UN General Assembly
2016

As his 10-year tenure is coming to an end, I wish to convey both my Government’s and my personal appreciation to Mr. Ban Ki-moon, the Secretary-General, for his service in the promotion of our common values, and for his hard work and accomplishments. In particular, I wish to commend him for his instrumental role in getting the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development adopted, for his work on the recent agreement on the Comprehensive Refugee Response Framework and, of course, for bringing the United Nations Conference on climate change to a successful conclusion through the Paris Agreement. It is an agreement that Cyprus is committed to ratifying by the end of the year. Moreover, I wish to thank the Secretary-General for his active role in achieving a peaceful and comprehensive settlement on long- standing international issues, including the Cyprus problem — a problem that, sadly, is the second-longest- standing unresolved international issue on the United Nations agenda.