UN role and reform

20 September 2017, Security Council

Secretary-General's remarks at Security Council High-Level Open Debate on Peacekeeping Operations Regarding the Reform of UN Peacekeeping: Implementation and Follow Up

[Bilingual, as-delivered version, follows. Scroll further down for all-English version]

19 September 2017, UN Headquarters

Toast at lunch for Heads of State and Government

Allow me to use a formula I have learned in eastern Africa: Dear friends, all protocol observed.

I want, first of all, to express my deep gratitude to our host country and the City of New York. 

Mr. President, you are a New Yorker, so you know exactly how exciting it is for me to be able to work in New York with all my colleagues here in the United Nations. It is a privilege, and we owe it to the wonderful people of this city and the wonderful people of your country - the fantastic hospitality that we enjoy. Thank you very much.

19 September 2017, General Assembly

Address to the General Assembly

Secretary-General António Guterres presents his annual report on the work of the Organization ahead of the opening of the General Assembly’s seventy-second general debate. UN Photo/Cia Pak

[Trilingual, as delivered]

I am here in a spirit of gratitude and humility for the trust you have placed in me to serve the world’s peoples.

“We the peoples”, and the United Nations, face grave challenges.

Our world is in trouble.  People are hurting and angry.  They see insecurity rising, inequality growing, conflict spreading and climate changing. 

The global economy is increasingly integrated, but our sense of global community may be disintegrating.

18 September 2017, UN Headquarters

Remarks at UN Reform Event

Mr. President, thank you very much for your engagement and support. I also thank Ambassador Haley for her leadership, her partnership and her commitment. And I am very grateful to all the leaders here today. Someone recently asked what keeps me up at night. 

My answer was simple: bureaucracy.

Fragmented structures. Byzantine procedures. Endless red tape. 

15 September 2017, UN Headquarters

Remarks at Peace Day Student Observance

I am very happy to see so many youth, so many young people here at the United Nations. I think the United Nations has not been able until now to truly reengage with young generations. We have a number of rituals and ways of doing things that sometimes makes it difficult for us to engage with young people and for young people to understand what United Nations is about and what we are really doing here.
 

12 September 2017, General Assembly

Remarks at opening of 72nd session of the General Assembly

Excellencies,
Ladies and Gentlemen,
 
Let me begin by once again congratulating our new President of the General Assembly Miroslav Lajčák.
 
He and I have had good discussions in recent months about our shared hopes for this session.
 
I have no doubt the Assembly is in very capable hands.
 

13 September 2017, UN Headquarters

Opening remarks at press conference prior to the opening of the 72nd Session of the General Assembly

Secretary-General António Guterres addresses a press conference ahead of the general debate of the 72nd session of the General Assembly beginning on 19 September. UN Photo/Mark Garten

Ladies and gentlemen of the media. Thank you very much for your presence. It’s good to meet all of you once again.

We have a very busy week ahead. Global leaders will gather here next week at a time when our world faces major threats – from the nuclear peril to global terrorism, from inequality to cybercrime. Hurricanes and floods around the world remind us that extreme weather events are expected to become more frequent and severe, due to climate change.

12 September 2017, UN Headquarters

Remarks at wreath laying ceremony commemorating 56th anniversary of the death of Secretary-General Dag Hammarskjöld

Excellencies,
Ladies and gentlemen,
 
This annual observance honours and celebrates the life and achievements of Dag Hammarskjöld.
 
I am glad that we continue to persist in trying to shed light on the circumstances of his death.
 
We owe him a great debt.
 
Dag Hammarskjöld not only believed in the United Nations, he inspired so many others to believe in it, too.
 
We need that spirit more than ever today.
 

11 September 2017, General Assembly

Remarks at closing of the 71st session of the General Assembly

Mr. President,
Excellencies,
 
Let me begin with a warm and heartfelt thank you to President of the 71st session of the General Assembly Peter Thompson.
 
Thank you for your vision.  Thank you for your energy.  Thank you for your unmistakable assertive voice that may have given some of us flashbacks to our grammar school principals! 
 
But most of all thank you for helping to steer the Member States to a solid record of achievement over the past year.
 
Day in and day out, you brought us together.
 

08 September 2017, UN Headquarters

Remarks at Staff Day Opening Ceremony and Memorial Wreath Laying

Thank you, Ms. Bibi Sherifa Khan, President of the United Nations Staff Union.
 
It is a pleasure to join you for Staff Day.
 
This is a day to recognize the remarkable staff who bring the United Nations to life around the world and around the clock.
 
Today we celebrate also our ideals: Peace.  Sustainable development.  Human Rights.  Solidarity.  And compassion.
 
It is also a day to celebrate the skills, commitments and talent that UN staff demonstrate in so many ways, and on so many challenges.