Benin

• Madam President,
• Mr. Secretary-General of the United Nations,
• Ladies and Gentlemen Heads of Delegation,
• Distinguished delegates,
• Ladies and Gentlemen,

It is with a profound sense of honour and responsibility that I take the floor on behalf of His Excellency Mr. Patrice Talon, President of the Republic of Benin, on the occasion of this 80th session of the United Nations General Assembly.

I wish first of all to extend my warmest congratulations to Madam Annalena Baerbock on her brilliant election to the presidency of this session, and to assure her of my delegation's full support in carrying out her noble mission. I also wish to salute the constant commitment of Mr. António Guterres, Secretary-General of the United Nations, for his tireless efforts on behalf of peace, security, sustainable development and respect for human rights, in a global context marked by growing uncertainty and multiple crises.

At this moment of celebrating our common Organization's oaken jubilee, it seems to me fitting to undertake a critical assessment of its achievements with a view to charting a path toward a better, more peaceful world.

We meet this year in an international climate heavily darkened by the multiplication of flashpoints of tension, the worsening of humanitarian and climate crises, growing inequality, and the erosion of confidence in multilateral institutions.

These challenges, unfolding on a planetary scale, profoundly test our collective capacity to preserve peace, promote shared prosperity and protect human dignity. This deeply turbulent global context fully justifies the relevance of the main theme of this session's General Debate: "Better Together: More than 80 Years in the Service of Peace, Development and Human Rights."

For Benin, there is only one answer to these challenges: to strengthen international cooperation, revitalize multilateralism, and restore full meaning to solidarity among peoples.

Madam President,

We stand today at a pivotal moment in contemporary history. The world as we knew it is being transformed by profound shifts — notably the reshaping of strategic balances, technological acceleration, the climate crisis, and the rise of both interdependence and rivalry. These changes are not mere cyclical adjustments; they herald a new global geopolitical order.

We are witnessing a gradual shift toward a multipolar world. New powers are emerging, asserting their voice in international affairs, while strategic alliances are being redrawn. This dynamic opens prospects for rebalancing, but also carries risks of fragmentation. My delegation stresses that this new world now taking shape should not relegate states of modest size to the role of mere spectators, nor allow them to disappear amid the clash of great-power rivalries.

Our voices matter. Our experiences matter. Our solutions matter.

The history of this organization, founded on the principle of the sovereign equality of States, has repeatedly shown us that smaller actors are generally points of balance, thanks to their capacity to embody moderation, dialogue and cooperation — which are the very essence of multilateralism.

My country, Benin, conceives of its place in this new world order as that of an actor for stability and cooperation — that is, a force for proposals with no pretension of wishing to determine world policy, but with a vision to share on the great challenges we are called upon to meet together.

Our foreign policy is founded on respect for international law and the primacy of peaceful solutions to disputes. We believe that the strength of law must always prevail over the law of force.

We favour the virtues of preventive diplomacy, mediation, and consensus-building within regional and international organizations.

Heir to a plural history, we defend cultural diversity as a pillar of world peace, and we work to reconnect Africa with its diasporas, notably by offering Benin nationality by acknowledgment to Afro-descendants who wish to obtain it.

In this new world order now taking shape, the question of national sovereignty has returned to the forefront of debates. Across the world, nations are reaffirming their legitimate right to decide their own destiny, to protect their vital interests, and to preserve their territorial integrity. This aspiration is legitimate, resting as it does on international law, the United Nations Charter and the will of peoples.

But at the same time, this quest for sovereignty is sometimes interpreted as a call for withdrawal and closure.

For Benin, sovereignty is instead synonymous with a capacity for autonomous action, grounded in a clear vision of national interests, exercised within an international system in which every State, while remaining master of its own choices, recognizes that shared challenges demand collective responses. True sovereignty is also affirmed through the capacity to engage in dialogue, to negotiate, to cooperate, and to open oneself to the world.

Madam President,

Benin observes with concern the proliferation of armed conflicts, from Eastern Europe to the Middle East, from the Sahel to the Great Lakes region, threatening the lives of millions of human beings, causing massive population displacement, not to mention the weakening of institutions and the destruction of infrastructure — all of which feeds a cycle of poverty and violence in zones of tension.

Faced with these realities, our conviction is clear: no conflict can find a lasting solution through force of arms. Only inclusive dialogue, sustained by genuine political will and accompanied by coherent international engagement, can open the way to a just and lasting peace — particularly amid the humanitarian chaos in Gaza, where prospects for reconstruction seem uncertain.

Benin reaffirms its support for the two-State solution as the only viable option for a definitive settlement of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, in accordance with the relevant Security Council resolutions and the New York Declaration adopted at the close of the International Conference jointly organized by France and the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia in July 2025.

Benin is also following with grave concern the evolution of the crisis in eastern Democratic Republic of the Congo, marked by persistent violence despite recent diplomatic initiatives.

We commend the efforts of Qatar and the United States of America aimed at fostering de-escalation and opening prospects for inclusive dialogue.

We call on all stakeholders to silence the guns, and we encourage the African Union to ensure strategic coherence, operational complementarity, and the alignment of peace efforts in the Great Lakes region.

Benin advocates for preventive diplomacy to reclaim its full place in the action of our organization.

Preventing a conflict always costs less, in human and financial terms, than managing its consequences — as is the case in our subregion, which currently faces the threat of terrorism, violent extremism, and transnational crime.

The situation in the northern part of my country, which is suffering attacks by terrorist movements, notably JNIM, in the tri-border area with the Sahel countries, is critical.

The Government is confronting this with determination, with the support of international partners, through an inclusive strategy combining strengthened border security, community development initiatives, care for internally displaced persons and refugees, coupled with radicalization-prevention programmes.

Terrorism is a transnational threat, and without strategic cooperation and strengthened mutual trust among countries, national efforts to confront it prove, unfortunately, insufficient.

Furthermore, peace can only be preserved if it rests on justice and respect for international law. This requires that all Member States fulfil their obligations, respect the sovereignty of nations, and renounce any form of interference or aggression.

Madam President,

Ten years ago, the international community adopted the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development, carrying the ambitious promise of leaving no one behind.

Today, we must confront a troubling reality: the global trajectory for achieving the SDGs is severely compromised. Successive shocks — the COVID-19 pandemic, security crises, the worsening effects of climate change, geopolitical tensions and economic slowdown — have slowed, or even reversed, progress in many countries, particularly in sub-Saharan Africa.

Despite these challenges, Benin, under the leadership of President Patrice Talon, has undertaken deep reforms and mobilized strategic investments aimed at sustainably transforming the economy and improving the living conditions of its citizens. Notable results have been achieved with respect to the SDGs, with nearly 60% of the 49 prioritized targets on track to be met. Benin's 2025 SDG Index stands at 57.8 points, placing our country first in the world in terms of progress, with a gain of 14.5 percentage points since 2015.

These positive results illustrate Benin's ability to translate its public policies into tangible progress for its people. Given the many challenges that remain in order to consolidate these gains and close remaining gaps, we call for a general mobilization, with less than five years remaining before the 2030 Agenda deadline.

This requires renewed multilateral action in favour of the coherent implementation of the "Seville Commitment," adopted at the close of the Fourth International Conference on Financing for Development. We call for a profound reform of the global financial architecture and the governance of multilateral development institutions, so that they better integrate countries of the South into their decision-making processes, and modernize their financial instruments in light of new challenges related to the energy transition, social inclusion, and climate resilience.

Furthermore, achieving the SDGs requires that young people and women be regarded not merely as beneficiaries, but as genuine partners in change.

In Benin, more than 65% of the population is under 30 years of age. Investing in their potential is not only a demographic imperative, but a strategic choice for building a prosperous, inclusive and resilient society.

Likewise, the empowerment of women constitutes a major lever for social and economic progress, guaranteeing shared and equitable growth. It is in this spirit that the Government of Benin, in partnership with the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA), organized the World Youth Summit in Cotonou on 4 and 5 April 2024.

That same city hosted, on 30 and 31 July 2025, the annual coordination meeting of the African Union and its Member States on strengthening, implementing, and promoting the Women, Peace and Security Agenda in Africa, in the context of the 25th anniversary of the adoption of United Nations Security Council resolution 1325.

Madam President,

Faced with the current malaise of multilateralism arising from geopolitical rivalries, the return of power politics, and nationalist withdrawal, Benin calls for a collective surge to revitalize it, making it more inclusive and action-oriented. In this context, my delegation takes note of the "UN80" initiative launched by the Secretary-General, and would like to stress the following points of attention:

• the "UN80" initiative process must be transparent, accountable, and have as its ultimate objective the improvement of the execution of the UN's mandate in the interest of its Member States;

• the best response to the Organization's recurrent liquidity problems lies in Member States honouring their obligation to pay their contributions in full, on time, and without conditions;

• any proposal aimed at achieving efficiency gains by reducing duplication and redundancy across the United Nations system must not seek to dismantle United Nations Agencies/Funds to the detriment of the assistance provided to Member States.

Finally, Benin wishes to underscore the urgency of a thorough reform of the United Nations Security Council, which is a requirement of 21st-century geopolitical reality. It is essential to build on the outcomes of last year's Summit of the Future, notably the Pact for the Future, which contains commitments toward the enlargement of the Council.

In this regard, Benin reaffirms its support for the African common position, as expressed in the Ezulwini Consensus and the Sirte Declaration. Africa, which represents more than a quarter of Member States and is the theatre of numerous issues on the Council's agenda, can no longer remain marginalized in decision-making.

Allow me to conclude by citing the African aphorism: "Alone, one goes faster; together, one goes farther." May this maxim guide our steps, inspire our decisions, and unite us in the quest for a better future for all of humanity.

Thank you for your kind attention.