– As delivered –

Statement by H.E. Mrs. María Fernanda Espinosa Garcés, President of the 73rd Session of the UN General Assembly

28 September 2018

3G Troika Ministerial Meeting

Good morning, I would like to address a good friend amongst us, Vice President Isabel de Saint Malo de Alvarado,

Your Excellency Dr. Balakrishnan,

Your Excellencies, Members of the Global Governance Group and G20 “Troika”,

Excellencies and distinguished guests,

It is an honor to be here and to have the opportunity to open this discussion on cooperation between the UN, G20 and the Global Governance Group. It is also a pleasure to help continue the tradition of Presidents of the General Assembly participating in the dialogue, and I thank Ambassador Gafoor in particular, and the Permanent Mission of Singapore for their kind hospitality.

This is the home of very good meetings, always very interesting, and I really commend Singapore on their support to this mission.

The relationship between the Group of 20 and the United Nations is clearly an important one, and I commend the Global Governance Group for maintaining the annual dialogue.

 

Excellencies, in my remarks today, I would like to make three points. First, I would like to recognize the existing work of the G20 and the Global Governance Group. Second, I am pleased to note that, under Argentina’s leadership, the G20 has engaged in extensive consultations and outreach in 2018. These meetings have covered everything from agriculture and the digital economy, to energy and education, and they have served as a collaborative and open dialogue to address global challenges and opportunities.

I am pleased to note that among the priorities of the G20 this year is the ‘future of work’, which directly corresponds with one of the seven priority areas that we have outlined for this session of the General Assembly – ‘decent work for all’. So your work is fully in line with the priorities of the General Assembly.

More on this in a moment.

Third, I would also like to note the ongoing work of the Global Governance Group to promote an effective, accountable and inclusive framework of global governance. At a time when multilateralism is under threat, it is very encouraging to see a consortium of countries come together to address global challenges. Thank you for taking steps to bring together our three very much multilateral entities.

 

Excellencies, as you are aware, the theme for the 73rd Session of the General Assembly is ‘Make the United Nations Relevant to All People: Global leadership and shared responsibilities for peaceful, equitable and sustainable societies.’ As you may have gathered from my remarks this far, the theme and the agenda of the session are all geared to the protection and advancement of multilateralism. Our efforts as a presidency will support this objective through enhancing the delivery, the accountability, the relevance and the efficiency of the UN General Assembly.

I like to call this our ‘dare to do better’ agenda and it is very much about making the UNGA – the ‘Parliament of Humanity’ – truly representative of all people, everywhere on the planet.

In terms of specific priorities this year, we have outlined seven priority areas to address. These are: gender empowerment; youth, peace and security, protecting those with disabilities, plastics pollution, decent work for all;  migration and refugees; and, finally, UN revitalization.

Dear friends, as you can see from this agenda there are ample opportunities for the UN, G20 and Global Governance Group to collaborate and strengthen engagement.

I am particularly encouraged by the crossovers between ‘decent work’ and the ‘future of work’, where there clearly crossovers. Whether it is digital economies, automation, or simply fear of being left out of the ‘fourth industrial revolution’, the answer is the same: how we ensure that the incredible innovation we currently enjoy, benefits all people everywhere and does not sideline the abilities of those developing to strive.

The fact that we are here in this room with a diverse group of Member States representing both the largest and most advanced economies, as well as those economies poised to grow exponentially in years to come, speaks volumes about the potential for our collaboration.

Colleagues, I find this a very encouraging, both for our work in the 73rd session, as well as for multilateralism as a whole.

Before closing, I would like to thank Argentina and Singapore for their hard work this year on the G20 and Global Governance Group respectively. Additionally, I would like to wish Argentina a successful G20 summit in Buenos Aires in November.

Thank you very much.