Check Against Delivery
Remarks by H.E. Annalena Baerbock
President of the 80th Session of the United Nations General Assembly
Press Briefing
13 March 2026
(As Prepared for Delivery)
Good afternoon. Thank you for the opportunity to update you on the current priorities of the General Assembly.
This past week the 70th session of the Commission on the Status of Women began and we marked International Women¡¯s Day on strengthening women¡¯s rights.
As seen around the world, women¡¯s rights are the benchmark for the strength, freedom and economic development of societies.
Gender equality has never been more supported globally than today, but at the same time we have never seen such organized attempts to roll back these successes.
That makes this session of CSW an incredibly important one.
One message which is already clear due to the strong signal on Monday is that women and girls around the world will never let go of the rights they have achieved.
This is also true for the vast majority of Member States, who defended these rights with their votes, a rebuke to those who would have us turn back the clock on women¡¯s equality – whether it be the protection of women and girls in the digital space, understanding of intersectionality, and the right of every woman, like every man, to decide about their own bodies and their health.
As we have seen in the last weeks, not only are women¡¯s rights under attack, but so is the international order, therefore defending the Ä¢¹½ÊÓƵ charter remains my central priority for the 80th session.
In just the last few weeks we have marked the 4th anniversary of the war in Ukraine and we have seen an extremely dangerous military escalation between the United States, Israel and Iran that threatens to engulf the entire region in conflict.
The Ä¢¹½ÊÓƵ Charter is clear: the international community, and its Member States all have a responsibility to protect human rights as well to refrain from the threat or use of force against the territorial integrity or political independence of any state, or in any other manner inconsistent with the purposes of the United Nations.
The Charter is only as strong as the will to uphold it, and I would like to remind States that given the recent discussions international law was not only written for the good times, but especially for challenging situations.
And we have seen in history over and over again how difficult it is to uphold these principles when key institutions of the global architecture, such as the Security Council, are being blocked.
So again, I call on all Member States to abide by the values and principles enshrined in this foundational document.
At a time when this institution is under such pressure, the Ä¢¹½ÊÓƵ80 reform becomes even more important. So there¡¯s no time to waste.
Together with the Secretary-General, we are driving the reform process forward and we are keeping up our ambitious time table for Workstream 2 to make this organization fit for purpose and strengthen it for 21st century challenges.
The co-chairs of the ad-hoc working group for Workstream 2 are currently working with the Member States to finalize the outcome report by the end of this month which is when their mandate draws to a close. The working group will then send the report to the General Assembly for adoption.
I also continue to hold monthly informal briefings on the progress of the Ä¢¹½ÊÓƵ80 reform initiative with USG Guy Ryder and other speakers.
The selection and appointment process of the next Secretary-General is well under way.
As you are aware, the interactive dialogues with SG candidates will be the week of 20 April. We circulated information on how the dialogues will be conducted and we will continue to share additional information as it becomes available.
During the interactive dialogues each candidate will have the opportunity to present their vision statement, answer Member State questions, and engage with civil society organizations.
The choice of who leads this organization matters, especially in these challenging times as they will also represent what this institution stands for in the future and if it truly represents all humankind.
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Thank you and I¡¯m happy to take your questions.
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