Congo

Madam President of the General Assembly,

Mr. Secretary-General of the United Nations,

Ladies and gentlemen Heads of State and Government,

Distinguished delegates,

Ladies and gentlemen,

It is with gravity, but also with unshaken faith in the ideals of the United Nations, that I address you today. We are gathered at a turning point, at a time when our collective responsibility has never been greater.

We are living through a period marked by heightened tensions, multiple threats, and deep fractures. And yet, the world has never needed unity, cooperation, and dialogue more. What is at stake is not only peace or development, but indeed the very future of multilateralism and of this precious humanity that we share.

Eighty years ago, after the horrors of the Second World War, the founders of the United Nations came together with the firm intention of establishing a just and lasting international order. They dreamed of a world in which cooperation and solidarity would be the guiding principles, a world in which diplomacy and dialogue would replace violent conflict. Their project was ambitious. It remains entirely relevant today.

The United Nations was founded on two major principles:

• International solidarity, that is, the conviction that the destinies of nations are intrinsically linked and that only collective effort can meet global challenges.

• Multilateralism, or the recognition that every nation, large or small, must have a voice in international affairs, and that only collective action can guarantee lasting peace.

Unfortunately, 80 years after its creation, our Organization is confronted with the worrying resurgence of armed conflicts around the world. In so many places, the language of arms has once again taken precedence over reason and diplomacy. This is the failure of our collective promise: to build a world freed from the scourge of war. It is also the sign of a weakened international system, at times powerless in the face of the logic of confrontation.

Today, we must reaffirm the primacy of law in international affairs and the need for a world order founded not on the force of arms, but on established and commonly shared rules. The United Nations must once again become an effective instrument for conflict prevention and mediation.

As an actor devoted to peace and justice, working for friendship among all the peoples of the world, the Congo supports peaceful coexistence, mutual tolerance, and mutual understanding.

That is why, in the Middle East, my country unreservedly supports the two-state solution, Israeli and Palestinian, living side by side in peace. In the Caribbean, my country will continue to support the Cuban people, exhausted by decades of an embargo that is today incomprehensible.

The trade, technological, and geopolitical tensions between the major powers that we are witnessing today are obviously fragmenting our world and fueling mistrust among nations.

They weaken the chains of international solidarity and compromise our ability to jointly meet major global challenges, with serious consequences for the economies of developing countries.

This translates in particular into market instability, rising commodity prices, and recurring disruptions to supply chains. Yet, understandable as it may be, economic competition should not turn into systemic confrontation.

One of the great achievements of the United Nations has undeniably been to establish a solid platform for cooperation among nations. But today, this multilateralism is threatened by national self-interest and unilateral policies, sources of damaging diplomatic crises.

This trend must be reversed, because the global challenges we face, notably climate change, pandemics, and food insecurity, require a united, coherent, and concerted global response.

The Republic of the Congo firmly believes that a stronger and more effective United Nations is the indispensable condition for preserving peace and guaranteeing sustainable development.

That is why we call for a reform of its organs, starting with its Security Council, to make them more representative, more transparent, and closer to the realities of our world. It is plain to see that the Security Council, in its current composition, no longer reflects the geopolitical balance of our world. It is therefore urgent to reform it, not in theory, but in practice.

Africa can no longer remain marginalized. It is a continent of more than one billion four hundred million inhabitants. It is a continent of the future, of youth, of potential, to which we must today guarantee full and complete participation in global decisions.

I say it here forcefully: Africa deserves permanent representation on the United Nations Security Council. Not as the beneficiary of a favor, but as a legitimate partner. This is the solemn appeal that the Republic of the Congo makes from this podium.

We must invent a smarter, more effective multilateralism, closer to the aspirations of peoples, more representative of the realities of the 21st century. This multilateralism must also translate into concrete acts, tangible results, lasting solutions. The peoples of the world will not judge us on our speeches, but on what we will have managed to accomplish together.

Madam President,

Ladies and gentlemen,

There can be no lasting peace without development, and vice versa. Poverty, inequality, youth unemployment, and exclusion are the breeding ground for frustration, instability, and violent extremism.

We must honor our commitments to finance the Sustainable Development Goals and put an end to the mechanisms that strangle vulnerable economies, such as unsustainable debt or inequitable trade rules.

International solidarity remains essential to enable developing countries to succeed in their transition toward a more prosperous future.

That is why we must invest massively in education, health, agriculture, infrastructure, new technologies, artificial intelligence, and so on.

The climate challenge confronts us very forcefully today. It transcends all borders, all divides, and all ideologies. It is already striking our cities, our countryside, our ecosystems. It aggravates conflicts, destroys age-old cultures, and pushes entire families onto the roads of exile. In the face of this, we no longer have the right to act in scattered order. We must move forward in close ranks, in solidarity and with determination.

This requires respecting the commitments of the Paris Agreement, massive support for adaptation for the most vulnerable countries, and a profound transformation of our modes of production, consumption, and financing.

This is an opportunity to welcome the adoption by the United Nations General Assembly of the Resolution on the Global Decade of Afforestation and Reforestation, which my country initiated, as one of the solutions likely to advance our common fight for environmental preservation and the mitigation of the ravages linked to climate change. Climate must not become a new factor of North-South division. It must be a factor of global unity, a cause for planetary solidarity, the driving force of shared hope.

Madam President,

Ladies and gentlemen,

At a time when the nations of the world are facing serious challenges, some of which clearly have existential implications, a new and worrying arms race is now under way! Global military spending is today reaching record levels, even as millions of human beings live in extreme poverty, with limited access to drinking water, quality education, and primary health care.

Disarmament treaties are being called into question, while the proliferation of weapons of mass destruction, particularly nuclear weapons, is once again at the heart of concerns. This drift is dangerous in every respect. It does not make our world safer. On the contrary, it exposes it to the gravest perils, including the risk of a widespread conflagration that would escape all control.

True to its commitment to international peace and security, the Republic of the Congo reiterates its call for global disarmament. The time has come for us all to invest in the search for solutions that strengthen our collective security, the stability, and the prosperity of all peoples, rather than feeding the vicious and destructive cycle of conflict and violence.

Madam President,

Ladies and gentlemen,

In this unstable world, many today have doubts. Many wonder: is the United Nations still useful? Does it still serve any purpose? To them, I would like to answer clearly from this podium: yes!

Yes, the United Nations is even indispensable. But on one condition: that it knows how to evolve, that it knows how to reform itself, to draw closer to the peoples, and to respond concretely to the countless challenges of our times.

We are not condemned to war, withdrawal, and mistrust. We still have a choice: that of courage, solidarity, and responsibility.

So, together, united in diversity, let us bring to life the founding promises of our Organization, namely peace, dignity, and progress!

Let us not let History be made without us!

Thank you.