General themes
Multilateralism at UNGA 81
Raised by 184 of 223 speakers. Read verbatim UN transcript quotes and select a time to hear the speech.
Speeches that raised multilateralism
Singapore · Day 5Vivian BalakrishnanThe bilateral and regional arrangements can complement global frameworks, but on their own, they cannot replace shared rules that apply universally.
A system built on individual coercive bargains would inherently be more volatile and more unstable.
And therefore, our thesis today is that multilateralism offers a different bargain, one that is in every state's enlightened national interests.
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Indonesia · Day 5SugionoWe have lived through financial crisis, a global pandemic, climate disasters, geopolitical rivalries and conflicts around the world.
With every transformation and every crisis, one lesson remains clear.
For peace and prosperity to endure, multilateralism must be resilient.
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Jamaica · Day 5Kamina Johnson SmithNew technologies, including artificial intelligence, offer extraordinary promise while presenting risks we have not yet fully understood.
And at the very moment when collective action is most needed, confidence in multilateralism itself is being tested.
Jamaica's position is clear.
10passages
Belize · Day 5John BriceñoMr. President, allow me first to congratulate you on your election to the presidency of the 81st session and to assure you of Belize's full support.
For more than 80 years, this organization has done what no single nation could.
It has held back conflict where it could and named it where it could not.
9passages
Iceland · Day 5Thorgerdur Katrín GunnarsdóttirPower is shifting, conflicts are multiplying, and there is a growing tendency to treat the rules and institutions of the international system as constraints belonging to another age.
But the United Nations was built precisely for times of uncertainty, to bring rules and restraints to an unpredictable world and to prevent conflict from descending into catastrophe.
The task of our generation is both to preserve the institutions built by those that came before us and also to remember the hard-earned wisdom on which they rest.
8passages
Germany · Day 5Johann WadephulSuch power carries responsibility not only towards customers, shareholders, or governments, but also to humanity.
And wherever power becomes global, responsibility must become global too.
The United Nations was created precisely for a moment such as this.
8passages
Malaysia · Day 5Mohamad Haji HasanBut perhaps the greatest danger is not any one crisis.
It is the growing belief that an international system cannot solve them.
This is the trust deficit confronting the UN today.
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San Marino · Day 5Luca BeccariWhen you cannot impose your will, dialogue matter.
And when the world is divided, institutions that bring states together matter.
This is why multilateralism is not an abstract concept for San Marino.
7passages
Tunisia · Day 5Mohamed Ali NaftiI wish him every success in leading the work of this session.
I would also like to express our deep appreciation and gratitude to the Secretary-General, Mr. Antonio Guterres, at the end of his term of office.
for his wise leadership in the service of peace, security, development, and justice, and for his tireless efforts to preserve the standing of the Organization and restore confidence in multilateral action at a time of extraordinary international complexity, when maintaining the effectiveness of the United Nations has become a demanding responsibility.
6passages
Cabo Verde · Day 5Francisco Avelino Vieira de CarvalhoIn this spirit, Cabo Verde reaffirms its faith in the United States in dialogue among nations.
in cooperation among peoples and in the primacy of law over the use of force.
In the face of wars, inequalities, and crisis confronting our world, we reaffirm our unwavering commitment to the Charter of the United Nations, to the sovereignty and territorial integrity of states, to the protection of civilian populations, and to the peaceful resolution of conflicts.
5passages
Lao People’s Democratic Republic · Day 5Thongsavanh PhomvihaneRestoring trust in our international system required us to uphold predictable support, honor commitments, and reaffirm our fidelity to the UN Charter.
For the Lao PDR, restoring and deepening trust begins with renewed commitment to inclusive multilateralism, with the United Nations at the core.
When dialogue is guided by mutual respect, transparency, and genuine cooperation, multilateralism yields tangible benefits for all people.
5passages
Cambodia · Day 5Sokhonn PrakIt is my great honor to pay tribute to Secretary-General Antonio Guterres for his steadfast leadership and dedicated service to the United Nations throughout his two mandates.
and for his unwavering commitment to multilateralism, peace and security, sustainable development, and the principle and purposes of the UN Charter during a decade marked by profound turbulence and transformation.
Mr. President, 81 year ago, In the aftermath of the devastation of the Second World War, the nation that founded our organization made a solemn pledge to save succeeding generations from the scourge of war.
5passages
Brunei Darussalam · Day 5Prince 'Abdul MateenDialogue becomes harder, multilateral institutions lose authority, the international order becomes more fragile, leaving smaller and more vulnerable states particularly exposed.
For Brunei Darussalam, multilateralism is not an intellectual concept.
It is the assurance that sovereignty and territorial integrity will be respected, that every nation, irrespective of size, has a voice, and that international law protects the weak as surely as it restrains the strong.
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Canada · Day 5Anita AnandInstead, we are diversifying our ties and building stronger relationships with new and old partners alike, so that our people can enjoy peace and prosperity.
We will prioritize decisive, effective action by forging issue-based coalitions of nations that share a sense of urgency on common challenges.
We believe that these coalitions are the most flexible, effective, and immediate way to address emerging global challenges.
5passages
China · Day 5Han ZhengWe must firmly safeguard the WTO-centered, rules-based, multilateral trading system, build an open world economy, jointly foster and strengthen new growth drivers, and see that economic globalization is inclusive and delivers benefits to all.
Third, We should advance exchanges and mutual learning among civilizations and rebuild unity and mutual trust through communication and dialogue.
Diversity has created splendor in the world.
4passages
Saudi Arabia · Day 5Prince Faisal bin Farhan Al SaudWe further express our profound thanks and appreciation to His Excellency Mr. Antonio Guterres, Secretary-General of the United Nations, for his continued effort in furthering the purposes of the UN.
Mr. President, the work of this session is taking place at a time when the world and the multilateral system are facing rapidly evolving and unprecedented challenges.
While crises and conflicts continue in many parts of the world, there is an increasing need to uphold the principles of the UN Charter, respect international law, and strengthen the effectiveness of international institutions in maintaining international peace and security and advancing sustainable development.
3passages
Zambia · Day 5Mulambo Hamakuni HaimbeThe President of the General Assembly, the Secretary-General, Excellencies, distinguished heads of state and government, ladies and gentlemen.
We congratulate you, Mr. President, on your election as the President of the 81st session of the United Nations General Assembly and pledge our cooperation and support during your tenure.
We also commend the Secretary-General for his strong leadership at a challenging time in our multilateral system.
3passages
Cameroon · Day 5Lejeune Mbella MbellaAnd with impotence, we watch the deterioration of international solidarity and multilateralism, as we see the appearance and strengthening of different blocks that are in confrontation when certain challenges antagonize their specific interests.
President, the time has come to return to the spirit and the very basics of the United Nations Charter.
At the same time, climate change is worsening and constitutes a concern at a planetary scale.
3passages
Holy See · Day 5Cardinal Pietro Parolinfor the good of the people and the church in the country.
The OLC encourages Azerbaijan and Armenia to consolidate the process of achieving a stable and lasting peace in the South Caucasus.
Mr. President, the transformation the world is facing, technological, geopolitical, social, will not wait for the activity or inactivity of the United Nations.
2passages
Philippines · Day 5Ma. Theresa LazaroMr. President, Excellencies, We meet at a perilous precipice, a tumultuous time marked by profound upheaval, relentless uncertainty, and deep unpredictability.
More than 50 active conflicts tear at the fabric of nations.
Geopolitical competition strains our multilateral institutions, and global trust is fading precisely when we need it most.
2passages
Russian Federation · Day 5Sergey LavrovLadies and gentlemen, through its foreign policy, Russia is trying to fix the situation in the world, working together with our allies and strategic partners, the BRICS, the SCO, the Eurasian Economic Union, the CIS, and the CSTO.
We are promoting an agenda which we can all get behind, a unifying agenda, concrete ideas and projects.
Today, what's coming to the fore is the topic of international information security.
2passages
India · Day 5Subrahmanyam JaishankarMr. President, Excellencies, ladies and gentlemen, namaskar from 1.4 billion people of Bharat.
We are gathered at this General Assembly when the United Nations enters its ninth decade.
It was founded to maintain international peace and security and take effective collective action to that end.
2passages
Sao Tome and Principe · Day 5Ilza Maria dos Santos Amado VazMr. President, Mr. Secretary-General, Heads of State and Government, ladies and gentlemen, it is a great honor for me to take the floor before this Assembly on behalf of the Government and the people of the Democratic Republic of Sao Tome and Principe.
Allow me first of all to congratulate his excellency, Mr. Kadi Loul Rahman, on his election as President of the 81st session of the General Assembly and to wish him every success in the discharge of his duties.
I would also like to express our appreciation to her excellency, Ms. Annalena Baerbock, for the work accomplished during the previous session of the General Assembly.
2passages
Micronesia (Federated States of) · Day 5Aren PalikI also extend Micronesia's appreciation to Secretary-General Antonio Guterres for your dedicated and steadfast service, principled leadership, and personal commitment to the values of the United Nations.
As you conclude your tenure, we honor your advocacy for the most vulnerable and your tireless efforts in strengthening multilateralism.
Micronesia stands in solidarity with all nations that have endured the recent waves of natural disasters around the world.
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Cuba · Day 5Bruno Eduardo Rodríguez ParrillaThe law of the jungle cannot be the future of humanity.
To prevent these practices, in addition to promoting peace and justice, the preceding generations founded the United Nations, and for decades they developed and enriched its activity.
Let us recover its role today, when we are perhaps still in time to do so, before the organization goes down in history as an unrealized dream of great promises.
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Nicaragua · Day 5Valdrack Ludwing Jaentschke WhitakerThere are many proposals that we have mentioned, and we wish to stress the strength that the BRICS countries, for instance, have shown in striving for better living conditions for their people and the right of all to achieve sustainable development in a complementary way.
We would like to recognize and pay tribute to all brothers and sisters throughout the world who believe in ideals, principles and values that are valuable to us all as humanity, to continue moving towards achieving the most important significant battle, which is to achieve peace so that we can defeat poverty once and for all.
It is in this battle that we all have to wage to achieve peace.
1passages
Belarus · Day 5Maxim RyzhenkovThat is why new formats of cooperation are emerging, the BRICS, the SCO, and regional economic and political alliances, and they are gaining momentum.
But we in Belarus do not see them as competitors to the UN, but rather as catalysts for necessary reform.
We have a recipe for restoring the UN to its intended purpose, and it's very simple.
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Tajikistan · Day 5Sirojiddin MuhriddinExcellencies, There is a wider lesson here.
Peace requires effective institutions, and international cooperation requires an effective United Nations.
This is why Tajikistan supports the ongoing UN reform process.
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Djibouti · Day 5Abdoulkader Houssein OmarThis theme is particularly relevant in the current international context.
We're living through a critical juncture exacerbated by the proliferation of conflicts, deepening existing crises and the emergence of conflicts and the emergence of new crises with devastating political, economic, humanitarian and security consequences.
In the face of these challenges, we must reaffirm the essential mission of the United Nations and strengthen a renewed, more inclusive and more effective multilateralism that takes full account of the interests of all States, large and small.
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Gabon · Day 5Marie-Édith Tassyla-Ye-DoumbenenyMr. President of the General Assembly, Mr. United Nations Secretary-General, Excellencies, Heads of Delegation, Ladies and Gentlemen.
President of the General Assembly, Allow me to begin by conveying to you the warm congratulations of His Excellency Mr. Brice Clotaire Oligui Nguema, President of the Gabonese Republic, on your outstanding election to preside over this 81st session of the General Assembly.
I wish to assure you right now of my delegation's full support and express the hope that your term of office will be marked by a spirit of listening and dialogue and by the tireless pursuit of compromise in the service of international peace and cooperation.
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- Guatemala · Day 5
Thank you very much.
The delegation of Guatemala exercises its right of reply in reference to the statement of Xun Bisenya, the Prime Minister of Belize, in today's general debate.
We would like to note the following.
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