I am so pleased to be with you.

I want to thank the Chairman of the Global Platform for Syrian Students, Jorge Sampaio, for his leadership and his longtime commitment to build bridges of understanding and inclusion among communities around the world.

I want to thank all of you for sharing your stories and experiences. I commend you for your strength and resilience. I am greatly saddened and appalled by all that we see in Syria –the tremendous loss of life, the massive destruction and displacement. The United Nations is doing everything in its power to end the fighting.

Your Excellency Mr. Hamid Karzai, President of Afghanistan,
Your Excellency Mr. Anders Fogh Rasmussen, Secretary General of NATO,
Ladies and Gentlemen,

I am pleased to be here alongside President Karzai and NATO Secretary General Rasmussen.

We have just had a successful meeting, culminating in the adoption of the Lisbon Declaration and the NATO-Afghanistan Partnership Agreement.

These are important steps forward that build on earlier conferences in London and Kabul, and on progress on the ground in Afghanistan.

Bon Dia!

It's a great pleasure to meet with you. I thank you for this opportunity.

I am honored again to visit Portugal for the third time as Secretary-General of the United Nations, but this time for the NATO Summit meeting on Afghanistan. I had very good, constructive discussions with His Excellency President [Anibal Cavaco] Silva on matters of common concern.

Since our last Summit two years ago in Bucharest, much has changed in Afghanistan and in NATO's engagement there.

We are here to build on the important achievements of previous conferences in London and in Kabul.

We are here to push forward with our efforts to help the sovereign people of Afghanistan realize their aspirations for stability, reconciliation, governance, human rights and harmonious relations with their neighbours.

Many of your countries have held elections in which the challenges and frustrations we face in Afghanistan have figured prominently.