UN General Assembly
2013

exchanges that we support and the good relations we maintain with all our neighbours, North and South. But we are also troubled by the conflicts and suffering that we see around us. Waves of new tomorrows and hopeful struggles for democracy in North Africa have given way to new realities that were unthinkable when the Millennium Development Goals were drawn up. Sectarian strife, religious tensions and power struggles have halted or reversed the progress of development. It is almost correct to say that the Mediterranean Sea is at a boiling point and that the next conflict — one over scarce resources, contested borders or even cultural offences — is just waiting to happen. But there can be no stalemate or acceptance of the status quo if we truly believe that the peoples of the Mediterranean deserve better. No violations of human rights or shaky institutions can be accepted if we are to look truly holistically at a new positive agenda for humankind. The deepening links between the lives of peoples across countries demand coordinated global