Andreas S. Kakouris - Informal interactive dialogue for the position of President of the General Assembly for the 81st Session

Good morning, good to see you all for the whole day.
I call to order the informal interactive dialogue with the candidate for the position of president of the General Assembly for its 81st session.
I welcome you all to this meeting.
Members will recall that in its resolution 71 stroke 323 of September 8th, 2017, the Assembly decided in full respect of the established principle of geographical rotation and its resolution 33 stroke 138 of December 19th, 1978, to conduct informal interactive dialogues with the candidates for the position of president of the assembly.
Thus contributing to the transparency and inclusivity of the process and called upon candidates to present to the assembly their vision statements.
Furthermore, the Assembly in its Resolution 73 stroke 341 of September 12, 2019, called upon the president to organize the informal interactive dialogue as a question and answer session with targeted and relevant questions that serves as a follow up to the vision statement of the candidates and draws on the plans and priorities of each candidate for his or her term and emphasized the need to provide enough time so that all participants would have the opportunity to put forward questions.
As the current president of the General Assembly, I would like to add that the interactive dialogues with candidates for the president of the General Assembly offer each of you a critical opportunity to assess the candidates vision, priorities, and leadership approach.
This practice is essential to ensuring transparency, inclusivity, and accountability in the selection process.
It is essential to ensuring that the selected candidate can step up and meet this moment head on with the commitment and determination it requires.
Let us recall that the 81st session will be particularly consequential with the convergence of multiple processes and workstreams, including the ongoing selection process for the next Secretary-General, the UN 80 Reform Initiative, and related reforms, as well as the implementation of the Pact for the future.
Added to this, There are the continued challenges facing the organization, including liquidity constraints, political headwinds, and multiple global crises.
We must ensure that the work we started, especially on reforms does not slow down but continues in the picks up space, particularly as we know that the headwinds will not slow down nor subsidize in the near future.
The next president of the General Assembly should thus be able to play a key role in each of these areas, simultaneously prioritizing the work of the General Assembly while ensuring a realistic and cohesive alignment between the work of the assembly and available resources.
Throughout the 81st session, a balanced and inclusive approach will be critical to empowering member states, fostering unity and solidarity and supporting consensus building.
The Assembly will now hold an informal interactive dialogue with Mr.
Andreas Kakures of Cyprus.
The candidates vision statement was circulated in my letter dated March 5th, 2026.
As reflected in my letter dated April 28th, 26, the dialogue with the candidate will last up for 3 hours and we'll begin with a presentation for up to 10 minutes by the candidate of vision statement for the presidency, followed by an interactive exchange.
Delegations wishing to take the floor can do so by pressing the microphone button and delegations wishing to speak on behalf of a group of states are requested to approach the Secretariat to be given priority.
Interventions from member states will be on a first come first served basis, bearing in mind requests from groups.
Member states are encouraged to ask concise questions with interventions not exceeding 2 minutes for individual delegations and 3 minutes for groups.
Time limits will be strictly enforced by way of microphone cutoff.
A timer will be projected on screen to assist speakers to observe the time limit.
The microphone will start blinking 30 seconds before the time limit elapses.
The candidate will be given the opportunity to respond immediately to each intervention.
The response should be as well, not more than 2 minutes for question from delegation speaking national capacity and not more than 3 minutes from delegations speaking on behalf of a group of member states.
I remind candidates I will grant you your excellencies of their time limit.
The candidate will also have an opportunity to respond to the questions from the other stakeholders selected through the website of the president of the Assembly prior to the dialogue.
In line with the overall objective of increasing the transparency, inclusivity of the process, this informal interactive dialogue is webcast.
If I may remind you, asking seven questions in 2 minutes is impossible to answer in 2 minutes as well.
If you could be also as sharp and short in the amount of the questions.
By this, I now have the honor to give the floor to Mr.
Dakkurs to present his vision statement for the presidency.
Please, you have the floor.
Thank you, Madam President, Excellencies, under Secretary-General, civil society members, delegates.
It is an absolute pleasure and honor for me to be here with you this morning and thank you, Madam President for facilitating this interactive dialogue.
In fact, it's rather humbling.
To be seated here in front of you as Cyprus candidate nominee for the presidency of the 81st session.
I've had the pleasure of meeting many of you both individually and in your regional groups, and it's wonderful to see you again.
Those that I have not had the chance to meet yet, I look forward to doing so in the coming period.
Um, Madam President, I think in your opening remarks, you've highlighted exactly the consequential General Assembly coming up.
Each General Assembly, of course, is consequential and vitally important, but the constellation of events that the 81st session will be faced with make it even more important.
We mentioned the ongoing process for a Secretary-General, UN reform, UN 80 initiative, the PAC for the future, SDGs.
All of those coming together during the eight first session.
Should I be honored with your trust, then I look forward to working with each and every one of you to take those issues forward.
Um, my vision statement, which I hope you've had the chance to see refers to the UN as our home, our future, our responsibility.
I choose those words very, very carefully because it is a home.
It's not a house, it's not a construct.
It's much more than that.
It's a sense of belonging and that's where we all belong to.
It is our future because if we didn't have a United Nations, we would need to have one.
But I wonder in today's fragmented world whether we could actually conceive of the United Nations and a charter that was conceived 80 years ago.
But ultimately, it is our responsibility How we treat multilateralism, how we treat the United Nations, that is down to us and there are many facets to that, including making this organization work better, be more inclusive, and deliver for those that it should deliver to, which is our people.
We'll have the chance during the question and answers to go into issues in more depth, but I thought that it would be important this morning for you to have a better idea of who I am, should I be chosen or honored with that position of president of the General Assembly.
I come from Cyprus, a small island in the Eastern Mediterranean that I would say is a lighthouse whose beam reaches Africa, Asia, Europe, three continents.
That has over time allowed us to engage with different people and try to bring them together.
That is our value added, I would say.
We're not north, we're not south, we're not east, we're not west.
We're all of those.
We're global central.
That has again allowed us to play a role in bringing people together.
I joined the foreign service in 1984.
My first posting was here in New York, both at the consulate and at the United Nations.
I apologize to colleagues who have heard me say this before, but I was honored to walk through those doors on 42nd Street back then to come into this building with the belief that this organization is what we needed.
That belief in 1984 is even stronger today after 42 years in the service.
I look to maybe some of the younger colleagues in this room.
I hope that when you first walked in through those doors here in New York, that when you reach my tender age, you will feel exactly the same after so many years.
I'm a firm believer in the United Nations.
I'm a firm believer in multilateralism, as is my country, a UN minded country.
Cyrus put in its candidature in 2016, having seen at the time whether anybody else for the Asia Pacific Group had put in a candidature, none had.
I We're a small island state, as I said, we have not served as president of the General Assembly.
I believe fervently that everybody, small or large should be given that opportunity to serve.
With that service comes responsibility and it's the weight of responsibility that I feel should I be chosen to lead you into the next General Assembly.
I have particular sensitivities, of course, being a small state.
The UN charter, the UN.
This is our sword and our shield, respect for international law, the purposes and principles of the charter.
That is what we have as small states, but I think that's what we have all of us collectively and we need to cherish that.
It is a building that's 80-years-old.
I've said this to others I'm younger than that.
But on occasions I get aches and pains.
I take to Advil and those aches and pains go away.
We are the advil for the United Nations at this particular moment in time to make sure that it functions effectively, inclusively, that it delivers to move from decisions to implementation to delivery, and that rests with each and every one of us here today.
I am should I be chosen, you will have a full time president.
I say this in all candor.
What you see is what you get.
An individual that is committed, that believes in the UN, that would work with you and my own style over 42 years of service has been to listen to individuals, not talk at people.
Because I think the one thing that is vitally important today is that we reintroduce the notion of dialogue in our work, not just to make our speech and switch off, but to engage in dialogue so we can deal with those issues that are fundamental to each and every one of us, that are fundamental to the international community at a time when multilateralism is questioned, when this organization is seen not in the most positive outlook.
I want to move that what I call the narrative of failure that is beginning to permeate people's thinking because when the focus is as understandable on a security council and when it's deadlocked or gridlocked and unable to move forward, we all get painted with the same brushstroke.
And I want to move that narrative of failure to a narrative of success and also a narrative of accomplishments so our people know what the United Nations has delivered, is delivering, and will deliver.
But we need to do a better job of aid delivery and secondly, informing our people of what it has done.
Very briefly, and I say this and I've said this on occasions, I It took COVID for us to recognize that 85% of world trade is carried by ships.
That's the IMO.
I get on a flight, I feel safe, that's the coal.
All those agencies and satellites of the United Nations that we take for granted.
The UN is not just the mother ship here.
It is Geneva, it is Nairobi.
It's all the other organizations, the World Food Organizations, WHO, UNICEF, that contribute on a daily basis and we need to get that message out there as well.
With those few words, I'm honored to have been nominated.
I will be extremely honored if you place your trust in me to lead you into the 81st session.
Thank you.
I thank Mr.
Kakuris.
Before we begin our interactive dialogue, I would like to remind participants that there is no pre established list of speakers and delegations wishing to take the floor can do so by pressing their microphone button.
Delegations wishing to speak on behalf of a group of states are requested to approach the Secretariat to be given priorities.
Speakers will be given the floor in order of inscription.
As a first speaker, I now give the floor 1 second.
To the European Union on behalf of the European Union and its member states, followed by Guyana and Spain.
Thank you, Madam President.
I have the honor to speak on behalf of the European Union and its member states.
We do so as active promoters of the central role of the General Assembly and committed political, financial and operational backers of the implementation of GA mandates under all three pillars.
In every instance, we are focused on building the necessary trust across regional partnerships and compromises to ensure the broadest possible consensus in all GA processes and mandates.
We will support all efforts of the next PGA to ensure that the assembly remains a credible platform for dialogue, collective action, and cooperation over division.
In our view, the next PGA must represent the full membership, ensure advancing the work of the General Assembly across all three pillars, safeguard the GAs normative authority, ensure the effective implementation of its decisions, and support the continued progress in the UNAD reform agenda.
Against this backdrop, we would like to ask the following two questions.
First, what concrete initiatives will you propose to build further trust, cooperation, and dialogue among the UN membership? And what distinct experiences from your personal background will you be bringing to the role to reduce polarization during your tenure? Second, how would you concretely help promote the effective implementation of GA resolutions as also mandated by the recent resolution on UN AD mandate reform.
How in your view could the PGA himself or herself and GA committees become more engaged and effective in the implementation of GA mandates, including those created by the Pact of the future? Thank you.
I thank the distinguished representative of the European Union on behalf of the EU and its member states.
Please, Mr.
Kakurs.
Thank you.
Thank you, President, and thank you very much for those questions.
I think they go to the very heart of the UN.
It's about our credibility and the effectiveness of the General Assembly and how we move decisions to implementation to delivery.
I think the credibility of the United Nations depends also on the ability to sustain attention and on the issues at hand.
Implementation, of course, is also closely linked to delivery, including financing, technology, capacity building.
In my view, it's important that we keep the perspectives and priorities of small states of the developing world into account.
We need to have more systematic follow up on adopted resolutions, not just the negotiations of new mandates.
Maybe promoting more interactive briefings as well on avoiding duplication, which would be important.
The main committees which you mentioned are fundamental, I think, to the effectiveness and should play a stronger role in the follow up and accountability.
At the same time though, implementation efforts must be realistic, balanced, and member state driven.
I think the objective is not to create more bureaucracy, but to improve coherence, visibility, and delivery on existing mandates and structures.
Confidence in multilateralism is built both on process and results.
I think it's important when we talk about process, that everybody feels engaged and involved in the process in order to then feel invested in the outcome.
I think that trust is strengthened when the member states see the Assembly working fairly, transparently, and inclusively.
So going back to what I had said before, I think the importance of working with them with the main committees, including the general committee as well, finding those areas where we can build on the work that's been done I'm of the view that nobody has a monopoly of good ideas.
So I would want to engage with each and every one of you to see how we can tweak our working methods to make them more effective.
Two minds are better than one as they say, and I would engage in that way.
So I should have said in my opening statement, but I'll say it now because it is important to say, Should I be chosen, I would be the president for 193 countries.
No one country, not one region, not one group, but each and every one of you, small and large, east, west, north and south.
Thank you.
Thank you.
I now give the floor to the distinguished representative of Guyana on behalf of Caricm followed by Spain and Andorra.
Thank you, Madam President and thank you to Ambassador Andrés Kapoores for sharing his vision for the presidency of the 81st session of the General Assembly.
I have the honor to speak on behalf of the 14 member states of the Caribbean community, Caricom.
Arcm welcomes this dialogue and the opportunity to engage with the nominated candidates for the position of president of the General Assembly.
The group underscores that the Office of the PGA as the main policy making organ of the UN remains critical in addressing the issues of all UN member states and must continue to be fully accessible to all of them.
We also stress the important role of the PGA in upholding the principles and purposes of the UN Charter in an inclusive, transparent, and impartial manner.
Now, for our questions, we have five.
One, in what concrete ways do you plan to further strengthen the role of the General Assembly as the most representative body of the UN, particularly in ensuring that the voices of developing countries continue to be amplified and their inputs incorporated into global initiatives.
Two, regarding the UN A initiative, how would you advance or strengthen the role of the General Assembly in shaping the reforms that are being considered? Three, can you elaborate on your plans in relation to bolstering the role and cooperation of the General Assembly with other organs of the UN, including the Security Council? Four, as we move closer to 2030, acceleration on the implementation of the 2030 agenda and the achievement of its 17 sustainable development goals remains urgent? What steps do you think are needed to bolster implementation of the 2030 agenda and to ensure that the post 2030 development framework has a solid foundation on which to build? And finally, as PGA, how would you ensure greater focus on the means of implementation for climate action, particularly the delivery of adaptation finance for com and other vulnerable developing states? I thank you.
I thank the Distinguished Representative of Guyana.
Please, you have the floor.
Thank you, President and thank you very much, Ambassador.
My problem is I cannot see exactly where you are, so I can address you.
There you go, directly.
Thank you.
I when it comes to the General Assembly, I feel very strongly that one thing that we need to do, particularly today, when we have talked about the challenges that exist with the Security Council is to amplify the voice of the General Assembly.
Is the only organ where we are all present and each have a voice.
I would want to, as I said, amplify that voice to make it more visible and in that respect, we have a responsibility too as member states, to make sure that what we agree to we stick to.
And that we implement and therefore deliver to our people.
The UN 80 initiative is moving a pace, and of course, we all want it to move to where it will lead us to a more effective and efficient UN.
But reform is not a single process.
It's not a single day.
It's a continuum as well.
So we need to make sure that whilst we are moving forward in the UN 80, that we also keep track of what else can be done to improve the General Assembly and the workings of the UN.
I firmly believe in the importance of engaging the other main organs of the United Nations, including the Security Council, EcoSOc as well, because it is important that there is complementarity, that there is coordination, that the left hand knows what the right hand is doing.
I think the only way we can do that is if we speak to each other much more and I would be fully engaged in seeking that cooperation with the other main organs.
The 2030 the 2030 agenda vitally important.
We know that the SDGs are not moving collectively at the pace that we want them to.
Some have even progressed.
But next year, I think is vitally important at the halfway stage to see where we are, to recalibrate and to make sure that we do meet the 2030 agenda.
It's important not to look at the moment past 2030, but to do everything we can to make sure that we reach 2030 in the way that we hope to with the SDGs that were adopted.
On climate very briefly, of course, this is an issue that is very dear to my own country as well and we see the effects of climate change across the world.
I The General Assembly is not going to replace the organs and the institutions that have been dealing with climate change, UNF, AAC, for example, what I think is the place where we are all present, we can elevate the significance of those issues and make sure that they remain on the radar screen, to the center of the radar screen on what is an issue that affects each and every one of us.
Thank you.
Thank you very much.
Just as a reminder to all of us how much we need UN AD reform and that we're in the midst of a liquidity crisis and everybody should pay their contributions, you can see that the electronics are not working at the front of this podium, meaning also not really at the screamer here and we have to ensure that the timer is here because otherwise, Mr.
Kakurs cannot see the time, so it will show up then up.
Up here.
Thank you very much.
Next speaker will be the Swedish representative of Spain on behalf of the group of friends of Spanish, followed by the friends of the Franco Fi, Andorra, and Norway.
Thank you very much, Madam President.
I have the honor to take the floor on behalf of the Gus of Spanish comprising Spanish speaking member states of the United States.
It's appropriate to recall that Spanish is the second most widely spoken mother tongue in the world, one of the six official languages of the organization.
It is also one of the working languages of the Security Council, Echo and the General Assembly, we thank the candidacy for the presentation of his candidacy.
And for my part, I wish to underscore that multilingualism is a founding principle of the United Nations enshrined in its charter and reaffirmed by this Assembly in subsequent resolutions, the most recent of which was 78 slash 330.
Effective parity across the six official languages is a vital prerequisite for the inclusion, transparency, and democratic legitimacy of our work, as well as in order to ensure that all member states are able to exercise rather their rights on an equal footing.
Taking note of the commitment entered into by the current president of the General Assembly, that is to incorporate multilingualism into the daily work of our office, something we're very grateful for.
With a diverse team which represents all regional groups, our group wishes to share the following views to get your view on them.
Firstly, the group believes it is vital to guarantee that the team within the office of the PJ has the real capacity to work in the six official languages, including Spanish.
Voluntary contributions and second should be leveraged as necessary to make it possible.
Secondly, the group attaches particular importance to the effective use of the six official languages in the working practice of the presidency itself in the statements of the president in public communications on the web page, social media, in informal consultations and in all the events which are convened.
That would be a decisive contribution to reducing the ongoing gap between English and the other official languages as repeatedly flagged by this very assembly.
Lastly, in view of the increasing incorporation of AI technologies and machine translation into the UN system, our group believes it timely for the presidency to promote at the 81st session, a thematic debate or high level event on the impact of artificial intelligence on multilingualism.
This event should be designed to ensure that these tools strengthen but never substitute the real paroative for six official languages.
Thank you very much.
I thank the distinguished representative from Spain, please, Mr.
Cacus.
Thank you, President.
Thank you very much indeed for your question, which of course is an extremely important one.
Multilingualism is not merely a technical or administrative issue.
It is a condition for inclusivity, legitimacy, and sovereign equality.
I very much believe in that and my own vision statement was translated into the six official languages of the United Nations.
I will follow the lead of previous PGAs on the significance and importance of multilingualism and referring specifically to your point about the office of the president of the General Assembly.
Yes, I very much believe that apart from it being professional to have the expertise, to have the gender and regional balance, that there needs to be a linguistic engagement as well.
In that respect, I would seek to have the official languages of the United Nations as part of my team.
You mentioned secondments.
Yes, seconds are vitally important and that would be one issue that I would also look at as I go forward, should I be chosen as PGA, to have an office that is representative, not only regionally gender based, but also linguistically.
Thank you.
Thank you.
I now give the floor to the distinguished representative of Andorra on behalf of the group of Francophone ambassadors, followed by Norway and our first civil society organization.
Good morning, everyone.
Thank you, Madam President.
Behalf of Francophone ambassadors.
I would like at the outset to thank you for this interactive dialogue with candidates for PGA 81.
I'd like to here also thank Mr.
Cakes for presenting your vision to us.
The presidency of this Assembly is always an occasion to reaffirm our collective commitment to the UN's fundamental values.
As you know, the group of Francophone ambassadors is strongly committed to promoting and defending multilingualism.
In the context of the reforms underway, we'd like to note the role you plan to give to this principle as you carry out your mandate if you are elected president of the General Assembly.
Similarly to my colleague from Spain, what do you plan to do with the initiatives launched by your predecessor, especially that of the president of the 79th General Assembly, who established a working group on multilingualism and a plan of action to strengthen the six official languages in the work of the General Assembly? And institutionalize the multilingualism within your role as president, as well as improve equitable access of member states to information and official documentation.
As you said, diversity in the UN ought to be fully reflected not only in our interventions and official documentation, but also in the composition of your cabinet.
We're pleased to hear your responses to these concerns.
The GFA places great importance in particular on these issues which beyond words reflect the values of the UN in service of the people of the world.
Thank you.
C, I thank the Distinguished representative for Vandor on behalf of the group of Francophone ambassadors.
Please, Mr.
Kaag.
Thank you, Madam President.
Thank you, Ambassador for that question dovetailing the question by the distinguished representative of Spain.
I will just begin first, I apologize.
I should have said ambassadors ambassador Franco tion.
That is something that I will be improving on myself.
But as I said, multilingualism is not just a technical or an admin issue.
It's a condition for inclusivity, legitimacy, and sovereign equality.
It gains.
It gives expression to the universal character of the United Nations and also ensures that member states, particularly the smaller ones, can participate on an equal footing in the work of the GA.
I will continue to build on the work of previous presidents and also the important initiatives undertaken in the 79th session on the working group on multilingualism and the action plan.
I I think there's a growing recognition as well that multilingualism should not be seen solely within the confines of conference services, but as an essential component of multilaterlism.
That's particularly important, as I mentioned, for the smaller states, to have timely access to documentation and information.
If I am chosen, I would work with member states and the Secretariat to support continuity and follow through.
Dam.
Ultimately, multilateralism multilingualism is not just about language.
It's about the universality of the United Nations and one that I would respect should I be honored as president of the General Assembly in my office as well.
I will just as a sidebar mention that I attended at the end of last week the reception of the Portuguese speaking members and the importance of multilingualism expressed there as well.
So the more that we can do in that using artificial intelligence and new technology, but remembering the importance of human oversight into that.
And if I may just end by expressing my thanks to the interpreters up there and to the translators for the incredible work that you do in ensuring that multilingualism is alive and well, at least in these meetings.
Thank you.
Thank you.
I now give the floor to the distinguished representative of Norway on behalf of the Accountability coherence and Transparency Group Act, followed by the Civil Society Organization Center of Youth Policy and Iceland.
Thank you, President.
I am indeed honored to take the floor on behalf of the 27 members of the Act group.
President, thank you also for convening today's important discussion.
Mr.
Kokurs, thank you for your engagement and openness.
The Act group has two questions.
Firstly, we are living in a time marked by increasing threats to international peace and security.
In particular, the number of interstate conflicts is rising.
Now, while the Security Council has the primary responsibility for the maintenance of international peace and security, the General Assembly also has an important role to play in this regard.
How do you see the role of the General Assembly in contributing to the maintenance of international peace and security, particularly when the council is unwilling or unable to act? Secondly, the appointment of the next Secretary-General by the General Assembly is, as mentioned at the beginning, an important process.
Now, it could take place early in your tenure as PGA should you be chosen.
We would therefore be interested to hear your views on ensuring the GEAs meaningful role in that process, including how you would shape the process within the General Assembly, particularly with regard to ensuring greater transparency and which issues would you place particularly emphasize on.
Thank you.
I thank the distinguished representative of Norway on behalf of the group, Mr.
Kaag.
Thank you, President.
Thank you, Ambassador.
It's good to see you again.
Two very important questions, of course.
Yes, under the Chara, primary responsibility for peace and security is given to the Security Council.
But the General Assembly has an important role to play, particularly as you mentioned, when the Security Council is gridlocked or unable to move forward.
We do have powers given to the GA to raise those issues in the General Assembly as well.
We've seen, for example, the Veto Initiative as one clear example of that.
Special session, special emergency sessions.
We do have tools at our disposal.
As president of the General Assembly, I will of course be guided by the membership as well.
The appointment of the next Secretary-General, vitally important, and this may be a process that drips into the next General Assembly.
The president has already started that process when we had the interactive dialogues.
There is a process.
It's an important process and one that I'm benefiting from as well within the confines of the presidency of the General Assembly.
Um the role of the General Assembly, in my humble opinion, is not just to rubber stamp what the Security Council brings to us.
We've had the interactive dialogue, and I think when the Security Council does bring a name or names to the General Assembly, then we need to give it the attention and the seriousness that we should give to that important position of Secretary-General of the UN.
Thank you.
Thank you.
I now give the floor to the representative of Civil Society, the Center of Youth Policy.
I speak today on behalf of over 140 young elected officials around the world that make up the Center for Youth Policy.
Your Excellency, you've spoken about amplifying voices, gender, and linguistic, but I didn't hear much about young people.
The UN has made a significant commitment to young people from the Youth Peace and Security agenda to the Declaration on Future Generations in the Pact for the future.
These are not minor commitments.
They reflect years of negotiation and genuine political will from member states.
However, the implementation remains uneven and the gap between commitment and delivery is widening.
Youth participation across the UN system is still more often consultation, rather than power where young people are invited to speak like me, but rarely get to decide.
Your vision statement commits to clear benchmarks and traceable implementation.
My first question is whether that commitment extends specifically to youth.
Will you name existing youth commitments, including those in the declarations on future generations as an explicit benchmark category during the 81st session and will you support a structured accountability moment to assess member states delivery on them? My second question is about who does the reviewing.
When implementation is assessed, the room is typically filled with senior diplomats and civil society representatives.
But young people with actual political mandates, elected parliamentarians, ministers, local counselors are absent from that process.
You ensure that any accountability mechanism for youth commitments during your presidency includes young people and elected officials as participants, not as observers, not consultants, but people at the table with a voice in defining what progress looks like? I thank the distinguished representative of the Center of Youth Policy, please, Mr.
Kaag.
Thank you very much, President and thank you for your question.
I just want to start off by saying that not referencing youth in my remarks in no way means that the issue of youth participation is not an issue that I consider important and one that I have mentioned also in my vision statement.
We often hear that the youth are the leaders of tomorrow.
The youth are here today.
The youth are participants in today's world.
They're not just the leaders of tomorrow's world.
The engagement and involvement of the youth in the decisions that we take that directly affect them.
Need to be also a central platform, I think, of the work of this organization too.
You do have an important role to play, youth peace and security, as you mentioned.
I had the pleasure of visiting the Assistant Secretary-General for youth.
An important decision by the Secretary-General to appoint such an individual that focuses on youth matters.
To with him, we had discussed, should I be chosen, how we might work together to see how we can better involve the youth in the whole process of the United Nations.
Thank you.
Thank you.
I now give the floor to distinguished representative of Iceland on behalf of the Nordic countries, followed by Lithuania and Australia.
Thank you, Madam President.
I have the honor to speak on behalf of the Nordic countries, Denmark, Finland, Norway, Sweden, and my own country, Iceland.
Thank you, Mr.
Kakures, for sharing your vision for the General Assembly and your role as president.
The Nordic countries are deeply committed to ensuring a strong and effective United Nations with a General Assembly that strengthens multilateralism, human rights, equality, and inclusive participation.
In that regard, we have some questions to propose to you.
What is your view on the role of the General Assembly in questions of peace and security, particularly in cases where the Security Council is not able to act? Can the GA do more than just express opinions, perhaps in the form of a resolution? Second, the General Assembly will have a critical role this autumn through its power to appoint the next Secretary-General after the Security Council has made its hopefully timely recommendation.
How do you see the role of the General Assembly in this process and how do you view proposals to avoid this being a simple rubber stamping exercise, as you've touched upon earlier? Could the Assembly hold an additional dialogue with recommended candidates prior to appointment? The Nordic countries are strong supporters of good governance at all levels and we need a strong and reformed UN with an organizational culture of efficiency, transparency and accountability.
You may inherit the UN 80 process with many decision points for the assembly at that time.
How will you work with the SG to ensure a good flow of information and the inclusion of all member states? What would you continue or do differently to make the assembly's work more efficient? Finally, the UN system should work for the benefit of the global population.
The Nordic countries firmly support the participation of civil society in UN processes.
As PGA, how will you ensure inclusive, meaningful and active participation of civil society in the work of the Assembly.
Thank you.
I thank the distinguished representative of Iceland on behalf of the Nordic countries.
Please, Mr.
Kakurs.
Thank you, President, and thank you, Ambassador for those questions.
Some of your points already touched on in my response to the previous questions.
I When it comes to peace and security or where the Security Council is in gridlock, I mentioned that we do have tools at our disposal, including recommendations that we can make.
The General Assembly is not handcuffed in being able to express its view on specific issues as well.
Um the Secretary-General.
Yes, we will wait to get the views of the Security Council on who the individual or individuals might be that they will forward to us.
We do have a role to play, and as I said, it's not just to rubber stamp.
I Could we have another dialogue that I think is something that could be considered, particularly to get a clearer picture of the priorities of the recommended candidate from the Security Council? Good governance, of course, is vital to the work of the General Assembly and the UN as a whole.
I would work to engage with each and every one of you because I think it is important that when we talk about good governance and cooperation, that we look at the way that we work.
My own way of working is that when we sit in a room with a name plate in front of us, it's a very different conversation that we will have than if we are in an informal setting or a group of ambassadors, colleagues either in the morning over coffee or whatever.
I very much value that element of our work.
Okay, not just the formal side of things, but getting to where we want to get before positions are hardened.
And I think engaging with individual ambassadors and with groups at an early stage is vitally important to make sure that we can move onto the more formal side with the chance of success and the chance of gaining consensus, which should always be our goal.
Thank you.
Thank you.
I now give the floor to the distinguished representative of Lithuania on behalf of the Lin Triangle, Lithuania, Poland, and Ukraine, followed by Australia and Angola.
Thank you, Madam President.
I have the honor to speak on behalf of the Lublin triangle Group, Poland, Ukraine, and my own country, Lithuania.
The General Assembly as the most representative and democratic organ of the United Nations where all member states participate on an equal footing is uniquely placed to make multilateralism more practical, visible, and deliverable.
From our perspective, it also has an important role to play in matters of peace and security in full accordance with the UN Chatter.
In this regard, the mandate of the president of the General Assembly is of particular importance.
Through agenda setting, convening power, and facilitation of deliberations, the PGA can help sustain international attention on serious threats to international peace and security, especially when the Security Council is unable to act.
We attach particular importance to the Veto initiative as a tool to enhance transparency and accountability, as well as to continued use where necessary of emergency special sessions, including those concerning Ukraine.
In this context, it is also important that resolutions already adopted by the Assembly, especially on Ukraine, remain subject to sustained political attention and follow ups so that assembly decisions continue to carry weight beyond the moment of adoption.
Although similar questions were already asked, but could you elaborate on how within your mandate as president of the General Assembly, you intend to further strengthen the Assembly's role in responding to acts of aggression and serious violations of the UN Chanta.
I thank you.
I thank you Distinguished representative of Lithuania on behalf of the Lublin Triangle.
Please, Mr.
Kaag.
Thank you, President, and thank you very much for what is an important and very serious question.
The General Assembly has already continued to exercise its role with regards to Ukraine, including through the resumed 11th emergency special session earlier this year when it adopted a text calling for ceasefire.
I think that shows the Assembly's concern both clearly and in a sustained manner.
And as president of the GA, my responsibility would be to ensure that the Assembly can exercise its role with procedural integrity and institutional weight.
This means preserving consistency in how the Assembly handles situations before it, ensuring that member states can deliberate and decide on a fair and equal footing, and keeping, of course, the protection of civilians and respect for international humanitarian law at the center of discussions.
General Assembly's credibility depends on its consistency, its unity, and the faithful application of its principles.
Assembly can't replace other organs, but it can ensure that its own voice remains clear, principled, and grounded in the collective will of the membership.
Thank you.
Thank you.
I now give the floor to the distinguished representative of Australia on behalf of CAS followed by Angola and the next civil society organization.
Thank you, President, and thank you, Mr.
Cous for being here today.
I'm pleased to speak on behalf of Canada, New Zealand, and my own country, Australia.
Cansa is a consistent and steadfast supporter of an effective, efficient and inclusive General Assembly.
As others have noted, as a uniquely representative forum, the GA plays a critical role shaping international rules and norms, advancing collective action on global issues and fostering cooperation between member states.
As it enters its 81st session, this assembly will be required to address an increasingly complex and interconnected set of challenges.
It's vital that in responding to these challenges, the assembly's work methods are agile, its works focused on core priorities, not overburdened by duplicative and overlapping mandates and its agenda streamlined to ensure we can deliver maximum impact from the time and resources available to us.
Equally essential is that the president of this assembly can foster a strong communicative relationship between the future Secretary-General and the Assembly.
Against this backdrop, we'd welcome your views building on your previous responses.
If elected president, how would you advance reforms to enable the General Assembly to better fulfill its mandate, maintain discipline and focus, and respond quickly and effectively to emerging challenges? Thank you.
I thank the Distinguished representative of Australia on behalf of Cans, please.
Thank you, President, and thank you Ambassador for your questions.
All of what you mentioned, of course, is extremely important.
The ability to be agile to include membership.
I'll just make this one point because we talk about streamlining agendas, vitally important, avoiding duplication.
There is a lot of work that is being done on how we can make the work of the General Assembly more effective so that everybody can participate in its work.
I say everybody because I look at the high level week and the high level meetings, the plethora of side events, and then ask colleagues of mine from small delegations, how do you manage that? The answer is, I cannot.
So for me, sovereign equality of all states here at the United Nations is not just about being present, but it's to be able to effectively participate in the work of this assembly.
I think that is a very serious consideration that we need to give going forward, how we can streamline our work that enables all members to feel that they are part of the process, to then, as I said before, feel invested in the outcomes.
Thank you.
Thank you.
I now give the floor to the distinguished representative of Angola on behalf of the community of Portuguese speaking countries, followed by Namibia and the Gig Global Foundation.
Thank you, Madam President, for convening this important informal interactive dialogue.
We thank Ambassador Andreas Kakors, Cyprus candidate for the presidency of the 81st session of General Assembly, for the presentation of his vision statement.
On behalf of the community of Portuguese language countries, CPLP, an international organization of nine sophon nations across four continents, comprising a population of over 230 million inhabitants, we would like to ask the following questions.
First, in the context of increasing geopolitical tension and fragmentation, How would you use the Office of the President of General Assembly to promote dialogue, mediation, and confidence building among member states? Second, how would you promote multilingualism and cultural diversity within the work of the United Nations and the General Assembly? Allow us to make two additional questions in our national capacity.
First, if elected, how do you intend to translate your commitments into concrete initiatives of the work of General Assembly in the areas of peace and security? Second, how do you contemplate to ensure stronger coordination between the General Assembly and other main organs, mainly the Security Council, EcoSc and the Secretariat.
I thank you.
I thank you Distinguished representative of Angola on behalf of the community of Portuue speaking countries, please, Mr.
Cokurs.
Thank you, President, and thank you, ambassador for those questions.
On peace and security and I've already mentioned this before, the General Assembly does have a role.
Yes, the Security Council has the primary responsibility, but the General Assembly too has tools at its disposal to be actively involved in this as the collective will of the international community.
On multilingualism and I referred to this in my responses to the representatives of Spain and Andora, it's vitally important that multilingualism, as I said, is not just a technical issue, but it goes to the heart of inclusivity and the sovereign equality of states.
I had the pleasure of attending the reception at the end of last week of the Portuguese speaking members of the United Nations.
Though Portuguese is not one of the six official languages, I think there is ample room with technology today to make sure that we try and reach as many of our constituents as we can.
I would in my own office, as I mentioned, want to give a linguistic balance as well to the Office of the PGA should I be elected.
Stronger coordination between the GA or the president of the General Assembly and the Security Council on Echos that is important, of course.
I think the monthly meetings that Madam President you have with the president of the Security Council is something that I would follow, but also see how we could augment those meetings that it doesn't just become form, but it becomes substance.
As well.
Similarly, with the President of EchoSc it was very refreshing to see the two of you seated together to outline the work of the GA and EcoSc.
I think much more coordination needs to take place between the General Assembly and EcoSOc each with their own responsibilities, but overlapping on many occasions to make sure that we can avoid duplication as well.
I would work with the Security Council, with Echoc and of course, with the Secretariat and the new Secretary-General.
As well, who I think will need the support of the General Assembly and the PGA as much as the General Assembly would want to know about the priorities of the new Secretary-General.
Thank you.
Thank you.
We come now to member states speaking on behalf of the national capacity, being reminded of 2 minutes of speaking time limits for questions as well as for answers.
I give the floor to the distinguished representative of Namibia, followed by the Civil Society Organization and Indonesia.
Thank you, Madam President.
At a time of profound global uncertainty, the United Nations faces growing expectations from member states and peoples around the world.
The international community must reaffirm its commitment to multilaterlism, solidarity, and the principles of the UN Charter.
As such, the implementation of the PEC for the future and acceleration of the 2030 agenda requires renewed political will.
In many developing countries remain on off track in achieving the sustainable development goals due to debt distress, insufficient climate finance, and unequal economic systems.
What are your proposals? To strengthening global efforts towards the reform of the international financial architecture to better reflect global realities and the need for developing nations.
The credibility of the United Nations depends on meaningful progress in the reform of the Security Council, including correcting the historical injustice against Africa.
How would you be going about ensuring ongoing support for the common African positions as reflected in the Azulini consensus on the CFT Declaration, noting Africa's special case, which must be treated as a priority in accordance with act for the future.
Finally, what ideas do you have in mind for continued engagement with all regional groups and equitable participation in developing countries in decision making process.
I thank you.
I thank the distinguished representative of Namibia, please, Mr.
Kukus.
Thank you, President.
Thank you, Ambassador for those important questions.
Starting off with the growing expectation of our people.
We have a responsibility to our people.
I think people back in Namibia or in Cyprus are not particularly focused on the number of resolutions or reports that we issue, but what we implement and deliver.
I think that's the disconnect that we need to find the answer to to moving from decisions to implementation and delivery.
That is something that rests with each and every one of us.
I as PJ, of course, am guided by the membership.
I will be assertive.
I will be ambitious, but I'm not going to promise or can't be delivered.
Because I think what happens then is that we just join that Christmas tree of promises that we're not able to deliver that then feed into that narrative of, well, what is the UN doing? We need to sharpen our focus on the implementation and delivery side of our work.
I The PC for the future, if I can just go to the reference you made on the reform of the Security Council.
Yes, I think the General Assembly has taken decisions on this.
We all recognize the need for reform of the Security Council.
That is in the hands of the member states, of course.
But the PC for the future was very, very clear on the need to address and redress historical injustices and Africa was mentioned specifically as a matter of priority.
As president of the General Assembly, I will make sure that these issues remain at the epicenter of the work of the General Assembly.
Again, I am in your hands, and the way that the General Assembly wishes to move on that issue is the way that the PGA would move as well.
Reference to financing, of course, um, If the developing world is unable to receive the financing that it requires and that it needs to be able to move forward, it is going to be extremely challenging to see how we can make the SDGs meet the expectations of each and every one of us, particularly those in the developing world.
Thank you.
Thank you.
I now invite the assembly to view a prerecorded video by the civil society organization GEG Global Foundation.
Excellencies and honorable candidates, Namaste from India.
I'm Abishik Paar GG Global Foundation, India.
My question is, how do you plan to address the growing perception that the United Nations General Assembly is losing its relevance in an increasingly polarized and conflict region world, where major decisions are often dominated by powerful nations and the Security Council.
As the candidate for the presidency of the eight th session of UN General Assembly, what concrete reform and diplomatic strategies would you like proposed to restore the UNGA credibility and effectiveness, particularly in the area of conflict prevention, peaceful dispute resolution, and ensuring that the voices of smaller and developing nations are meaningfully heard.
Thank you.
I thank the representative of the GEG Global Foundation, please, Mr.
Kakuz.
Thank you, President, and thank you for those questions.
Very briefly with regards to the relevance of the General Assembly, the General Assembly is relevant.
It is the only place where we are all present with a voice.
We need to amplify that voice.
We need to make sure that back home, People know that the United Nations is working for them.
To do that, we need to improve our working methods as well.
I go back to delivery as an important element of that.
It is easy to fall into that, as I said, that narrative, that negative narrative of the UN is doing nothing or is failing, whatever.
The UN has done much for each and every one of us and we need to do a better job of communicating that to our people.
But I take your point that there is that narrative that we need to change to make it a narrative of success and a narrative of accomplishments, which again, rests on the hands of each and every one of us.
A PGA, I would want to be your flag bearer in your voice in moving that forward.
Thank you.
Thank you.
I now give the floor to the distinguished representative of Indonesia, followed by Cuba and Equatorial Guinea.
Madam President, thank you for giving me the floor.
Excellency, Ambassador Kakurish, thank you also for sharing your vision.
As multilateralism faces global fragmentation, the GA requires strong and inclusive leadership, particularly in maintaining and restoring trust to the multilateral system.
In this connection, the role of the president of the GA is crucial in ensuring that the work of the Assembly remains focused, relevant, and impactful, capable of driving the mandates of the GA to serve members' interests.
In this regard, Indonesia would like to extend two questions.
Number one, as the United Nations prepare for the transition to a new Secretary-General, while also facing the ongoing liquidity challenges? How do you envisage safeguarding the effective implementation of UN mandates while maintaining the credibility of the organization? Number two, what is your strategy to ensure that the outcomes of the assembly would reflect more convergence instead of division among member states? We look forward to your reflections, Excellency.
Thank you.
I thank the Distinguished representative of Indonesia, please, Mr.
Kukus.
Thank you, President and thank you for those questions.
Trust is a fundamental aspect of our work.
I would engage with each and every one of you.
Firstly, to gain your trust.
As PGA, but then to work to make sure that whatever preconceived ideas we may have of the positions of country X or country Y, I dealt with right at the beginning through, as I mentioned before, engaging with you in informal settings to understand why is it that this particular country feels in a certain way on a particular issue.
I think that is vitally important that we get back to, as I mentioned before, the notion of dialogue.
And not just talking at each other, but speaking with each other to regain that trust that is so needed for the United Nations to then be able to show to its people that it functions in a cohesive, inclusive manner as one organization of 193 countries.
Yes, we will all have our respective views, of course.
My goal will try always to gain consensus.
But sometimes a compromise should not be seen as a swear word But as an effort to gain the best possible outcome at that particular moment in time, everybody needs in any negotiations to feel that they have gotten something out of the negotiations.
Hence the importance of of engaging with everybody, large and small, to make sure that the outcome that we get is one that the members feel invested in.
Thank you.
Thank you.
I now give the floor to distinguished representative of Cuba, followed by Equatorial Guinea and the Philippines.
Thank you, Madam President, Madam President, Distinguished Andrés Cue is grateful for these interactive dialogues with the candidates to the president of the General Assembly.
We value this space as a useful exercise to foster candid and direct exchanges of views between member states and those that are aspiring to steer the work of the principal deliberative organ of the United Nations, we reiterate the importance of continuing to strengthen transparency, openness, and the inclusive nature of the PGA selection process.
We are of the view that these dialogues contribute to greater accountability and to strengthening the legitimacy and credibility of the process.
In light of the above, we wish to raise the following questions.
How do you value and assess the role of the General Assembly in combating UCMs unilateral coercive measures? What specific measures do you think could be championed to strengthen the role of the General Assembly to oppose those coercive measures prompt their elimination and to prevent their implementation.
Thank you.
I thank the Distinguished representative of Cuba, please, Mr.
Kukurs.
Thank you, President.
Thank you, Ambassador for your question.
I think your question also goes to the foundation of this institution.
The charter is clear.
Article 2 affirms that this organization is based on the sovereign equality of all its members and every member state has the right to participate fully and express its position freely.
The General Assembly has already addressed the issue you raise, including through resolutions calling on member states to refrain from unilateral measures that are inconsistent with international law and the principles of the charter and as president of the GA, if I'm chosen to that position, my role would be to uphold those principles through the way the body conducts its work.
Thank you.
Thank you.
I now give the floor to the distinguished representative of Equatorial Guinea.
Thank you, Madam President, for this opportunity to engage in this interactive dialogue with Ambassador Kakures, candidate to the presidency of the 81st session of the General Assembly.
I again wish to flesh out the question raised by my colleague from Namibia and build on that.
Mr.
Kakuris, the issue of Security Council reform and equitable representation on it, as well as the historic injustice done to Africa is of crucial importance to us.
Africa today has around 1.5 billion inhabitants and 54 states at the UN General Assembly.
When the United Nations was founded, there were 51 members and there were only three independent African nations.
We wish to know or rather I wish to know What momentum will you lend to that process which has now already been underway for 18 years in the form of intergovernmental negotiations.
This should not be seen as a trivial issue.
There must be a special initiative so that we as African nations see a new dynamic ushered in for security council reform.
This must be a watershed moment because we are participating in the decisions of that organ and we need to be duly represented.
Thank you.
Cocos.
Thank you, President.
Thank you, Ambassador.
Of course, that is vitally important question.
Not just for the countries of Africa, but for the whole membership of the United Nations when one talks of reform.
Yes, the Pact for the future and our leaders were very, very clear on the political guidance they have given as to what road one should take.
That is now in the hands of member states.
As to how we move that process forward.
From the discussions that are taking place, should they go to something on paper.
I as president of the General Assembly will, of course, follow the lead given to me by the membership.
It is an important issue.
It's one that I have been grappling with in my discussions bilaterally with your colleagues from Africa.
I recognize the importance of it and I recognize the importance of moving on this issue.
As PGA, I cannot dictate that work, but I will follow very closely the path that the membership tells me to take.
Thank you.
Thank you.
I now give the floor to the distinguished representative of the Philippines, followed by Singapore and the next civil society organization.
Thank you.
Thank you, Madam President, and we thank Ambassador Cours for his vision statement and remarks, as well as the responses to questions thus far.
We have two questions.
First, as chair of the like minded group for middle income countries and cognizant of the mandate given to the OPGA to advance the MIX agenda, the Philippines would like to inquire how you would concretely galvanize greater support from the UN system for the sustainable development of MX in addition to the current work being undertaken on the Beyond GDP MTRic agenda and the strategic plan of action for MIX.
Secondly, regarding the UN's engagement and cooperation with regional organizations such as the Association of Southeast Asian Nations or Asean, if elected as PGA, how would you enhance the UN's engagement with regional organizations, particularly in advancing preventive diplomacy and peace building, as well as implementing the Pact for the future and the UN AD Initiative.
Thank you, Madam President.
I thank the distinguished representative of the Philippines, please, Mr.
Kukurz.
Thank you.
Two very different questions, but both of them are very important.
In the discussions on financing, middle income countries on occasions get left to the side.
Vulnerability is not just measured in income.
And the multidimensional vulnerability index shows that there are so many other elements that make a country challenged when it comes to access to financing, et cetera There is much that is being discussed on recognizing that middle income countries too face challenges and there, I would want to work to see how we can keep that on the agenda, not just for SIDS or least developed countries or landlocked developed countries, but also middle income countries too to be part of that discussion.
Regional groups, sub regional groups, if we go to Chapter eight of the charter, there is a specific place for them.
Regional groups and engaging with the UN is vitally important.
We see that with the African Union, we see that with Asean as well and others.
I would see that as a complement to the efforts of the overall General Assembly to be able to utilize the local knowledge and having the finger on the pulse of what goes on in the region to be able to help the work of the GA as a whole.
Thank you.
Thank you.
I now give the floor to the distinguished representative of Singapore, followed by the next civil society organization, E El Salvador.
Thank you very much, Mr.
President.
Madam President, I also thank Ambassador Kakuris for presenting his vision and priorities, and I welcome in particular his characterization of the UN as global central that brings together countries from all regions together.
Madam President, I speak as a representative of a small state and in this regard, the role of the General Assembly is crucial because it is the only universal body of the UN where no country has a veto.
Accordingly, small states have very high expectations of the role of the General Assembly, and we also expect the president of the General Assembly to actively reach out to small states and to listen to the voices of small states in order to understand our vulnerabilities and priorities.
It is also important that the perspective of small states are well represented in the office of the President of the General Assembly.
In this regard, I would welcome your views, Ambassador Akes, of how you intend to engage and work with small states if you are elected as PGA, and I know that you yourself are a representative of a small state, and you did address some of these points, but further elaboration would be welcome.
My second question is, how do you intend to actively support the implementation of the SDGs and the Pact of the future? This is a question that has also surfaced previously, especially with regard to the Global Digital compact and the global AI dialogue, which is scheduled next year.
Thank you very much.
I thank the distinguished representative of Singapore, please, Mr.
Kakures.
Thank you, President.
Thank you, ambassador for your questions and Yes, as a small state, I am particularly sensitive to the challenges that small states have within this organization to make sure that their perspectives and priorities are front and center of our deliberations.
I would assure you that that is something that I would have very much close to my own work should I be chosen as PGA.
I It's important to listen to the voices of everybody.
But because small states feel that we are on occasion shunted to the side and then presented with, in essence, fait accompli, I go back to what I had said before that engaging with small states, making sure that their issues are high on our agenda, as well as the issues of the developing world as a whole, Okay, is important, I think, to the credibility, to the legitimacy, and the inclusivity of this organization.
So you can rest assured on that, that I will be working in that direction.
The implementation or getting to where we want to get with the PAC for the future and the SDGs, vitally important.
I would want as PGA to make sure that those issues, again, are high on the agenda, keeping visibility to the need to move forward on implementing what we agreed, both in the Pact but also in the SDGs going to 2030.
It's important that we don't focus on past 2030, but making sure that we focus on what we can do between now and 2030.
Thank you.
Thank you.
I now invite the distinguished representative of the civil society organization Grail to take the floor.
Do I see it correctly here, the microphone button is still on on the other civil society person.
Hello? Yeah.
No.
Thank you.
Hi.
Thank you, Madam President and distinguished representatives for the opportunity to participate in this dialogue.
I'm doctor Gracia La Soto and I have the honor of speaking on behalf of the Grail, an international organization whose mission of global transformation recognizes the role of women leadership and active participation to achieve the sustainable developmental goals.
2030 agendas pledge to leave no one behind is impossible to fulfill without placing women and girls at the center of developmental strategies.
In this context, the proposed 2026 merger of the United Nations Population Fund and United Nations women posted significant risk of weakening specialized mandates and reducing funding for critical services to accelerate achieving the SDGs.
Civil society and numerous member states have expressed concern that this restructuring is occurring during a time of increased regression of women's rights, potentially weakening UN's capacity to protect them.
Our question for His Excellency, Mr.
Andrés Cacurs is the following.
Regarding the United Nations 80 strategic Merger Assessment of the United Nations Population Fund and the United Nations Women, what actions will you take to protect and safeguard the integrity of critical international mandates for the empowerment of women and girls, such as CETA and the Beijing platform for action since institutional restructuring could fail to guarantee the agreed commitments for the rise of all women and girls globally.
Thank you.
I thank the distinguished representative of the civil society organization, Grail.
Please, Mr.
Kakures.
Thank you, President and thank you for that very important question.
Of course, it's a complex and important issue.
Both UN women and UNFPA play distinct and critical roles within the UN system.
Their mandates address different but complementary priorities.
Any consideration of a possible or potential merger should therefore be approached with care.
The primary objective must be to preserve and where possible, strengthen the ability to deliver on existing mandates.
Any reform, as I said, must strengthen delivery, not weaken mandates or disrupt operations.
This is a member states driven discussion and it should remain evidence based.
Reforms should enhance coherence, but not at the expense of effectiveness.
Decisions must be in my humble opinion, guided by evidence, and not assumptions.
These are important issues that are being discussed at the moment.
Going forward, I think the way to deal with this is to make sure that we balance the benefits of that merger, but knowing the risks, particularly in relation to operational continuity, mandate, integrity, and funding stability.
Thank you.
Thank you.
I now give the floor to the distinguished representative of El Salvador, followed by Japan and Paraguay.
Thank you, President.
El Salvador is grateful for the convening of this interactive dialogue with Mr.
Andrés Garcoz.
Candidate to the president of the presidency of the General Assembly for this period, the next session.
We're grateful to have this opportunity to exchange views with you and to hear your views.
We agree that current challenges demand practical vision and a renewed commitment to the purposes and principles of the charter.
We note with interest your vision, specifically the issue of emerging technologies and more specifically the reference you make to the need to moving forward with broaching the governance of AI.
Basing work on processes underway in existing mandate, we're also grateful to note your assertion that no state should be left behind in the digital age against that backdrop, El Salvador.
Currently, co chairs, together with Eso, the preparatory process for the first dialogue on artificial intelligence that will be held in July of this year in Geneva.
Moreover, I should say that the second dialogue is scheduled to take place in May 2027 here at HQ.
It will be up to the next PGA to appoint the co chairs that will subsequently steer that process, bearing in mind precisely the fact that this is proving to be One of the very relevant things that the UN can do that is promoting an inclusive, coherent dialogue around this issue.
We'd like to know how you assess the role of the next president of the General Assembly in terms of providing political guidance, momentum, and support to the preparations for this dialogue in order to ensure tangible outcomes and a genuinely representative participation of all states.
This process must be supported by the Office of the President of the General Assembly and also obviously by the Secretariat and the UN system as a whole.
Thank you.
Garcis, I thank the distinguished representative of El Salvador, please, Mr.
Caquiz.
Thank you, President, and thank you, Ambassador for your question.
I It is an important point.
We're all at the moment grappling with AI, the role that AI can play and quite clearly, it can play an important role.
But similarly, the need for a governance to be put in place for those buffers to be put in place so we know that going forward, we're all heading in a direction that is safe as well.
Specialized agencies, the private sector, of course, play a critical role in developing and applying new technologies.
The General Assembly has a distinct and complementary role and the meeting in July will be vitally important, I think, to provide that universal platform where member states can come together to shape shared principles and ensure that technological developments serve the broader public interest.
Technology must be inclusive and as you said, ensuring that no country is left behind and partnerships between government, the private sector and international institutions is essential.
As president of the General Assembly, should I be chosen to that position, I would work with those co chairs to make sure that what we start off in July continues for the next meeting to be held here in the UN and guided, of course, by common principles agreed by the member states.
Thank you.
Thank you.
I now give the floor to the Sings representative of Japan, followed by Paraguay and Checha.
Thank you, Madam President.
I would also like to thank Ambassador Kaag for your opening remarks and explanation so far.
Japan attaches great importance to the General Assembly as the most transparent and representative organ.
Under the next president's leadership, Japan looks forward to enhancing multilateralism.
Upholding the rule of law based on the UN charter and embracing diverse views of member states.
In this regard, Japan would like to appreciate your views on three points to which Japan thought is important.
First, Japan stresses the urgent need to reform the Security Council to restore confidence in the UN as the center of multilateralism.
In this regard, Japan believed that the expansion in both the permanent and non permanent categories is important to make the council truly more democratic and accountable.
Second, the UN AD Initiative is a critical ongoing reform effort to enhance the efficiency and effectiveness of the UN system, ultimately enabling the organization to function as one UN in addressing complex global challenges.
Third, in view of aforementioned ongoing UN reform efforts as a comprehensive approach, leveraging the humanitarian development piece nexus is essential.
Japan believes that enhancing synergies across these fields is critical and regards human security as a vital framework for achieving this.
You have already mentioned some of them, but I would like to welcome your further thoughts on how you intend to promote discussions on these critical issues.
I thank you.
I thank the distinguished representative of Japan, please, Mr.
Kikuz.
Thank you, President and thank you, ambassador for your questions.
Reform of the Security Council is something that I mentioned before.
But of course, the Security Council must reflect the world of 2026, not 1945.
We all know that reform is needed.
How we get to that is an issue that is member states driven.
As I said before, as president of the General Assembly, I will be guided by what the membership wishes to move forward on and how it wishes to move forward on.
Yes, we need to function as one UN and maybe something that I should have mentioned before, but it's obvious, but it's important to mention is the centrality, of course, of the UN charter of respect for international law and also the three pillars of peace and security, human rights, and development.
One is not more important than the other.
Success or forward movement in one has a positive ripple effect on the other and neither development or human rights should become subservient to a peace and security element.
All three need to be respected in the same manner and move and be treated collectively as the three pillars.
I would promote discussion, Your Excellency, by engaging member states, as I said, individually and in regional groups in smaller groups, to be able to move towards as far as possible, consensus on issues to focus on implementation and delivery as well.
It's not a case of needing new mandates.
What we need is to implement the mandates that we have already decided on.
Thank you.
Thank you.
I now give the floor to the Singish representative of Paraguay, followed by Chechnya and Ukraine.
President President, thank you for convening these dialogues.
I also thank you, Mr.
Kakures, for being here with us today.
At this stage in the game, it is not easy.
Well, all questions have really been raised and your answers share common threads too.
I do believe it's very important to go back to what Mr.
Kaag said regarding the importance of listening and the importance of dialogue.
This dialogue If it's not carried forward institutionally, we run the risk of not hearing everyone and we run the risk of losing transparency.
This is a real risk and given that this is the body that's not only the most representative body, but the one in which the principle of equality is most deeply rooted, that is the General Assembly, it's vital to preserve that transparency.
You already talked about how you viewed the promotion of this dialogue.
My question would be whether in your thought you have a special place allocated to the Bureau of the General Assembly, the General Committee.
There you have 21 countries represented in various regional groups.
Where does that fit in your vision? I'd also like to know how you assess your relationship with the Secretary-General, particularly in promoting Programs designed to assist countries in special situations such as landlocked developing countries, Paraguay is one of those.
But I don't only want your views on what you'll do for that group of countries, other countries in special situations also, not just LLDCs but also SIDS.
What are your views, where they're concerned? What are your expectations? How do you intend to promote the action plans devoted to those countries? Thank you.
Thank the Distinguished representative for Paraguay.
Please Mr.
Cocos.
Thank you, President, and thank you Ambassador.
You mentioned the general Committee.
Yes, the General Committee is a committee that I think can be more utilized.
You've got 21 members on that committee, the vice presidents plus the chairs of the main committees.
It's important that they too are the eyes and the ears of what the pulse of the membership is heading.
I would engage with the general committee and I was at one of the meetings most recently that you called on the general committee which talked about the high level meetings during high level week.
It was interesting to see the the different views that were put out there, important views.
I go back to what I said to you before what I said to the audience here that nobody has a monopoly of good ideas.
I think it's important to have a broad view of what the membership is thinking and there the General committee has an important role to play in my opinion.
Working with the Secretary-General, I think is vital.
We share the same building, we share the same purpose, whether it's the Security Council, the German Assembly, or the PGA and the Secretary-General.
That is peace and security, development, human rights, for this organization, for this building, for this family to work for the people that it should work for, and that's those back home.
I think there is an importance in having synergies of cooperation with the Secretary-General.
Thank you.
Thank you.
I now give the floor to the inch representative of Chechnya, followed by Ukraine and the next civil society organization.
Well, thank you, Madam President, dear colleagues, Your Excellency, Mr.
Kakures, thank you for sharing your vision for the 81st session of the UN General Assembly.
We are grateful for the opportunity to once again exchange views with you.
On a personal note, Ambassador Kakures, I was moved by your story of beginning your career here at the United Nations in New York.
It is most heartening to be reminded that the United Nations, our UN, still has that unique ability to inspire a higher calling of service to the international community as a whole.
My question relates to the UN eight initiative to which the Czech Republic attaches great importance.
We regard the role of the president of the General Assembly as important in helping all of us bring the UN eight initiative to fruition.
We sincerely hope that this initiative will lead to meaningful and lasting change across the UN system by reducing fragmentation, enhancing efficiency, and strengthening the delivery of mandates.
I mean, one possible avenue for achieving these objectives may be the consolidation of certain institutions and agencies.
In this regard, may I ask for your views on the potential consolidation of the UN Women and UNFPA.
Thank you.
I thank the distinguished representative of Checka please, Mr.
Kukus.
Thank you, President and thank you, Ambassador for your kind words too.
I had answered before to a question from one of the stakeholders about the possible merger of UN women and UN FPA.
There we have to, as I said, look at the pluses and challenges that come with a merger to make sure that the mandates are not diluted because ultimately, it's important that they have different priorities, but they are complimentary.
What I would not want to see is merger that in any way dilutes the significance of the work done by each of them under the disguise of merger.
I think the discussions that are taking place at the moment are important to make sure that what comes out is something that strengthens, not dilutes the work of both those organizations.
Thank you.
Thank you.
I now give the floor to distinguish representative of Ukraine.
Thank you, Madam President, Excellency, we thank Your Excellency for your comprehensive vision of priorities and readiness to serve as the president of the General Assembly.
Your Excellency, as you know, since 2022, the UN General Assembly has adopted a number of important resolutions condemning Russia's aggression and demanding the immediate withdrawal of its troops and an end to this war.
Unfortunately, none of this resolution has been implemented.
As a future president of the General Assembly, what concrete steps would you propose to ensure the effective implementation of General Assembly decisions so that they do not remain merely political declaration? I thank you.
I thank the distinguished representative of Ukraine, please, Mr.
Kukus.
Thank you, President, and thank you for your question.
It's one that I touched on earlier, so I will repeat some of what I said before that the General Assembly has already continued to exercise its role in the Ukraine, including in the resumed 11th emergency special session earlier this year.
That shows, I believe that the Assembly's concern remains clear and sustained.
As President, my responsibility will be to ensure that the Assembly can exercise its role with procedural integrity and institutional weight.
That means preserving consistency in how the Assembly handles situations before it.
And the assembly's credibility depends on consistency, unity, and the faithful application of its principles.
As I mentioned before, we cannot replace other organs, but we can ensure that our own voice remains clear, principled and grounded in the collective will of its membership.
I think the example I gave of the resumed 11th emergency special session is one such example.
Thank you.
Thank you.
I now give the floor to the next civil society organization and invite the Assembly to view a prerecorded video by Help Age Germany.
Dear candidates, on behalf of Herage Deutschland and the stakeholder group on aging, I kindly like to ask you both of your vision statements emphasize inclusivity and leaving no one behind.
Yet neither explicitly addresses older persons or persons with disability despite major global demographic shifts.
If elected president of the General Assembly, how will you ensure their rights, participation and specific needs are systematically integrated into the assembly's work and future global frameworks? Specifically, which concrete institutional or political measures such as dedicated UN processes, stronger data, accountability mechanism or new normative frameworks will you support or initialize to achieve measurable progress for these groups piece? Thank you in advance for your understanding and kind support.
I thank Help H Germany, please, Mr.
Kukus.
Thank you, President.
Thank you very much indeed for your question.
Of course, persons with disabilities are an important and integral part of society as a whole.
I think we collectively and individually have a responsibility, both in our own countries and here at the United Nations to make sure that we can mainstream also the needs of persons with disabilities.
As president of the General Assembly, I would wish to work with stakeholders, with member states to see how we can take that agenda forward.
Thank you.
Thank you.
I now give the floor to distinguished representative of Romania, followed by the Dominican Republic and Maldives.
Thank you, Madam President.
All protocol is observed.
We align with the EU statement delivered earlier and I take this opportunity to engage with Mr.
Kaky's international capacity.
First of all, thank you for the very insightful expose and your dedication to the UN system.
Romania is also a firm believer in the UN and in multilateralism, which is why we have been so invested in advancing tangible reform through the revitalization of the General Assembly.
My questions will touch upon some comments that have been made earlier as well, but from a different angle, the first one.
Through the Revitalization Resolution 70 9327, the General Assembly emphasized the important role of the president of the General Assembly in the strategic guidance and the overall success of the work of the General Assembly and thus the United Nations.
I would like to know what are some of the benchmarks that you have envisaged for the upcoming Anga session and how you would define a successful outcome of the work and activity of the GA during its 81st session.
The second question also relates to one of the most consequential processes that are ongoing here, which is the selection and appointment of the SG.
But I would like to know from your position should you be elected as PGA, how would you see your role in this important process in relation to the Security Council? Do you have any specific considerations when it comes to the implementation of operative paragraph 42 of Resolution 70 9327? Thank you so much.
I thank the distinguished representative of Romania, please, Mr.
Cooks.
Thank you, President and thank you for your question.
I know the important role that Romania has played on the revitalization issue.
But for me, revitalization must not become a procedural exercise nor an end in itself.
It must remain firmly member state driven and responsive to the priorities of the full membership, particularly those of the developing countries.
I At the same time, I think revitalization needs to focus on practical improvements and many of those are put forward for the members to implement with Resolution 70 9327.
Ultimately, again, and I go back to what I said at the beginning, a lot of this depends on us.
Depends on us individually, that we have decisions that were taken, we have a pathway given to us.
It's up to us to follow that path and the decisions that were taken.
As PGA, I would want to believe that the membership respects the resolutions that it has adopted.
Otherwise, we will be going back to square one again.
The first point for me as PGA is to ask the membership, you have passed these resolutions.
Let's make sure that we stick to them.
Unger success, very difficult to say what I would consider to be Unger success.
What I do not consider to be Unger success is a plethora of events that make it extremely difficult for people to be able to follow, particularly the smaller states.
What happens because you have this proliferation of events that we almost do a disservice to the importance of the issue itself, because we're not able to follow it.
We're not able to go in and follow an important issue because there are so many to follow.
For small states in particular, When you have two events, it's a choice and you have to prioritize.
But it becomes extremely challenging when there are ten, 15, 20, whatever events going on at the same time.
I would want us to respect the fact that we need to streamline what the General Assembly high level week is there for and to make sure that all of us have the possibility to effectively participate in those meetings.
Thank you.
Thank you.
I now give the floor to distinguished representative of the Dominican Republic, followed by the Maldives.
Thank you, Madam President.
Many thanks indeed to Ambassador Cankurs for the presentation of his vision and priorities.
Our delegation recognizes the importance of the office of the presidency of the General Assembly and the strategic guidance it provides to the work of the plenary.
Your Excellency, you underscored the role of the presidency as a facilitator of dialogue and a builder of consensus.
We know You have responded to several questions along those lines this morning, but we would be grateful for any additional thoughts you may wish to share about the work your office could do to promote effective fora for dialogue which are also inclusive and could be sustained over time.
Dialogue between member states that could build trust, bring positiondis together across various regional and political groups, and thus ensure that we can move towards tangible and sustainable outcomes.
We would be grateful if you could focus your response on how you can ensure more equitable participation in general assembly processes for small delegations or delegations with limited capacity.
Thank you.
Rchards, I thank the distinguished representative of the Dominican Republic, please, Mr.
Cukurs.
Thank you, President, and thank you for that question.
Yes, I have referred to those issues in previous responses, but I will endeavor to again give you my take on that.
The importance, again, of dialogue, of reaching out to individual member states to reach out cross regionally as well, for me is vitally important.
What is important and I go back to what I said before, is engaging at the early stages of discussions before positions are hardened with a nameplate in front of us.
The informal engagement of myself and my office with member states would be vitally important because that way we understand Those of us who are engaging in that, where the other side is coming from.
That's important at the beginning of discussions.
The office of the president of the General Assembly, as I said before, needs to be both professional.
It needs to have a gender regional and linguistic balance.
What I would envisage is that in the office of the PGA is to have individuals who would be liaisons liaisons with regions, liaisons on particular issues as well.
There is a person that a member or group can go to before engaging or whilst engaging with myself as well.
Thank you.
Thank you.
I now give the floor to the Danish representative of the Maldives, followed by Egypt and Lichtenstein.
Thank you, Madam President and Ambassador Karus.
Your vision places strong emphasis on practical mutism and strengthening the General Assembly's capacity to deliver, including through clearer benchmark, transparency, and better follow through.
For small delegations, the challenge is often not the lack of commitment, but the difficulty of making implementation across an overcrowded agenda.
As PGA, what practical steps would you take to help the assembly become more transparent and more accountable in following up on its own decision? Second, We welcome your focus on the climate ocean disaster nexus, particularly your recognition of the realities facing small island states.
As this is an important aspect, especially for cities like the Maldives, could you please please expand on how you would operationalize the following during your presidency.
Your statement also refers to implementing existing frameworks and supporting countries in vulnerable situations, including SIDS.
From the perspective of the motives, the Antigo and Barbuda Agenda for SIDS is now central guiding framework on sustainable development for SIDS.
How would your presidency keep Abs invisible across the work of the General Assembly? Would you also consider continuing the strengthening of PGA fellowship as a concrete way to build capacity and broadening participation from the underrepresented member states? I thank you.
I thank the distinguished representative of the Maldives, please, Mr.
Ks.
Thank you, President and thank you for those questions.
I'll repeat what I had said before when talking about how I envisage practical multilateralism.
As I said, it's not a slogan, it's an approach that focuses on implementation and results.
It means ensuring that the commitments we have already made on development, on climate health financing are translated into concrete outcomes.
This is particularly important for developing countries.
The priority should not be additional frameworks, but making existing commitments work in practice.
It means also that we must work in a more focused and disciplined way.
I don't think we can continue doing business as usual.
No if we are going to make the United Nations more effective, more efficient, and to deliver to our people.
On the nexus that you mentioned on climate, I make the point of tying oceans climate disaster risk to one agenda.
I do so because climate change affects ocean health.
Ocean degradation in turn affects livelihoods, food security, and resilience and disaster risk is often the direct consequence of these combined pressures.
I think addressing them in isolation can limit effectiveness.
That's why I have put them in that nexus.
On the issue of the Antigum Babuda Agenda for Sids.
Yes, of course, vitally important and it's one that cannot be just assigned to the annals of another decision.
It's a living document.
And we need to make sure that we implement it.
Very quickly on fellowships.
Fellowships, yes, I would wish to continue fellowships for SIDS, for LDCs, for the landlocked developing countries.
I think they are important.
But ultimately, the fellowships also depend on whatever funds exist in the trust fund.
I would take this opportunity should I be elected to reach out to each and every one of you to be generous so we can benefit from those fellowships.
President, if I may just overstep my time for half a second.
I mentioned that I started off in New York in 1984.
I was a beneficiary of a UN internship in 1982, and I know how much that internship itself helped me in gaining the respect that I have for this organization.
The fellowship programs, I think are vitally important too.
Thank you.
Thank you very much.
I now give the floor to the next Distinguish representative, Lichtenstein, followed by the Republic of Korea and Armenia.
Thank you very much, President, and I thank the ambassador for making himself available for this position.
It's great to see a fellow small state representative and someone committed to the rule of law expressing interest in this position.
You have spoken eloquently about the relevance of the GA, a thought that we certainly share.
You have pointed in particular to the universality of the membership.
But I think the reality is also that very often we are doing a lot of things in the GA, but we are not doing enough things that are politically relevant, especially to the outside world.
So and I think in particular with respect to UN 80, that's a process that we're treating as one of the processes that is going on in the building, but it should probably be the process.
So subset of two questions on this.
How do you feel about the idea of rolling over the work of the committees in the fall to allow that space, the political space we need? To have a more visionary discussion of how the UN should look like in the future.
Second, and taking up a little bit of your comment from before, how do you intend to deal with the possible proliferation of high level meetings in the upcoming high level week.
My second question is still on UN 80.
We just adopted a resolution on mandate creation in Burg Stream two.
Do you see any role of the president of the General Assembly in the implementation of this decision as we move forward? Thank you.
I thank the distinguished representative of Lichtenstein, please, Mr.
Kukus.
Thank you, President, and thank you ambassador for those questions.
The idea of rolling over the committees, of course, that would be something that Again, I would be guided by where we are in the work of the committees and should the committees and the co chairs feel that we need to roll them over.
I don't think the focus should be on speed and finishing for the sake of finishing, but I think the focus should be on reaching where we want to get to to make the UN more efficient, effective, and deliverable.
A mandate creation.
Yes, I focus on delivery of the current mandates that we have rather than a proliferation of new mandates.
I when they're not necessary.
Of course, again, I would be guided by what the members consider to be important as mandates.
But when a member state comes and says that they wish to propose something, I would want the membership to know the impact of that proposal, including the financial impact of those proposals.
Thank you.
Thank you.
I now give the floor to distinguished representative of the Republic of Korea, followed by Armenia and Ireland.
Thank you, Madam President.
We welcome Mr.
Kakurs to join us today.
I have one comments and one question in consideration of your previous answers.
The Cyprus is a member state that has a unique perspective on what protected complex means for the people in the region based on its deep and still living history.
The international community is witnessing a series of security challenges, including the protected situation on the Korean Peninsula.
In light of your previous statement on the role of the PDA regarding the security challenges, we report to your role on these issues.
Second, discussions on AI governance are gaining moment term, including the upcoming global dialogue on AI governance scheduled for July.
However, the pace of the governance discussions is not keeping up with the rapid advancement of AI and also there are deepening views within our community.
What is your perspective on the state of AI governance discussions and what role would you do in this area? Thank you.
I thank the distinguished representative of the Republic of Korea, please, Mr.
Kekz.
Thank you, Ambassador If I look to again going back to the role of the General Assembly when it comes to peace and security, we do have tools at our disposal that can assist in moving forward on those issues when the Security Council is not able to move forward.
I would want to again work with members to see how we can take that agenda forward because it is a vitally important agenda that the General Assembly has a particular role to play.
Your second issue on AI.
I mentioned this before.
Yes, AI it's not the thing of today, it'll be the thing of tomorrow and the day after.
It's vitally important that we embrace it, but we embrace it in the way that we feel confident and safe that AI is working for the advantage of everybody and so that no one is left behind in technological advances.
I think the meeting in July will be vitally important to setting the tone of how we move forward on this very important issue.
Thank you.
Thank you.
I now give the floor to distinguished representative of Armenia, followed by Fiji and the next civil society organization.
Thank you very much, Madam President, for the opportunity to engage in this dialogue.
Thank you, Mr.
Calgis for presenting your vision and priorities.
Mr.
Calgois, do you believe that the United Nations Charter remains fit for purpose today or does it require reinterpretation or reform? Thank you very much.
Very short and sharp.
Thank you.
I thank the distinguished representative of Armenia, please, Mr.
Cuz.
Thank you for that question and it's a vitally important question.
The charter is as relevant today as it was in 1945.
I dare say even more so today.
We need to cherish what we have.
It's not a case of The challenge is not the charter itself.
The challenge is our collective responsibility to implement the principles of the charter, implement it fully and consistently without selectivity or double standards.
Peaceful settlement of disputes, sovereign equality of states, international law prohibition of the use of force, they remain the cornerstone of international peace and security.
As I said, no, it's not a case of The challenge is not the charter, it's us implementing the charter.
Of course, the General Assembly has an essential role to play in that regard because it is the only organ where we are all represented and it makes it indispensable for reinforcing multilateralism and upholding the purposes and principles of the charter.
Thank you.
Thank you.
As there has been no further requests for the speaking list, the final three speakers will be Fit, followed by the Civil Society organization and last but not least, Andorra.
Please give the floor to the distinguished representative of Fitch.
Thank you.
Thank you very much, Madam President, the Ambassador Kris.
Again, a great pleasure to have you with us this morning up until now, as you know, Fiji is a country well known to your good self, and we were once a valued partner back in 2017 in the same race.
So we very much valued your engagement and also your resilience to come back in particular on on this important rule.
So Fiji, like many specific smaller and developing states recognize the central role of the PGA in advancing critical importance of most of the vulnerable nations.
I have two questions.
The first is how would you amplify the voice of the vulnerable and small delegations, particularly in relations to climate change and in the event that the Secretary-General who will be coming in also during your term may take a different position in relation to climate change, how will you be able to work together to address that matter.
And secondly, in relation to our position in the Pacific, we are geographically distance from the United Nations and sometimes the relevance of the UN can be overlooked in our region.
How do you intend to ensure that the UN remains visible, engaged, and present across the Pacific? Thank you.
Thank you the Distinguished representative of Fizi, please, Mr.
Kukus.
Thank you, President.
Thank you, Ambassador.
It's good to see you too.
Look, to amplify the voice of the General Assembly, it depends on us recognizing the importance of implementing our decisions.
As your PGA, if I'm elected to that position, I've said that I wish to be your voice in your flag bearer.
But as PGA, I can only do as much as the membership wishes me to do.
I will go back to what I said before that I will be assertive, I will be ambitious, but I'm not going to promise what can't be delivered.
In any walk of life and I'll use this analogy, if there is a tailwind, we will be going to where we want to quicker.
If there is a headwind, we will be going to where we want to go much slower.
I hope to have the tailwind of the membership with me in addressing the issues that are vital importance to the membership, particularly those that you mentioned Ambassador, when it comes to climate change and the Pacific small Island developing states.
Now, If a new Secretary-General comes in with a different perspective, of course, there are international agreements that we have already agreed to, UNF, AAC and others.
I would want to engage with a Secretary-General so he or she knows what the feeling of the membership is on these issues which are of vital importance.
How do we make the UN better known to Pacific Island? States, I think that is an issue that applies to each and every one of us.
I think collectively as a UN individually as countries, but also the Secretariat, I do not think we have done the best job of conveying to our people the value of what the UN has done, what it has achieved, how it has helped countries on a daily basis.
That is something that I would wish to work with the communications side of the Secretariat, as well as each and every one of us to see how we can better amplify what the UN does.
Here there is also a role, I believe, for the World Federation of UN Associations, which exist in most of our countries.
They can play an important role too in our respective countries of informing of what the UN actually does.
Thank you.
Thank you.
I now invite the distinguished representative of the civil society organization, Article 109, Coalition to take the floor, please.
Thank you very much.
I am Sophia Garcia, Director of Advocacy and Partnerships of Article 1 oh nine, a coalition of close to 100 partners and civil society organizations supporting and encouraging member states to explore the path laid out by Article 1 oh nine of the charter for a conference to review the charter.
The General Assembly is the chief deliberative and representative body of the United Nations and the right place for discussion and debate about the reform and review of the UN.
With increasing calls for deep renewal and transformation, what specific actions would you take in your role as PGA to ensure the General Assembly facilitates dialogue and openness to different ideas for ambitious reform, renewal, to make the organization ready to address the present challenges and threats to humanity as we face now differently from 1945, as you said in your opening statement.
Thank you.
Thank the distinguished representative of the Article 109 coalition.
P, Mr.
Kukus.
Thank you, President and thank you for your question.
I had mentioned before when we talked about the question about the reform of the charter and that I had said that it is as relevant today as it was 80 years ago and the fundamental principles of the charter remain today the cornstone of international peace and security.
The challenge is not the charter itself, it's our collective responsibility to implement the charter.
When it comes to reform of the UN itself, to make it more relevant, to make it more efficient and more effective, I've addressed these issues and I think the discussions that are taking place also with the revitalization of the UN, the UN 80 initiative, all of these feed into what I think we all wish to see a more relevant, a more effective, more efficient United Nations.
As PGA, of course, I would work with membership and where appropriate with stakeholders too, to see where there are gaps in what we're doing that we should address.
I would be open to those discussions.
But again, we have a format, we have a process that is ongoing, and I would wish to see where we are with that process too.
Thank you.
Thank you.
I now give the floor to distinguished representative of Malawi, followed by Andorra as a final speaker.
Thank you, PGF for convening this session.
I thank H Andrés Kcarus for his representation.
My questions are aligned to remarks delivered by g77 and China.
These allow me to raise these questions in my national capacity.
In your responses, HG Kakis to the questions related to UNA initiative and especially proposed measure of UN Women and UNFPA, you have indicated that you would want to see the original mandates of the UN agencies maintained or at least not weakened or disrupted.
In view of the perception that the UN at AA does not seem to have had a huge impact on uplifting people out of poverty and ensuring gender equality and especially for least developed countries and AOLDCs as well as CDs with the current geopolitical challenges that are affecting financing for development.
How do you intend to engage international financial institutions to ensure countries in vulnerable situations are supported as per UN mandates related to the UN Charter pillar on development? And second question, how would you ensure that U OHRLLS and other UN agencies that are directly supporting LDCs, ALDs and CDs are strengthened to support the countries in vulnerable situations? Thank you, DJ.
Thanks to Distinguished representative of Malawi, please, Mr.
Kakurz.
Thank you, Ambassador.
If I can just look at your first question.
I the need for international financial institutions to reflect the realities of today is important.
Now, as PGA, I cannot dictate to the World Bank or the IMF how it changes its rules.
They have their boards of which members seated here at the UN are also members of those boards as well.
But what I would do is make sure that that conversation a conversation that we have in this building.
I would seek to engage and bring in those institutions in a dialogue with member states for there to be a better understanding of the challenges, particularly the developing countries, least developed countries, the landlock seeds have when it comes to accessibility to finance.
Sometimes it's not the volume of finance.
It's the accessibility to that finance, which is equally important.
Ambassador, on the issue of the international financial institutions, that is something that I take seriously to heart and the need to engage with them within the context of how we can engage with them, recognizing that they are separate institutions.
But I think it is important to have a dialogue where everybody recognizes what the issues are at stake.
Yes, the institutions that support the LDCs, the landlocked developing countries SIDS need to be strengthened.
That's not something that we have the luxury of seeing a dilution of their involvement with those countries in need.
Thank you very much.
Thank you before giving the floor to the distinguished representative of Andorra as a final speaker, just to be very clear on rules of procedure because this is an informal meeting and we still have a couple of minutes of time.
I give the opportunity to the distinguished representative of Andorra, even though you've spoken in the capacity on the group already.
In other meetings, this is not possible and if we would be short of time, it would be the same just saying this for any other interactive dialogue in the future we might have.
Um And I would also underline again that this would be the final question and therefore the final remarks, also a chance for you to sum up.
Please, the distinguished representative of Honora you have the floor.
Yes, Madam Chair, you're right.
I spoke on behalf of a group and I didn't want to take the time on my fellow colleagues to speak in my own personal capacity.
I thought that I should take the floor second time.
I've been the last which I'm very happy actually.
Thank you, Ambassador Coies because you've been very resilient during this time.
I hope that we did not exhaust you with questions.
Sometime they've been repetitive because we planned them in advance.
The second candidate has more advantage probably with all these questions that we put.
Um, you said many things during your answers that I completely share.
I was here, you came nine years earlier than me.
I came on 93.
I also share the same feelings that you said.
I came out recently two years ago.
I have the feeling this house is a monster.
We have to create a monster.
We should be accountable for that too.
You mentioned some of the consequences of this monster like the high level week and for your information, it's not ten or 20 site event, it's 800 to 900 site events.
It's even worse.
So it's up to us and actually, you know, we did this with all these sides of events.
We do it not for the sake of the benefit sometimes, but for the agendas of our authorities to keep them busy, which is terrible, by the way, when you look at the insider perspective.
So, you know, all countries should be able to be ones, at least, especially small countries.
My country is much smaller than yours, but sometimes we talk about the probably we have people that we can submit as a candidate.
But I want to put you a strict question.
How would you respond to those that they think that we cannot have two presidents in a row belonging to European Union? Would that mean that you would never be allowed? Because as long as you stay in the Asian group, that was always is the case.
Thank you.
I thank the distinguished representative of Andora please, Mr.
Kakuis.
Thank you, Ambassador.
Your point about small states and everybody having the opportunity to serve is something that I feel very strongly about.
Cyprus has not served as president of the PGA before.
We put in our candidates in 2016.
Nobody else had put it in at the time.
We are in the Asia Pacific Group.
That's where we are.
And my understanding has always been that the choice of PGA is based on regional groups and not on political affiliations.
I had made my comment at the beginning that Cyprus is not north, south, east or west.
It's all of those, it's global central.
When we gained our independence, Our first port of call, our DNA, was the non aligned movement and the G 77.
That's where we started from, and we do not forget our roots.
We are, as I said, in the Asia Pacific Group, we're a proud member of the Franco F, a member of the European Union, a member of the Commonwealth, of the Forum of Small states.
So When you try to pigeonhole Cyprus and say, it is not a true Asian country, that's where I am.
We are proud to be a nominee from the Asia Pacific Group and hope that we can get the trust of the membership to serve.
Ultimately, If I am elected on June 2nd, what is currently Team Cyprus becomes Team UN and I would serve 193 members, not a country, not a region, not a political grouping, but 193 members.
I hope that today you have gotten a better idea of who I am and how I would, if I'm honored with that position, serve you as the members of the UN.
Again, thank you all so much for being here, for honoring me with your presence.
Madam President, thank you again.
Thank you.
We have now come to the end of this informal interactive dialogue.
I would like to thank you as well, Your Excellency, Mr.
Kurs, for your participation, this almost three hour participation.
I would also like to express my appreciation to all of participants, to all of you.
Your Excellencies for contributing to this dialogue.
The meeting is adjourned and I hope to see you all refreshed at 3:00 P.M.
In the same hall.
Have a good lunchtime.
Thank you.