Excellencies, Distinguished Heads of State and Government, Distinguished Ministers, Ladies and Gentlemen,

Welcome to the United Nations. Welcome to our common house.

We are off to a flying start today, I must say. Thank you, President Obama, for your inspiring oratory – and more, for its vital importance. As ever, we thank the United States and its generous people for hosting the United Nations the last 66 years – this is the 66th Session.

Let me offer a special word of thanks to New Yorkers. In the last month, they have faced an earthquake, then a hurricane and now a perfect storm of the world's leaders, creating a lot of traffic jams and we are very grateful for their patience.

Let me say straight off: this is my fifth lunch with the distinguished leaders of the world and I am very grateful for your strong support and in that regard, I am very glad that it is not my last lunch and we will have five more lunches in the coming five years.

Taking this opportunity, I would like to very sincerely express my appreciation and thanks to all of the Heads of State and Government for your strong support. You can count on me, and it is a great and extraordinary honour to serve this great Organization.

Mr. President, fifty years ago this week, your predecessor John F. Kennedy addressed the General Assembly. He came, he said, to join with other world leaders, and I quote: “to look across this world of threats to a world of peace.”

Looking out upon the world, we see no shortage of threats.

And closer to home, wherever we might live, we see the familiar struggles of political life – left versus right, rich versus poor and up versus down.

Seldom, however, has the debate been more emotional or strident. Yet seldom has the need for unity been greater.

We know the challenges. I won't reprise my speech except to say that we do, indeed, have a rare and generational opportunity to make a lasting difference in people's lives.

If there is a theme in all that has been said today by leaders, it would be the imperative of unity in realizing that opportunity.

We must act together.

There is no opt-out clause for global problem-solving.

Every country has something to give and to gain.

Excellencies,

Let me close with a question: by any chance, do you ever feel that you have become a slave to this machine? [pulls out Blackberry] Somehow, I sense that I am not alone. I have seen so many leaders speaking over the phone, even while at the Summit meetings.

Thanks to devices like this, the world has never been more connected, but let us not confuse that with being united.

Being connected depends on technology.

Being united depends on us – on leaders, on institutions and on the decisions we make.

We have come a long way since last year.

Outside this building, the new flags of South Sudan and Libya proudly wave in the September breeze.

Today, I am very pleased to recognize the Southern Sudan President, His Excellency Mr. Salva Kiir, who came to New York for the first time after independence; and President of the National Transitional Council of Libya, His Excellency, Mr. Abdul Jalil who received very strong support yesterday – and they will continue to receive such support. Let us give them a big applause.

We can be proud of the firm stand we took for freedom and democracy – in Cote d'Ivoire, North Africa and elsewhere.

We can be proud of the many lives we saved, the hungry people we fed, the children we helped to grow up healthy and strong.

And we can do more:

To make the Arab Spring a season of hope for all. To put the sustainable back into development. To prevent crises before they explode.

And so, let us raise a glass: to clarity of vision, to unity of purpose, to a common resolve for action, to the United Nations and to continued success of each and every Head of State and Government present here.

Thank you very much.