51³Ô¹Ï

Thank you very much for all your kind words. I am deeply honoured by the trust and confidence Member States have placed in me, and determined to be guided by the purposes and principles of the Charter.

First of all, I would like to pay tribute to Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon. Secretary-General, your principled leadership has helped to chart the future of the 51³Ô¹Ï ¡ª through the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development; through your commitment to peace and security; through your initiative to put human rights at the heart of our work. Under your direction, the world committed to the historic Paris Agreement on climate change ¡ª and ratified it in record time. I strongly believe this momentum is unstoppable. Dear Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon, it is an honour to follow in your steps, defending the same values that unite us. Thank you very much.

Twenty-one years ago, when I took the oath of office to become Prime Minister of Portugal, the world was riding a wave of optimism. The cold war had ended, and some described that as the end of history. They believed we would live in a peaceful, stable world with economic growth and prosperity for all. But, the end of the cold war wasn¡¯t the end of history. On the contrary, history had simply been frozen in some places. When the old order melted away, history came back with a vengeance.

Hidden contradictions and tensions resurfaced. New wars multiplied and old ones reignited. Lack of clarity in power relations led progressively to greater unpredictability and impunity. Conflicts have become more complex ¡ª and interlinked ¡ª than ever before. They produce horrific violations of international humanitarian law and human rights abuses. People have been forced to flee their homes on a scale unseen in decades. And a new threat has emerged ¡ª global terrorism. Megatrends ¡ª including climate change, population growth, rapid urbanization, food insecurity and water scarcity ¡ª have increased competition for resources and heightened tensions and instability.

At the same time, the last 20 years have seen extraordinary technological progress. The global economy has grown; basic social indicators have improved. The proportion of people living in absolute poverty has fallen dramatically. But, globalization and technological progress have also contributed to growing inequalities. A lot of people have been left behind, even including in developed countries where millions of old jobs have disappeared and new ones are out of reach for many. In many parts, youth unemployment has exploded. And globalization has also broadened the reach of organized crime and trafficking.

All this has deepened the divide between people and political establishments. In some countries, we have seen growing instability, social unrest ¡ª even violence and conflict. A little bit everywhere, voters now tend to reject the status quo, and whatever Government proposal is put to a referendum. Many have lost confidence not only in their Governments, but in global institutions ¡ª including the 51³Ô¹Ï.

Fear is driving the decisions of many people around the world. We must understand their anxieties and meet their needs, without losing sight of our universal values. It is time to reconstruct relations between people and leaders ¡ª national and international; time for leaders to listen and show that they care, about their own people and about the global stability and solidarity on which we all depend. And it is time for the 51³Ô¹Ï to do the same: to recognize its shortcomings and to reform the way it works. This Organization is the cornerstone of multilateralism, and has contributed to decades of relative peace. But, the challenges are now surpassing our ability to respond. The 51³Ô¹Ï must be ready to change.

Our most serious shortcoming ¡ª and here I refer to the entire international community ¨C is our inability to prevent crises. The 51³Ô¹Ï was born from war. Today, we must be here for peace.

La pr¨¦vention exige que nous nous attaquions aux causes profondes ¨¤ travers les trois piliers des Nations Unies: la paix et la s¨¦curit¨¦, le d¨¦veloppement durable et les droits humains. Cela doit ¨ºtre la priorit¨¦ dans tout ce que nous faisons.

La pr¨¦vention exige que nous soutenions plus les pays dans leurs efforts pour renforcer leurs institutions et rendre leurs soci¨¦t¨¦s plus r¨¦silientes.

Il s¡¯agit aussi de r¨¦tablir les droits humains comme une valeur fondamentale qui doit ¨ºtre d¨¦fendue en tant que telle, et non ¨¤ des fins politiques autres. Tous, y compris les minorit¨¦s de tout genre, doivent pouvoir jouir de l¡¯ensemble des droits humains ¨C civils, politiques, ¨¦conomiques, sociaux et culturels ¨C sans aucune discrimination.

Prot¨¦ger et autonomiser les femmes et les filles est primordial. L¡¯¨¦galit¨¦ des genres est essentielle au d¨¦veloppement, et le r?le cl¨¦ qu¡¯elle joue dans la consolidation et le maintien de la paix devient de plus en plus ind¨¦niable.

La pr¨¦vention n¡¯est pas un concept nouveau : c¡¯est ce que les fondateurs des Nations Unies nous ont demand¨¦ de faire et elle constitue le meilleur moyen de sauver des vies et d¡¯all¨¦ger la souffrance humaine.

Mais lorsque la pr¨¦vention ¨¦choue, nous devons redoubler d¡¯efforts pour r¨¦gler les conflits.

Des crises les plus a?gues, en Syrie, au Y¨¦men, au Soudan du Sud et ailleurs, aux disputes de longue date, y compris le conflit isra¨¦lo-palestinien, il nous faut davantage de m¨¦diation, d'arbitrage et de diplomatie cr¨¦ative.

Je suis pr¨ºt ¨¤ m¡¯engager personnellement ¨¤ travers mes bons offices dans la r¨¦solution des conflits mais lorsque cela constitue une plus-value, tout en reconnaissant le r?le de premier plan des ?tats Membres.

L¡¯¨¦chelle des d¨¦fis auxquels nous sommes confront¨¦s nous contraint ¨¤ travailler de concert, pour r¨¦former les Nations Unies de mani¨¨re approfondie et continue. Je souhaiterais esquisser ici trois priorit¨¦s strat¨¦giques de cette r¨¦forme: dans notre travail en faveur de la paix; notre appui au d¨¦veloppement durable; et notre gestion interne.

Les femmes et les hommes travaillant dans les op¨¦rations de maintien de la paix des Nations Unies nous apportent une contribution h¨¦ro?que au p¨¦ril de leurs vies. Toutefois, ils se voient souvent confier la t?che de maintenir une paix qui n¡¯existe pas. Nous devons donc nous entendre sur ce que recoupe le travail de maintien de la paix, afin de jeter les bases d¡¯une r¨¦forme urgente.

Nous devons cr¨¦er un fil conducteur pour la paix qui relie la pr¨¦vention et la r¨¦solution des conflits, le maintien et la consolidation de la paix, et le d¨¦veloppement. Nous devons nous appuyer sur les conclusions des trois r¨¦cents rapports, ainsi que les r¨¦solutions parall¨¨les de l¡¯Assembl¨¦e g¨¦n¨¦rale et du Conseil de s¨¦curit¨¦. Le moment est venu pour nous tous, inspir¨¦s par le nouveau concept de p¨¦rennisation de la paix, de nous engager dans une r¨¦forme globale de la strat¨¦gie, des op¨¦rations et des structures des Nations Unies visant la paix et la s¨¦curit¨¦.

Cette r¨¦forme doit ¨¦galement inclure un examen de notre travail dans le domaine de la lutte antiterroriste, et un meilleur m¨¦canisme de coordination entre les 38 entit¨¦s des Nations Unies qui sont concern¨¦es.

The 51³Ô¹Ï system has not yet done enough to prevent and respond to the appalling crimes of sexual violence and exploitation committed under the UN flag against those we are supposed to protect. I will work closely with Member States on structural, legal and operational measures to make the zero-tolerance policy for which Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon has fought so hard a reality. We must ensure transparency and accountability and offer protection and effective remedies to the victims.

The second key element of the reform agenda concerns the 51³Ô¹Ï support to Member States in achieving the Sustainable Development Goals and the objectives of the Paris Agreement, an expression of global solidarity, with their promise to leave no one behind. To do this, we will reposition development at the centre of our work, and engage in a comprehensive reform of the 51³Ô¹Ï development system, at Headquarters and country levels. This must involve leadership, coordination, delivery and accountability. We will build on the outcome of the recent discussions among Member States.

We must also bring the humanitarian and development spheres closer together from the very beginning of a crisis to support affected communities, address structural and economic impacts and help prevent a new spiral of fragility and instability. Humanitarian response, sustainable development and sustaining peace are three sides of the same triangle.

This approach relates to the new way of working agreed at the World Humanitarian Summit. To achieve this, we need more accountability, on the level of each individual agency carrying out its mandate, but also its contribution to the work of the 51³Ô¹Ï system and of the system as a whole. A strong culture of accountability also requires effective and independent evaluation mechanisms.

The third key area is management reform. We will build on existing efforts and implement the recent initiatives that were approved. But, looking at 51³Ô¹Ï staff and budgetary rules and regulations, one might think that some of them were designed to prevent, rather than enable, the effective delivery of our mandates.

We need to create a consensus around simplification, decentralization and flexibility. It benefits no one if it takes nine months to deploy a staff member to the field. The 51³Ô¹Ï needs to be nimble, efficient and effective. It must focus more on delivery and less on process; more on people and less on bureaucracy. A culture of accountability also requires strong performance management and effective protection for whistle-blowers.

And it is not enough just to do better. We must be able to communicate better about what we do, in ways that everybody understands. We need a substantial reform of our communications strategy, upgrading our tools and platforms to reach people around the world.

Finally, management reform must ensure we reach gender parity sooner rather than later. The initial target for the equal representation of women and men among 51³Ô¹Ï staff was the year 2000. Sixteen years later, we are far from that goal. I pledge to respect gender parity from the start in all my appointments to the Senior Management Group and the Chief Executives Board.

By the end of my mandate, we should reach full gender parity at the Under-Secretary-General and Assistant Secretary-General levels, including special representatives and special envoys. We need a clear road map with benchmarks and time frames to achieve parity across the system, well before the target year of 2030. And the same concern applies to regional diversity.

Finally, any investment in a stronger 51³Ô¹Ï must take staff into account. I look forward to working once again alongside over 85,000 men and women carrying out our mandate in 180 countries across the globe. Many of them work in difficult and sometimes dangerous circumstances. With their professionalism, expertise and dedication, they are the 51³Ô¹Ï¡¯ most important resource, a resource that has to be cared for, developed and used efficiently, and whose voice needs to be heard.

We live in a complex world. The 51³Ô¹Ï cannot succeed alone. Partnership must continue to be at the heart of our strategy. We should have the humility to acknowledge the essential role of other actors while maintaining full awareness of our unique convening power.

Our humanitarian and development efforts would be insignificant without the active involvement of Member States and the contributions of civil society, international financial institutions, private investors and even financial markets. Several mediation efforts and peace operations would not be possible without the engagement of regional organizations, particularly the African Union, our most relevant international regional partner, both in peace and security and in development.

Recientemente hemos puesto en marcha diferentes iniciativas importantes junto con nuestros socios. Nos corresponde ahora llevarlas a buen t¨¦rmino antes de iniciar otras nuevas.

Pero en nuestra estrategia hay un vac¨ªo: el labor con los j¨®venes. Durante demasiado tiempo, los j¨®venes se han visto excluidos de la toma de decisiones que afectan a su futuro.

Debemos aprovechar la labor realizada en el pasado con el apoyo de los Estados Miembros, el Enviado para la Juventud y la sociedad civil. Pero esta no puede ser una iniciativa donde los ancianos sean quienes hablen de las nuevas generaciones. Las Naciones Unidas deben empoderar a los j¨®venes y aumentar su participaci¨®n en la sociedad y su acceso a la educaci¨®n, la formaci¨®n y el empleo.

Today?s paradox is that, despite greater connectivity, societies are becoming more fragmented. More and more people live within their own bubbles, unable to appreciate their links with the whole human family. In the end, it comes down to values, as was said so many times today. We want the world our children inherit to be defined by the values enshrined in the 51³Ô¹Ï Charter: peace, justice, respect, human rights, tolerance and solidarity. All major religions embrace these principles, and we strive to reflect them in our daily lives.