7 November 2022

Excellencies,

Distinguished delegates,

We are facing multifaceted, complex and interlinking crises.

The General Assembly, as the central stage and a main vehicle for multilateral diplomacy, must respond.

Crisis management and transformation are urgently needed. The question is, are we up to that dual challenge?

My answer would be – not yet.

For our work to make a difference to the peoples outside of the General Assembly Hall, and to Member States, we must further revitalize this great institution.

Our ability to retain the relevance of the GA depends on our ability to adapt the work of the Assembly to the challenges of the 21st century.

As Charles Darwin once said, “It is not the strongest or the most intelligent who will survive but those who can best manage change”. 

Excellencies,

The SDG Summit in 2023 and the Summit of the Future in 2024 will be two milestone events – not just for the General Assembly but for the entire world.  

The Assembly needs an integrated approach so that it could make the best of these important opportunities.

For that purpose, I have decided to utilize the General Committee as the body to coordinate and streamline the various processes mandated by the General Assembly.

As you know, I recently had the first informal meeting with the members of the General Committee and the co-facilitators of these processes.

I was pleased to listen to the discussions, and plan to build on them.

I hope this initiative would be a part of our concerted efforts towards a more synchronized and more impactful work of the General Assembly catering to the needs of the world.

Distinguished Delegates,

While the goal of revitalizing the General Assembly is a broad and general one, the actual work is often technical.

It is sometimes time-consuming. Sometimes frustrating.

But the work can and does change this Assembly in a very concrete manner.

The latest resolution adopted in the 75th session biennialized this agenda item.

This has allowed for more consultations and deeper examination of specific key topics.

Our further work on revitalizing this organ should help focus better on the most burning issues, becoming more impact-oriented in conducting its business, and being more able to reach concrete solutions relevant to the world.

For that, solidarity and science-based decision shaping could be used to improve the impact of our work.

I would like you to continue to take such an approach on General Assembly revitalization.

Excellencies,

My special thanks go to Ambassador Fifield of Australia and Ambassador González López of El Salvador for once again taking up the responsibility to lead this process as Co-Chairs of the Ad Hoc Working Group.

This session is expected to adopt a resolution on General Assembly revitalization.

Two years ago, Member States decided that the work of the Ad Hoc Working Group in the 77th session should focus on the selection and appointment of the Secretary-General, as well as on strengthening the accountability, transparency and institutional memory of the Office of the President of the General Assembly.

One of the two topics is directly connected to my Office, and I am willing to offer views and inputs to contribute to the work of the Ad Hoc Working Group.

I trust that the Member States will also extend their full support and cooperation to the Co-Chairs throughout the session.

I look forward to hearing solutions-oriented discussions among you and seeing creative ideas to make our Assembly even better suited for tackling the challenges of this new era we have reached.

You would be addressing practical and technical matters in the discussions to come, but please always keep in mind the larger, broader, strategic objective of the exercise.

That is to serve the eight billion people who count on our help.

By making the GA work and focus better, you make multilateralism stronger.

And by strengthening multilateralism, you bring more peace, more human rights and more sustainable development to our constituents all over the world.

I thank you.