UN General Assembly
2016

There is another signal of hope, namely, the recent peace agreement in Colombia. Switzerland, the depositary of the agreement, commends all the parties involved for that breakthrough on the road to lasting peace. Our generation is the first since the beginning of the twentieth century not to have lived through a world war. The United Nations has greatly contributed to that outcome, even if we must admit that there are still too many regional conflicts and that those conflicts have resulted in too many victims. Because of its universality, the United Nations has a unique legitimacy, which gives rise to a monumental responsibility, with the number of its initiatives, agreements and processes constantly multiplying. A new global vision is taking shape, and all States are involved. Among the cornerstones of that vision is the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development, which is the common framework for the development of sustainable solutions. It provides the basis for a renewed social contract between leaders and populations.