Thank you, Mr President for this opportunity and your presentation.

I am delivering this statement on behalf of the EU and its Member States. The Candidate Countries North Macedonia, Montenegro, Serbia, Albania, the Republic of Moldova, Bosnia and Herzegovina and Georgia align themselves with this statement.

Mr President, in the current perfect storm, the UN is under unprecedented pressure. The multilateral system’s ability to deliver depends on the UN’s ability to deliver. Against this context and as we are approaching the Summit of the Future this September, your continuous efforts over the next months to a reformed UN are crucial. Thanks for sharing with us your impressive program for the year ahead.

I can assure you that the EU remains a staunch supporter of your endeavours, ready to work on global challenges with the view to overcoming them together.

I would like to convey three messages:

1. The EU will support all genuine efforts to make the UN and General Assembly deliver better

Multilateralism is a fundamental principle of the EU. It is the most effective means to govern global relations in a way that benefits all. We need to recommit to multilateralism if we want to achieve our joint priorities, working across all three pillars of the GA: peace and security, development and human rights. Only through our collective efforts can we promote a strong, effective, inclusive, and networked multilateral system, with a strengthened UN at its core, that delivers better for all.

For that, we need to break silos in our work at the GA. For example, human rights should not be reserved to the Third Committee, the fight against climate change should not be dealt with only in the Second Committee. They should instead be seen as cross-cutting issues. The same goes for peace and security issues.

Overall, the GA has to play an important role in addressing global crises. It should not be a witness, but an actionable body, notably by ensuring that the UN is not paralyzed when the Security Council is blocked.

Progress is needed on gender equality by putting women and girls at the center of our work. We also need to involve youth more systematically in our proceedings.

To succeed in all these endeavours, we need to build trust, break silos and build cross-regional unity. Now, maybe more than ever, is the time to showcase our collective strength and our commitment to partnerships.

2. The Summit of the Future offers us a unique opportunity to turn this ambition (unity) into reality.

Divisions need to be set aside and a shared, constructive agenda needs to be set. Our goal is clear: to bring the UN membership closer together and be more united than divided at the end of this process. We, as the EU and its Member States, intend to work with you and the whole UN membership constructively towards this goal.

Your leadership and guidance, Mr President, will be vital towards getting us to a substantial Summit in September, one with concrete, meaningful and tangible outcomes. Building upon the past year’s lessons learned, including the SDG Summit, it will be important to get it right and create a climate of trust and cooperation within this Assembly. You can count on our support.

3. Finally, the EU remains committed to the implementation of SDGs and to promote economic, social, and environmental sustainability

We must build on the momentum of the SDG Summit and this Assembly has a central role to play in the overview of the acceleration of the SDGs. “Global Gateway” is the EU’s contribution to support this acceleration in full partnership with beneficiary countries.  

Next to the Summit of the Future, the SIDS and LLDCs conferences, the 4^th international conference on Financing for Development and the World Social Summit in 2025 will be critical to advance the 2030 Agenda. We reconfirm our full support and partnership towards the Small Island and Landlocked Developing States.

To conclude, the EU firmly upholds the principles enshrined in the United Nations Charter and Universal Declaration of Human Rights. They are the compass of our collective action. We stand ready to collaborate with you and your team, Mr. President, with member states and with international partners and civil society, to make sure the UN General Assembly delivers for all.

I thank you.