ウィスパリング同時通訳研究会コミュのCanadian Ambassador 74th UNGA

September 30th, 2019

Mr. President, the breadth and depth of the deliberations held over this past week has reminded us of the unique importance of this General Assembly. No other platform affords the full expression of such a diversity of voices and views. No other venue brings the world together like this.

The challenges we face today are systemic and global. They know no national boundaries. No single state, no matter how big or how strong, can succeed by acting in isolation or even bilaterally.

Moreover, it is now also clear to most that governments acting alone cannot themselves deliver the benefits of multilateralism. Public policies and public resources, although absolutely essential, are insufficient to tackle challenges like climate change and inequality, or fully achieve sustainable development.

To deliver results to people everywhere, multilateralism must be more inclusive and innovative than ever. Silos must be broken. Strengthening multilateralism means involving all stakeholders. Yes, governments should lead, but the ideas and participation of youth, women, Indigenous peoples, entrepreneurs, and other members of civil society are critical to fostering the kind of innovation we need to succeed as a global community.

Not simply because our challenges are common, but rather, because the potential solutions and gains are all collective. To realize them, we need to work together.
What happened at the UN last week brings hope. It was all about diversifying the voices around the UN; it was all about fostering innovative partnerships.

This high level week began with youth from all over the world sounding the alarm over climate change and demanding urgent action, leadership and accountability.

We heard young people from Tuvalu, Kiribati, Marshall Islands and across the Pacific describe living in constant fear. Not knowing whether their homelands will still be capable of supporting human life by 2030.

These young men and women travelled thousands of kilometres with a simple message: Save the Pacific, save the world! I want them to know, Canada has heard their message.

The message was echoed loudly in Montreal and throughout Canada this past Friday when hundreds of thousands of young people went on strike and marched in the streets during the largest protest of its kind ever held in Canada.

Mr. President, at the Climate Action Summit, we heard that the power to change course lies in our hands. Readily available solutions exist here and now that, if pursued, could eliminate 70% of global emissions.

Mr. President, during the SDG Summit, we heard loud and clear that all our efforts must be channeled towards our shared objectives of people, planet and prosperity. For a world that leaves no one behind.

Mr. President, at the SAMOA Pathway Mid-term Review, we were reminded of the special vulnerabilities of small island developing states and how they are at great risk.

Mr. President, at the High-Level Meeting on Universal Health Coverage we heard about the powerful impact that health care can have on prosperity – not just of individuals, but for entire nations. A lack of coverage keeps people in poverty and away from achieving their economic potential.

Mr. President, Canada was proud to serve as the co-facilitator of the High Level Dialogue on Financing for Development with our close partner, Ghana.

Through this process, we learned how the poorest and most vulnerable countries are confronting unsustainable levels of debt. And we learned how the decline in correspondent banking relationships poses an existential threat to the nations of the Caribbean and the Pacific.

We learned how the scourge of illicit financial flows continues to rob developing countries of the financial resources they need to invest in their people’s future.

But we also learned that the world has more than enough financial resources to make the sustainable development goals a reality. The problems are coordination and connection. We need to urgently address the discrepancy between where the financial resources are, and where they are needed most.

Solving this mismatch must be a collective priority, here at the United Nations and at home. Doing so is the key to achieving all of what we have set out to accomplish this week – from climate action and universal health care to the vision of the inclusive, people-centred sustainable prosperity of the 2030 Agenda.

Canada, together with Jamaica, founded the Group of Friends of SDG Financing because we are committed to finding ways of mobilizing the necessary resources from the public, private and philanthropic sectors for achieving the SDGs by 2030.

This is why Canada and Jamaica teamed up with Denmark, UNDP and the University of Maryland to launch the Closing the Investment Gap initiative, which is focusing on assisting developing countries to build sustainable infrastructure faster. And it is working. Nine developing country investment teams have brought forward thirteen high-priority, sustainable infrastructure projects – representing an aggregate capital investment of approximately $4.3 billion.

Indeed, Canada has been working vigorously with partners to generate momentum for financing sustainable development. And we are starting to see the result.

New actors are entering the space, including banks and impact investors who are increasingly willing to work with public financing and philanthropists.

Mr. President, as this session of the general debate draws to a close, Canada continues to reflect on all that we have heard over the course of the past week.

To our fellow member states, and the global citizens that journeyed here, we want you to know that we listened, and that we hear you.

We listened to President Macky Sall of Senegal say, “Africa does not need tutoring. Africa needs partnerships.”
We hear you, and we agree.

We listened to President Taneti Mamau of Kiribati say, “The real measure of the UN is not in the numbers of resolutions, but how many disadvantaged people are better off as a result. That is the reason we gather here.”
We hear you, and we agree.

We listened to Prime Minister Joseph Muscat of Malta say that “Women’s roles in society have been underestimated, under-acknowledged, and at times even unrecognized.”

We hear you, and we agree.
We listened to the President of the General Assembly, Mr. Tijjani Muhammed-Bande, say: “Evidence abounds that we can do great things if we are courageous, steadfast and show empathy”.

We hear you, and we agree.
We listened when our Secretary-General reminded us that “We are here to serve.” We heard him call on each of us to “restore trust, rebuild hope and move ahead, together”.

Mr Secretary-General, we hear you, and we agree. We are all here to serve our citizens and the planet, and to move ahead, together.

Together. Ensemble. Juntos [Spanish]. sa-wee-aan [Arabic]. Vmesti [Russian]. Yiqi {ee-tchee} [Chinese].
United. As Nations, and as Partners.

A strong United Nations is to everyone’s advantage, as is an effective UN Security Council capable of adapting and responding to 21st century challenges.
Canada wants to do its part in support of this goal.

Mr. President, nowhere is the need more urgent than in those places where fragility and violence directly touch millions of people. This General Assembly knows very well where political solutions are desperately needed to stop mass atrocities, and to bring durable solutions to protracted crises so generations of people can return, in safety and dignity, to their homes. So they can have hope and prosper and thrive.

People in Syria, Yemen, Venezuela and countless other places, rightly look to the blue and white flag of the UN with hope, but, too often, also with frustration and even anger.

We have a responsibility to serve them. We need to do more to help. All hope, however, is not lost.
We should acknowledge with admiration and respect that the UN can, and is, acting as a force for peace in many parts of the world.

High level events convened this week by the governments of Burkina Faso, Mali, Somalia and Sudan demonstrate a genuine desire for partnership in support of peace.
It is in the interest of this organization, and its member states, to respond to their legitimate expectations. We should accompany them in their pursuit of sustainable peace and prosperity for their people.

Mr. President, Canada is prepared to do its part. We want to help develop forward-looking approaches to the world’s toughest problems.
We want to bring our uniquely diverse experience to bear in support of truly global solutions, while fully respecting local leadership.

We hope to contribute to a new multilateralism, where benefits are distributed more broadly, more evenly and more fairly; where commitments are fulfilled; and where implementation is achieved and results experienced by the people.

We intend to do this by earning a seat on a United Nations Security Council that truly serves the interests of all member states.
Should you choose to elect us, Canada can be counted on to do what it has always done: ask the tough questions, actively listen to the answers, stand up for what matters, be clear and consistent, and unite rather than divide.

We are fully committed to bringing innovative ideas to prevent and respond to crises, and firmly believe in the power of multilateral solutions and partnership to address the most intractable of global challenges.

Mr. President, as a member of the UN Security Council, we will focus on five priority areas.
The first is to sustain peace, together.

We support the Secretary-General’s vision in this regard, full stop. Prevention and peacebuilding are essential components of an effective approach.
A Canadian, former Prime Minister Lester B. Pearson, was at the heart of the creation of the first UN peacekeeping force more than 60 years ago. Since then, more than 125,000 Canadians have served abroad in support of UN peacekeeping operations.

We are the longstanding chair of the Working Group of the Whole of the UN Special Committee on Peacekeeping Operations, bringing troop and police contributing countries, financial donors, and host states together to improve the vital collective endeavour that is 21st century UN peacekeeping. We have and will continue to drive innovation in this space, just as we did with smart pledges and the Vancouver Principles.

We have served as a member of the UN Peacebuilding Commission, and chair of the Sierra Leone configuration, for over a decade. Our ongoing support in this capacity to Sierra Leone’s nationally-led recovery and development has contributed to sustainable peace in that country.
Mr. President, we are proud of our record, but we have also drawn inspiration from the work of many, many others.

We are grateful for Jordan’s prescient efforts in 2015 to establish a new, and necessary, agenda on youth, peace and security.
We support Equatorial Guinea in drawing the Security Council’s attention to the African Union’s critically important Silencing the Guns initiative.

We pay tribute to Kuwait for successfully bringing forward the first ever UN Security Council resolution on missing persons in armed conflict. And to Poland for expanding the Council’s protection of civilians agenda – which Canada spearheaded twenty years ago – to also include persons with disabilities in conflict.

These action-oriented initiatives demonstrate what can be accomplished by elected members of the Security Council working together.
Mr. President, Canada’s second priority is to address climate change, together.

Climate change is the defining issue of our time. An existential threat like no other. It is an environmental issue. An economic issue. And, as it endangers the lives and livelihoods of citizens around the world, one of the greatest security challenges of the 21st century.

For this reason, we listened carefully to the views expressed during the open debate organized by the Dominican Republic under their recent Presidency of the Security Council on ‘addressing the impacts of climate-related disasters on international peace and security.’