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Remarks by H.E. Annalena Baerbock<\/strong><\/p>\n President of the 80th<\/sup> Session of the United Nations General Assembly <\/strong><\/p>\n at the closing of the 80th session of the United Nations General Assembly.<\/strong><\/p>\n Tuesday, 8 September 2026<\/strong><\/p>\n [As Delivered]<\/strong><\/p>\n <\/p>\n Excellencies,<\/strong><\/p>\n Mr. President-elect of the 81st Session of the General Assembly,<\/strong><\/p>\n Mr. Secretary-General,<\/strong><\/p>\n Distinguished Delegates,\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 <\/strong><\/p>\n Ladies and Gentlemen,<\/strong><\/p>\n \u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n Today, I stand before you for the last time as President of the General Assembly of this 80th<\/sup> session.<\/p>\n And I leave this office with mixed emotions.<\/p>\n Moved\u2026 by the determination of so many inspiring colleagues.<\/p>\n Proud\u2026 of the work that we accomplished.<\/p>\n And convinced\u2026 more than ever, of the importance and necessity of our United Nations.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n And to those out there who argue that the Ä¢¹½ÊÓƵ is irrelevant or failing – especially in these new geopolitical realities, I would simply say: consider, for just one minute, the alternative\u2026 a world without the Ä¢¹½ÊÓƵ\u2026<\/p>\n <\/p>\n Make no mistake, in spite of its shortcomings, not a single day, not a single country, would be better off without the United Nations.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n Our challenge though, is that in a world where hate gets six times more clicks, these positive examples can easily go unnoticed.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n The war that did not happen thanks to Ä¢¹½ÊÓƵ peacebuilding does not make headlines.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n The famine avoided because of the World Food Programme will never make the news.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n And, for sure there are some out there who are currently trying everything they can to weaponize these not-told good stories… \u00a0to question whole peacekeeping, or the work of Ä¢¹½ÊÓƵ agencies themselves.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n Others tried to take advantage of these geopolitically fragmented times to try and block the whole 80th<\/sup> session… to grind our work to a halt.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n And dear Excellencies, dear friends and colleagues, thank you that we took \u00a0a clear decision together – at the beginning of this 80th<\/sup> session – when standing at the crossroads – to not <\/u>allow these cynics, the lack of consensus, and the rise of a world in which \u2018might makes right\u2019, to paralyze this, our organization\u2026<\/p>\n <\/p>\n But instead to redefine our daily work\u2026 to leave the comfort zone of business as usual\u2026 defining new forms of leadership, a renewed commitment to the Ä¢¹½ÊÓƵ Charter, and a true willingness to confront long overdue questions of Ä¢¹½ÊÓƵ reform as a key priority of this session.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n First and foremost, this meant addressing the elephant in the room, the issue of consensus\u2026 and whether we would allow the de-facto introduction of a veto into the General Assembly.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n The vast majority of Member States, you, gave a clear answer, after some hard but healthy lessons in late Fall, to not allow compromise to become compromising.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n Through our many processes and Better-Together dialogues we underlined that seeking consensus should always remain our ambition… but at the same time, the Assembly left no doubt that this should never come at the expense of progress, nor of sacrificing the Ä¢¹½ÊÓƵ\u2019s values and principles.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n Indeed, in the 80th<\/sup> session, only few intergovernmental processes ended by consensus \u2013 but this did not mean that the GA was as polarized or fragmented as many had predicted.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n Quite the opposite: Many votes – with less than a handful or even only one against – underline that the power-games of our times and the direct attacks on this dear institution have in many ways brought the vast majority of this General Assembly closer together throughout the 80th<\/sup> session… making the GA more united and even stronger than before.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n Over the course of the last year, we convened 18 high-level meetings, 26 mandated intergovernmental processes, held 116 formal plenary meetings and adopted 317 resolutions.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n And we opened a whole new chapter for the Ä¢¹½ÊÓƵ in defining the global topic of our time: the governance of Artificial Intelligence.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n That did not happen by coincidence.<\/p>\n It required initiative, ownership, and leadership.<\/p>\n Your leadership \u2013 especially of those who spearheaded draft resolutions and carried forward the daily work of this organization.<\/p>\n As Chairs of Committees.<\/p>\n As Co-Facilitators. And I would also like to seize this opportunity to thank my great OPGA-team, which included many of your seconded diplomats and our PGA Fellows, as well as all those behind the scenes, from DGACM, translators, security, and cleaning personnel, and elevator operators, amongst so many more.<\/p>\n It took all of us, every single one in this house, leaning into the spirit of Better Together, to make the successes of the 80th<\/sup> session possible, besides what\u2019s happening around the world.<\/p>\n \u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n But, as the Secretary-General also underlined, this 80th<\/sup> session also made clear that without deep reform, this Organization will not last.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n In this regard, I wish to commend the Secretary-General for having the courage to put forward concrete proposals through the Ä¢¹½ÊÓƵ80 Initiative, already in the 79th<\/sup> session together with my predecessor Philemon Yang.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n Thank you for a powerful and especially trustful partnership, Mr. Secretary General. It has been a pleasure to work with you and your whole team across all three reform workstreams and to uphold the Ä¢¹½ÊÓƵ principles. Over your 10-years, you have defended this house of diplomacy and its Charter every single day with your steadfast personal commitment.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n And I know some wondered why, instead of having our own new priority events, we, as OPGA, made Ä¢¹½ÊÓƵ80 our first and especially our joint project and priority.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n The answer is simple, even if frankly speaking, painful: if we are not capable of freeing this Organization from overlapping structures and mandates, as well as a heavy bureaucratic-mentality, it will erode over time.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n Therefore, whether it was implementing limits on speaking times,<\/p>\n We did it together.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n Taken individually, these measures can sound technical: budgets, mandates, dashboards, structures, and configurations.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n But as a whole, they underscore a willingness to let go of what no longer serves us, and to make the difficult changes necessary to better serve the people who depend upon us.<\/p>\n \u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n But while the way we work must evolve, the principles that guide us must not\u2026 even more, reform is all about protecting the principles through better, more effective delivery.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n Especially at a time like this, when this Organization, and the very idea of multilateralism it represents, has come under direct attack.<\/p>\n \u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n As the United Nations and its Charter can only be as strong as those willing to stand up for it.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n Which brings me to our second priority of this 80th<\/sup> session: defending the Charter.<\/strong><\/p>\n <\/p>\n As we have seen throughout the session, not only in Ukraine or Gaza, but in Sudan, Myanmar and elsewhere, wherever the Ä¢¹½ÊÓƵ Charter or international humanitarian law are violated, civilians pay the price.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n And if borders can be changed by force, if sovereignty can be set aside when inconvenient, or upheld only when politics allows, then no Member State can sleep peacefully anymore.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n In this regard, I want to recognize the strength of the General Assembly in stepping up when the Security Council was unable to act: convening two veto debates in relation to war in the Middle East and Gaza, a high-level meeting right at the beginning of the session, and continuing its Emergency Special Sessions on the war against Ukraine.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n As well as for defending the history of the Charter, and the fact that all its three pillars are interconnected, that peace and security, sustainable development and human rights are inseparable.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n Throughout the 80th<\/sup> session the vast majority of Member States made clear that there won\u2019t be lasting peace without development, and that if women are not safe no one is safe.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n So, if in the next session some might argue, again, that human rights or women\u2019s rights are something woke or new, just flip through the black and white historic material and footage, as we did when celebrating the Ä¢¹½ÊÓƵ\u2019s 80th<\/sup> anniversary.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n Those images from back in time – that history underlines that Human Rights, the right to development, yes, indeed women, and all three interconnected pillars have been there from the first second on.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n To all these principles, 193 Member States recommitted to again in this 80th<\/sup> session by signing, each of us, the Charter poster out there in the corridor.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n Though, as we have also seen, not only through CSW but also within different resolutions pertaining to the SDGs, be it on health, climate, or justice, these principles are not written in stone; they depend on individuals willing to stand up for them in every resolution, every single day, especially in the last minutes, on the floor, right in this Hall.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n And one of the biggest events of this year… the Football World Cup… \u00a0offered us a useful reminder: never give up before the game is over.<\/p>\n How many matches that looked lost were turned around in the ninetieth minute, or just after?<\/p>\n The same is true for the Sustainable Development Goals.<\/p>\n Indeed, we have only four years left.<\/p>\n But, as we underlined at the High-Level Political Forum, simply admiring the problems and shortcomings in delivery will get us nowhere.<\/p>\n From the 81st to the 84th session… we have roughly 1,460 days… to get more children into school, more villages connected to electricity and clean water, and more families free from hunger.<\/p>\n In football, one goal, at the right moment, can change everything.<\/p>\n 17 Goals, pursued with the same determination, can change the world.<\/p>\n \u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n Yet, as you also know, I am no fan of sugar-coating.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n Therefore the headwinds during the 80th session have been strong, and indeed, they may become stronger even in the 81st<\/sup> session.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n So, dear President Rahman, I wish you strength as you take on this responsibility, with all your experience, and I wish you success as you carry forward the process to select the next Secretary-General, which was our third priority of this 80th<\/sup> session, and which I handover as well to you now by also thanking the different Presidents of the Security Council, for their engagement in this joint endeavor between the Council and the General Assembly.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n Since the process began last October, we have worked to deliver on the strong call of the Membership for transparency and inclusivity, especially through the eight interactive dialogues and the Town Hall with the candidates.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n We all know that there are slightly different views between the two bodies \u2013 which I think is quite normal given the complementary yet different roles the Charter applies to each.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n The role of this General Assembly is to never lose sight of whom this process ultimately serves.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n Ä¢¹½ÊÓƵ does not belong to its Secretariat, its President, or even its Member States alone.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n It begins, as our Charter does, with \u201cWe the Peoples\u201d.<\/strong><\/p>\n \u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n And the person chosen to lead it – will be more than its chief administrative officer.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n She will be a guardian of its principles, a voice for its values and, to eight billion people around the world, a symbol of what this institution represents.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n So, the decision the Security Council and the General Assembly will take in the 81st<\/sup> session will define if the Ä¢¹½ÊÓƵ practices what it preaches\u2026to give its best to defend humanity every day.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n Indeed, it might be THE credibility test of this institution for this decade, as there are still millions out there who look to the streaming blue flag of our United Nations for hope and for some assurance that tomorrow can be better than today.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n In Gaza\u2026 in Ukraine\u2026<\/p>\n In Sudan\u2026 in Haiti\u2026<\/p>\n In the Middle East\u2026<\/p>\n In the devastated valley towns of Nepal and China\u2026<\/p>\n In the rising seas of the Pacific\u2026<\/p>\n <\/p>\n Our peoples, everywhere, expect us to do better, because they need our world to be better.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n BETTER, TOGETHER.<\/strong><\/p>\n Watch Full Broadcast Here<\/a><\/p>\n\n
\nAs Vice Presidents.<\/p>\n\n