UN General Assembly
2017

The world of today is indeed a much better world, and not just geopolitically. In 2015 we took stock of the progress we had made on the Millennium Development Goals. Extreme poverty and maternal mortality had been halved, and child mortality had been almost halved. Ninety per cent of children in developing countries are now receiving primary education. Despite all the very real problems that confront us today, I still see grounds for optimism. We cannot change the world overnight, but we can improve the lives of individuals step by step. And we are doing so. The United Nations plays a crucial role in those achievements. The United Nations is the only organization where everyone sits at the table, and remains there. While other institutions struggle with an increasing lack of credibility, faith in the added value of the United Nations remains strong among the world’s citizens. We must not let them down.