STATEMENT BY AMBASSADOR BURHAN GAFOOR, PERMANENTREPRESENTATIVE OF SINGAPORE TO THE UN, AT THE INFORMAL MEETING OF THE PLENARY TO HEAR A BRIEFING BY THE PRESIDENT OF THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY ON HIS PRIORITIES FOR THE RESUMED PART OF THE 79TH SESSION, 14 JANUARY 2025

Mr President,

Let me begin by thanking you for convening this meeting and for briefing us on your priorities. I would also like to thank you for your leadership of the 79th Session, in particular your very steadfast and strong leadership of the High-Level Week of the 79th Session, which led to the adoption of the Pact for the Future in September. I take this opportunity to also express my deep appreciation to all the Chairs of the Main Committees for their stellar work and substantive outcomes over the last few months.

Mr President,

I thank you for outlining your priorities for the remainder of the Session. We also endorse and welcome the signature events that you have identified. The theme of your presidency “Unity in diversity, for the advancement of peace, sustainable development and human dignity for everyone everywhere” remains highly relevant as we continue to find ways toadvance our common interests in an increasingly troubled geopolitical environment. Eighty years after the founding of the United Nations, we can all agree, I believe, that the role of the United Nations has become more critical than ever to secure our collective future.

Mr President,

I endorse in particular, your comment that we are living through a period of great opportunity and that we must seize these opportunities. It is true that we face many challenges, but there is no reason for pessimism or passivity. We need to be proactive but also pragmatic, and seize every opportunity to strengthen the United Nations and the multilateral system.

I wish to make three particular points for your reference.

First, it is important to reinforce the role of the General Assembly as an arena for dialogue and as a vehicle for peace and security. Over the last few months and years, the General Assembly has demonstrated its ability to find solutions when the Security Council has not always been able to discharge its responsibilities. In this regard, it is important to strengthen the role of the General Assembly in the domain of peace and security, and post-conflict peacebuilding. We welcome your signature event that is focused on the futureof peacekeeping operations, with a focus on Africa. In this regard, the work ofthe peacebuilding architecture review process is also very important and deserves our collective attention.

I would also like to underline the importance of the intergovernmental process that was established to revitalise the work of the General Assembly.This is a process that must be optimised to deliver concrete results and strengthen the role of the General Assembly.

The second point that I wish to make relates to implementation. Implementation is the key to strengthening the multilateral system and to rebuilding trust in the United Nations. Every process and every mandate that we have at the United Nations must start with a discussion on implementation. We must all implement what we have agreed, but we must also all resist the temptation to renegotiate what we have agreed. If we renegotiate everything that we have agreed at every meeting, then there will be no end to our work. In this regard, I welcome your initiative to organise a series of informal dialogues with a focus on the implementation of the Pact for the Future. The Pact for the Future is fundamentally about turbocharging the implementation of the Sustainable Development Goals, and it is also aboutmaking the United Nations future-ready. The informal dialogue that you intend to convene is therefore very much appreciated and very much needed,in particular the focus areas of means of implementation, monitoring and evaluation, and looking ahead. We will participate actively in these informal discussions.

The third point that I wish to make relates to the 80th anniversary of theUnited Nations. This is a significant milestone for all of us collectively and for the multilateral system as a whole. The 80th anniversary of the United Nationsis a moment for us to reflect and renew our commitment to the United Nations and to the principles of the Charter, but it is also an opportunity to re-energise the work of the United Nations and strengthen the institutions of this body. In this regard, we welcome your proposal to commemorate the 80th anniversary of the signing of the Charter in June 2025.

We have also taken note of your comments, and we welcome your ongoing informal consultations with regard to the need to commemorate the 80th Session at the opening of High-Level Week in September 2025. We think itwill be entirely appropriate and necessary to convene some kind of commemoration at the leaders’ level in September for the 80th anniversary of the United Nations. Indeed, the General Assembly has always commemorated previous decades, and it will be a conspicuous omission if we do not find a way to commemorate this significant milestone at the level of our leaders in September.

Mr President,

Let me conclude by assuring you that my delegation will work closely with you and with all delegations to advance the important work that we have for the remainder of the Session. I thank you very much for your attention.