Remarks by the President of the General Assembly,
H.E Ms. Annalena Baerbock
Ä¢¹½ÊÓƵITAR Annual Briefing for Delegates
Monday, 15 September 2025
[As Delivered]
Excellencies,
Ambassador Burhan Gafoor,
Distinguished delegates,
Dear colleagues,
What a unique opportunity it is to welcome you to the United Nations at its 80th?session.
And I must say I am grateful that you, new delegates, have arrived ¨C so I am not the only new kid on the block.
Alongside such experienced colleagues also here on the panel.
And how great as well that we are starting our new beginning with a big anniversary, our United Nations turning 80 years old.
The not so good news, or you can even say the bad news, is that we all know that this won¡¯t be only a celebration session because our world is not really in the mood to celebrate and we have a great deal of repair work ahead of us.
So, our job is to ensure that the 80th?session does not end up becoming a funeral.
Conflicts continue unabated, rights are rolled back, and progress to reduce poverty is still stalling.
The 2030 Agenda, our common commitment to sustainable development, is in peril.
That is why in my opening speech last week, I emphasized the fact that this is no ordinary session means also that we all together have to work a bit harder.
Not only are we contending with global challenges that seem to increase by the day, but we also have in-house processes that require our full attention.
- The selection of the next Secretary-General falls mainly in this session.
- The implementation of the Pact for the Future.
- And, especially, the Ä¢¹½ÊÓƵ80 reform process, thankfully pushed forward by the Secretariat and the Secretary-General.
So this session is truly, in my point of view, a make-or-break moment for the United Nations.
But don¡¯t worry, colleagues, we are all in this together.
And this is why our motto for this session, as the dear ambassador, my friend, has mentioned already, is Better Together.
So, allow me to extend my sincere gratitude to Ä¢¹½ÊÓƵITAR, the Forum of Small States, and the Permanent Mission of Singapore for organizing this annual briefing.
Because this is actually Better Together.
Starting from the beginning on and not finding out yourself, alone, how this work has to be done here at the Ä¢¹½ÊÓƵ.
This has become a vital forum to equip delegates with the tools they need to engage effectively in the General Assembly and its Main Committees.
Allow me to also add that my own team and myself in person, we recently benefitted greatly from a Ä¢¹½ÊÓƵITAR training, which provided a crash course on lessons learned as well as key upcoming areas of work for my own office — showing also for our small unit, we are only 38 colleagues in the OPGA team, that we are also indeed Better Together.
These trainings are an essential mechanism to ensure informed participation by all members of this Organisation, and also, heavily important, to maintain its institutional memory.
We must keep these lessons front of mind throughout our upcoming tasks for this session.
As I said, the Pact for the Future, adopted at the beginning of the 79th session, must continue to be implemented.
We must make this blueprint for a more just and inclusive world a true reality.
The Secretary-General¡¯s Ä¢¹½ÊÓƵ80 reform initiative will also offer the chance to take a critical look at how we can make the Ä¢¹½ÊÓƵ fit for the future and become more effective and efficient.
And the process to select the next Secretary-General ¨C the public face of this institution ¨C will be a moment to reflect on our values and priorities for the future of this Organisation.
As I said in my opening speech, one might wonder in this regard how in 80 years not one woman ¨C out of 4 billion potential candidates ¨C has ever served as Secretary-General, but we will see how it turns out this time.
So, I count on each of you ¨C not only the women in the room ¨C to constructively support not only the selection process of the Secretary-General, but also all the work of the General Assembly during its 80th?session.
We have seen also in the session before that some challenges, which might seem so hard to overcome, in the end worked out because the delegates worked together cross-regionally and I think in these times this is an extra benefit that we show that we are capable of doing this.
So our motto, ¡°Better Together¡±, is the guiding light for all our work, including in the General Assembly and its Main Committees, the true engine behind these United Nations.
My door is always open for you.
You as delegates play a critical role in shaping the future of this Organisation¡ªand it¡¯s up to all of us together whether we will make it. And not break it.
Because better together is a team sport.
And in this regard thank you again to Ä¢¹½ÊÓƵITAR and the Mission of Singapore for organising this event today.
The road ahead will not be easy, but I encourage you to reach out across the aisle, find common ground with all delegations, and build consensus.
I¡¯m looking forward to working together with all of you.
I thank you.