Remarks by H.E. Mr. Abdulla Shahid, President of the 76th session of the United Nations General Assembly
17 June 2022
Excellencies, colleagues, friends,
First, I would like to thank the United Nations Country Team at the Dominican Republic, and the representatives here from Environment and Disaster Risk Reduction Organizations, for organizing this event.
It is my pleasure to be here. Let me introduce myself. My name is Abdulla Shahid, and I serve as the President of the 76th Session of the General Assembly.
I am delighted to not only be here at the Dominican Republic, but to get this opportunity to interact with all of you, especially on youth, gender, and environmental sustainability, topics that are very dear to my heart and central to my Presidency.
My friends,
I want to keep my remarks brief, because I want to devote more time to listening.
In the several countries that I have travelled to, whenever I interact with civil society, and with youth and women, the common theme that they reiterate to me, is that they are eager to be heard. To be able to raise their concerns, speak their minds, and to let policymakers know what their priorities and expectations are.
I find that young people everywhere have a keen understanding of the challenges we face. Whether it is poverty, climate change, peace and security or humanitarian crises, they are eager to engage with the decision makers and be part of the solution. For its their future that is at stake.
That is why I have made youth a key priority of my presidency.
Its also the reason why I launched the ‘PGAs Fellowship for Hope’ programme, under which 8 young diplomats from underrepresented countries are currently working in my Office to understand the workings of the multilateral system.
My friends,
Similar to youth, it is not enough to merely affirm and articulate the challenges faced by women, we have a responsibility to resolve them through a gender perspective. We need to level the playing field and remove the barriers that stand in the way of their aspirations. To shape policies and implement actions that will end domestic violence, break glass-ceilings, institutionalize equal pay, and address all the other ills stemming from gender-inequality.
Decisions that involve women must be made with women’s involvement guided by their leadership, and experience.
That is precisely why I refuse to participate in any panel that is not gender balanced, and why I urge my team to approach all issues from a gender perspective.
It is also why I have a Special Advisor to guide me on Gender-related matters, and heed to the advice of the board of gender advisors that I reconstituted early on in the session.
My friends,
On protecting our planet, again, while we must continue our advocacy and increase momentum globally on climate action, we also have a responsibility to listen to voices on the ground.
Many of you here today know first-hand that climate change is not an abstract threat looming in the distance.
There has been a staggering surge in the number of extreme weather events over the past 20 years, driven largely by rising global temperatures and other climatic changes
As we endeavour to take steps to reverse, mitigate, and adapt to the consequences of climate change and environmental-degradation, we need to be guided by the experiences and expertise of local communities.
We need to listen to you, to be able to tailor specific policies, to learn from your practices and to be inspired by your innovation.
My friends,
That is why I am here today. To listen and to learn.
I am keen to engage with all of you.
I am happy to speak with regard to my own experiences as someone from an Island nation and my priorities, but I more importantly, I want to hear from you.
About your expectations from multilateral institutions.
On what your solutions are to the climate crisis.
On what you think are the major challenges faced by women and youth.
On how we can achieve a brighter, sustainable, and resilient future.
In that spirit, I end my remarks.
I thank you, and I look forward to our discussions.
