UN General Assembly
2012

﻿At the outset, I wish to convey thanks and appreciation to the Secretary- General for his true commitment to the fulfilment of the purposes and principles of the United Nations. The United Nations and its General Assembly are a unique tool, the one and only global forum that provides room for dialogue to discuss strategic visions and to seek policy-level solutions to the problems that we are jointly confronted with at the international, regional and national levels. It is our obligation and moral duty to search together for ways of bringing peace and prosperity to all humankind. Conflicts do not stop at borders. The world we live in is so interconnected that every problem is a problem for all of us and every threat is a threat faced by all. At the same time, every success is of benefit to all of us. Besides numerous indisputable benefits, the process of globalization introduces new challenges. I will mention just three challenges encountered in the early twenty-first century: the global economic crisis, environmental change and man-made threats, including