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2 December 2022<\/strong><\/b><\/p>\n \u00a0<\/b><\/p>\n Thank you much, dear USG Fleming. Good morning, dear friends in Turtle Bay. Good afternoon in Europe and Africa. Good evening in Asia. And good late evening in Australia. I\u2019m very grateful for you for being here, for being with us.<\/p>\n \n \u201cGovernments do not have a monopoly on good ideas.\u201d<\/p>\n \n It is a short quote from a message sent to the Heads of State and Government during the High-Level Week. I had the pleasure to address them at the opening of the general debate of High-Level Week. And it has never been more true than now, when we are facing the most complex, interlinked multi-layered crises in the last 40 years.<\/p>\n \n Without going too much into details how those crises came together, you went through COVID. You went through the pandemic. You went through the economic downturn. You are experiencing the impact of the sovereign debt crisis. You are experiencing the impacts of the food insecurity, energy crises. And you are experiencing the impact of the climate crisis and loss of biodiversity.<\/p>\n \n In the face of these very complex challenges, should we suggest: raise up our hands that \u201cI give up\u201d? Or now, recommend to ourselves that no, there are solutions.\u00a0 There will be solutions. There\u00a0must<\/u><\/i>\u00a0be solutions. And the solutions must come from all of us. These are shared ideas. Shared ways, shared objectives.<\/p>\n \n We created the Goals jointly together, with you. It was in 2013, 2014, 2015, when we created the SDGs. It was in 2015, when jointly with you, we created the Paris Agreement on climate change. It was jointly with you when we created the Addis Ababa Protocol on how to finance sustainability transformation. And it is going to be jointly with you, I hope, later this month in Montreal, when we\u00a0re<\/b>create the goals how to address the loss of biodiversity on this globe.<\/p>\n \n Without you, the ideas would not have come together. And without you, those ideas would\u00a0never<\/u><\/i>\u00a0come to implementation. It is not a task of a couple of hundred of politicians or diplomats. But it is a task of 8 billion people. We are talking about a transformation that is going to determine the fate and future of the current and coming generations. I see many of you could be even my grandchildren \u2013 grandsons and granddaughters. But\u00a0your<\/u><\/i>\u00a0grandsons and granddaughters will feel the consequences of the decisions we are taking together, with you.<\/p>\n \n So, I would like to invite you, once again, to the table.<\/p>\n \n We are about to launch 15 negotiating processes in the General Assembly \u2013 13 out of them are directly or indirectly addressing the issue of transformation: What kind of world are we going to have here? What kind of Organization are we going to have here in Turtle Bay? And what kind of institutional architecture across the world do we need in order to serve us in the journey of transformation?<\/p>\n \n So, my plea to you when we think about transformation: Be bold. Be forward looking. Be imaginative. Be provocative. But also, be pragmatic. Be impact oriented. Focus on the exact moment, exact issue and the exact crisis you would like to address. But always keep in mind the big picture because our proposals, our steps, our days will land in a landscape that involves everything.<\/p>\n \n Each and every step of ours has implications on many, many other fields. We measure it or not. We like it or not. So, it\u2019s very important that our policies, our plans, our projects always have direct impacts \u2013 and side impacts, externalities. So, what will be important for you \u2013 and for your children \u2013 is the overall balance of the desired impact and the side impacts, to make sure that we move forward and not backwards.<\/p>\n \n This year, as USG Fleming mentioned, our major task within the broader context on transformation \u2013 and keeping our eyes way beyond 2030 \u2013 this year, the major task is to make sure that the implementation of the SDGs can be brought back to track. Because we are not there. On many instances, the implementation of the shared Goals \u2013 what we adopted together with you, crafted and adopted together with you \u2013 on many of those Goals, we are further away from our objectives today than we were in 2015.<\/p>\n \n It might deserve a good thinking why is it so: Is it COVID? Is it something missing from our methodology? Is it something we are missing from our commitments? Something is missing from our cooperation? Something is missing from our thinking?<\/p>\n \n Or maybe something is missing from our shared responsibilities.<\/p>\n \n We used to talk about our rights. I\u2019m very glad. It is in the foundation of our existence, it is in the foundation of our Organization, here. We talk\u00a0less<\/u><\/i>\u00a0about our responsibilities.\u00a0We talk less about how we share these responsibilities: My\u00a0own<\/u><\/i>\u00a0responsibility as a person, my\u00a0own<\/u><\/i>\u00a0responsibility as a member of a community. My\u00a0own<\/u><\/i>\u00a0responsibility as a representative of a country. So, I would like to invite you to think bold. To keep your eyes on transformation. Speak about solutions. Be very pragmatic and be very provocative.<\/p>\n \n Welcome onboard.<\/p>\n [\/et_pb_text][\/et_pb_column][\/et_pb_row][\/et_pb_section]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" 2 December 2022 \u00a0 Thank you much, dear USG Fleming. Good morning, dear friends in Turtle Bay. Good afternoon in Europe and Africa. Good evening in Asia. And good late […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":361,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_et_pb_use_builder":"on","_et_pb_old_content":" 10 November 2022<\/strong><\/b><\/p>\r\n Excellencies, Ladies and Gentlemen,<\/p>\r\n Afghanistan is in crisis. It is in many crises.<\/p>\r\n It has been 15 months since the Taliban consolidated control over the country.<\/span><\/p>\r\n Its economy is in ruins. The humanitarian situation is disastrous.<\/span><\/p>\r\n \u00a0<\/span>Two-thirds of the population is hungry.\u00a0<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\r\n \u00a0<\/span>Girls and women are banned from learning, having a job or getting proper medical care.\u00a0<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\r\n The country is awash with heroin and opium.<\/span><\/p>\r\n Organized crime and terrorist organizations are thriving once again.<\/span><\/p>\r\n Afghanistan is facing complex and interlinked challenges that the Taliban have shown they cannot \u2013 or would not \u2013 solve.<\/u><\/span><\/p>\r\n It is time to support the Afghan people with concrete solutions that place their needs front and center.<\/p>\r\n It is true that some problems will require some time to resolve.<\/p>\r\n But there are actions the Assembly can take to change the paradigm now.<\/p>\r\n I would like you to consider one solution through solidarity.<\/p>\r\n The Ä¢¹½ÊÓƵ humanitarian appeal for Afghanistan \u2013 which requires $4.4 billion US dollars \u2013 is only half funded.<\/p>\r\n With winter weather just weeks away, I encourage Member States to provide urgent support to help reduce the $2.3 billion dollar shortfall.<\/p>\r\n Let\u2019s remind ourselves of the old saying from Afghanistan: \u201cA real friend is one who takes the hand of his friend in times of distress and helplessness.\u201d<\/p>\r\n Excellencies,<\/p>\r\n Afghanistan has a rich history of scientific achievement.<\/p>\r\n I encourage the country\u2019s reengagement with the international science community.<\/p>\r\n And\u00a0to allow women who used to be respected members of the country\u2019s science community to resume their research and their studies.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\r\n \u00a0<\/span>Afghanistan is now the only state in the world that would deny girls their full right to education.<\/p>\r\n The prospect of girls\u2019 education has been left to uncertainty amid seemingly random edicts from the Taliban.<\/p>\r\n This time last year, Fawzia Koofi, the first woman Deputy Speaker of the Afghan Parliament, recalled her dream of one day addressing the Ä¢¹½ÊÓƵ as the President of Afghanistan.<\/p>\r\n She said:\u00a0\u201cWith me, millions of girls and women in Afghanistan had this dream that now they think will never come true.\u201d<\/p>\r\n Dreams of becoming President have been replaced by the reality of child marriage. Arrests if women and girls leave their home without a male chaperone.<\/p>\r\n I reiterate my call for the protection of fundamental rights and freedoms of all Afghans, especially women and girls.<\/p>\r\n Similarly, I urge the Taliban to ensure the safety of all Afghans, regardless of gender, ethnic background, religious belief or political affiliation.<\/p>\r\n To protect journalists and civil society members.<\/p>\r\n To allow unhindered humanitarian aid, and to cooperate with humanitarian workers.<\/p>\r\n We expect the Taliban to make good on the commitments they made to the international community.\u00a0To show honesty through\u00a0concrete action.<\/p>\r\n Excellencies,<\/p>\r\n The dramatic changes of 2021 have taken a massive toll on Afghanistan\u2019s economy and profoundly widened many security risks.<\/p>\r\n