🇹🇩Abdelmadjid Abdelrahim MahamatChad · UNGA 81 speech

Mr. President, ladies and gentlemen, heads of state and government, Secretary-General of the United Nations Organization, Distinguished delegates, ladies and gentlemen, the Marshal of Chad, Mahamat Idriss Deby Ino, President of the Republic, Head of State, who, because of pressing national issues, has given me this great honor of representing him and conveying his message to you at this august assembly. Mr. President, your election at the presidency of the 81st session of the General Assembly of our shared organization bears witness to the trust that the international community has placed in you and in your leadership. Please be assured of the full support of the Republic of Chad as you carry out your term. I would also like to thank Madam Annalena, outgoing president of the General Assembly, for heading up the work of the 80th regular session so brilliantly. At a time when he is preparing to move on from being the head of our organization, I would like, ladies and gentlemen, to pay a very sincere tribute to the Secretary-General, Mr. Antonio Guterres. His leadership and constant commitment to peace, conflict prevention, and multilateralism warrant our recognition and respect. Chad is grateful to him for his ongoing attention to the challenges that our country, the Lake Chad Basin, and Central Africa are confronted with. Mr. President, Excellencies, ladies and gentlemen, We are here today at a unique moment in the history of our organization. At a time when the UN is discussing crucial reforms and multilateralism is at a crossroads, the topic of this 81st session, Restoring Trust, Managing Transformation, is a very relevant topic. It summarizes the expectations of member states and the peoples of the world in all of their diversity vis-a-vis the UN. Each year, we adopt new resolutions and we reaffirm our commitments. Each year, we renew our faith in multilateralism. Nonetheless, conflicts persist. People are still awaiting justice. Will generations still grow up with fighting as their backdrop? Mr. President, Excellencies, Ladies and Gentlemen, Security Council reform illustrates alone this situation and this crisis of confidence. For decades now, positions have been well known, calls for reform have stacked up, and consultations have multiplied. but progress still remains insufficient. Chad reiterates to this end its complete support for the common African position, as stipulated in the Ezulwini Consensus and the Sirt Declaration, and taken up in the African model for reform of the Security Council, presented in April by Sierra Leone on behalf of the Committee of Ten of the African Union. Excellencies, Ladies and Gentlemen, Chad considers that those difficulties facing multilateralism stem in part from the cynicism of the most powerful and from double standards policies. My country remains committed to multilateralism that is based on the UN Charter, the sovereign equality of states, the respect for their independence, cooperation and international solidarity. Thus, the government of the Republic of Chad, on the 27th of July, 2026, informed the Secretary General of the United Nations as its depository of its sovereign and irrevocable decision to withdraw from the Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court. This decision follows an in-depth consideration of how the court has functioned since it was set up in 2002. The data provided by the court and the lessons learned from that have shown us that in several states and among their populations, one can detect that the focus of the judicial activity of the court is on developing countries and in particular on Africa, which has become the target of political instrumentalization. I'd like to be perfectly clear here. This choice does not mean we are renouncing our responsibilities, nor are we becoming a refuge against justice, and even less so are we being complacent in the face of impunity. We will continue to strengthen our national courts and support credible, independent and effective African mechanisms that can protect victims and prosecute the perpetrators of the most serious crimes. Excellencies, ladies and gentlemen, nationally speaking, by the grace of God and thanks to the maturity of its people, Chad remains a country of peace and stability, despite the numerous domestic challenges it faces and the crises that threaten its borders. The President of the Republic, the Marshal of Chad, Mahamat Idriss Deby Itno, as guarantor of these institutions, remains determined to maintain peace, to build national cohesion, and to create conditions for sustainable shared development. Excellencies, ladies and gentlemen, today, countries in the South are feeling the full brunt of climate change. Lake Chad is one of the most salient symbols of this, Its being vulnerable directly affects the means of subsistence of millions of people. We would therefore urge developed countries to uphold their commitments in terms of adaptation, resilience, loss and damages and technology transfer financing. Mr. President, the clear ambition that my country has for its development can only be achieved with peace, stability and security in our region and also in the world. The security situation in the Sahel and in the Lake Chad Basin demands our constant attention. Terrorist groups in the Lake Chad Basin, albeit weakened, continue to plunge our countries into mourning. Regarding Libya, Chad is delighted that the dialogue under the auspices of the Special Representative of the Secretary-General of the UN has been resumed, whilst hoping for a swift settlement of the dispute. In the Central African Republic, Chad has discreetly and consistently striven for mediation. This led on the 19th of April 2025 to the signature of a ceasefire agreement between the Central African Republic government and two of the main armed groups of the country. More recently in Haiti, Chad responded to the call from our organization. We decided to deploy 1,500 service personnel to the Gang Suppression Force authorized by the Security Council, and that is about a quarter of the planned amount. Through its constant vision for years now, Chad has remained one of the main African contributors of troops to peacekeeping operations throughout the world. Your Excellencies, ladies and gentlemen, This solidarity that we project outwards is something we also experience every day within our own borders. Since April 2023, more than a million Sudanese refugees have crossed our eastern border, fleeing a bloody conflict. Along with displaced persons from other regional crises, my country is currently hosting more than 2 million people who've been forcibly displaced. One person out of 17 in my country is today a refugee. From this rostrum, I would like to solemnly reiterate and reaffirm Chad's position regarding the Sudanese conflict. Our country has observed since the very first day of the war, strict, absolute and unchanged neutrality. I would like to say this very firmly. My country does not support any of the parties to the conflict in Sudan and in no way authorizes the use of its territory or its infrastructure to their benefit. Chad reiterates its commitment to peace in Sudan. and reiterates its support for all initiatives, including those of the Quad and the Quintet, seeking to establish a ceasefire and to promote dialogue between the warring parties. Your Excellencies, ladies and gentlemen, I cannot now remain silent regarding the serious nature of that which is directly affecting our sovereignty. Over recent days, the Energy East province within our country has been the theatre of air strikes linked to the conflict in Sudan. Chad condemns in the strongest possible terms these new incursions. They are an unacceptable violation of our territorial integrity, and Chad reserves the right to take all necessary measures in line with international law to protect its population and its sovereignty if this occurs again. Mr. President, your excellencies, ladies and gentlemen, I would also from this rostrum like to stress how concerned my country is with the crisis in the Gulf region and the repercussions of this on the global economy. Loyal to the principles of the Charter, Chad rejects any act of aggression against a sovereign State and condemns, to this end, the air strikes against the Islamic Republic of Iran and, along the same lines, Chad very firmly condemns the Iranian attacks against the fraternal countries of the Gulf Cooperation Council and Jordan, as well as the drone attack on 29 July in the Egyptian port of Damietta. We would urge all parties to demonstrate restraint and to promote dialogue. Regarding the Middle East, Chad remains seriously concerned by ongoing violence and humanitarian suffering in Gaza. Sticking to its unwavering position, my country reiterates its unfailing commitment to the right of the Palestinian people to have their own state in the 1967 borders, alongside a state of Israel that lives in peace and security. As we do each year on this same occasion, we call once again for the lifting of the economic and trade embargo imposed on Cuba and on its people. Mr. President, Your Excellencies, Ladies and Gentlemen, Restoring Trust, Managing Transformation. first and foremost requires consistency between what we declare here and what we do when the microphones are turned off. The choices that Chad makes, the responsibilities that it shoulders, and the sacrifices that it makes all stem from the belief that multilateralism only has a future if it knows how to reform, if it can correct any imbalances, and if the same principles can be applied to all. Chad remains firmly committed to the ideals that prevailed at the time of the establishment of the United Nations. Despite disappointments, we still believe in the force of law against the right to use force. We believe in a more representative organization of the world as it is now, more effective in its work, and truly delivering for all. Long live international cooperation. Long live Chad. I thank you.