives. We all know that there will be no winners on the battlefield. Diplomacy is the only option. Initiatives such as the Friends of Peace Group, created by Brazil and China, revealed that there are forces in the international community willing to work towards dialogue in Latin America and the Caribbean region. Geographical proximity to the world's greatest military power is inescapable, especially in the context of renewed hegemonic temptations. Brazil does not fit in anyone's backyard. We need partners with a positive agenda that fosters development. Ideological differences should not hinder higher integration amongst neighbors. The countries in the region have experienced the horrors of authoritarian regimes. We have come a long way to restore popular will. Democracy is once again under threat. We witness once more interference in the electoral processes, dividing the world into zones of influence and neocolonial incursions for strategic resources are anachronistic gestures. The Venezuelan people deserve to define their own destiny. Nicaragua will not solve its problems by preventing the opposition from running in the elections. The crisis in Haiti continues to test the limits of the international community's indifference. In Cuba, the world watches in horror as collective punishment is imposed on 10 million people by an illegal economic and energy embargo.
It strengthens our ability to exercise it. And, Mr. President the call to restore trust must also apply within our own nations. Fiji's democratic journey has not been easy. We have known political upheaval, constitutional change and periods of deep division. We cannot change that history, but we can learn from it. This year Fiji undertook a national review of its 2013 constitution and informed by consultation across the country and on the 1st of September, the Commission presented its report to my office as Head of State. That did not end the process. It began the next stage, and the report must now proceed through Parliament and the democratic processes transparently and in accordance with the rule of law. What Fiji seeks is not a constitution for a government or a party or one generation, but a settlement that every Fijian recognises as their own. Alongside it, our truth and reconciliation process continues. Renewal strengthens institutions and reconciliation health divisions Together they can carry Fiji from memory to understanding and from division to trust. Mr. president, if the United Nations is to restore, restore trust, it must also be willing to reform itself.
Now, the third and final remedy is about language. In other words, how we treat each other. Unfortunately, there is no shortage of examples of those who use dismissive language to describe others and entire groups of people. Too often, those with the most provocative rhetoric receive the greatest visibility. Provocation is rewarded with attention. Excess is misinterpreted as courage and exaggeration as truth. Language can foster cooperation, but it can also break the trust and turn competition into conflict. The recipe is simple but necessary avoid polarization, strengthen trust and listen to others. We need a dignified foreign policy, and that starts here in the United Nations.
These are not the actions of a country interested in peace. Russia could halt its brutal attacks at any time, yet it refuses to do so. Russia's actions have already had direct global impact in increased food and energy costs. This time last year, a bushel of wheat was just over $5. This year, it's more than $7. The fact that a permanent member of the Security Council is seeking to change borders by force, in clear violation of the UN charter is utterly unacceptable Sovereignty and territorial integrity apply equally to all states. The international community must remain steadfast in our response. In support of the UN charter and of a comprehensive, just and lasting peace. Ireland stands in solidarity with Ukraine and will continue to do so. We will continue to support efforts to hold Russia accountable for its actions. There can be no impunity for war crimes, not in Ukraine, not anywhere. And that is why Ireland is a steadfast supporter of the International Criminal Court. Ireland strongly opposes efforts to undermine the court. All measures against it should be immediately withdrawn. The international legal order, founded on our agreements to make the world a safer and more secure place, is being challenged. International law represents the collective lessons drawn from conflict, suffering and atrocity. The rules and institutions that we have built over generations exist to protect the rights, security and sovereignty of all states and all peoples. When these principles are disregarded, the consequences extend far beyond any single conflict. We all become less secure. Mr. president, 20 years ago, the Commission on War Crimes and Crimes Against Humanity in Darfur saw the international community come together to fulfil our collective responsibility to protect. Despite the extraordinary efforts of the Sudanese people, the cycle of violence has continued. The conflict has been inflamed and prolonged by harmful outside interference. All states and external actors must cease arming, financing and enabling the war in Sudan. 15 million Sudanese people are displaced from their homes. Over 19.5 million face crisis levels of hunger. 33 million need urgent humanitarian assistance. Violations of international law including targeting on the basis of ethnicity, deliberate destruction of the means of survival, killing, torture and sexual violence are again being used as weapons of war. We need to act decisively to support the people of Sudan to end this conflict. We must support their aspirations for democracy, justice and development. Sudan has become a forgotten war despite its devastating impacts We must not allow the absence of daily headlines to become a license for inaction. The people of Sudan deserve the same attention, urgency and solidarity that we rightly extend to crises elsewhere. Mr. president, despite its prevalence, we cannot ever allow ourselves to become indifferent to conflict and human suffering it brings. To do so would deny the shared humanity of its victims. The peace plan on Gaza agreed last October was welcome, but it has not fundamentally changed the reality on the ground. Israeli strikes continue, humanitarian aid remains blocked. Civilians continue to suffer. We, the collective international community, have failed Palestine. Ireland, like most gathered here, believe that the only viable solution to the decades of conflict, misery and wasted human lives is a situation where a state of Palestine and a state of Israel live side by side in peace, security, and dignity. There are modest signs of progress. More countries have recognised the state of Palestine, and overwhelming majority of UN member states has endorsed the New York Declaration. More of us have taken steps to push back against the illegal and violent settler occupation of Palestinian land in the West Bank. But time is running out. What we are witnessing on the ground is a deliberate attempt by some to make the prospect of a two state solution impossible This is not some mad conspiracy theory. It is the stated intent of the Prime Minister of Israel who said clearly that, and I quote, we are going to fulfil our promise that there will be no Palestinian state. This place belongs to us on court, as he permitted the E1. Illegal development in East Jerusalem and the situation in Gaza remains an affront to all that is decent. How can we tolerate a situation where civilians are so desperate for shelter that they have to make their homes in war damaged and unsafe buildings where eight children died because one of them collapsed? Where the most basic humanitarian aid, food and shelter is deliberately impeded When the full truth of what has happened, what is still happening in Gaza is finally known. When the evidence is gathered, when the testimonies are heard, when the true horrors are finally and fully revealed. It will shame the world. Nobody will be able to say that we did not know. Let it not be said that we did not act in the West Bank. In the West Bank. The relentless expansion of settlements have reached a scale without precedent, further eroding, eroding the prospects for a just and lasting peace. Violent settlers continue to act with near-total impunity, while Palestinian communities face a sustained campaign of displacement and destruction amounting to ethnic cleansing. Entire villages have been razed, homes and vital infrastructure demolished, and thousands of Palestinian families driven from the places they have called home for generations and exposed to intimidation and violence. The United Nations reports that this year there have been almost 200 attacks against Palestinians every month, a stark reminder of a reality that is deepening conflict, suffering and despair. The International Court of Justice has been clear. Settlements in occupied Palestinian territory are illegal. Ireland has acted alongside others to prohibit the import of settlement goods. It is never too late to uphold international law. Mr. president, the conflict in the Gulf remains deeply concerning and is having a serious impact around the world. We need to get back to meaningful, good faith negotiations by all sides Ireland has consistently stated that Iran must cease its attacks on its neighbours and also end its destabilizing activities across the region, including strikes on ships in the Strait of Hormuz. Vessels must be allowed to transit the strait safely and without tolls in line with international law. If we are to build greater stability, Iran must never have a nuclear weapon. Iran's destabilizing influence across the region must cease. We need dialogue to achieve a negotiated settlement. Mr. president, since 1978, Irish soldiers have served with distinction in Lebanon in the Unifil peacekeeping operation. Ireland will continue to work with Lebanon, European Union and international partners to support Lebanon's future peace and security. We have consistently condemned Hezbollah's attacks on Israel, which must cease immediately. Israel must withdraw its military presence from southern Lebanon and bring an end to its military operations there. Israel's response has been wholly disproportionate. We honor the courage, professionalism and dedication of all peacekeepers who have served under the United Nations We remember with particular respect, those who lost their lives in the cause of peace. We welcome the Secretary-General's report on the Future of Peacekeeping, and Ireland will work with others to ensure that this essential capacity adapts to the 21st century. Ireland also welcomes wider reforms in efforts in the United Nations system. These are necessary if we are to meet the challenges of our rapidly changing world.
The pact for the future reminds us of precisely this responsibility: that the decisions we make today must not undermine the possibilities of those who will live with their consequences tomorrow. But future generations should not only be the subject of our decisions. They should have a voice in making them. And Montenegro has heard the call from the young people to move from participation to real influence in decision-making. Young people are not simply beneficiaries of public policy. They are partners in shaping it. And education— education is our most powerful investment in young people— equipping them with knowledge, with critical thinking, with values they need to shape a better world. And this is very personal to me as well. I know what education can make possible. I was born and educated in Montenegro, and it was education, education, which gave me the opportunity to study and work abroad, to learn from other countries, from other institutions, and to ultimately return home to serve my own country. It shaped my belief that the place where a child is born should never define the limits of what that child can become. Coming from a small country, one can sometimes assume that greater size brings greater vision and greater wisdom. But the United Nations reminds us of a simple truth: vision and wisdom are not measured by the size of a country, but by the ideas we bring and the responsibility with which we act upon.
Madam president, with regard to The North African region. Thanks to the momentum initiated by His Majesty King Mohammed VI. May God assist him The question of the Moroccan Sahara reached a historic turning point with the adoption by Security Council of Resolution 2797 last October. Since then, this regional dispute has embarked on an irreversible course, breaking with the past and looking to the future with a view to its final settlement. This track rests on principles and parameters that admit no interpretation, nor any reading between the lines or in the margins, as some are vainly attempting deluding themselves in flagrant denial of reality and total disregard for established truth. These principles, as set forth in the Security Council resolution, are as follows. First, there is no solution outside the framework of the autonomy under Moroccan sovereignty. Second, there is no approach or mechanism other than the political negotiation process under the auspices of the United Nations and on a sole basis, namely the Autonomy Initiative presented by the Kingdom of Morocco. Third, there can be no discussion or dispute regarding the responsibility and obligations of the four parties clearly identified by Security Council. Resolution 2797. Fourth, there will be no maintaining of the status quo preferred by the other parties. The train of political solution has already departed. Fifth, there is no credibility for interlocutors who violate the ceasefire and refuse to respect Security Council resolutions. Sixth and last. There can be no tolerance for the continued holding of the population of the camps as hostages for half a century, in flagrant violation of international law and international humanitarian law. Alongside with its firm commitment to the final settlement of this regional dispute.
Mr. president, there are moments in the life of a nation when its people are called to remember who they have always been. This is such a moment for us. And so I begin with something deeply personal to my people and my country. And that is our name. For many years, the world has known our country as Nauru. Nauru is how our name sounded to those who found it hard to say and the world kept it. But it is not the name our people used among themselves. I rise on my first point not to announce a change, but to affirm a truth long before our country took its place among the family of nations, long before our name appeared on international records, our people knew our homeland by one name, Naoero. That name carries the memory of our ancestors, our language, and our identity. It has been there all along, never lost, never absent. Today we restore Naoero. We do not make this choice to erase our past. We make it because we honour it. We do so with respect for our history and with gratitude for the journey Nauru has carried us through to our independence and our place on the international stage. Mr. president, my government's priority is investing in our people and our future generations. Restoring our name gives back to them a piece of the inheritance, because the identity handed down by our own ancestors has a place in the community of nations, because their history and language matter, because they too have the right to inherit a nation that knows itself, names itself and speaks of itself. In light of this year's theme, let me say this there can be no genuine trust and no true transformation without respect for the identity, history, language and rights of every people to be treated as an equal and to speak for itself. I take the opportunity now to convey my sincerest gratitude to the Secretariat and to this Assembly and the many institutions and partners who have taken steps to recognise our restored name. It may seem a small courtesy, but it means a great deal at home. And so, Mr. President, I say this with the greatest pride. Anga dei-Naoero. That means I am from Naoero and so is every person I have the honour to speak for today. We take our seats under that name, proud of where we have come from, confident in who we are and determined to carry our name into the future. What I ask of the world costs nothing. Join us in recognising and respecting the identity that is already ours.
AI can be a powerful accelerator of human progress; therefore, we must not close the door to innovation. At the same time, we must address AI’s potential harms, including job losses and widening of the digital divide. We cannot also rule out the possibility that AI, particularly artificial general intelligence, or AGI, could affect human survival. That demands prudent and reliable guardrails, based on scientific evidence, to safeguard the global public interest, while allowing innovation to go forward. Governments must remain at the heart of this endeavour. But governments do not have a monopoly on expertise, capital, technology, innovation or influence. Much of that experience and capacity already lies with businesses, innovators, civil society and others. We need to unlock the doors of the United Nations to those developing and using AI. Not someday. Now. We are falling further behind each day. AI differs from earlier proliferation challenges in one critical respect: it is already embedded in nearly every facet of our lives, in our water systems, electricity grids, health records, economies and militaries. We cannot allow an arms race for control of AI to carry us over the precipice. There is clear precedent for United Nations engagement with world-changing developments. We did so on nuclear non-proliferation; through the Montreal Protocol to protect the ozone layer; and with the United Nations Declaration on Human Cloning in 2005. We need experts, innovators, industry leaders, scientists, civil society, and academia all working together on the issues of our times. (PAUSE) Excellencies, Ladies and gentlemen, We have an opportunity in this session to show that we have learned from what works; that we are prepared to confront what does not; and that we can build a United Nations capable not simply of surviving change, but of shaping it. To seize that opportunity, we must be realistic enough to confront hard truths, bold enough to reform, and inclusive enough to bring the right people to the table.
If vulnerability can be measured, it must be considered. Mr. President, the next great divide between nations must not be digital. Artificial intelligence offers extraordinary possibilities. Saint Kitts and Nevis intends to participate, but we must ask who will shape this new age, and who will live with decisions made elsewhere. At the end of 2025, some 2.2 billion people remain offline. But the AI divide also concerns computing power, data research, skills, energy, cybersecurity, and capital. With the global AI market projected to reach US$4.8 trillion by 2033, developing countries cannot simply consume technologies designed and governed elsewhere. We must have a place where AI's future is decided. Saint Kitts and Nevis welcomes the Independent International Scientific Panel on Artificial Intelligence and the Global Dialogue on AI Governance. Inclusion must lead to capability. Developing countries need affordable computing power, infrastructure, skills, and safeguards for privacy, data sovereignty, cybersecurity, and rights. Mr. President, at home, we are advancing a whole-of-government technological strategy, securing digital identity and digital public services. Regionally, the Caribbean AI Task Force supports cooperation and governance, innovation, and responsible adoption. Mr. President, artificial intelligence is already transforming the world. Saint Kitts and Nevis chooses to help shape that transformation. As SIDS, we know a simple truth: alone we are small.
This stage must conclude to usher in a new political era based in truth, justice, and the ability to look forward together, and to find, in political dialogue underpinned by respect, a genuine forum within which we can settle the differences which we have as Venezuelans, seeking always, in so doing, to forge ahead for the well-being of the country. I am delighted to announce that Venezuela has begun a process of democratic transition to ensure its rebirth. This is an orderly, institutional, and verifiable process to build a country that is freer for all, more prosperous, and more at peace with itself. This is a process of political, economic, and spiritual change, and a time of structural reforms to ensure Venezuela's rebirth, the rebirth of our nation and our people. We are seeking here to build a country in which no one has to win by riding roughshod over someone else or ignoring them, because all of us, particularly young people that are entering political life for the first time, are Venezuela. We must aspire to a Venezuela whose political class is deeply committed to national interest, placing them above anything else. And this political class must not be held hostage by media algorithms. I know Venezuela intimately.
In Yemen, we're not confronting a purely local terrorist militia. Rather, we face an extension of the Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corps with which uses. Which is also using terrorist groups to threaten international peace and security. The Houthi militias use of the safety of navigation as a tool for blackmail threaten not only Yemen. It is taking hostage the entire global economy. Recent years have clearly demonstrated a truth that the international community must not dismiss, namely, that ensuring security at sea begins with eliminating the source of the threat on land. Protecting ships is important, but it only addresses the consequences and does not remove the threat. Therefore, we warn the world do not be reassured by false promises from a terrorist militia that has repeatedly made endless commitments, just as it failed to honor them. Its abstention from targeting ships today does not mean at all. It will not do so tomorrow. It is a strategic mistake. It is a strategic mistake to assume that maritime security can be sustained through assurances that can be walked back. A lasting maritime security in the Red sea, Bab el Mandeb and the Gulf of Aden cannot be built, while a non-state armed militia remains on the shores. Nor is the threat confined to Yemen and the Red sea. International reports have exposed growing cooperation between the terrorist Houthi militias and terrorist organizations, including in the Horn of Africa, through networks linking militias, terrorist groups, smugglers and organized crime networks, thereby undermining states and threatening security and stability. Ladies and gentlemen We say with full confidence, and we firmly believe that restoring the Yemeni state and restoring the security of Bab el Mandeb are inseparable. They are not two separate issues, but one and the same. Supporting the Yemeni government and strengthening its economic, security and military capacities is an investment in international peace and security. Protecting this strategic waterway is a shared regional and international responsibility which Yemen cannot shoulder alone. It is the responsibility of every economy that depends on secure supply chains, energy security, and freedom of navigation. In this regard, we commend the initiative of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia to establish a multinational maritime defense coalition. This initiative reflects a deep appreciation and understanding of collective responsibility to protect navigation, deter threats and combat smuggling. The path to a secure at sea requires a stable Yemen. There is no stability in Yemen without restoring the state, sustainable peace cannot be achieved while an armed militia remains above the law and outside state authority, restoring the Yemeni state is restoring. The Yemeni state is not just a national interest, it is a direct contribution to regional security and stability and to the protection of one of the world's most vital maritime corridors. Ladies and gentlemen our Yemeni people aspires to peace, but our people will not abandon their state. Our government is committed to peace, but it cannot accept that the armed coup becomes a fait accompli. There is no peace with arms outside state authority.
When we took office of a country in ruins, on the brink of the worst crisis in its history, one thing was clear to us from the outset: we had to confront our problems with absolute honesty. Lying to ourselves in order to feel better was going to get us nowhere. It's always preferable to tell an uncomfortable truth than a comforting lie. So believe me when I say that I know what I'm talking about when, in a constructive spirit, I point to the problems facing this organization which purports to guide states and arbitrate between them.
At the heart of human rights is a simple truth. Every human being has inherent dignity and is entitled to fundamental freedoms. From a Christian perspective, these freedoms are not gifts bestowed upon humanity by governments or institutions or powerful nations. They are God given rights inherent in every human life. And because this right belongs equally to every person we have a responsibility to respect and protect the rights of others, including those who may not look like us or speak like us, or worship like us, or believe what we believe. The strength of a nation, a government or an economy or a technology, or a religion should never be used to suppress the fundamental human rights of another human being. The might of military power must not suppress the weak. The might of economic power must not suppress the poor. The might of technology must not be used to diminish human dignity or freedom, and the might of a religious majority must never be used to suppress those who belong to religious minority. Human rights have the greatest meaning when they protect those with less power: minorities, the vulnerable communities, and individuals whose beliefs may differ from those of the majority. We must therefore learn to live together with mutual respect. We do not have to agree on everything. We do not have to share the same religion, same culture, same political system or worldview. But we must respect humanity and the fundamental freedoms of one another. Mr. president, this principle is especially important when we speak about religion. Papua New Guinea, for instance, is a Christian nation believing that Jesus Christ is our Lord, Savior and soon coming King. Christian principles profoundly have influenced our country, our communities, and our institutions. But let me make one point clear: our Christianity must and will never be an excuse to deny another human being the freedom of conscience. And we have embedded this the fathers of my Constitution, the fathers of my country's constitution. In 1975 in fact, are right from the foundation of our Constitution. Section 45 of our Constitution guarantees every person freedom of conscience, thought, and religion. And that practice or he that person can practice his or her beliefs and religion according to his own conscience or his own conscience. Our Constitution also protects people against being compelled to participate in religious observance, and against attempts to force religion or irreligion upon another person. Mr. president, faith that is forced is no longer faith. I believe freedom is a choice, a God given right, implanted in the conscience of every human beings. Our moral conscience comes from God. God does not compel worship. He calls worship through love, allowing every person to exercise the freedom of choice he has given them. True faith, therefore, cannot be imposed by force, fear, law, or persecution. A person must be free to believe. A person must be free to worship. A person must be free to change his or her belief. A person must be also free not to profess religion if he or her chooses. So. The Universal Declaration of Human Rights recognizes this principle in article 18 the right to freedom of thought, conscience, and religion. Mr. president, history teaches us what happens when government or institutions or majority use religion to suppress those who believe differently. Human beings have been persecuted, expelled, imprisoned, or killed because of their faith. Humanity must learn from this history. A Christian majority nation must protect people of other religions. A Muslim majority nation must protect people of other religions. A Hindu majority nation must protect people of other religions. A Buddhist majority nation must protect people of other religions. And every society must respect the rights of those who choose not to profess a religion. The size of a majority does not diminish the rights of a minority. The United States, for instance, this country where we stand on, where the Assembly meets, expressed the principle more than two centuries ago through its First Amendment, which prohibits laws respecting the establishment of religion or prohibiting the free exercise thereof. Government should neither impose faith upon its people nor prevent people from practicing their faith. Papua New Guinea supports this principle. We are proudly Christian, but the strength of our Christianity should not be demonstrated by suppressing other persons' beliefs. It should be demonstrated by having confidence in every human to allow their own exercise of free choice or free conscience. Humanity can be diverse in culture, religion, and thought.
It might seem that this is a pessimistic speech to many of you. No, dear friends, not at all. I'm simply convinced that the only way to change reality and to build a better world is, firstly, to acknowledge the reality that we face, to confront the problems in front of us, not to sweep them under the carpet or hide them in our speeches. That is why I've come here with an optimistic message. Things can change. The world can be better. Peace is not a chimera. It is a real possibility. And my country, Paraguay, is entitled to say so because we know all too well the harsh truth of the words of Erasmus of Rotterdam:" War is sweet only to those who have never experienced it." Paraguay has experienced it, all too painfully and directly. We know what happens when multilateralism fails. People die. The earth becomes stained with blood. And the price is paid not only today but for generations to come. That is why my country knows that multilateralism and dialogue are the only alternative. Today I have come here to defend these ideas firmly so that they become a reality. Extremism in the defense of multilateralism is no vice. It is a virtue. Let us be extremists, dear friends, extremists in defense of multilateralism, concord, and peace. Just as Paraguay rose from a bloody war, the world can do so too.
Climate. Artificial intelligence. These are the four great power tests of the future. And they are linked. War deepens inequality, destroys development and accelerates hunger. Inequality determines who has the means to face climate and other shocks and who is left exposed. The climate crisis fuels instability and displacement. Artificial Intelligence could help solve all these challenges, or make them worse. Excellencies, Across all four tests, the decisive issue is power. Power over force, money, energy, technology, rules and the future. That is why the UN Charter – and the work of the United Nations – matter more than ever. The United Nations exists because power requires rules – and humanity needs a place where power answers to principle. And the Charter leaves no room for selective reading. The Charter created an Organization rooted in three pillars. Peace. Development. And human rights. These are not competing agendas. They are one reality: There is no peace without development. No development without peace. And no peace or development without human rights. To pretend that peace can be separated from dignity, opportunity and rights is an illusion. But defending this truth does not mean defending the status quo. The Pact for the Future and the UN80 initiative are about making the UN: More responsive. More effective. More coherent. More transparent. More focused on results. More disciplined with resources. And more present where people need us. The world does not need a weaker United Nations. It needs a UN strong enough to face the world as it is – and determined enough to build the world as it should be. Excellencies, After ten years, I hold one conviction even more strongly than when I arrived: The greatest power is not the power to dominate. It is the power to build a future that works for everyone. Our shared future will be forged by whether humanity can govern power wisely. By upholding the law before impunity becomes normalized. By ending wars before they consume generations. By tackling inequality before societies fracture. By accelerating climate action before tipping points are crossed. And by governing artificial intelligence before it governs us. This is the challenge before this General Assembly, the United Nations, and humanity itself. Excellencies, In the face of global catastrophe more than 80 years ago, the United Nations was created as an act of defiance. The defiance of people who refuse to surrender the future to fear. The defiance against the self-defeating notion that might makes right. The defiance of countries that know our futures are bound together. The defiance of hope.
Ladies and gentlemen, this morning on my way to New York, somewhere in the sky over the big and beautiful Atlantic Ocean, I read President Trump's post on Truth Social. The president wrote that Russia has lost control of its diesel oil industry due to its war with Ukraine, and it is hard to imagine a more humiliating loss for a country that has a permanent seat on the UN Security Council and takes so much pride in its oil exports. I quote," A large number of their diesel refineries have been blown up and are at least temporarily out of commission." End of quote. And this is true: Russia messed up. And the conclusion of the post is also right: this ridiculous and never-ending war with Ukraine must be ended. I do not know a single world leader who would say otherwise. I do not know anyone who is openly for this war, except one man. Ladies and gentlemen, for almost 5 years now, Russian generals have been trying to carry out Putin's crazy order to seize our eastern land, the Donetsk region. And just this year, from January through August, the Russian army lost 248,964 people on the battlefield in Ukraine in 8 months. 248,000. Killed and badly wounded. Twenty-one centuries in the world have smaller populations. Twenty-one countries in the world have smaller population than the number of Russian troops lost in just 8 months. We have video confirmation for every one of these losses. And these are not just statistics; it's about people. We have an archive of drone videos, videos showing thousands and thousands of Russians losing their lives in kill zones. It's madness. But they still keep going there to die, because that is what Putin wants. After losing so many people, Russia managed to capture just over 1,000 square kilometers of our land this year, and we have already liberated a significant part of it. Russia is a country that already has 17 million square kilometers of its own land, without any Ukrainian territory, by the way. So to add another 1,000 square kilometers, Putin is paying with 248 people for every kilometer. Does anyone still think that he is reasonable and moderate? His comrade, the leader of North Korea, sent his troops to Russia to support the weak points of the Russian army. The North Koreans also suffered losses. Heavy losses. You probably saw the broadcast from Pyongyang when they honored those who were killed. And this is madness too. Why should Koreans give their lives in a war against Ukraine? Kim Jong-un uses them like currency, and he gets something in return. And North Korea's neighbors and countries across Asia have probably already noticed its improved ballistic missiles and Pyongyang's much greater drone capabilities. So a war that was not prevented in time, was not stopped in time, and for which Russia was not punished in time, keeps spreading and spreads evil with it. Recently, we sent two North Korean prisoners of war to the Republic of Korea. These guys are not easy to capture alive. One of them, when he realized he was going to be taken prisoner, tried to kill himself, and he was shocked that fate didn't let him die. And this is how they raise people in the North. It's reality. They take away their freedom. They take away their right to choose. And they drill into them that they must die, no matter what. Do you really want to give such a force more time to learn how to wage war? This has already been going on for 5 years. And we know that Putin recently once again promised representatives from the American president that he would seize our Donetsk region, and he said he needs just a few more months. This is probably the 17th or 18th time in 5 years that he has made this promise. It's always the same:" just a few, a few more months." And then he moves the deadline, moves again. Putin will fail this time too. But after that, he will once again make it clear to the world that even our Donetsk region is not enough for him. He wants more of our cities: Odesa and Kharkiv, Dnipro and others. Someone in the Kremlin even put up a picture with the words "Own to Kyiv." Russia has claims against our neighbor Moldova. It constantly threatens Poland and the Baltic States. Russia shows no respect for the statehood of the countries of the South Caucasus and Central Asia. And sadly, sadly, people in Syria and across Africa also know very well what Russian killers are. Something always seems to stop Putin from simply saying," That's it. Enough. Peace." Something always stops him from admitting that 17 million, 17 million square kilometers of his own territory, internationally recognized by all of you, should be enough for this man. Putin is always looking for someone who can help him kill more, kill more people for every kilometer of land, take more territory, attack another country, instead of simply stopping and running his own country. After all of this, can you even imagine him without war? He is patient zero. The one from whom this idea of war keeps spreading further. And wherever it spreads, it brings only pain, instability, new risks, and of course new crisis. The more freedom Putin has to act, the more dangerous the world becomes for everyone else. That is why patient zero must be stopped. He must be denied the space to act and the space to spread this evil further. Ladies and gentlemen, last year, speaking here, I said that we are living in a time when weapons decide who survives. And I've said, if a nation wants peace, it must work on strong weapons. Ukraine is doing exactly that. And this is why, for the first time in Russia's history, we now hear that its pride, its oil industry, is running off fumes. But oil itself is not Ukraine's target. Not our target. Not gasoline or diesel. Not factories or ports as such. Our target is Russia's ability to finance this war, to drag it out, to make it more brutal and more destructive. Russia's finances and Russia's production are what must be stopped if Putin is to be stopped. And our great soldiers and our weapons are working for this, only for this. The world's support for Ukraine helps us do it. And I am grateful to everyone, to every country that stands with us, stands with Ukraine, and helps our people.
