UN role and reform

Thank you all for being here. Let me extend a special welcome – welcome back! – to Foreign Minister Malcorra. It is good to have her here again.

Today is a very meaningful occasion.

It is the 70th anniversary of the Advisory Committee on Administrative and Budgetary Questions. And it is the first time I have the chance to speak to you without budget issues on the table. Without being asked difficult questions from the ACABQ members. I feel free!

Since all of you are so adept at crunching data, today my brief speech will be based on numbers.

Let me start by thanking you for your support and wishing you every success as we begin our important work in 2016. Happy New Year to you all!

Ladies and Gentlemen,

There was great turbulence in 2015. As we address those troubles, let us take heart from the triumphs.

Good morning, Ladies and Gentlemen. It is a great pleasure to see you again.

Before I begin let me express my outrage over the attacks in Indonesia and Turkey and my condolences to the victims and people of those two countries.

Ladies and gentlemen,

I have just briefed the General Assembly on action we must take in the coming year. Let me reiterate two points.

First, we must get off to a fast start in implementing the two towering achievements of 2015: the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development and the Paris Agreement on Climate Change.

Let me begin by extending deep thanks to the Republic of South Africa for its able stewardship as the Chair of the Group of 77 and China throughout such a historic year for multilateralism.

I would also like to warmly welcome Thailand’s chairmanship of the Group of 77 and China, and look forward to working with you to ensure another year of success.

The year 2015 marked a turning point in our efforts to safeguard our planet and build a world of peace and sustainable prosperity for all.

Thank you all for adopting by consensus the programme budget for the 2016 and 2017 biennium.

Your hard work, unwavering commitment and flexible cooperation have contributed to reaching that agreement.

I applaud the Member States for this collective achievement. Our Secretariat staff were proud to support you in this successful endeavour.

Today I received the Report of the External Independent Review of the United Nations Response to Allegations of Sexual Exploitation and Abuse in the Central African Republic. I thank the Chair of the Panel, Ms. Marie Deschamps, a former Justice of the Supreme Court of Canada, and the other members, Ms. Yasmin Sooka, the Executive Director of the Foundation for Human Rights in South Africa, and Mr. Hassan Jallow, the Prosecutor of the United Nations International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda (ICTR), for their important work. I accept the broad findings of the Panel’s report.

Thank you very much. I am delighted to be back in Finland again to participate in the 60th anniversary celebration and thank you for your invitation and hospitality.

President Niinistö and I just held very productive talks to strengthen our partnership. We discussed the issues of refugees and migrants coming to Europe, sustainable development, countering violent extremism and climate change.

I have just come from the Climate Change negotiations which are now being held in Paris – and I will return there from here.

It is a pleasure to be with you today. I am grateful to the presidency of the United Kingdom for organizing this important meeting. This is the first time the Security Council will consider the recommendations of the High-Level Panel on Peace Operations and my implementation report. I hope this will be the start of sustained dialogue and action to strengthen United Nations peace operations.

Your Excellency Ambassador LIU Jieyi, Permanent Representative of China to the United Nations,
Ambassador ZHANG Qiyue, Consul General of China,
Mr. ZENG Laide, Deputy President of National Academy of Paintings,
Professor ZHOU Bin,
Ms. ZHANG Yijun,
Ladies and Gentlemen,

It is a pleasure to join you. I thank the Permanent Mission of China and all those involved in making this gathering possible.

Calligraphy is one of the world’s greatest and oldest artistic traditions. It is also a shared cultural heritage of China, Japan and Korea.

Your Excellency Ambassador Sebastiano Cardi, Permanent Representative of Italy to the United Nations,
Mr. Manny Parks, board member of the International Photographic Council,
Mr. Kelvin Miller, Corporate Vice President of LifeTouch,
Excellencies,
Ladies and Gentlemen,

I am pleased to join you for the opening of two exhibitions of photographs to mark the 70th anniversary of the United Nations.