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– As delivered –<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n 22 September 2020<\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n <\/p>\n Heads of State and Government,<\/p>\n Mr. Secretary-General,<\/p>\n Distinguished Ministers and delegates,<\/p>\n Excellencies,<\/p>\n I am honored to welcome you all, to the General Debate of the seventy-fifth Session of the General Assembly.<\/p>\n I would like to take a moment to commemorate this historic occasion.<\/p>\n This Hall has been the background of many significant discussions.<\/p>\n Here, in this Hall, the General Assembly has accomplished much.<\/p>\n We have reached consensus and we have resolved difficult problems.<\/p>\n This Hall symbolizes that the nations can accomplish when they are united.<\/p>\n And here, in this Hall, the General Debate has been the apex of our deliberations.<\/p>\n The General Debate, and the High-Level Week, enable our political and civil society leaders to come together and discuss the various challenges we face.<\/p>\n Some of these challenges are local, or regional. But our efforts are always global.<\/p>\n Excellencies,<\/p>\n This year, in this Hall, the General Debate has had to take a new form.<\/p>\n The leaders of our nations are not personally present.<\/p>\n They will not be able to interact with each other and have bilateral meetings on the sidelines.<\/p>\n And there is limited opportunity to benefit from NGO participation.<\/p>\n But, our need for deliberation is higher than ever.<\/p>\n The pandemic has affected far more than our ability to attend this Debate in person.<\/p>\n It has pummeled our economies.<\/p>\n It has pushed our healthcare systems to their limits.<\/p>\n Education has been disrupted risking our collective future.<\/p>\n The most vulnerable have suffered most.<\/p>\n The already precarious situation of refugees and migrants is ever more dire.<\/p>\n The women and girls face higher risks of exposure to gender-based violence and exploitation.<\/p>\n Children are more at risk of child labor, child marriage and trafficking.<\/p>\n Xenophobia, racism and discrimination, on ethnic and religious grounds, are on the rise.<\/p>\n Violence against members of religious groups and places of worship have been increasing.<\/p>\n I wish to extend my sympathy and solidarity to each and every individual who has been impacted by this virus.<\/p>\n And on behalf all these people, I want to make a call:<\/p>\n Rarely has the whole of humanity faced such an imminent and common threat.<\/p>\n Today, we must leave our differences and disagreements aside.<\/p>\n Today, we must renew our collective commitment to multilateralism.<\/p>\n Today, we must combine our efforts to address this global problem and we must make sure that, \u201cno one is left behind\u201d.<\/p>\n \u201cWe, the peoples of the United Nations\u201d can achieve this.<\/p>\n Excellencies,<\/p>\n When we consider the potential of the United Nations, it is important to consider this Organization\u2019s origins.<\/p>\n Following the heinous acts of World War II, the establishment of the UN was an acknowledgement that we must do better.<\/p>\n It was a collective commitment to the progress of humanity.<\/p>\n Through a new rules-based world order, with an Organization of unrivalled legitimacy at its center, our founders endeavored to ensure peace, prosperity and progress for all.<\/p>\n The system was designed to be flexible, so we can address a range of challenges and unexpected issues.<\/p>\n To recover from the pandemic, we can plan, innovate and build back better for a sustainable, inclusive and just recovery.<\/p>\n Doing this alone, will cost more lives and more resources.<\/p>\n The pandemic will continue to change how we operate over the next year.<\/p>\n We must make full use of all the tools available to us to combat this challenge.<\/p>\n And a key platform to provide political guidance to our efforts at the international level is, this very Assembly, where we all sit today, the main deliberative, policymaking and representative organ of the United Nations.<\/p>\n In this regard, I urge Member States to be cooperative and creative, to devise solutions, that will enable this body to function effectively, and remain relevant, within the bounds of the Charter and Rules of Procedure.<\/p>\n [\/et_pb_text][\/et_pb_column][\/et_pb_row][et_pb_row column_structure=”1_2,1_2″ _builder_version=”4.6.2″ background_size=”initial” background_position=”top_left” background_repeat=”repeat” box_shadow_horizontal_tablet=”0px” box_shadow_vertical_tablet=”0px” box_shadow_blur_tablet=”40px” box_shadow_spread_tablet=”0px” disabled=”on” disabled_on=”on|on|on” vertical_offset_tablet=”0″ horizontal_offset_tablet=”0″ z_index_tablet=”0″][et_pb_column type=”1_2″ _builder_version=”3.25″ custom_padding=”|||” custom_padding__hover=”|||”][et_pb_text _builder_version=”4.5.3″ hover_enabled=”0″]<\/p>\n Excellencies,<\/em><\/p>\n The General Assembly is not just the most democratic and representative forum in the world. It is a space embracing the most diverse cultures of the world. You, dear colleagues, constitute an invaluable center of global thought and vision which has tremendous influence in the world and on our governments and our peoples. Your thinking, wisdom and vision set the standards for our cooperation and development, among our nations and for our people. Each day we must search for solutions to the most difficult problems that face humanity and our planet.<\/p>\n [\/et_pb_text][\/et_pb_column][et_pb_column type=”1_2″ _builder_version=”3.25″ custom_padding=”|||” custom_padding__hover=”|||”][et_pb_code _builder_version=”4.5.3″ hover_enabled=”0″]\n\nStatement by H.E. Volkan Bozkir, President of the 75th Session of the United Nations General Assembly<\/h3>\n