– As delivered –
Statement by H.E. Tijjani Muhammad Bande, President of the 74th Session of the United Nations General Assembly
7 August 2020
Your Excellency, Ambassador Dang Dinh Quy, Permanent Representative of Viet Nam, Chair of ASEAN New York Committee,
Excellencies,
Ladies and Gentlemen,
I want to thank the Permanent Representative of Viet Nam, my friend Dang Dinh Quy for inviting me to participate in this commemoration of the ASEAN Day which marks the signing of the ASEAN Declaration on 08 August 1967.
Guided by the theme of ASEAN under Viet Nam’s chairmanship this year, A Cohesive and Responsive ASEAN, this day reflects the spirit of “Thinking as a Community, Acting for Community” in response to current and future challenges and opportunities as stipulated in the ASEAN Charter.
Excellencies,
The UN and ASEAN have long shared the goal of building a more stable and prosperous world. The UN Charter recognises the important roles and activities of regional arrangements, such as ASEAN, in promoting the purposes and principles of the United Nations.
As a regional organisation in Southeast Asia, ASEAN is crucial in promoting peace, stability and prosperity in the region and beyond.
Since its early years, ASEAN has worked closely with the United Nations, and I am pleased that this partnership is a strong one. Working relations between various UN Agencies and ASEAN have developed in many thematic areas and issues ever since.
ASEAN Member States are active in peacekeeping and post-conflict peace-building endeavours. I note with appreciation that as of April this year, approximately five thousand military and police peacekeeping personnel – including a growing number of women peacekeepers – from ASEAN Member States have been deployed in ten global UN peace operations.
Through your support to the UN peacekeeping missions, you are helping to make peace a reality for all of us.
The UN has also been supportive of ASEAN’s efforts to combat terrorism, illicit trafficking of wildlife and timber, and illicit drugs by sharing global practices and technical expertise through capacity building initiatives.
Furthermore, the UN Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific has been engaged with ASEAN to support trade facilitation in the region. Other examples of UN-ASEAN collaboration include cooperation in disaster risk reduction and management, climate change and environmental issues, labour and decent work, gender mainstreaming, enhancement of the role of women in the maintenance and promotion of peace, security and development, as well as promotion of the rights of the child.
A successful global development agenda requires inclusive partnerships built upon principles and values, and a shared vision and goals placing people and the planet at the centre.
I commend you for your efforts to promote sustainable development cooperation by strengthening synergies between the ASEAN Community Vision 2025 and the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development.
While cooperation between the UN and ASEAN is built on the foundation of our respective charters and shared development priorities, I believe that by joining forces to respond effectively, we can demonstrate how successfully we can work together at a time of crisis.
Excellencies, distinguished colleagues,
A lot of progress has been achieved in all sectors before COVID-19 hit us hard. I urge all ASEAN Member States to continue to move forward together as a region and remain committed to your vision of a cohesive ASEAN community that is united, peaceful, integrated and resilient. This reflects the ASEAN spirit of upholding solidarity and the ability to address challenges as well as opportunities jointly.
If there is one lesson from the COVID-19 crisis, it is that we are in this together. No country or region can overcome this pandemic alone.
While cooperation between the UN and ASEAN is built on the foundation of our respective charters and shared development priorities, I believe that by joining forces to respond effectively, we can demonstrate how successfully we can work together at a time of crisis.
Excellencies,
In conclusion, I thank you for your active engagement and support throughout the 74th Session of the General Assembly, and I look forward to the continuation of a meaningful cooperation between the UN and ASEAN.
We will have to strive together, to deliver for all.
I thank you.
Happy ASEAN Day!
