UN General Assembly
2006

I should like to say how pleased the Government of Panama is at your election, Madam, to preside over the sixty-first session of the General Assembly. Your illustrious professional record and your extraordinary action in defence of women’s rights lead us to believe that you will guide us in an exemplary manner. I also congratulate the Secretary-General on his encouraging words yesterday. The ovation that ensued bears witness to the Assembly’s gratitude for his efforts over 10 years of heading the Secretariat. Over the past few years we have dedicated considerable effort and time to the task of reforming the United Nations. We are doing this for one simple reason: we want it to work better. That aspiration is based on a profound conviction that the Organization is indispensable for humanity. Those who criticize the Organization must be honest when they wonder what the world would be like without the United Nations and its specialized agencies. Those who govern are examined on a daily basis by their peoples and sometimes they are criticized very severely, but nobody