I congratulate Ms. María Fernanda Espinosa Garcés, our Latin American sister, on her election to preside over the General Assembly at its seventy-third session. I also want to pay tribute to Kofi Annan, whose commendable work at the helm of the United Nations left us a great legacy in the defence of peace and a fairer international economic order. And I would like to express the condolences of El Salvador on the recent death of the President of the Republic of Viet Nam, Tran Dai Quang. We also want to express our solidarity with the Government and the people of the United States for the effects of Hurricane Florence and those in the Philippines and China who have been affected by the devastating climate events in their countries.
This year brings us together under the theme “Making the United Nations relevant to all people: global leadership and shared responsibilities for peaceful, equitable and sustainable societies”. It is our responsibility to reach out to all, without discrimination of any kind, with intelligent and effective public policies and tools that meet the needs and aspirations of our people. That has been a priority for El Salvador during my Administration. The social protection programmes we have promoted were decisive in lifting more than 400,000 people out of poverty between 2015 and 2017. The 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development has become a crucial reference point for the implementation

of our national policies. We were among the earliest countries to adapt the 2030 Agenda to its purpose of mitigating the consequences of decades of serious social inequality and repairing the State’s historical lack of interest in the needs and demands of the people.
El Salvador joins the call of Secretary-General António Guterres regarding the urgent need to close the gaps in the financing of the Sustainable Development Goals. To that end, we have allocated nearly 50 per cent of the national budget to social development, an unprecedented investment for my country. But even with all of our efforts, our  national  financing  will not be sufficient. The international community must also honour its commitments in this regard. Those contributions must respond to a comprehensive, long- term perspective in order to ensure inclusive economic growth and end poverty for the millions of people who are suffering the worst consequences of climate change and the unfair distribution of wealth. In the case of middle-income countries such as El Salvador, the key lies in supporting and supplementing our financing capacities, particularly from public sources.
Our country is dealing with multiple vulnerabilities. We  recently  suffered  one  of  the  longest  droughts in our history, a reality that climate change has inflicted on us. That obliges us to invest additional resources in order to guarantee families food security and keep food prices stable. If we are to tackle that situation, it is crucial to ensure that the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change continues to be implemented and the current Green Climate Fund crisis is resolved. As a country that hardly pollutes globally but suffers the effects of climate change caused by others, El Salvador urgently needs access to financing for climate-change mitigation and adaptation action that will improve its population’s security and resilience. Our adoption in Bonn of a global initiative at the twenty-third Conference of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change has enabled us to move forward with the large-scale restoration of our ecosystems and to become an example of a small country with limited financial resources capable of protecting its environment. I am deeply  grateful to Mr. Erik Solheim, Executive Director of the United Nations Environment Programme, for supporting our proposal to declare 2021-2030 a United Nations decade of ecosystem restoration. We invite the General Assembly to consider this initiative aimed at coordinating our efforts to counter the accelerated loss of forests and
the degradation of soils and ecosystems, which have a negative effect on the well-being of 3.2 billion people.
As one of the Heads of State who in 2015 adopted the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development at a memorable and historic General Assembly meeting (see A/70/PV.4), today I can affirm that we have made great progress in combating poverty and reducing inequalities. My Government has given priority to social protection programmes through development strategies that enabled us to reduce poverty by 10 per cent between 2009 and 2017. Through our critical national literacy programme we have declared 100 municipalities free of illiteracy, including San Salvador, which became the third Central American capital to record that educational achievement. That effort continues with our firm commitment to achieving a literate country,  a noble task in which we have  the  generous support of more than 50,000 young volunteers, advocates and other sectors of society. The support of the people and Government of our sister Republic of Cuba has been essential to that success. Its Yo Sí Puedo campaign is a model for the eradication of illiteracy to Latin America and the world.
As part of our defence of women’s rights,  we  have developed a strategy for the prevention of the killing of women and sexual violence  that involves  all Government institutions in empowering women and ensuring that they can live free of violence. The strategy, which has been strengthened by the Spotlight Initiative with support from the European Union and the United Nations, seeks to eradicate social and institutional practices that are damaging to women’s dignity. We have also strengthened the internationally recognized Ciudad Mujer programme, which has been implemented in several countries and has provided care to more than 1.8 million women through health services, defence of women’s rights, skills training and financing for economic projects. On the health front, the implementation of our national strategic plan for the reduction of maternal mortality stands out, as well as our national health surveillance plan. Both have helped El Salvador reduce its maternal mortality rate, which in 2017 dropped to 31 per 100,000 live births.
In our pursuit of those  urgent  efforts  we  have the spiritual guidance, the message of peace and the promotion of social justice of blessed Archbishop Óscar Arnulfo Romero, who on 14 October will be canonized by Pope Francis, a historic event that our people are celebrating with profound joy and hope.

A topic of special relevance at the global and regional levels is migration. My country looks forward to welcoming the prompt adoption of the global compact for safe, orderly and regular migration and the global compact on refugees as clear examples of the leading role of the United Nations in the search for a new global consensus. We must approach migration from a human rights perspective in order to  realize  its benefits and address the challenges it represents. This year many migrant families, mainly from the northern-triangle countries of Central America, have been dealing with the difficult and painful situation of separation, which has caused irreparable psychological and emotional damage to the children and adolescents involved. We believe that the best interests of children and their families  should  be  respected,  regardless  of their immigration status. I reiterate El Salvador’s request to the United States authorities to speed up   the reunification process for minors entering their country at its southern border, whether or not they were accompanied by their families.
In recent years, El Salvador has worked to create better living conditions through the promotion of investment, the development of human capital, security, the prevention of violence and the fight against criminal trafficking networks and drug trafficking, among other initiatives, actions that have enabled  us to reduce irregular migratory flows of Salvadorans to the United States by 60 per cent. El Salvador rejects the criminalization of  migrants,  since  experience has shown that their industriousness contributes  to the economic, social and cultural development of destination societies. Our compatriots protected by the Temporary Protected Status (TPS) and Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) programmes, who for years have contributed to progress in the United States, are a clear example of that. As a Government we are working to make sure that the competent United States authorities guarantee the legal instruments required  to provide the population in the United States under TPS and DACA with greater migratory stability and permanent residence.
As a founding State of the United Nations and a country respectful of international law, El Salvador recognizes the importance of multilateralism in addressing such global challenges as peace, a more just economic order, climate change, migration and sustainable development. In that context,  we  stress the need for constructive dialogue, concerted action
and cooperation and the strengthening of integration mechanisms and regional alliances. In the face of crises and conflicts affecting the world, it is important to give priority to dialogue and political solutions. That was our approach on 30 June in Santo Domingo, at the Meeting of Presidents of the Central American Integration System countries, where we stated our  position  on the situation in our sister republic of Nicaragua. We reiterate the call for dialogue and consensus as the necessary paths for the construction and maintenance of peace, with respect for the Constitution and the rule of law.
In order for the international community to make steady progress towards development,  we  must  put an end to unilateral measures such as the unjust and anachronistic economic, commercial and financial embargo imposed on Cuba by the  United  States.  That coercive measure must end because it causes incalculable harm to the Cuban people. The same goes for the economic siege against the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela, which affects its international payments and its ability to obtain goods and services, as well as its people’s living conditions. We stand for respect for the self-determination and sovereignty of the Venezuelan people and condemn any external interference or threats of military intervention.
I thank the United Nations system and Secretary- General António Guterres for the valuable support they provide to our development programmes for the well- being and tranquillity of Salvadoran families. We are also grateful for their assistance in and support for a national dialogue process towards  the  development of new national agreements, a continuation of the peace accords that we signed in January 1992. I reaffirm El Salvador’s commitment to helping make the work of the United Nations relevant to all people and to global leadership, with a view to advancing humankind’s aspiration to achieve peaceful, equitable and sustainable societies. My Government continues to work tirelessly to that end. We are confident that with the commitments we have undertaken to fulfil the 2030 Agenda, we are moving forward with the building of a united, prosperous and peaceful El Salvador.


It gives me great pleasure, on behalf of the Government and the people of Tuvalu, to address the General Assembly and to congratulate Her Excellency Ms. María Fernanda Espinosa Garcés on her election as President of the General Assembly at its seventy-third session. Tuvalu has full confidence in her leadership, which will, together with the Secretary- General’s support, further advance our work in the United Nations.
Tuvalu also reaffirms its commitment to the noble values and principles of the United Nations, of which Tuvalu has great pride in being a Member since it joined in 2000. We also want to acknowledge with sincere affection the passing of the late Kofi Annan, former Secretary-General, and his outstanding contributions to the work of this body while leading us from the dusk of the previous century into the dawn of the twenty- first century, which included the considered admission of my country to this great Organization.
We welcome the critical theme of the current general debate, “Making the United Nations relevant for all people: global leadership and shared responsibilities for  peaceful,  equitable  and sustainable  societies”.  It rightly reminds us that we now need responsible global leadership more than ever — leadership that values multilateralism and trust and takes  seriously the moral responsibility to help those who need help. That is the leadership that the world needs in order to succeed against the defining global challenges facing the United Nations, in particular in connection with the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development and the role of that Agenda in combating climate change and environmental degradation.
This year was characterized by the fear of a potential nuclear war, as if we had not learned from the wrongs of our past. Now we have nuclear weapons that are much more powerful than those dropped on Hiroshima and Nagasaki. Numerous nuclear tests in our Pacific region have caused unimaginable damage to the environment and the health of our people. Some of our islands continue to cope with the effects of nuclear radiation decades after those tests. The recent Pacific Islands Leaders Meeting in Nauru reaffirmed our commitment to peace and security in the Pacific region. In the Boe Declaration on Regional Security for the Pacific region we called for  urgent  actions with regard to not only military, but also human security issues. In that spirit, two days ago, Tuvalu signed the Comprehensive Nuclear-Test-Ban Treaty, which provides the international community with an opportunity to ban such weapons. We urge all to take concrete actions to make our world safe.

Non-communicable diseases and tuberculosis hit the poor and vulnerable particularly hard and drive them deeper into poverty. We commend the successful outcomes of the high-level meetings of the General Assembly on those issues, but rhetoric alone is not enough. It must be followed by meaningful action on the ground to promote healthy lifestyles and diets, supported by adequate financing and monitoring modalities so as to ensure integrated progress. Addressing that issue urgently is critical, and to that end we in Tuvalu have introduced healthy lifestyles with our initiative of afternoon sweat-breaks every Friday provided to all workers in places of work and villages to encourage a more active and healthier lifestyle. We need practical support, however, in the form of funding and resources from the United Nations, as well as the international community.
For small island developing States (SIDS) and least developed countries, the achievement of the Sustainable Development Goals depends entirely on how we address issues of climate change. The current global warming trend spells a very bleak and miserable future for small island developing States, especially for low-lying atolls such as Tuvalu — a future that demands huge investments in mitigation and adaptation that are simply beyond our capabilities. The Paris Agreement on Climate Change offers us a lifeline.
But the current commitments contained in the Paris Agreement constitute only a third of what is required in order to avoid the catastrophic consequences of climate change, which poses a direct threat to our existence and survival. As already established by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), unless the global community steps up its actions to significantly lower greenhouse-gas emissions, SIDS like Tuvalu will disappear completely within the next 30 to 50 years — disappear completely. I repeat once again what I said at the twenty-first Conference of Parties in Paris: “Just imagine if you were in my shoes, how you would feel. And what would you do?”
Climate change is a weapon of  mass destruction. It is slaughtering fellow human beings throughout the world. The United Nations cannot and must not allow the biggest greenhouse-gas emitters to turn away from their moral duty and responsibility to urgently reduce greenhouse-gas emissions and to save SIDS like Tuvalu by providing the appropriate adaptation support and resources. It would be shameful if all of humankind allowed Tuvalu to disappear. Every single year wasted
with no action taken on climate change draws Tuvalu a year closer to its total demise on Earth.
But Tuvalu will never give up. We will fight to protect and save our islands, our people, our culture and our future. We appeal to this noble Assembly not to allow such consequences to happen. Tuvalu, whose islands and lagoons were used by the American forces in the Second World War to conquer the enemy in the Pacific, urges President Trump and the United States of America to rejoin the Paris Agreement so that we can all paddle together to save the world against our single most threatening enemy, namely, climate change. Failing that, Tuvalu proposes that we, the signatories of the Paris Agreement, quickly return to Paris to critically and urgently reassess our mitigation pledges and dramatically increase our efforts to reduce greenhouse-gas pollution. We cannot allow one country to desert the process and derail our collective efforts.
The next Conference of Parties in Poland is a critically important milestone for climate-change action. We must ensure that the implementation guidelines for the Paris Agreement are concluded. We must also ensure that the Talanoa Dialogue process leads to a strong political declaration and decision that respond adequately to the IPCC 1.5°C  report and  set a pathway for enhanced climate-change action. In that regard, we seek a commitment from every nation to enhance its efforts to reduce greenhouse-gas emissions as a matter of urgency. We in Tuvalu are fully committed to shifting to 100 per cent renewable energy by 2020 despite our negligible greenhouse-gas emissions.
I extend our deep appreciation to the Governments of India and France for their initiative on solar-energy development as part of the International Solar Alliance and to the European Union, New Zealand, Taiwan, Italy, Austria, Japan and the World Bank for their support for energy efficiency and solar-energy development in my country, Tuvalu. I wish to acknowledge the efforts of notable members of the Security Council in bringing climate change to the fore of its peace and security agenda. That represents a genuine commitment to addressing the most important challenges  of  our time and the greatest single threat to humankind. It    is our humble hope that the entire Security Council membership can agree to include climate change as a permanent agenda item.
We believe that the nexus between climate change and security is fundamental. For a nation like Tuvalu,

security and the future are contingent upon urgent action to address climate change. We therefore reiterate our call for the appointment of a special representative of the Secretary-General on climate change and security. We also call on the Security Council to appoint a special rapporteur to produce a regular review of global, regional and national security threats caused by climate change.
We welcome the successful conclusion of the intergovernmental negotiation on the global compact for safe, orderly and regular migration and commend the spirit of responsible leadership and multilateral cooperation extended to efforts to support the ever- increasing populations that are being affected by conflicts and environmental crises, We believe, however, that all human rights of  people displaced as a result of climate change should be protected under an international legal agreement. We therefore reiterate Tuvalu’s proposal for a United Nations resolution on the establishment of a legal process to protect the human rights of people displaced by climate change.
This year, Tuvalu proposed that it remain a least developed country, because its ability to achieve sustainable development is being severely compromised by its vulnerability to climate change. We noted with appreciation the support that we have received from development partners and friends to advance that proposal. However, it is our earnest belief that the unique and extreme vulnerabilities of small island developing States must be considered as a fundamental criterion for graduation.
The particular concerns of highly vulnerable SIDS, like Tuvalu, cannot be ignored. In our national strategy for sustainable development — Te Kakeega — our unique vulnerability is recognized as enemy number one hampering our efforts to achieve the Sustainable Development Goals. In that regard, we call on the Economic and Social Council to create a special category for SIDS so that we can be afforded special considerations in a similar fashion to those  received by the least developed countries. We note the recently released report of the Secretary-General on the assessment resulting from the evolving mandates of the small island developing States units of the Secretariat (A/73/345). The expanded responsibilities  of  the SIDS unit in the Department of Economic and Social Affairs and the Office  of  the  High  Representative for the Least Developed Countries, Landlocked Developing Countries and Small Island Developing
States should be matched with expanded resources. We also welcome the review of the SIDS Accelerated Modalities of Action (SAMOA) Pathway and hope  that that review will truly reflect and respond to the unique circumstances affecting SIDS and their unique economic, environmental and social vulnerability. In the South Pacific region,  we  are taking small steps  to address that vulnerability. We are in the process of developing a Pacific Island climate-change insurance facility. We seek support from the United Nations-wide system to assist us in developing that facility.
Our small-island economy is inextricably linked to the oceans. The oceans are what we are, our culture, our life and our survival, but global warming, acidification, coral bleaching, solid wastes and plastic pollution and diminishing inshore and offshore stocks of fisheries, on which national economies depend, are gravely affecting the oceans. The United Nations must provide the strongest possible leadership to drive genuine partnerships to address those issues.
The exclusion of Taiwan from the United Nations system has denied its 23 million people the enjoyment of their fundamental rights to participate in and benefit from the United Nations. Taiwan is already a responsible and able partner with Tuvalu and many other countries in many regions of the world, and could do even more if it were allowed to assume its rightful place and role in our global efforts to achieve sustainable development. Tuvalu believes that the United Nations has to make the arrangements necessary to enable Taiwan to participate in meetings, activities and mechanisms within the framework of United Nations processes, including those of the relevant United Nations  specialized agencies. In a similar vein, we believe that the long-standing unilateral economic embargo on trade with Cuba directly constrains the development aspirations of the people of that country. It neglects the human rights and the spirit of cooperation espoused by the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development. Likewise, we believe that the United Nations must also engage with the people of West Papua to find lasting solutions to their struggles.
In August 2019, Tuvalu will host the fiftieth Pacific Islands Forum of leaders. I extend our humble invitation to all Pacific Island Forum leaders, our friends and especially our bilateral and multilateral development partners to join us in Tuvalu. It will still be there, I hope. We want to put on record our deepest appreciation to the Government of Taiwan for their generous support in helping us prepare for that important and large-scale

regional event. Similarly, I want to acknowledge similar support from the Governments of India, Taiwan, and the Republic of Korea in helping us host the next year’s Forum.
On 1 October, next Monday, Tuvalu will celebrate its fortieth anniversary of independence. While holding high our national pride as an independent nation, we fully acknowledge that Tuvalu could never have achieved such status without the due consideration of Members of this body, to whom, on behalf of the people of Tuvalu, I now offer our sincere gratitude. In our striding forward, we acknowledge with deep appreciation, the generosity of all our development partners, particularly our traditional partners: the Republic of China, Taiwan, India, the Republic of Korea, Australia, New Zealand, the European Union, Japan, the United Kingdom, the World Bank, the Asian Development Bank and many others. As we paddle our canoe forward for the next 40 years, we seek the continuing goodwill of the United Nations family to further advance our achievements based on genuine and durable partnerships.
In conclusion, Tuvalu strongly believes that its collective effort to achieve the aspirations of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development and to secure global peace, security and prosperity will be severely compromised unless we all paddle together, as a family, to urgently address climate change and save Tuvalu and the world. God bless Tuvalu. God bless the United Nations.


This year, as we commemorate the 100th anniversary of the birth of one of the greatest sons of humankind, the late Nelson Mandela, I would like to begin my statement with a quote of his: “It is so easy to break down and destroy. The heroes are those who make peace and build”.
We have approached the seventy-third session of the General Assembly with an increased number of problems compared with last year, including a lack of trust and mutual respect. We find ourselves in a state of profound worldwide crisis that touches every aspect of the life of each and every person in our interconnected and rapidly accelerating world. Millions  of  people live under the shadow of dreadful wars, such as in Syria, Yemen and many other corners of the globe. Kazakhstan believes that war can never be a lasting solution to any problem.
Based on that conviction and sharing the belief that the only viable solution to the current crisis in Syria is an inclusive and Syrian-led political process, we launched

the Astana process to strengthen confidence-building measures among the conflicting parties in Syria.
Our far-reaching commitment is  embodied  in  the 2016 anti-war manifesto,  entitled  The  World. 21st Century, by Kazakhstan’s President, Nursultan Nazarbayev, who stated in that treatise that the main tool for resolving all  disputes between States should be peaceful dialogue and constructive negotiations on the basis of equal responsibility for peace and security, mutual respect and non-interference in domestic affairs. It is a road map for peace, and it calls for the effective use of all tools available — from early warning, conflict prevention, diplomacy and mediation, peacekeeping and peacebuilding to sustainable development.
At a time of crisis, we believe that it is of the utmost importance for the United Nations to stay close to the people around the world and to ensure that no one is left behind. We have to overcome differences and reaffirm our shared commitments to the values enshrined in the Charter of the United Nations.
My country has become a net contributor to peace, security and stability, as well as to economic and social development, not only in our region but far beyond. We have carefully preserved peace and harmony in our multi-ethnic and multireligious society by stressing and enforcing the equality and dignity of every citizen. We have achieved that while also creating an effective economic model — our economy has grown more than 20 times from the day that my country emerged as an independent State.
Looking forward, Kazakhstan has a clear vision for its future development. By 2050, we seek to become one of the top 30 most advanced economies in the world, meeting the highest global standards in terms of economic performance and transparent governance, especially the demanding standards of the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development.
As a new model of economic growth, President Nazarbayev announced his plan in his annual address earlier this year, called “New development opportunities under the fourth  industrial  revolution”.  It  outlines the path for our country to follow in order to achieve those ambitious goals. That new  road  map  focuses on industrialization, the further development of our resource potential, the use of smart technologies, which provide a chance for a breakthrough in the development of our agricultural industry, increasing the efficiency of transport and logistics infrastructure, relaunching
the financial sector, and strengthening human capital as the basis of modernization.
At the global level President Nazarbayev has put forward the G-Global initiative, an information and technology (ICT) platform aimed at ensuring wide and inclusive dialogue on the need to find common solutions for global economic and financial shortcomings. The platform unites prominent international scientists, entrepreneurs and politicians.
In the regional context, we are committed to further extending our partnership with Central Asian countries and to enhancing our common capability to withstand threats and challenges. Today in Central Asia a new reality has been formed. We consider the political, economic and cultural potential of the region to be a common resource, the most rational and effective use of which is achievable only in a collective format.
Our shared goal is to create a model for a zone of peace, security, trust, development and cooperation in our region of Central Asia and beyond. Several features of such a zone are already in place, as exemplified by the Cooperation Council of Turkic-speaking States, the International Fund for Saving the  Aral Sea  and the latest Summit of that Fund, which demonstrated strong political collaboration among regional leaders on subjects including the establishment of a nuclear- weapon-free zone in Central Asia and other mechanisms.
Being the first country from the region to be represented on the Security Council, we have deepened our focus on the situation in Afghanistan with its full implications and threats in the broader regional context. Moreover, Kazakhstan has for many years contributed significantly to peace in and the rehabilitation of that country. We believe that the revival of that country as a prosperous and peaceful neighbour will have a positive impact on overall security in our region. A special role in that process should be played by Afghan women.
In order to increase international awareness and support for the needs of  Afghan  women  and  girls, we hosted the Regional Conference on Empowering Women in Afghanistan in September in Astana.  It was attended by female politicians, parliamentarians, entrepreneurs and civil-society members from Afghanistan and the Eurasian region. The event gave great impetus to strengthening the  role  of  women, not only in Afghanistan but in the whole region of Central Asia, thereby helping to improve their lives and influence their futures.

New globalization trends have revealed cross-border threats and challenges, which requires a new paradigm to address them. Those transnational challenges are specific, but common to particular regions, especially conflict-prone ones, and they necessitate a transition from a country-specific to a regional strategy to tackle them. A regional strategy becomes effective with the whole-of-system coordination of the activities of United Nations structures region-wide.
As a  pilot  case,  we  offer  the  establishment  of  a United Nations regional hub for the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) in Almaty, our southern capital. The city already hosts more than a dozen United Nations offices with regional, subregional and multi-country mandates. That solid United Nations field presence has successfully promoted the SDGs in our region for years, and I am happy to announce that, as a host country, we will provide those offices with a state-of-the-art, fully equipped and furnished building, specifically designated and designed as per United Nations and international requirements, by the end of the year.
As an example of regional cooperation, I would also like to outline the results of the Caspian Summit held a month ago in the city of Aktau, in western Kazakhstan. We all are extremely satisfied and proud that the long-awaited legal status of the Caspian Sea has been agreed on and determined by the five littoral countries. The treaty creates a solid legal basis for further comprehensive interaction among all the Caspian States, strengthening regional security and stability, as well as the efficient use of sea resources. I would like to emphasize that the Caspian Sea has become an area of peace, harmony, good-neighbourliness and enhanced international cooperation.
Today, the ability of countries to show global leadership and responsibility is being challenged by numerous threats — from the spread of both conventional weapons and weapons of mass destruction (WMDs), terrorism, extremism, organized crime and all forms of trafficking, to food, water, energy and health insecurity the violation of human rights, particularly the rights of women, youth and children, which degrades human dignity, and the lack of respect and justice for all.
Kazakhstan is trying its best to stay in the vanguard of efforts to tackle those international challenges and to seek innovative solutions to them. We fully support the efforts of the Secretary-General to implement his
reforms of the peace and security architecture and the United Nations development system and management. We will contribute to improving shared responsibility for, transparency and the overall coordination of all United Nations bodies with a view to achieving those goals. We are engaged in reforming the methods of work of the Security Council so as to enhance its relevance, transparency, accountability and effective capacity to respond speedily to varying crises.
Kazakhstan remains committed to strengthening peacekeeping by ensuring clear and achievable mandates, highly qualified personnel and adequate resources. We will increase our contribution to United Nations peacekeeping operations through innovative forms of partnerships, including co-deployment. We will deploy a unit and additional officers to United Nations peacekeeping missions during this seventy- third session and expand their number in future.
Being fully supportive of the concept of preventive diplomacy, conflict prevention and confidence-building, the President of Kazakhstan initiated the creation of the United Nations Regional Centre for Preventive Diplomacy for Central Asia, as well as the Conference on Interaction and Confidence-building Measures in Asia, which comprises 27 countries, spanning from the Middle to the Far East and South-East Asia.
My country has proved itself to be a moral leader in nuclear disarmament and non-proliferation, after having renounced the world’s fourth-largest nuclear arsenal and the world’s largest nuclear test site, in Semipalatinsk. We call upon all other countries to follow our example, as nuclear weapons do not ensure either real power or true protection. Protection comes from trust in the international community.
Kazakhstan signed the Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons on 2 March, following its engaged participation in the elaboration and adoption of the Treaty. We are now processing its ratification. The early entry into force of the Comprehensive Nuclear-Test- Ban Treaty remains a key goal for us. Our country, one of the most impacted by the harmful consequences of nuclear tests, is making great efforts to bring the world to global zero. We therefore sponsored resolution 64/35, which established the International Day against Nuclear Tests. Three weeks ago, the States Members of the United Nations commemorated the ninth observance of the Day, with the General Assembly firmly supporting an urgent and complete end to all nuclear testing.

The creation of nuclear-weapon-free zones remains one of the most  effective  measures  for  combating the spread of WMDs. With that in mind, President Nursultan Nazarbayev proposed strengthening cooperation among nuclear-weapon-free zones and convening inter-zone conferences on a regular basis. Astana proposes hosting the first such meeting.
We have also steadfastly advocated for the denuclearization of the Korean peninsula and call on all the parties involved to agree on mutually acceptable conditions to sustain the negotiation  process.  We also support preserving and ensuring the proper implementation of the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action for Iran, as well as a thorough investigation of chemical-weapons crimes in Syria and the prevention of chemical terrorism.
Countering terrorism is of special  significance for my country. Kazakhstan has ratified 16 of the 19 United Nations instruments on combating terrorism, with measures taken for the early accession to the remaining three treaties. Stronger global leadership in fighting terrorism remains crucial. We must do more to address the roots of radicalization, using best practices and relevant United Nations instruments.
We are actively working under the Joint Plan of Action for the implementation of the United Nations Global Counter-Terrorism Strategy in Central Asia. Having contributed $300,000, Kazakhstan has become the first donor to its third phase, and we thank other donors too.
In his address to the General Assembly in 2015  (see A/70/PV.13), President Nazarbayev put forward several counter-terrorism initiatives: the creation of a global counter-terrorism coalition or network and the adoption of a comprehensive United Nations document on combating terrorism. In that context, our country has offered the Code of  Conduct towards Achieving   a World Free of Terrorism and invites all countries to closely coordinate in the fight against that evil. We commend all our partners for their support. The Code signing ceremony was held earlier this afternoon at a special high-level event, with more than 70 Member States having endorsed the document, for which we are very grateful. The Code remains open for signature by other States, and we invite them all to manifest their goodwill in fighting that disastrous phenomenon.
Our strong conviction is that comprehensive success in the area of hard security is impossible without
success in achieving the Sustainable Development Goals. We have launched a number of initiatives to implement the SDGs: the renowned international Expo 2017 exhibition on the theme of future energy; the Post-Expo International Centre for Green Technologies and Investment Projects; the Astana International Financial Centre; the annual Astana Economic Forum; the KazAlD development agency; the Regional Hub of the Civil Service; the Regional Centre for Disaster Risk Reduction; and the Central Asian Regional Information and Coordination Centre for combating illicit trafficking in narcotic drugs, psychotropic substances and their precursors. All those and many other projects have many promising prospects for the future.
Kazakhstan is the world’s largest landlocked country, and it is also a part of the biggest landlocked region of Central Asia and Afghanistan, and the farthest away from any ocean. It has made many strides in achieving connectivity and in turning what can be termed “landlockedness” into “landlinkedness”.
Based on the outcomes of the implementation of the Almaty Programme of Action and working together to fulfil the Vienna Declaration and Programme of Action for the landlocked least developed countries (LLDCs), we are working to further expand communications, enhance infrastructure, boost trade and transit, counter climate change and improve energy security. Recently, we hosted the LLDCs’ Ministerial Meeting on Trade and Trade Facilitation in Astana.
We are ready to share our experiences in promoting the goals of our large-scale third modernization programme, geared towards joining the top 30 most developed nations, and we offer our assistance to developing countries. In that context, South-South cooperation is gaining importance for us. Together with the United Nations system and other partners we will continue to extend assistance to African countries. We will work under the Africa-Kazakhstan partnership for the SDGs, and we will continue to work with small island developing States.
The recent establishment of the Islamic Organization for Food Security in Astana will contribute to humanitarian assistance efforts through the creation of food reserves. Also, a  new  initiative  of the Organization of Islamic Cooperation in  the  area of science and technology will serve the purpose of narrowing the digital and ICT gap between the developed and the developing countries.

Mr.  Ten-Pow  (Guyana),  Vice-President,   took the Chair.
Kazakhstan’s hallmarks, among many others, are pluralism and interfaith accord. They are promoted through an unprecedented dialogue platform, namely, the Congress of Leaders of World and Traditional Religions in Astana. The sixth Congress of that kind will take place next month in Astana. Its added value is that it brings together religious and political leaders, international organizations and civil society and turns the paradigm of conflict and clashes of cultures and religions into a unique model of tolerance and harmony. President Nazarbayev has unveiled a new programme of spiritual modernization of Kazakh society called “spiritual enlightenment”, which blends traditional with contemporary elements. I can convey the essence of the initiative by recalling his words that in dreaming of our great future, we should not forget about our worthy past.
Before I conclude, I reiterate that it is only through our collective will and solidarity that we can turn this world in crisis into a world of hope and promise. The United Nations should stay open and relevant to all people, since it is our common responsibility to leave  a strengthened and well-used heritage to move towards peaceful, equitable and sustainable societies where no one is left behind.
In conclusion I  want to refer again to the words of Nelson  Mandela, namely,  that it  is  in our hands  to create a better world for all who  live  in  it.  We need to turn our goodwill and good words into good actions. That is what we desperately need today. The President of Kazakhstan, His Excellency Mr. Nursultan Nazarbayev, clearly stated that the time to look ahead is now; the time for action is now; the time to show our will is now; and the time to make a difference is now.


I wish to start by paying tribute to Secretary-General António Guterres for his vision in leading the United Nations. Finland wholeheartedly supports him in his important task.
My country has always been a strong advocate of multilateral cooperation. For Finland, the rules-based international order is of fundamental importance. At home, being able to rely on commonly agreed rules is a cornerstone of our own national security and welfare. At the global level, common solutions and rules are needed to address the most pressing challenges of our time.
Unfortunately, for those of us who believe in the benefits of multilateralism, there is  now  reason  to  be worried. The international system that we have built together is under pressure and its capability and credibility are being questioned. We can no longer take the rules-based order for granted. It is our common responsibility to actively defend and develop it.
Finland sees the United Nations as the core of the multilateral system. The defence of multilateralism

must therefore begin here. The United Nations and    its Members need to show their will to act together, not past each other. We fully support the Secretary- General’s ambitious and comprehensive reform agenda. Now is the time to implement those reforms. We must ensure that the United Nations of the future is more transparent, accountable and efficient.
For the United Nations to be credible, it has to practice what it preaches. For any organization, every single case of sexual exploitation in its own ranks is one case too much. That is particularly true for an organization that stresses the importance of equality and human rights. I am proud to be a member of the Circle of Leadership on Preventing and  Responding to Sexual Exploitation and Abuse, and I welcome the efforts taken to prevent and combat all forms of abuse throughout the United Nations system.
The three pillars of the United Nations — peace and security, human rights and development — have stood the test of time. However, we have also discovered that many present global challenges do not respect the boundaries among them. The pillars are increasingly interlinked, as are the challenges themselves. The most important achievements of the United Nations system in recent years are testimony to that. In that regard, I refer to the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development, the Paris Agreement and the global compact for migration and the global compact on refugees. Issues such as sustainability, climate change and migration are not only about development and human rights, but they are also essential questions of peace and security.
Climate change is the prime example of the need for prompt global action.  The  upcoming  report  of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change will further underscore the urgency of our response. It will also show how much remains to be done. So far, the voluntary contributions from the States parties to the Paris Agreement are not enough to keep the global temperature rise well below 2°C. We must do a lot more, and more quickly.
In the North, we are witnessing how the Arctic region is warming at an alarming pace. That is  not just a regional problem, as it poses a threat to the entire global climate system. One important factor in accelerating the melting of sea ice in the Arctic is black carbon emissions. Reducing black carbon that lands on the white ice would have immediate positive effects  in preventing melting. A commitment to curbing
those emissions would be a key objective of an Arctic summit, which Finland, as the current Chair of the Arctic Council, is ready to host.
Without mitigation, climate change will also lead to a further increase in migration flows. Approximately
65 million people across the world are already displaced, the highest figure since the Second World War. About 100 million people worldwide are in urgent need of basic humanitarian assistance, and that number is growing. There are no quick and easy solutions, but doing nothing is not an option. I therefore welcome  the global compact for migration and look forward to participating in the conference to adopt it in Marrakesh in December.
Full-scale wars, conflicts of varying  intensity  and breaches of international law continue to haunt  us. They constantly remind us of the immense human suffering involved. We, the international community, need to remain persistent in our efforts to solve ongoing conflicts, regardless of how deep-rooted and long- lasting they may be.
On a positive note, we have been encouraged by recent attempts to hold a genuine dialogue between  the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea and the international community. The momentum to take steps towards a peaceful  Korean  peninsula  should be maintained and supported. A successful outcome  in that region could also set a powerful example for non-proliferation and disarmament elsewhere.
Where peace has been achieved, the relevance of United Nations peacekeeping remains beyond doubt. But the Blue Helmets will also need to adapt to changing realities. We support the Secretary-General’s Action for Peacekeeping initiative to make United Nations peacekeeping more effective.
While existing conflicts need to be solved, our priority must be to prevent future ones. Finland welcomes the efforts to strengthen the United Nations conflict-prevention capacity. Mediation is an invaluable tool when it comes to conflict prevention. It is vital for the future of mediation that experience gained in the past be passed on to future mediators. It was an honour for my country to host the meeting of the Secretary- General’s High-level Advisory Board on Mediation in June. We remain strong supporters of the mediation activities of the United Nations and other actors. Where appropriate, Finland also continues to offer its good

offices to facilitate concrete discussions among parties, from track-two diplomacy to high-level meetings.
Peace and security, human rights and development are not sustainable without the  participation  of women and youth. Female voices and young voices must be heard and acted upon. The needs of women, children and youth are still all too often marginalized in peace talks. Finland promotes the role of women’s effective participation in peace processes through the Nordic Women Mediator’s Network. That and other similar networks provide a useful platform for advocacy and self-education. As a HeForShe Impact Champion, I highly value those efforts.
As we celebrate the seventieth anniversary of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, its importance in the international order deserves special attention. Human rights not only protect the individual, but they also help us to prevent conflicts, build sustained peace and speed up development. If we are serious about human rights, then accountability mechanisms for crimes against international law are needed. Perpetrators must be brought to justice. Finland appeals to all Member States and the Secretary-General to consistently keep human rights, non-discrimination and gender equality at the top of the agenda of the United Nations.
It was with profound sadness that I learned of the passing of Mr. Kofi Annan, former Secretary-General of the United Nations. His legacy is an inspiration to us all. Like the Secretary-General earlier today, I would like to conclude by remembering the following words from him:
“More than ever before in human history, we share a common destiny. We can master it only if we face it together. And that, my friends, is why we have the United Nations”.


At the outset, it is my pleasure to congratulate Her Excellency María Fernanda Espinosa Garcés on her election to the presidency of the General Assembly at its seventy-third session. I wish her every success in her tasks. I also wish to congratulate her predecessor, Mr. Miroslav Lajčák, President during the previous session, for his efforts. It would be remiss of me not to commend as well the tireless efforts undertaken by His Excellency Mr. António Guterres, Secretary-General of the United Nations,
The Kingdom of Saudi Arabia is founded on a great legacy of principles and constant elements that underpin its foreign policy, at the top of which is its permanent ambition to achieve peaceful solutions to conflicts, while preventing their escalation by undertaking mediation efforts in order to achieve that noble objective. Perhaps the best illustration of the responsible political role played by my country in the promotion of international peace and security is the peace agreement concluded recently in the city of Jeddah between Ethiopia and Eritrea, under the auspices of the Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques, King Salman Bin Abdulaziz Al-Saud. The agreement brought to an end the longest-lasting conflict on the African continent. Another illustration is the historic meeting held under the auspices of my country between the leaders of Eritrea and Djibouti after they had shunned all contacts with each other for 10 years.
The Palestinian question has been pivotal for my country and the Islamic world. It is our  conviction that the Palestinian people have the right to build an independent Palestinian State within the 1967 borders and with East Jerusalem as its capital, in accordance with international resolutions and the Arab Peace Initiative. We reiterate our call to redouble sincere efforts aimed at ending that conflict, which has lasted longer than any other in the region.
The Houthi terrorist militias of Iran continue to launch ballistic missiles manufactured and supplied by Iran towards Saudi cities — there have been 199 such missiles to date. Their activities seek to destabilize the safety and security of navigation in the Bab Al-Mandab region and the Red Sea. My country reiterates our commitment to the need for a political settlement to the situation in Yemen based on three terms of reference, namely, the Gulf Cooperation Council Initiative, the outcomes of the Yemeni National Dialogue Conference and Security Council resolution 2216 (2015).
We will continue to provide and facilitate all humanitarian efforts to alleviate the disastrous situation facing the brotherly Yemeni people. We also seek to fully support the Yemeni economy, including through the recent deposit of  $2  billion in the Central Bank  of Yemen, which was ordered by His Majesty King Salman Bin Abdulaziz Al-Saud, Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques. The humanitarian support provided by

the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia to Yemen over the past four years amounts to more than $13 billion.
Terrorism and extremism are two of the major challenges faced by the whole world. Our region has not been spared from the scourge of terrorist groups. In that context, we reiterate our call for greater international cooperation to end terrorism in all its forms, cut off its funding sources and punish those who support terrorists or facilitate their activities in any way. The efforts of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia to that end are clear to everyone. My country has established institutions to fight extremism and terrorism, namely, the Global Center for Combating Extremist Ideology, the Islamic Military Counter Terrorism Coalition, made up of more than 40 States, and the International Centre for Counter-Terrorism, to which my country has contributed $110 million.
Iran continues its terrorist activities and aggressive behaviour. The Kingdom of Saudi Arabia expresses  its support for the new United States strategy for dealing with Iran, which includes seriously addressing its nuclear and ballistic-missile programmes and its support for terrorism. Our country believes that, in order to achieve peace and stability in the  Middle East, it is necessary to deter Iran from exercising its expansionist and subversive policies. Iran has formed armed terrorist militias and provided them with ballistic missiles. It has conducted assassinations targeting diplomats and committed acts of aggression against diplomatic missions. In addition, Iran has stirred up sectarian strife and interfered in the affairs of countries in the region.  Such  aggressive behaviour constitutes a glaring violation of all international covenants and treaties, as well as Security Council resolutions. That is why Iran is under international sanctions.
As part of our resolute and continuous efforts to counter terrorism, my country, along with the United Arab Emirates, the Kingdom of Bahrain and the Arab Republic of Egypt, has broken off all  contacts with the State of Qatar, a State that continues to support terrorism, sponsor extremists and spread hateful rhetoric through its media, while failing to uphold its obligations under the Riyadh Agreement of 2013 and Riyadh Supplementary Agreement of 2014, which is unacceptable. Qatar has persisted in its practices, which has left us with no choice but to boycott it. In the eighth year of the Syrian crisis, the humanitarian situation requires all of us to shoulder our responsibilities. My country, from the very first day of the outbreak of the crisis, has sought to care for the Syrian people to help them realize their ambitions to live in safety on their own soil. In that regard, we reiterate the need to implement Security Council resolution 2254 (2015) and reach a political solution in line with the principles of the Geneva communiqué (A/66/865, annex). The Kingdom of Saudi Arabia has worked to unite the Syrian opposition groups so that they can negotiate with the regime and ensure Syria’s security, stability and unity and prevent foreign intervention or any attempt to partition the country.
The Kingdom of Saudi Arabia supports legitimacy in Libya. We recall the importance of upholding the Skhirat Agreement to resolve the Libyan crisis, and call for maintaining the unity and territorial integrity of Libya. We underscore our support for the United Nations efforts and the Special Representative of the Secretary-General, Mr. Ghassan Salamé.
My country is among the leading donors of humanitarian and development assistance. The Kingdom of Saudi Arabia has contributed 3.7 per cent of the Saudi gross domestic product, thereby surpassing the percentage called for by the United Nations, namely,
0.7 per cent of gross domestic product.
The international order that has existed for centuries is based on the principle of respect for national sovereignty and non-interference in the domestic affairs of other countries. Commitment to international norms and laws is of the utmost importance and is not up for discussion. Sovereignty is a red line that cannot be crossed. My country rejects any intervention in its domestic affairs and any form of dictate by any country.
The Government of my country, with the firm support of His Majesty King Salman Bin Abdulaziz Al-Saud,  Custodian  of  the  Two  Holy   Mosques, and Crown Prince Mohammed Bin Salman Bin Abdulaziz Al-Saud, has placed its people at the core of development. Based on the Kingdom’s Vision 2030, my country has opened doors for its citizens so that they can move towards the future, and has empowered young people and sought to benefit from their creative spirit. In addition, it has been employing modern technologies to serve development and make our country a leading environment for investment.

Women in my country have an active presence at all levels. Empowering women is a governmental goal so that they can have a full opportunity to contribute to development.
The vocation of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia is based on genuine partnership with the world, leading to a prosperous present and a bright future. That would enable the next generations to live in security, stability and peace. We wish our Organization further success in achieving its lofty objectives.


Let me start by paying tribute to the statesmen and giants of history who have walked these halls and without whom our Organization would not be what it is today, a symbol of unity and cooperation for all the nations in the world. As we celebrate the anniversary of this great Organization, let us pause and reflect on the true purpose that lies at the heart of the United Nations. We must renew our commitment not only to the Charter of the United Nations, but to its founding principles, which must always guide us in our deliberations and actions. Those cooperative values are critical to the continued peace and prosperity of all our nations and peoples. We cannot let them come under threat. As a collective, we must continue to embrace multilateralism, which has underpinned the values of our Organization for nearly three quarters of a century.
Seychelles continues to embrace the multilateral system that is the United Nations, and we fully support the evolution and progress that will come out of United Nations reform. Those reforms stress the need for a more coordinated approach among the United Nations country teams in order to successfully deliver the  2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development and related Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). We consider multilateral cooperation to be of the utmost importance, and in that spirit, on 30 August the Government of Seychelles and its United Nations country team signed their first strategic partnership framework for the period from 2019 to 2023, defining the collective support of 18 United Nations agencies. The challenges that we face in the international system remain a vivid reminder of an evolving world to which we must adapt if we are to secure lasting peace and prosperity. Without targeted approaches that touch the lives of our most vulnerable peoples and without fully embracing the promise of the SDGs, we run the risk of leaving some behind.
Strong institutions are essential to a vibrant democracy in which there is transparency and accountability to the people. My mandate as President of Seychelles has in part been highlighted by my desire to ensure that our institutions not only serve the people but grant them the necessary recourse  should  they feel the need. Only by strengthening our institutions and binding ourselves to international law and norms can our peoples truly have accountable Governments. Today I call on the advanced economies to support the

strengthening of institutions in developing nations, not through handouts, but by sharing expertise and best practices for the benefit of all. Only by strengthening institutions can we ensure respect for human rights, the rule of law and independent judiciaries, which in turn will ensure that the future can favour a vibrant democratic order.
Speaking from the standpoint of an islander, I cannot dissociate the concept of lasting peace and prosperity from the perils of climate change. Climate change has become an existential threat not merely to the lives of people in island States but to the world as a whole. As islanders, we live that stark reality every day. We see its effects in our eroding coastlines and unpredictable weather patterns, on our coral reefs and rising sea levels. While I recognize the need for development as a driving force to lift our people out of poverty, we must remain aware of its consequences for our planet and our future. Through our neglect, we risk our children inheriting a planet that is beyond their capacity to repair. Should we not uphold the commitments we have made — from the Paris Climate Change Conference to the Conference of the twenty-third session of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change held in Bonn last year under Fiji’s presidency — we will reach an inescapable crisis.
I believe in the power of our collective efforts to shape a future of which we can all be proud. In that context, I would like to draw the Assembly’s attention to the theme of our seventy-third session, “Making the United Nations relevant to all people: global leadership and shared  responsibility  for  peaceful,  equitable and sustainable societies”. The words “sustainable societies” have particular resonance for small island developing States (SIDS).
For our United Nations to be truly inclusive and keep up with the challenges of an ever-changing world, Seychelles aligns itself firmly with the African Union position calling for the long-overdue and comprehensive reform of the Security Council. That includes the equitable representation of Africa, whose countries make up more than a quarter of the members of the United Nations, after all.
Sustainability has always been and will continue to be at the heart of my country’s development efforts. As a nation, we have shown the world our commitment to that process. Seychelles, alongside its fellow small island developing States, has been actively engaged in
that discourse in order to ensure that our concerns and needs are adequately addressed. Our nation was forged by the ocean. We are acutely aware of the challenges that poses with the threat of climate change. However, the ocean also presents a myriad untapped opportunities. At the beginning of this year, my country, Seychelles, pioneered a blue economy strategic policy framework and road map,  to  multiply  the  economic  potential  of our territorial waters while also  protecting  them for generations to come. For us, the blue economy is the next frontier of development. It is about ocean- based sustainable development focusing on economic diversification, shared prosperity, food security and healthy and productive oceans. It is encouraging to note that other like-minded States are developing that concept, regardless of their geography.
Seychelles is slowly shifting from a dependence on bilateral aid donors to developing innovative sources of financing for our emerging blue economy. We are trying to leverage the wealth of the ocean that surrounds us and engage in exciting new partnerships. Nevertheless, we recognize that will not be enough to meet all our sustainable-development and climate-action obligations under the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development, the Paris Agreement and the SIDS Accelerated Modalities of Action Pathway. That is why Seychelles is one of those small island developing States that continues to advocate for a SIDS-specific resilience index, which would take into account the unique  vulnerabilities and specificities of small island developing States and better reflect the realities that we face. The agenda of small island developing States is inextricably linked to that of humankind.
The United Nations was born of the horrors of a destructive world war. It was charged with upholding the idea that as a collective, we could resolve our differences through dialogue and international diplomacy. Together, we continue to demonstrate the success and unrelenting power of diplomacy and, in the case of smaller States like ours, we have also proved that might is not right. In this unique forum, we have equal representation. Seychelles remains  committed to the ideals of the United Nations and will remain an active voice within this Organization. Today we are being presented with a unique opportunity to transform our world through our collective efforts and to create lasting partnerships. We have a unique opportunity to sculpt a future for our children that they can be proud to

inherit. Let us be on the right side of history and live up to the ideals out of which this Organization was born.


This November the world will commemorate the  centenary  of  the  end  of the First World War. The war caused the fall of empires and opened a window for small nations in Europe, including Lithuania, to achieve their dreams of living independently and freely, enjoying their culture and traditions.
To prevent such a war from ever happening again, multilateral institutions were created to safeguard political independence and territorial integrity. Yet when the world faced its next big crisis, those institutions

failed to act and remained powerless bystanders as humankind plunged into another world war.
Today we would like to think that our multilateral institutions, including the United Nations, are strong enough to take a stand against aggression and a disregard of international rules. But sometimes reality tells a different story. We see a world that is more fractured, with institutions that are crumbling, instead of one that is sheltering us from the use of force and from economic storms. In almost every major crisis of the past decade, from Syria to Ukraine and from Myanmar to Yemen, the Security Council has been unable to play a meaningful role because of the inability of States to rise above their national interests and because of the obstructive use of the veto power.
Organizations created to abolish weapons of mass destruction are toothless against dictators who develop nuclear arms and use chemical weapons on civilians. As the tide begins to turn for the global economy, the World Trade Organization is starting to face paralysis. Rising global tensions  in  trade  could  wipe  away  our achievements in sustainable development and poverty reduction.
We must therefore recognize that our institutions are not perfect. They can be bureaucratic, wasteful and unaccountable. But it was us, the Member States, that created them, and so it is up to us alone to improve and adapt them to new realities. Before we seek to destroy multilateral institutions, commitments or agreements, we must have a clear vision of what we want to build
instead. Otherwise we will end  up  living on  a  pile  of ruins.
We cannot reject globalization, because fighting it will only make us poorer. Over the past 25 years, free trade has given more than 1 billion people an opportunity to escape extreme poverty. However, globalization also has a dark side, which must be confronted by acting against exclusion, inequality and falling labour standards. We cannot let the voices  of  nationalism and division win over dialogue and  cooperation. On all major challenges — terrorism, climate change and female empowerment — there is simply no alternative to working together.
So far we have been too quiet, too passive and too ignorant. We must stop taking the easy way out, blaming institutions for our own political or domestic failures. We must recognize that we, the Member States, have the power and resources to enable the United Nations to stand up for peace, freedom, equality and humankind, because we are the United Nations. Let us take this opportunity and assume responsibility for our future, empowering the United Nations to act.


It is always an honour to take part in this great General Assembly.
Today we live in a world where new challenges are multiplying and old ones never seem to go away. The multilateral system is being challenged. It is a system that we have spent more than 70 years building and that should prevent humankind from ever again experiencing the horrors of war. It is a system that ensures respect for human rights and international law and that promotes social progress, development and better standards of living for everybody.
The case for multilateralism is clear. As Member States, we all have the responsibility to find common solutions to the common threats and challenges we face, while protecting the principles and values of the Charter of the United Nations. That spirit of cooperation and common responsibility must guide our work in the years to come. No nation or State will make gains if it strives only to assert its own interests.
In today’s unpredictable world, I urge us all to unite our efforts to strengthen multilateralism as the only viable way to secure peace and security for future generations. My country, Slovenia, stands firm in defence of that multilateralism, with the United Nations at its core. The Republic of Slovenia’s commitment to the multilateral system remains as strong as ever, based on shared values, the rule of law and human rights.
We should all strive to make the United Nations a stronger and more efficient Organization, reformed in a way that means it can respond and assist in solving the most pressing concerns of our time. Slovenia strongly supports the reform efforts by Secretary-General António Guterres. A lot has been achieved during the past year, but progress needs to continue.
At the end of the day, the success of the United Nations reform largely depends on us, the Member States. It depends on our political will and ability to translate words into action for the benefit of all of us. We hope that will also give fresh impetus to the reform of the Security Council in order to secure a fairer representation of today’s world.
Only a rules-based international order can guarantee the equality of peoples and nations. If we want to create a more stable, peaceful and just future, Member States must adhere to international law. Respect for international law and the rule of law is
a precondition to living in peace and security for all States — the entire international community.
Given that I come from a country adjacent to the Western Balkans region, I would like to stress the importance of international law and the judgments of international courts in relation to the reconciliation process in that region. Recognizing and accepting historical facts, no matter how painful  they  are,  is the basis for stability and progress, both of which are needed in the Western Balkans region.
I also wish to emphasize the necessity of full respect for human rights, which is always pertinent, particularly in today’s world. Without that, there can be no peace, security or development. The United Nations has been instrumental in promoting respect for human rights and fundamental freedoms worldwide, but we must not forget that the primary responsibility for their fulfilment lies, once again, with the State. No State rights, emergencies or political reasons can ever excuse the violations of human rights.
As the current Chair of the Human Rights Council, Slovenia remains a strong supporter of human rights for all. My country considers it important to ensure that the Council contributes to the strengthening of human rights in the world, perhaps now more than ever before. We must all endeavour to ensure the Council’s credibility and better effectiveness.  We  sincerely hope and expect that the United States of America, a traditional promoter and supporter of respect for human rights around the world, will remain committed to the promotion and protection of human rights. Through dialogue, Slovenia will continue to seek results in the process of strengthening the legitimacy, credibility and effectiveness of the Human Rights Council.
War, violent extremism and terrorism always represent an assault on human rights. Those atrocities shock us to the core of our human conscience. Effective law-enforcement measures are indispensable in the fight against terrorism, but terrorism will never be defeated by security measures alone. Our endeavours to counter and prevent terrorism have to be comprehensive, while also targeting the root causes of radicalization.
Impunity represents one of the major obstacles to the prevention of the grave and systematic violations of human rights committed against civilians in armed conflicts. All parties to a conflict, including non-State actors, must comply with international humanitarian law. Ending impunity is essential to enabling a war-

torn society to recover from conflict as well as to preventing future human rights abuses. Slovenia is a strong supporter of the International Criminal Court. We stress the importance of effective cooperation with the International Criminal Court, including by the Security Council, and we invite States that have not yet done so to ratify the Rome Statute.
We must preserve and protect the non-proliferation architecture, basedonthe Treatyonthe Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons (NPT), in order to prevent the proliferation of weapons of mass destruction, including chemical, biological and nuclear weapons. We must implement all binding international treaties concerning weapons of mass destruction, particularly the NPT, whose fiftieth anniversary we are celebrating this year.
Slovenia supports resolving our pressing proliferation issues by diplomatic and peaceful means. To that end, we reiterate our support for the Iran nuclear deal, as long as Iran honours its obligations. We welcome the recent developments relating to the Korean peninsula and hope to see its  complete,  verifiable  and irreversible denuclearization. Slovenia continues to support humanitarian demining, mine-victim assistance and the elimination of unexploded ordnance and remnants of war.
The International Trust Fund Enhancing Human Security (ITF), a humanitarian  and non-profit organization, was established two decades  ago  by  the Slovenian Government, and its many activities around the globe — from Bosnia and Herzegovina to Afghanistan and Colombia — are concrete reflections of that support. We are grateful to the many States that cooperate and support the demining work of the ITF.
Slovenia considers international development cooperation an important element of our overall international endeavours. Through it we support efforts in partner countries to eradicate hunger, protect the environment and contribute to overall sustainable development. Through its efforts in the Western Balkans, the European neighbourhood and sub-Saharan Africa, Slovenia is directly contributing to the achievement of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development.
Slovenia has also taken up the task of implementing the 2030 Agenda at the national level and is trying to contribute to its implementation at the global level with a sense of urgency. The 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development and the Paris Agreement on Climate Change are, in our view, two documents that together
provide a clear path and vision for a more sustainable future for our planet and prosperity  for  its  people. By the way, Slovenia ranks eighth out of at least 150 countries in realizing the United Nations 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development, something I am very proud of.
Today more than ever before, we need a strong multilateral system in which the  emphasis must  be  on acting more collectively, rapidly and effectively. I would like to conclude by assuring the Assembly that Slovenia is committed to supporting the United Nations and determined to work with all partners to deliver tangible and meaningful results that will advance peace, security, development and human rights for all.