UN General Assembly
2007

It is my very great pleasure to address the General Assembly. I join other speakers in congratulating you, Sir, on your election to the presidency of the General Assembly. My delegation has every confidence in your ability to discharge this challenge. I assure you of our support. I commend your predecessor, Sheikha Haya Rashed Al-Khalifa, for ably steering the sixty-first session of the General Assembly. I would also like to take this opportunity to once again congratulate the Secretary-General on his appointment. My delegation welcomes his commitment to strengthen the pillars of the United Nations: security, development and human rights. Last year, when I had the privilege of addressing the Assembly, I dwelt on the issue of Somalia and how the dynamic in that country had an impact in our capitals and cities around the world, such as Toronto, Stockholm, Rome, Nairobi and Mogadishu. Even countries that are thousands of miles away and whose interaction with Somalia has been minimal have been forced to awaken to the reality that we have become a global village when their citizens plying international