Ä¢¹½ÊÓƵ

– As delivered –

Statement by H.E. Mrs. Mar¨ªa Fernanda Espinosa Garc¨¦s, President of the 73^rd Session of the Ä¢¹½ÊÓƵ General Assembly

22 February 2019

Excellencies,

Jayathma Wickramanayake, Ä¢¹½ÊÓƵ Secretary General¡¯s Envoy on Youth,

Chris Whatley, Ä¢¹½ÊÓƵA-USA Executive Director,

RJ Thompson, Vice-Chair, Ä¢¹½ÊÓƵA-USA National Council,

Elisabeth Philippe, Ä¢¹½ÊÓƵFCU Senior Manager of Community and Media Relations,

Marco Sanchez, Youth Engagement and Advocacy Coordinator, Ä¢¹½ÊÓƵA-USA,

Honorable Teta Banks, Chair, Ä¢¹½ÊÓƵA-USA National Council Chair,

Youth Representatives,

Ladies and Gentlemen,

It is indeed a great pleasure to be here with you today to deliver the closing remarks at this Global Engagement Summit. I extend my sincere gratitude to the United Nations Association of the United States and to the Ä¢¹½ÊÓƵ Foundation for invitation.

Dear Friends,

Allow me to say this clearly and upfront: it is deeply reassuring to see such strong engagement from grassroots organizations and interest from young people in the work of the United Nations.

The theme of the 73^rd session of the General Assembly, under my presidency, is ¡®Making the Ä¢¹½ÊÓƵ relevant to all: Global leadership and shared responsibilities for peaceful, equitable and sustainable societies¡¯.? Our aim is to demonstrate, unequivocally, that the work of the General Assembly and the other bodies of this 70+ year-old institution is shaping the lives of people across the globe.

Your presence here today is a reminder and a confirmation that people do in fact care about the Ä¢¹½ÊÓƵ and support multilateralism in all its forms. I thank you.

First, on the point of multilateralism, let me be very frank: the international norms, rules-based-system and institutions that have carried us through seven decades of challenges is facing headwinds. Traditional relationships are splintering, support for international law and processes is wavering, and otherwise stalwart allies are opting to go-it-alone, pursuing isolationism at home and individual-interventionalism abroad.

Ladies and gentlemen, this is simply not sustainable, nor is it reflective of the values and lessons that we have learned ¨C sometimes painstakingly ¨C over the years.

Now more than ever we must remember that the United Nations was founded out of the ashes of a fractured world. The devastating loss of millions of lives and infrastructure brings into focus the realization that only together can we face the challenges around us and avoid our own self-destruction.

What was true then remains true today: Multilateralism is the only tool for countries to maintain sovereignty while contributing to joint global initiatives. No one country can tackle the problems of the world, nor should any country presume to have what it takes to tackle problems that affect billions the world over. Only together we can meaningfully and sustainably bring about change.

There is ample evidence that when the Ä¢¹½ÊÓƵ works together with all its partners, a significant difference is made in the lives of people. We have seen this in joint peacekeeping operations and the political will in ending crises; in the response to the Ebola outbreak in West Africa only a few short years ago; and in response to natural disasters in Nepal, Philippines, and in the Caribbean these past few years.

Our collective actions have delivered to the people of the world.

This brings me to my second point: the importance of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development in cementing the importance of multilateralism.

The 2030 Agenda, adopted in 2015, represents the most ambitious yet achievable development agenda the world has embarked upon and covers every aspect of life: people, planet, prosperity, peace and partnership.

Through one of the broadest outreach campaigns ever undertaken, it is estimated that over a million people contributed to dialogues about ¡®what is important to them¡¯. These efforts have made the 17 SDGs exhaustive in both their composition and their determination. This is incredible and precisely the kind of work that the United Nations stands for.

I think it is fair to say that the adoption of the 2030 Agenda heralded a new era of multilateralism that is reshaping the world as we know it.

But of course, words and statements, agendas and resolutions, are simply not enough; we need action to demonstrate to the people of the world that the Ä¢¹½ÊÓƵ is acting on their behalf, that we are not a ¡®talk shop¡¯ but a place of dialogue and debate, a place of consensus building and joint delivery.

We have only eleven more years to go. We must expedite and ramp up our efforts to deliver on the SDGs. Member States, together with Ä¢¹½ÊÓƵ agencies, civil society and the private sector, must work hand-in-hand to improve access to energy; to better education systems; and to ease access to healthcare ¨C these are the things people care about.

There is a proverb which says, ¡°where there is no vision, the people perish¡±. The SDGs are the vision and the roadmap for the Future We Want.

Dear friends,

You have a role to play. Your very presence here today demonstrates your support for the Ä¢¹½ÊÓƵ, for multilateralism, and for the SDGs. As champions of multilateralism, you must be advocates for the work of the Ä¢¹½ÊÓƵ and you must work to increase awareness amongst people and communities of our collective global aspirations.

There is so much work to do. As it stands, achieving SDG1 and eradicating poverty requires elevating 110 million people per year currently living on less than $1.90 per day. This will require massive job creation, improved social protection, innovation and investments across the board. We cannot afford to rest.

In September 2019, we will mark the end of the first cycle of implementation of the 2030 Agenda by convening the first High Level Political Forum under the auspices of the General Assembly. I hope you will join us in sending a strong message on the urgency to accelerate implementation of the SDGs and to advance the principle of leaving no one behind.

Before I conclude, allow me to highlight a few of the activities to be undertaken during the remainder of my term in office and their contribution to the issues highlighted earlier.

I¡¯m pleased to note that on gender equality, I will host a High-Level event on Women in Power on 12 March dedicated to the promotion of women¡¯s leadership in all spheres of life. The High-Level event will bring together Heads of State and Government and other leaders, including youth.

This event will particularly aim to foster an environment of mentoring and dialogue between present and future leaders.

I have also established a Group of Gender Equality Leaders to raise awareness of the challenges women and girls continue to face around the world, and to help identify best practices to address them. The Group includes 10 prominent leaders with diverse background in politics, economics, media, philanthropy and fashion. The first meeting of the Group held on January 29 was highly constructive and provided solid recommendations.? I will continue to work closely with them during my tenure.

On the environment, which of course touches on several SDGs and arguably cuts across all of them, I am pleased to mention that I will host a High-Level Meeting, on 28 March, which will focus on the topic of ¡®Climate Change and Sustainable Development for all.¡¯

The meeting will build on the momentum of COP24 and pave the way for the Climate Action Summit in September. A key objective of the event is to apply an intergenerational lens and emphasize the impact of climate change on our youth. Given the timing, the event will also highlight the linkages between climate action and achievement of the SDGs.

Also, on the environmental front, you will be pleased to know that together with the Governments of Antigua and Barbuda, and Norway, we have launched a large-scale campaign against plastic pollution. Working hand-in-hand with partners such as Ä¢¹½ÊÓƵ Environment, we will be highlighting initiatives that are helping to address this ever-growing threat of plastic waste to our world¡¯s oceans and ecosystems.

A key element of the campaign will be a large festival in Antigua and Barbuda on the 27^th of April. The campaign will be marked by musical performances, celebrity guests, and remarks from activists from all walks of life. I hope you will follow the campaign on social media and join us in Antigua, either in person or through the live-stream.?

Finally, given that there are so many young people here today, I would like to highlight the initiatives in support of decent work, another one of our priorities this year.

We need to create 600 million jobs by 2030 to reach SDG target 8.5. Decent work and quality education must be considered a priority for all Member States. This is particularly important in light of rapid technological advances that demand new skills and that risk marginalizing workers who lose their jobs to automation and the digital economy.

By some estimates, automation will take over 74 million jobs in the next 5 years, while creating 134 million jobs. Adequate policies need to be in place to make sure that people are equipped with the skills and life-long learning necessary to be agile in the face of employment changes. Adequate policies and cooperation are also necessary to bridge both digital and employment divides between and within countries.

With all of this in mind, on 10 April the General Assembly will hold a one-day meeting to commemorate the International Labor Organization¡¯s centenary. In doing so, we will focus on the theme of: ¡°The Future of Work¡±. Our hope is that this discussion will distill these issues and help to inform the review of SDG 8 in the High-Level Political Forum on Sustainable Development to be held in July. It will also come up with concrete policy recommendations for States.

Those recommendations will reflect the key inputs of young people who will engage with me the day before ¨C on the 9^th of April – in the ECOSOC Youth Forum on issues related to youth participation in economic, civic and political life, including decent work for youth and sustaining peace.

?

Excellencies,?

Dear Friends,?

The other priorities for my presidency of equal relevance to your constituents are migration, supporting persons with disabilities, Ä¢¹½ÊÓƵ reform, and youth, peace and security. I invite you to follow closely our work in these areas. It will also come up with concrete policy recommendations for States.

My hope is that the work we undertake during the 73^rd session of the General Assembly will help to demonstrate three things to people everywhere: one, that multilateralism is the only way forward and we are stronger together; two, that the Ä¢¹½ÊÓƵ is emblematic of this very concept and that the General Assembly is the world¡¯s most deliberative and democratic forum to deliver on our joint aspirations; and three, that the work of the Ä¢¹½ÊÓƵ is focused on one thing: improving the lives of the people of the world.

For me, personally, I always use this acronym DARE it means that; we must deliver, we must be accountable, we must be relevant, and we must be efficient.

I thank you for helping us to make the Ä¢¹½ÊÓƵ better, stronger and more visible.

Thank you.