UN General Assembly
2013

As the Secretary-General says in his report entitled “A life of dignity for all: accelerating progress towards the Millennium Development Goals and advancing the United Nations development agenda beyond 2015”, “the world’s quest for dignity, peace, prosperity, justice, sustainability and an end to poverty has reached an unprecedented moment of urgency” (A/68/202, para. 1) “and the world’s nations must unite behind a common programme to act on those aspirations” (ibid., para. 120). Cyprus strongly subscribes to the joint efforts in fulfilling this task. A few months ago, my country received unprecedented international attention because of the economic crisis. I am proud to say that, due to the persistence, determination and resilience of the people of Cyprus, we are rising to the challenge and will soon lead our country to the path of recovery and growth. My political vision is for Cyprus to receive international attention yet again, but this time for all the right reasons. This points to an end in the long-standing anachronistic division of my country, in line with the aspirations of our people, especially the younger