The Secretary-General

--

Opening Remarks at Press Conference

New York, 14 September 2016

 

[full transcript will follow shortly]

 

Ladies and Gentlemen of UNCA (United Nations Correspondents Association), good afternoon.

 

It is a great pleasure to be with you today as we are getting ready to welcome world leaders for the opening of the 71st session of the General Assembly. I know that you are also very much excited for the General Assembly.

 

This year’s high-level week at the United Nations comes at a critical time.

 

We will seek progress in resolving protracted conflicts and rising tensions in Africa, Asia, Europe and the Middle East.  We will strive to continue the momentum towards implementing the 17 Sustainable Development Goals which is our plan of action for peace and prosperity on a healthy planet.  We will highlight emerging issues as well as situations that demand more attention.

 

But amid the whirlwind, three challenges stand out.

 

First, the international community must come together in a spirit of shared responsibility for the world’s refugees and migrants. 

 

More countries must re-settle more people who have been forced from their homes.  More countries must recognize the benefits of migration.  And everyone, everywhere, must stand up against the animosity that so many refugees, migrants and minority communities face.

 

The Declaration to be adopted at next Monday’s Summit on Refugees and Migrants marks a major step forward.  We will also welcome the International Organization for Migration – IOM - into the United Nations family.  And we will launch a global campaign to fight xenophobia.  The refugee and migration challenge is one we can, and must, tackle together.

 

Second, climate change.  I am using every opportunity to push for the early entry into force of the Paris Agreement before the end of this year.

 

Last week, the world’s two largest emitters, China and the United States, joined the Agreement.  This was a major step forward. 

 

Now we need just 28 [more] countries, representing 16 per cent of global greenhouse gas emissions, to cross the necessary threshold.  One week from today, on September 21st, as you are well aware, I will host a special summit event at which countries can deposit their ratification instruments with me, as required by the Paris Agreement.  I urge all countries to show the world their commitment without delay.

 

Third, while many conflicts are causing enormous pain, none is causing so much death, destruction and widespread instability as the worsening war in Syria. 

 

I welcome the reinstatement of the Cessation of Hostilities following the understanding reached between the Russian Federation and the United States. The United Nations is positioned to utilize this crucial opportunity to immediately deliver vital humanitarian assistance to Aleppo and other besieged and hard-to-reach locations throughout Syria.

 

It is essential that intra-Syrian negotiations resume so that Syria’s long-suffering people feel a real change in their daily lives.  Major countries with influence have a duty to use their influence and seize this latest opportunity to pursue a political solution to end this catastrophic conflict.

 

Ladies and Gentlemen,

 

I would like to announce two official visits that I will undertake in the coming days.

 

On Saturday, September 17, I will travel to Montreal to join Prime Minister Justin Trudeau of Canada and others at the fifth Replenishment Conference for the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria.  I call on all donors to be generous and enable the Fund to continue its outstanding work.

 

On September 26, I will visit Cartagena, Colombia, for the signing of the historic peace agreement between the Government of Colombia and the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia-People’s Army to end the decades-long conflict.  The United Nations will be there to help implement the agreement, and will give the people of Colombia our full support as they chart a new path for the country.  This achievement shows what is possible through patient and painstaking diplomacy.  I hope other parties to conflicts around the world will take inspiration and action to stop needless bloodshed.

 

Finally, let me say that I am keenly aware that this year’s high-level week will be my last time as Secretary-General.  It has been a decade of progress and setback alike.  The adoption of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development and the Paris Agreement on Climate Change, and the establishment of UN Women, have been among the high points.  The inability to resolve several protracted conflicts has been a source of tremendous pain.  On a more personal level, I am saddened that soon I will no longer serve side-by-side with the dedicated staff of the United Nations.  I will even miss the hotseat in this room!

 

At the same time, I intend to make the most of every minute of the months ahead, right through the stroke of midnight on New Year’s Eve.  I am sure there will be opportunities to reflect on the past decade with you.  But in the time still left to me, I am focused entirely on the work at hand and on what I know can be achieved by Member States, civil society, the private sector and others working in partnership to serve the Charter’s “we the peoples”.

 

Thank you for your attention.

 

HIGHLIGHTS OF THE U.N. SYSTEM

 

SECRETARY-GENERAL TO ATTEND GLOBAL FUND REPLENISHMENT CONFERENCE IN MONTREAL

• UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon will leave New York on Friday, 16 September in the afternoon, to attend in Montréal, Canada, the Fifth Replenishment Conference of the Global Fund to Fight Aids, Tuberculosis and Malaria.
• Upon arrival, the Secretary-General will participate in an official dinner for Heads of State and Heads of Government co-hosted with Justin Trudeau, Prime Minister of Canada. The next morning, Saturday 17 September, the Secretary-General will address the opening of the Global Fund’s Fifth Replenishment Conference. A public-private partnership against HIV, tuberculosis and malaria, the Global Fund receives contributions from businesses, social enterprises, philanthropic foundations and individuals through financial contributions, pro bono services, support for advocacy and governance, co-investments and more.
• On the margins of the Conference, the Secretary-General will also hold a bilateral meeting with Prime Minister Trudeau of Canada.

U.N. ENVOY SAYS INTENSIVE FIGHTING IS CONTINUING IN AFGHANISTAN

• Tadimichi Yamamoto, the Secretary-General’s Special Representative for Afghanistan, told the Security Council today that the Afghan Government continues to advance its reform agenda, with efforts to tackle corruption providing one example.
• But he warned that the National Unity Government faces fundamental challenges, both from outside and from within. Security and political stability are the most fundamental.
• On the security front, Mr. Yamamoto said, this has been another difficult year Afghanistan. Intensive fighting continues in hotspots around the county, while Kabul has been the target of a series of horrendous suicide attacks.
• He expressed his hope that, as winter approaches and the tempo of the conflict slows, the Taliban show their willingness to enter into talks with the Afghan Government.

UNICEF: WORLD LEADERS MUST INVEST IN BETTER DATA ON CHILDREN

• The United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) is calling on world leaders to invest in better data on children, warning in a new analysis that sufficient data is available only for half of the child-related Sustainable Development Goals indicators.
• The UNICEF analysis shows that child-related data, including measures on poverty and violence that can be compared, are either too limited or of poor quality, leaving governments without the information they need to accurately address challenges facing millions of children, or to track progress towards achieving the Goals.
• To shine a spotlight on the lack of data, Secretary General Ban Ki-moon and UNICEF today launched a “time machine” installation at the United Nations in New York.
• The Time Machine – a capsule structure that demonstrates data through art by translating childhood memories from data into sound - gives visitors and delegates attending the United Nations General Assembly from 14-30 September an opportunity to understand the data on children currently available and areas that fall short.

ACCESS TO MOBILE TELEPHONE, INTERNET CRITICAL FOR REFUGEES, NEW U.N. REPORT FINDS

• Access to a mobile telephone and the Internet is both a lifeline and a critical tool for self-empowerment for many refugees, according to a new report by the UN Refugee Agency (UNHCR) and Accenture.
• The report, entitled “Connected Refugees: How the Internet and Mobile Connectivity Can Improve Refugee Well-being and Transform Humanitarian Action,” is based on research in 44 countries on four continents.
• It finds that while affordability is often a barrier to connectivity, refugees living in urban areas tend to have similar access to mobile networks as other urban populations. However, for refugees in rural locations the picture is very different, with only one in six located in areas with 3G access, and one in five having no mobile coverage at all – significantly lower than for the population at large.
• The study recommends increasing the availability of mobile networks, improving affordability, and providing access to training, digital content and services.

FOOD AND AGRICULTURE ORGANIZATION LAUNCHES ACTION PLAN AGAINST ANTIMICROBIAL RESISTANCE

• The Food and Agriculture Organization today pledged to help countries develop strategies for tackling the spread of antimicrobial resistance in their food supply chains, as governments prepare to debate the emerging challenge posed by medicine-resistant "superbugs" next week at the UN General Assembly.
• The increased use – and abuse – of antimicrobial medicines in both human and animal healthcare has contributed to an increase in the number of disease-causing microbes that are resistant to medicines traditionally used to treat them, like antibiotics.
• The significant risk to human health posed by "antimicrobial resistance" (AMR) and its connection to and impact on agriculture will be discussed at a high-level UN event on September 21st in New York.
• According to FAO's Action Plan on Antimicrobial Resistance released today, antimicrobial medicines play a critical role in the treatment of diseases of farm animals and plants. Their use is essential to food security, to our well-being, and to animal welfare. However, the misuse of these drugs, associated with the emergence and spread of antimicrobial-resistant micro-organisms, places everyone at great risk.
• FAO's plan highlights four key areas for action in the food and agriculture sphere: improving awareness among farmers and producers, veterinary professionals and authorities, policymakers, and food consumers; building national capacities for surveillance and monitoring; strengthening governance; and promoting good practices.

ECONOMIC GROWTH NOT ENOUGH TO SAVE PEOPLE THREATENED BY POVERTY, HUNGER – NEW U.N.-BACKED REPORT

• A new global study released by the International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD) today says that economic growth is not enough to save those threatened daily with poverty and hunger.
• IFAD's Rural Development Report 2016 argues that governments need to tailor policies and investments to transform rural areas in developing countries if they want to eliminate poverty. It brings together leading thinkers to analyse the experiences of rural development in over 60 developing countries.