Côte d'Ivoire

Madam Annalena Baerbock, President of the General Assembly,

Excellencies, Heads of State and Government,

Mr. António Guterres, Secretary-General of the United Nations,

Excellencies, ladies and gentlemen,

Before anything else, I would like to convey Côte d'Ivoire's warm greetings on the occasion of this session, which marks the 80th anniversary of the United Nations, our common Organization.

I wish to express, Madam President Annalena Baerbock, our warm congratulations on your brilliant election to the presidency of this important session, and to assure you of Côte d'Ivoire's support in carrying out your mission.

I would also like to pay heartfelt tribute to your predecessor, Mr. Philémon Yang, for the quality of the work accomplished during his term.

I am pleased to salute in particular the Secretary-General, Mr. António Guterres, for his dedication to the ideals of our Organization. At this moment, as we celebrate eight decades of achievements of this noble organization in the service of our nations, our gratitude naturally goes to the founding fathers of the UN, to the successive Secretaries-General, and to the staff who have served our Organization with selflessness, sometimes at the cost of their lives.

My country wishes to seize this special moment that brings us together to honor the memory of two illustrious sons of the African continent, Secretaries-General Boutros Boutros-Ghali and Kofi Annan, whose actions radically transformed the United Nations at a pivotal moment in its existence.

Madam President,

Excellencies, ladies and gentlemen,

This gathering is certainly a decisive moment in the life of our world Organization, eight (8) decades after its creation with the aim of establishing peace and security throughout the world, and fostering the economic and social progress of nations. We are therefore celebrating the world shaped by the journey of our states within the United Nations, as well as the resilience of an Organization that has weathered many turbulent moments in history.

This is why Côte d'Ivoire welcomes the relevance of this year's theme, at a time when the existing international political architecture is undergoing profound upheavals that are severely impacting our Organization. Since its creation in 1945, the United Nations, borne by the faith of its member states in multilateralism and international solidarity, and by their determination to build a better world than the one inherited from the Second World War, has achieved significant progress in carrying out its mandate.

In this context, the United Nations has shaped the destiny of many peoples and countries by contributing to their accession to independence and international sovereignty. It has also worked, for eight (8) decades, to keep our planet safe from a new world conflict, from high-intensity interstate wars, and from any resort to nuclear weapons.

My country salutes the essential action and decisive role of the United Nations and regional partners in the prevention and peaceful resolution of conflicts, as well as in the deployment of peacekeeping and peacebuilding operations. In the same vein, Côte d'Ivoire is pleased to have contributed for several years to the various missions initiated by the UN, and to be party to the majority of treaties banning or eliminating chemical, biological, and nuclear weapons.

In a world where conflicts and disputes have never truly ceased, the United Nations has always been the appropriate framework for our joint efforts in favor of peace and security. This commitment has certainly made it possible to prevent and contain many conflicts. However, it has not always had the expected results, nor has it prevented tragedies from occurring. I am thinking in particular of the genocide of the Tutsis in Rwanda between April and July 1994, which left a mark on humanity and reminded us of the urgent need to act together against all forms of conflicts and armed crises.

Madam President,

Excellencies, ladies and gentlemen,

On development and social progress, the United Nations has managed to mobilize all partners around important initiatives to support developing countries. This constant and multifaceted support from the UN has enabled these countries to structure their vital social sectors, education and health, and to accelerate the fight against poverty, hunger, global warming, and the various inequalities that undermine their progress.

Furthermore, in line with the mobilization prompted by the United Nations, decades of engagement by the Bretton Woods institutions, the World Bank and the International Monetary Fund, have expanded the range of resources available for financing the development of our countries.

My country welcomes the important development initiatives launched by the United Nations, notably the International Development Decades, the Millennium Development Goals, the Sustainable Development Goals, and the Paris Agreement on climate change. Likewise, Côte d'Ivoire salutes the UN's multifaceted humanitarian actions, which regularly save thousands of lives during natural disasters and conflicts affecting many countries.

Indeed, thanks to its specialized agencies, notably WFP, UNHCR, WHO, UNICEF, and OCHA, it remains the most structured and most universal actor in global humanitarian aid, a powerful symbol of the international solidarity advocated by the United Nations Charter.

The decades of action that we are celebrating during this session also give my country the opportunity to appreciate the important role of the United Nations in strengthening the exercise of human rights and democracy around the world, as well as its immense action in favor of respect for international law, which forms the foundation of peaceful relations and solidarity between countries.

Madam President,

Excellencies, ladies and gentlemen,

At the end of these 80 years of existence, our world Organization today finds itself at a crossroads, confronted with the most serious liquidity crisis in its history, and an unprecedented crisis of confidence, particularly in the Security Council. Under these conditions, the coming decades carry significant challenges that will further test the Organization's capacity to meet the expectations of peoples and fulfill its missions. Faced with the unpredictable evolution of the world and the weakening of multilateralism, it appears more urgent than ever to restore the effectiveness of the United Nations on the basis of inclusive and equitable multilateralism.

In this perspective, my country invites member states to reclaim the ideals of the United Nations Charter as well as the obligations incumbent upon them for its implementation, and to renew the solidarity that has always governed our actions. I am convinced that it is this collective commitment that will enable us to face global challenges such as global warming, terrorism, the scarcity of development financing, information warfare, and the regulation of artificial intelligence.

On this last question, which raises both hopes and fears, Côte d'Ivoire welcomes the adoption of the Pact for the Future and its annexes, and the Global Digital Compact intended to regulate the use of artificial intelligence. It calls for the adoption of binding universal standards to regulate the use of artificial intelligence and digital technology for development purposes that benefit everyone.

The effectiveness of the United Nations in this critical period we have entered depends first and foremost on the completion of Security Council reform. Indeed, the paralysis of this major body confines the United Nations and regional organizations to powerlessness, and pushes further away any prospect of peace and lasting resolution of the conflicts and global challenges that threaten international peace and security. More than ever, Security Council reform remains essential to adapt it to new international realities and to strengthen its legitimacy.

Faced with the deadlock in the negotiation process under way for several decades, my country reiterates its call for a reform of the United Nations Security Council aimed above all at granting Africa its rightful place in the membership categories of this body, in accordance with the common African position expressed in the text of the Ezulwini Consensus and the Sirte Declaration. The world needs, more than ever, a fully functional Security Council to find just solutions to the conflicts ravaging our humanity.

The reform momentum aimed at marking the renewal of multilateralism must also concern global economic and financial governance, through the reform of the Bretton Woods institutions and, more broadly, the global financial architecture. Côte d'Ivoire welcomes Africa's entry into the G20, which represents an important step forward, and calls for a courageous mobilization of our countries' bilateral and multilateral partners, in order to address the severe decline in resources devoted to financing development, particularly in the countries of the South.

Madam President,

Excellencies, ladies and gentlemen,

Under the visionary leadership of His Excellency Mr. Alassane Ouattara, President of the Republic, Côte d'Ivoire is firmly committed to respecting its obligations under the United Nations Charter, and remains attentive to the impact of the geopolitical upheavals fragmenting the world. Despite this depressed international context, Ivorians tirelessly continue their efforts to complete the work of building a stable, inclusive, resilient, and prosperous nation. In this regard, my country once again wishes to express its recognition and gratitude to the United Nations which, through the United Nations Operation in Côte d'Ivoire (UNOCI), contributed greatly to the return of peace after a decade of socio-political crisis.

Thus, in terms of security, Côte d'Ivoire is a safe country that today hosts, under decent conditions, several thousand people fleeing terrorist attacks in the Sahel region.

Economically, Gross Domestic Product growth remains dynamic. The action of President Alassane Ouattara's Government is now focused on accelerating the structural transformation of the country's economy, to make it more competitive, fairer, and more inclusive. In this context, ambitious policies for poverty reduction and improving the living conditions of the population, particularly the most disadvantaged, have enabled Côte d'Ivoire to rank among the three (3) countries in the world that recorded the greatest progress on the global index of Sustainable Development Goals between 2015 and 2024. Furthermore, the significant investment in human capital made in recent years makes Côte d'Ivoire the country with the strongest progression in Africa and the fourth worldwide on the Human Development Index (HDI).

The political environment is peaceful thanks to the dialogue that the Government has continually promoted since 2011, and to important reforms modernizing political life, which allow political parties and civil society to freely carry out their activities across the entire national territory. The human rights situation is satisfactory and is being strengthened through the affirmation of judicial independence and the strengthening of the normative and institutional framework, as well as facilitated access to justice.

Madam President,

After more than a decade marked by significant economic and social reforms, and by large-scale infrastructure works that have transformed its image and laid the foundations for irreversible development, our country now intends to work on consolidating democratic institutions and values.

In this regard, emphasis is placed on the definitive entrenchment of the rule of law in the life of our nation, and especially in political practice, so that democracy and peace become irreversible and are preserved for the benefit of youth and future generations.

It is in this spirit that the electoral process is under way for the election of the President of the Republic, which will take place on 25 October 2025. Every effort is being made to ensure that this election, which affirms the democratic maturity of my country and its people, takes place with the greatest transparency and in peace.

Thank you for your kind attention.