Remarks by the President of the eighty-first session, published as delivered. Statements in the General Assembly Hall are listed alongside those given at high-level meetings, thematic debates, commemorations and briefings. Most recent first.
“Outside these walls, people are not asking whether the United Nations still exists. They are asking whether it works.”
September 2026
“Trust must be earned through commitments honoured and results delivered.”
“If middle-income countries succeed, the Sustainable Development Goals can succeed. If they remain trapped, the world will remain off track.”
“We remember that community is measured not by how it treats the mighty – but by how it protects the marginalized.”
“The LDC agenda is not an act of charity. It is a test of justice, foresight and the credibility of multilateralism.”
“The Council’s deliberations revealed significant differences concerning the draft resolution; it is precisely when positions diverge most sharply, that dialogue and diplomacy become most indispensable.”
“The starting point must be a simple truth, reaffirmed in the Pact for the Future: a nuclear war cannot be won and must never be fought.”
“Dialogue can be difficult. It can be frustrating. But it is always better than a world in which we stop talking and take up arms.”
“Solidarity is a powerful force, and we should draw on these shared experiences as we chart a path forward.”
“Hatred is learned. But so are respect, solidarity and our shared humanity.”
“From Sagarmatha to the sea, we are witnessing one interconnected climate crisis.”
“Pandemics do not respect borders, wealth or military power.”
“Together, let us turn opportunity into access and partnership into progress, leaving no country locked out.”
“We have a moral, legal and practical responsibility to sustain the work of UNRWA.”
“Sea-level rise is ultimately about people. About our heritage, our identity and the world we leave to our children.”
“The Rohingya have made their aspiration clear again, and again, and again: they want to return home.”
“The world has changed profoundly since 1986. Our commitment to the right to development must not.”
“Young people must advance from participation to leadership: from being consulted to co-designing policy; from receiving programmes to building enterprises; and from demanding change to implementing it.”
“Let us choose dialogue over division; respect over contempt; and solidarity over hatred.”
“King Harald reminds us that trust is not proclaimed; it is built, patiently, by seeing one another and working with each other.”
“Faced with extreme risks, countries of the South have not surrendered their agency or hope… they reach out a hand – and find another reaching back, across southern geographies, as a partner in shared resolve.”
“The question is whether all of us will have a voice in how that transformation unfolds.”
“On behalf of the General Assembly, I extend our deepest condolences to the Government and people of the State of Qatar, and especially to the family of His Highness.”
“Peace must be built. And it is our shared responsibility to build it.”
“My main pledge for this 81st session, dear colleagues and friends, is to work tirelessly to revive trust in this institution, upon which success of our collective action ultimately depends.”
“As a candidate, I ran on the theme: ‘Restoring trust, managing transformation’. Now, as President, I add to this, we must make the United Nations ‘Fit for the Future’.”
Before the Session Opened
Statements given between his election on 2 June 2026 and the opening of the session.
Delivered immediately after his election: a commitment to engage all Member States, to rebuild trust and nurture consensus, and to organise the Office reflecting geographical, gender and linguistic balance. The six areas of action set out that day became the pillars of the presidency.
A session normally produces some two hundred statements. Each is posted here, usually on the day it is delivered, with translations added where they are issued. The calendar of meetings and events shows what is scheduled next.