Mr. Secretary-General
Excellencies, Ladies, and Gentlemen

On 15 November 2021, the Membership adopted by consensus resolution 76/6, entitled, “Follow-up to the report of the Secretary-General entitled Our Common Agenda”.

By doing so, they entrusted me, as President of the General Assembly, with the responsibility of initiating a follow up process, in which Member States, the UN system and all relevant partners could have the possibility to discuss and consider the various proposals included in the OCA report.

We started this process in early February this year. Now we are at the finish line, after having concluded five intense rounds of thematic consultations that included more than 350 statements from Member States and observers during the plenary debates; and ten interactive panels with the participation of senior representatives from the UN system and other relevant partners, including the private sector, academia, civil society, parliamentarians, and youth, among others.

I am happy to note that a majority of the panelists – of whom there were over fifty – were women. All regions were represented, and we heard voices from different corners of the world, who engaged in substantive discussions with the membership during the consultations.

I would like to express my appreciation to the five vice-presidents of the General Assembly that accepted my invitation to oversee the thematic discussions, namely the Permanent Representatives of Kuwait, Tanzania, Belgium, Dominican Republic, and Slovenia, and their teams, which I am happy to note, were gender-balanced.

After having listened to the discussions that took place during these consultations, I remain hopeful about the follow-up process on the recommendations.

In the upcoming days, together with the vice-presidents, we will produce and publish the summaries of the proceedings.

These summaries will constitute the outcomes of the consultations, and will help identify our next steps in the consideration and implementation of Our Common Agenda.

Excellencies,

At the first thematic consultation you would recollect that I had mentioned that these informal consultations are akin to the work of fisherfolk whose aim is to catch fish and to avoid getting their hooks entangled in the reefs.

As an Islander, I feel happy that all of you came out successfully from your fishing expedition. The consultations have served their purpose of giving Member States and all our relevant partners sufficient space to comprehensively consider all the proposals in the Our Common Agenda Report.

I would encourage all Member States to continue working together, with a forward looking vision and in the spirit of resolution 76/6. Our boats are filled with fish and our hooks are not entangled in the reef, but we are yet to return ashore safe.

Our people, our world, our future deserves that we continue to work together to address all the challenges we face.

As the Secretary-General mentioned yesterday at the plenary debate, the OCA is a “booster shot” for the SDGs and can help us get them on track. We need to reinforce our commitment to the ‘Decade of Action’, to deliver ambitious goals for all humanity. We must continue to act in unity and solidarity, with vision and purpose.

Excellencies,

I express my wholehearted gratitude to all those who participated in these thematic consultations, be it as debate speakers, moderators, panelists, or in any other capacity.

But I especially thank all the delegates and the various groupings that worked hard to constructively contribute to these consultations, building consensus among groups of Member States, bringing innovative ideas to the table – while also keeping track of the challenging time limits imposed on their interventions.

I also thank the Secretary-General, his team, the Secretariat, and the UN system who have tirelessly supported my Office in organizing these five clusters of thematic discussions.

And I express my gratitude to my team, for helping make this process a reality, and who continue to do an outstanding job in facilitating my work as President of the General Assembly.

I thank you.