UN General Assembly
2021

As the story goes, the matter of allowing entry to small States, such as ourselves, was fiercely debated. It was a question of whether or not a small island would qualify to meaningfully contribute to world affairs. Today, 56 years later, as President of the Republic of Maldives, I address the presidency of the General Assembly in our mother tongue. Our mother tongue, Dhivehi, the language in which we take pride and is close to our hearts, is a language that is most familiar to the President of the General Assembly at this session. The Maldives may be small in size. Maldivians, however, are large in their rich culture and heritage. This is indeed a great honour for our nation.