UN General Assembly
2016

Today we have accepted that economic advancement goes hand in hand with social development and environmental protection. I hope that we have all accepted the fact that development needs to be holistic and that problems and solutions have interlinked consequences. The massive shift seen in provisions of the 2030 Agenda reflects precisely that reality, that all issues are interlinked. It is in that vein that we have accepted that there can be no sustainable development without peace, and no peace without sustainable development. And nowhere is that more apparent than in Palestine. Cycles of violence and hatred perpetuated by the occupying Power, Israel, have led nowhere. A two-State solution that offers peace, stability and security is the only solution. Guaranteeing Palestinians the right to self- determination and sovereignty over their own land and natural resources is the only way out of the conflict.