UN General Assembly
2018

On behalf of the United Kingdom, let me begin by paying tribute to an outstanding leader of the United Nations, who, sadly, passed away this summer. Kofi Annan was one of the great Secretaries-General, a tireless campaigner for peace and progress and a champion of human rights and human dignity, whose influence will continue to be felt around the world for years to come. Over the course of his lifetime he witnessed the extraordinary progress that we as a community of nations have made since the Organization was founded: progress in which we have more than halved the number of people living in extreme poverty in this century alone; progress in which the number of people killed in conflicts has fallen by three quarters in just over three decades; and progress in which millions of our citizens lead healthier and longer lives and where, thanks to advances in human knowledge, medicine, science and technology, we are presented with huge opportunities in the years ahead. Yet today many are concerned about whether or not that progress will continue and fearful about what the future holds.