![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.un.org\/pga\/77\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/105\/2023\/08\/Mmoloki-IMG_0007-300x300.jpeg\")
Excellency, Mr. Csaba Korosi President of the General Assembly<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\nAmbassador Marco Suazo, Head of Ä¢¹½ÊÓƵITAR New York Office<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n Excellency Ambassador Dennis Francis- <\/span>Permanent Representative of Trinidad and Tobago and President-elect of the 78th session of the United Nations General Assembly<\/span><\/i>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n Excellency Ambassador Collen Kelapile, Former Permanent Representative of the Republic of Botswana to the Ä¢¹½ÊÓƵ, CDC elect of the <\/span>OPGA<\/span><\/i>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n Distinguished Permanent Representatives here present\u00a0<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n PGA Fellows, Team Ä¢¹½ÊÓƵITAR, team OPGA,<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n Ladies and gentlemen, salutations unto thee,<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n \u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n It is indeed an honor, privilege, and manifestation of a childhood dream to be here today in the United Nations receiving this prize.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n \u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n Ladies and gentlemen<\/span><\/b>, from the outset allow me to indicate that we are here not only to celebrate our 7 months of training in the OPGA but here to celebrate the start of new possibilities for meaningful youth engagement in multilateral diplomacy.\u00a0<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n \u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n At a point where the world is faced by multiple cascading challenges it is only fitting for us to expand our investments on remedial action with youth at the center.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n \u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n Mr. President<\/span><\/b>, I would like to take this moment to commend your commitment and visionary leadership of seeing great value in youth engagement hence continuing and integrating this fellowship program into commitments for this GA session. Still on the issue of visionary leadership I would like to thank H.E Abdul Shahid, president of the 76<\/span>th<\/span> session of the General Assembly who made this program possible.\u00a0<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n \u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n Mr President<\/span><\/b>, you offered me and all the fellows a chance to be part of your key engagements affording us unprecedented opportunity of learning and growth as diplomats. The OPGA offered the best vantage point of understanding the work of the Ä¢¹½ÊÓƵ, the diverse interests of the MS and the possibilities within multilateralism.\u00a0<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n \u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n Coming to the OPGA I did not know what to expect but not long into the program, the level of professionalism, outstanding work ethic, cultural diversity and mentorship made realize the full magnitude of this fellowship.\u00a0<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n \u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n On that basis I would also like to thank all the teams I served under as well as my mentor Mr. Shane Dowling and the fellows for all support and guidance offered throughout the programme.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n \u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n Thank you<\/span><\/b> Ambassador Marco Suazo and team Ä¢¹½ÊÓƵITAR for all the support you extended to us right from the day you notified us of our selection for this program up to this day of our graduation. The lectures you facilitated offered us an ideal gateway into this program. My welfare here and I believe for the rest of the fellows was in good hands.\u00a0<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n \u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n \u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n Ladies and gentlemen<\/span><\/b>, I want to take this moment to recognize and acknowledge the support from my government particularly the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and our mission in New York who have continuously nurtured my growth in diplomacy. I want to recognize the presence of Ambassador Collen Kelapile who have played a critical role in my professional development as young diplomat especially during his tenure as ECOSOC President.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n \u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n It is worth noting that during the week of the Ä¢¹½ÊÓƵ Water Conference in March, I had the honor of meeting H.E Mokgweetsi E.K Masisi the President of the Republic of Botswana who was with the Honorable Minister of Foreign Affair Dr. Lemogang Kwape.\u00a0<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n He reminded me that youth empowerment is not only about what we can be given as youth but what we can do with what we are given to bring about meaningful change and progress. Further he highlighted the importance of multilateralism and the significance of the Ä¢¹½ÊÓƵ in a rapidly evolving world.\u00a0<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n \u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n I want to extend special thanks to the donors of this programme and I can confirm that this fellowship and other investments on youth capacity building are essentially sowing a seed of prosperity that shall blossom into a network of empowered young leaders with capacity to change world order.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n \u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n \u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n Thank you<\/span><\/b>, excellency Ambassador Dennis Francis, for having committed to carry on this fellowship. I was pleased to learn that one of your priorities is education. It is evident that without education we stand not only to face leadership deficit in the long run but also a future devoid of innovative solutions to global challenges.\u00a0<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n \u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n In conclusion<\/span><\/b>, <\/span>my fellow fellows and youth across the globe, it our time to coordinate our efforts to augment what is already in place. It is incumbent upon us to redefine youth engagement and take initiative to contribute towards accelerating the implementation of the 2030 Agenda. As famously stated by the 35<\/span>th<\/span> President of the United States of America, <\/span>John F. Kennedy in his Inaugural Address of January 20, 1961<\/span>, \u201cask not what your country can do for you, ask what you can do for your country.\u201d It is the right time for us to ask that question.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n \u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n Congratulations colleagues.<\/span><\/b>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n \u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n Thank you all.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n \u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n \u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n \u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n \u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n \u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n \u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n \u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n [\/et_pb_text][\/et_pb_column][\/et_pb_row][\/et_pb_section]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Excellency, Mr. Csaba Korosi President of the General Assembly\u00a0 Ambassador Marco Suazo, Head of Ä¢¹½ÊÓƵITAR New York Office\u00a0 Excellency Ambassador Dennis Francis- Permanent Representative of Trinidad and Tobago and President-elect […]<\/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":"![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.un.org\/pga\/77\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/105\/2023\/02\/2-242x300.jpg\")
<\/div>\r\nFrom the outset I would like to note that the magnitude of this programme to myself, my country Botswana, and the global community has a significant bearing on my overall experience thus far. As a young diplomat with keen interest in multilateral diplomacy, being nominated to learn and serve under one of the principal organs of the United Nations has been a dream come true. As a patriot, it avails an opportunity of being an extension of my country\u2019s policy of an inclusive and overarching contribution to multilateralism and global solidarity particularly with respect to realizing the tenets of the 2030 Agenda. Furthermore, as a proponent of meaningful youth engagement in policy formulation, it brings me great delight to be part of one of the Ä¢¹½ÊÓƵ\u2019s transformative reform initiatives of empowering the youth to be active and informed actors of the Ä¢¹½ÊÓƵ mandate.\r\n\r\nOn that background, I can confidently confirm that the programme has been to an exceptional start. The President of the General Assembly has personally welcomed us and outlined his vision on Youth Engagement as well as his priorities for this session of the General Assembly. Ä¢¹½ÊÓƵ Institute for Training and Research (Ä¢¹½ÊÓƵITAR) meticulously crafted a two weeks training programme that brought myself and the rest of the fellows up to speed with work of the OPGA as well as the rest of the Ä¢¹½ÊÓƵ system. I further laud the Office of the President of the General Assembly (OPGA) for their mentorship initiative that has expeditiously allowed me to adapt and settle in well.\r\n\r\nI have been assigned to the Legal, Budget and Reform team in the OPGA for the first phase of rotation across all other units. As it stands, with all the tasks\/assignments from my unit there is a clear indication that I will return to capital a well-rounded diplomat. Daily interactions with fellow colleagues of the fellowship coupled with the element of cultural diversity in the OPGA provides a platform of cultural exchange which is also a vital component of diplomacy.\r\n\r\n<\/div>\r\n<\/div>\r\n<\/div>","_et_gb_content_width":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[551],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-255435","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-mmolokis-blog","et-doesnt-have-format-content","et_post_format-et-post-format-standard"],"yoast_head":"\n