General Assembly Remarks at Closing of the Session

– As delivered –

Statement by H.E. Tijjani Muhammad Bande, President of the 74th Session of the United Nations General Assembly

15 September 2020

Your Excellency António Guterres, Secretary-General of the United Nations

Your Excellency Volkan Bozkir, President-Elect of the General Assembly

Excellencies

Distinguished delegates

I welcome you all to the Closing of the 74th session of the General Assembly. I thank you for your support throughout the session and extend my gratitude to the Vice-Presidents of the General Assembly, the Chairs of the six Main Committees, as well as the co-chairs, co-coordinators and the co-facilitators of the processes of the General Assembly.

I am grateful to the governments that have supported the Office of the President of the General Assembly (OPGA) through contributions to the Trust Fund, and/or the secondment of staff. These proved critical to the success of the Office. I am particularly grateful to the President of Nigeria for nominating me and the African States for allowing me to represent them for this important work and for all of you for supporting me through the election till now.

It was a pleasure to work in close coordination with the Presidents of the Security Council and ECOSOC, as well as the Secretary-General and Deputy Secretary-General who showed unprecedented support for the work of the Assembly.

I extend my deepest appreciation to the Department for General Assembly and Conference Management, the Department for Global Communications and the Department of Safety and Security for the dedication and selfless service of their personnel to the General Assembly. The General Assembly could not have functioned well without the dedication of the entire Secretariat staff, including those of the interpreters, protocol officers, and so on.

In addition, I thank the staff of the OPGA – led by my Chef de Cabinet, Ambassador Mari Skaare for their enduring efforts throughout the extraordinary session.

Excellencies,

We started this session guided by the hopes and aspirations of the people we serve. This was reflected in the High-level events we had in the first days of the session, the statement of our Heads of delegations during the High-Level week and broad support for my priorities for the session.

From the beginning, I entreated Member States to give due attention to a number of critical issues. In particular, I urged them to tackle the root causes of conflict by galvanizing multilateral efforts for poverty eradication and zero hunger, quality education, climate action, and inclusion. As illustrated in the handover report, the General Assembly has made great strides in these and other areas.

The first high-level meeting of the 74^th session of the General Assembly focused on global health, when we did not even know that the session and the year 2020 would be defined by a pandemic. The emergence of the novel corona virus (COVID-19) has shown that we have to continue to deepen multilateral cooperation in the health sector, as in other areas, and implement the commitment of our Heads of State and Government to scaling up national and global efforts to build a healthier world for all. It is important that in achieving this, we must continue to deepen cooperation to ensure that despite the challenge posed by COVID-19 we will meet the goals and targets that we set for ourselves by 2030.

Excellencies,

Distinguished Delegates,

I congratulate you all for the leadership you have demonstrated in the past twelve months as we tackled issues across the three pillars of the United Nations – peace and security, human rights and development. These included: Financing for Development, tackling the peculiar challenges faced by Small Island Developing States, prioritizing the Rights of the Child, Elimination of Nuclear Weapons, and ensuring that peacekeeping operations get needed funding.

It is also gratifying that despite our differences, the First to Sixth Committees were able to achieve broad measure of consensus on a diverse range of issues at the core of our Organization. However, it is imperative that I emphasise the need to continue to recommit to agreed frameworks and work harder to ensure that we can deliver for the people we serve through consensus. It is, for example, regrettable that the First Committee adopted 64 percent of its resolutions by recorded vote.        

Excellencies,

We cannot underestimate the importance of this Assembly which is founded upon equality of voice and vote. Its resolutions reflect the aspirations of humanity, helping the normative development of international law with far-reaching ramifications across a wide breadth of issues for the individuals and for states. I am thus grateful that Member States had the foresight and flexibility to adopt Decisions 74/544 and 74/555 at the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic. This allowed the membership to adopt more than 70 resolutions and elect Chairs of the Main Committees for the 75^th session of the General Assembly. This is fully in accord with the expectation of the people we serve. The General Assembly takes progressive action to create a better world for all as evidenced by the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, the principle of self-determination, the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development, etecetera.

This year, the membership rallied to adopt GA resolutions that called for solidarity and global access to medicines and medical equipment. The resolution, “Comprehensive and Coordinated Response to the COVID-19 Pandemic” in particular is an ambitious, wide-ranging resolution resulting from intensive negotiations which highlight the importance of multilateralism and solidarity as we continue to contend with this pandemic.  We must continue to send a clear message that the General Assembly will always stand with those who have suffered from the effects of COVID-19, and those whose loved ones have succumbed to the virus.

Excellencies,

This is a moment of reckoning for our shared planet and future. This is a time for action, ambition, equality, inclusion, and partnership. It is therefore important that in the work of the United Nations, we continue to engage and involve youths. They have shown uncommon leadership in the face of the difficulties our world faces. They have been particularly vocal regarding the climate and social justice issues, and we must listen to them as our lives depend on this. It is also important to continue to make the case for other underrepresented groups, including women and people with disability; for it is in doing so that we will be certain of peace, justice and development.

Excellencies,  

In this 75^th year of the establishment of our organisation, we must renew our commitment to its ideals and values. We must fashion more creative ways of better delivery for those we serve. Many vulnerable individuals and groups look up to us. We must not waiver in our commitment to serve them. Seventy-Five years ago, skeptics doubted the resolve of the members of the new United Nations. Our founders did not allow cynicism to prevail then, and we will not allow it prevail now. To ensure this, we must continue to thoughtfully define our actions and uphold our pledge to leave no one behind, even in the face of disagreement. Indeed, in spite of disagreement, we must practice empathy and choose unity over discord.

I wish His Excellency Volkan Bozkir a successful and productive 75^th Session and assure him of my solid support throughout his tenure. I am convinced it is the same for us all. I am grateful for the trust you all placed in me as President of the 74^th Session of the General Assembly and it is my honour to have served as the President of this premier Assembly in the last year.

I THANK YOU ALL