YouSaid · the spoken record

Xavier Bettel

lines on the record: 186
first: 2014-09-24
most recent: 2023-09-24
sittings or episodes: 8
sources: un-general-debate

Every line below is reproduced as it was said and linked to the record it came from. Nothing here is summarised or generated. Directory · Search · Corrections

“For that reason, Luxembourg has submitted its candidacy to the Human Rights Council for the 2022- 2024 term, which would be our first as a member of the Council. If we have the honour of being elected by the General Assembly to the Council in next month’s elections, I can pledge that my country will strive to promote the rights of every human being in a spirit of dialogue and cooperation, working closely with the United Nations human rights mechanisms. We will also work to ensure that the voice of civil society is heard, as it is essential to the Council’s proper functioning. We have four priorities that are reflected in our voluntary commitments. Our first priority concerns support for the rule of law, civic space and human rights defenders and the fight against impunity.”
2021-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 76 (2021)
“In that context, my country is particularly proud to be a member of the School Meals Coalition, as I had the opportunity to highlight the day before yesterday at the United Nations Food Systems Summit. Effective school-meal programmes are a smart investment in future generations because they help to create opportunities, especially for girls and women. Human rights are tested every day by the climate crisis and the pandemic but also by wars and conflicts, which are theatres for crimes that shock the human conscience, from Afghanistan to the Sahel via the Middle East, Syria and Yemen, as well as Ethiopia. The promotion of human rights at the national and international levels is a priority area for us and we want to continue to assume our responsibilities in that area, too.”
2021-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 76 (2021)
“While we all have problems in our own countries and there are many issues that need resolving at home, cutting aid to the countries that need it most would be selfish. We should defend cooperation policies in our countries without falling for the siren song of populism and making cuts when it comes to helping others. The twenty-sixth Conference of the Parties to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change will open soon in Glasgow. I think it will be a moment of truth. I hope that we will all be there and that we will make the right decisions to guarantee a healthy environment for future generations. Speaking of future generations, UNICEF estimates that more than 1 billion children are exposed to climate shocks. The climate crisis is therefore also a children’s rights crisis.”
2021-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 76 (2021)
“Luxembourg has enacted a law to that end and we have doubled our production of renewable energies in recent years. We must also fulfil our commitments to developing countries and help them to strengthen their capacity to cope with the effects of climate change. My country, for example, has decided to double its international climate financing to €200 million for the period from 2021 to 2025.1 would like to point out that Luxembourg’s climate financing is in addition to our official development assistance, to which we continue to devote at least 1 per cent of our gross domestic product. I have been Prime Minister since 2013. In the past eight years, I have been asked on many occasions whether I think that 1 per cent for development aid is still necessary. And I say yes.”
2021-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 76 (2021)
“But imagine if you were an island and that perhaps tomorrow, if we do not all act together, you could disappear. What a scenario. It is therefore important that we act together. I am lucky to be part of the European Union, which has made strong commitments. I also thank the countries that have stayed within or returned to the Paris Agreement. We owe that to future generations. Several years ago, I was afraid that when certain countries said that they no longer wanted to be part of the Paris Agreement, it could have a domino effect and that that would be counterproductive. Therefore, a big thank-you goes to all those that stayed or that returned. For us, it is important to reduce net greenhouse-gas emissions by at least 55 per cent.”
2021-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 76 (2021)
“As I said earlier, however, climate developments show us that we should go further in our contributions, as well as in implementing our commitments. We cannot continue to make commitments, while the reality is something else. If we stay on the current trajectory, the temperature will rise by 2.7°C by the end of the century. We must limit global warming to 1.5°C as compared to the preindustrial levels. This morning, we had an exchange about the consequences that such global warming may have on some nations. Certain countries may no longer exist tomorrow if we see a melting of the existing ice. Realize it. I am part of a country that if I no longer exist, first I have Germany, Belgium, France and other countries around me. I am an enclave. I do not have access to the sea.”
2021-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 76 (2021)
“It is pointless to think that we are going to manage to vaccinate 100 per cent of people. There will always be a certain percentage that will not want to be vaccinated. Let us accept that and reassure those who still have doubts rather than shunning them. It is important to understand that we should carry them with us. To stem that flow of fake news and misinformation, we need to react. The media and politicians also have a role to play in not letting fake news supplant impartial information. We should strengthen the World Health Organization (WHO), but we should also increase cooperation among Member States. The independent group set up by the WHO Director-General has made useful recommendations in that regard. Allow me also to mention the historic Paris Agreement on Climate Change, achieved six years ago.”
2021-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 76 (2021)
“We are providing vaccine refrigerators to Laos, the Sudan, Burkina Faso and Senegal. We are ready to continue our international solidarity efforts to fight the pandemic. I had the opportunity to underline that at the summit convened by President Biden the day before yesterday. I am confident that we will be able to overcome the pandemic if we count on solidarity and science and if we also manage to stem the tide of fake news that exists and is fuelled by social networks by those who think that information is slow to receive through their Facebook accounts and social networks. We should not say that all those who have not yet been vaccinated are part of the anti-vaccine group. There is a high proportion of our population who still have questions and doubts. We should reassure them. We should not stigmatize them.”
2021-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 76 (2021)
“On 13 September, a first delivery was successfully made. Luxembourg shared 56,000 doses of vaccine, and the medical equipment to administer them, with Cabo Verde through the European Union Civil Protection Mechanism. However, what an ugly picture we all still have in our minds of when the ventilators were in such demand or when even among countries, one against another, we were bidding for ventilators on the airport tarmac and masks, competing with each other and in a race to see who could afford to pay the most to receive the supplies. What a sorry picture of international solidarity but we must remember it. For us, the Grand Duchy of Luxembourg, who had the opportunity to buy without denying others, it is important to also be able to share where we can. We provided respirators for India, Nepal and Tunisia.”
2021-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 76 (2021)
“Eleven billion doses are needed to reach the threshold of 70 per cent of the world’s population vaccinated, thereby allowing for an end to talking about the acute phase, for we are not protected from mutations and variants that exist. The mutations scare me, I must say. However, access to vaccines is unequal and, while that is the case, as the Secretary-General reminded us, it will be a problem and we will not manage to escape it. Our country is aware of the importance of vaccine solidarity. Last year and this year, as a country, we have contributed approximately €2 million to the COVID-19 Vaccine Global Access Facility for global access to COVID-19 vaccines. In July, my Government decided that Luxembourg would also share 350,000 doses of vaccine with its partner developing countries in Africa and Asia.”
2021-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 76 (2021)
“Today it is true that the decisions were not always easy to understand, particularly as one’s neighbour was doing the opposite to what one was doing. It was always very difficult. Therefore, for example, I, together with France, Belgium and Germany, had exchanges. We telephoned each other, saying that I am going to do this or that, also in order to learn from each other, as well as to share. Nevertheless, we managed to convince an increasing number of people to be vaccinated because today the vaccine is the only way out of this crisis. Almost 75 per cent of those over the age of 12 years have been vaccinated to date. More than 6 billion doses of vaccine have been administered to date. That is an impressive number. That is good, but it is not enough.”
2021-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 76 (2021)
“The pandemic has forced us to make difficult choices and act with urgency without being sure that we always had the right answers to deal with the unprecedented situation, which is true, We all learned things yesterday when we already had to take a decision the day before. We learn information today when we had to take decisions today. It was a very unusual situation, in which we were dependent but happy to see that the scientific community made progress and adapted. We also relied on information from others. Imagine, when I just talked about that selfishness, those walls and that pride, if each country remained guarded about the situation and even the information itself, rather than there being the richness of exchanges to learn the experiences of each other.”
2021-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 76 (2021)
“In the report that he has just presented, Our Common Agenda, the Secretary-General confronts us with our responsibilities. I agree with him when he says that we are at a turning point in history. My country is a founding m\Member of the United Nations. We have long been committed to multilateralism and an international order that is rightly based on the rule of law. Today my country is ready to respond to the Secretary-General’s call to build a more robust, effective, inclusive and networked multilateral system. That is the only way in which we can ensure peace, security and sustainable development in all its aspects, including health, respect for the rule of law and human rights.”
2021-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 76 (2021)
“We should stop thinking that closing borders, as has been the reflex, for example, during the pandemic, building walls, selfishness and withdrawal into oneself are the answer. We should be aware that we do not hold all the keys, not even as Governments. We need to monitor the success of civil society. We need the private sector. We need our citizens, in particular young people, who themselves are worried about the decisions that we take today or, rightly perhaps, about the lack of decisions that we are taking today. Our Secretary-General, Antonio Guterres, calls on us to do that. I thank him for his work, and I again congratulate him and reiterate my most sincere wishes for success in his second term at the head of our Organization.”
2021-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 76 (2021)
“We have had floods, storms and tornadoes, but for other countries even their existence and physical presence will depend also on the choices that we all will make together. Today it would therefore be irresponsible to lose hope and just be fatalistic, for there is room for hope. There are reasons for hope and that hope should inspire us to act. The time for talk is over and the time for action has come. We say that hope is lost. That is a saying, for hope can also disappoint. Despair can lead to some people no longer believing in anything. I think that hope endures and also can be realistic if there are “concrete achievements, which create de facto dependence”, to quote Robert Schuman’s Declaration on European construction. As responsible politicians, we must act together to overcome global challenges.”
2021-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 76 (2021)
“With us, every day the news begins with the 6.30 a.m. push news of how many people are in hospital, how many died and how many are ill. There are crises and conflicts, which continue to multiply. I will cite just two examples: the crisis in Afghanistan, where the Taliban’s grip on the country undermines even the progress made over the past 20 years in terms of democratic governance, development and human rights, especially for Afghan women and girls. And what about the climate crisis? Its devastating effects strike every country; not one is spared. I have spoken to you, Mr. President, and other colleagues for whom the climate crisis is even a crisis of survival. As for us, we have crises that hit us.”
2021-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 76 (2021)
“The pandemic forces us to recognize the need and urgency to change the way in which we do business. We can no longer speak of business as usual and we must strengthen our collective action within the multilateral system, with the United Nations at its centre. Luxembourg congratulates you, Mr. President, on your election. You can count on the support of our delegation as you carry out your important mandate. I also thank you for the time that you found this morning for that exchange with you and to be able to speak of such hope, which I will develop a little later in my address, as it is the theme that you chose under such auspices to place before the Assembly. I think that it is a very wise choice, as today we hear more news that makes despair and lose hope nowadays. There is the pandemic.”
2021-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 76 (2021)
“However, we see that many speeches are still being made by video-teleconference and in virtual format. We are therefore still not back to the normal life that we knew before, but we are very slowly getting there. As we all know, we also see that the pandemic has had an impact, whether it be economic, social, mental or psychological. We see that it has also had an impact on our populations. Let us not forget that more than 4.5 million people died after contracting the virus and 124 million people have been pushed into extreme poverty. The pandemic has cost schoolchildren more than 1,800 billion hours of classroom time, which are opportunities and speak of hope. Allow me later on to return to hope. Education is precisely part of hope for many people.”
2021-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 76 (2021)
“If today we are able to speak from this rostrum and return to more normality in our daily life, we owe it to the dedication and perseverance, as well as, it must be said, the genius of all those who spared no effort for more than a year and a half to enable us to gradually contain the coronavirus disease pandemic, whether it be the scientists, researchers, doctors, health-care workers or all those who allowed us to live and survive in such a situation and now to be able to find a vaccine. Twelve months, a year ago, who would have said that we would find a vaccine in such a short time and be able to meet other again? Let us not forget that this city, which was hit hard by the pandemic, has nevertheless once again become the capital of international diplomacy and multilateral engagement.”
2021-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 76 (2021)
“I must say that it is with emotion that I am speaking to the General Assembly today. I still recall that last year we talked to each other through a screen, without being able to interact, react or support. In my message, I expressed the hope and wish that we would be able to meet again (see A/75/PV.11). We are again meeting in a hybrid and reduced mode, but we are seeing each other more.”
2021-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 76 (2021)
“I sincerely hope that next year I will once again be able to participate more directly in the great conversation that is the high-level week and address the Assembly in a more lively and interactive way. Mr. President, Ladies and Gentlemen, Dear friends, I thank everyone for their kind attention and for listening to me, and I hope to see everyone physically once again in the very near future.”
2020-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 75 (2020)
“The United Nations is the umbrella organization of the international system and, as such, the guarantor of multilateralism. In our globalized and interdependent world, isolated and uncoordinated action constitutes a risk for all, including those who do not feel bound by accepted norms. The coronavirus crisis reminds us of that in the clearest and most unmistakable way. For its part, Luxembourg will maintain its long-standing international commitment through its participation in the work of the universally participatory bodies of the Organization, its voluntary financial contributions, its presence on the ground together with the United Nations and its candidature to elected positions in various bodies, such as the Human Rights Council for the term from 2022 to 2024.”
2020-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 75 (2020)
“It must be noted that sources of tension are on the rise and that the appearance of new actors on the international scene hardly always leads towards calm. Calling into question multilateralism is playing its role in increasing risks. It is more and more frequent and is not the product a single actor of the international community, as one would like to make us believe on occasion. For our part, we adhere to an international order based on the rule of law and the sovereignty of States. There is no contradiction between the two. I take this occasion to reiterate my country’s full support for the International Criminal Court and its representatives. The recent attacks against the Court and obstacles created to prevent it from acting must cease.”
2020-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 75 (2020)
“The agreement remains in force and cannot be simultaneously rejected and invoked. Let me say a few words about the situation in West Africa and the Sahel. Much of my country’s international cooperation is focused there. All stakeholders of the region must come together by implementing the commitments made, including the restoration of civil authority in Mali. The effectiveness of the international community’s commitment is predicated on that. For its part, Luxembourg further strengthened its commitment at the beginning of the year through its direct participation in MINUSMA, the first such involvement since its participation in UNPROFOR and UNIFIL. I will not list the concerns that my country has about active or potential conflicts in every region of the world. The list would be too long.”
2020-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 75 (2020)
“President, Authoritarianism fuels conflicts as it thrives on them. One has only to look at the number of regions and countries that have become the arena of diverse geographic Powers, entailing all kinds of trafficking and migratory pressures, especially in the Mediterranean. The Middle East remains a hotbed of tension. I welcome the recent rapprochement between Israel and the United Arab Emirates, as well as Bahrain, which should help stabilize the region. Nevertheless, the peace process between Israel and Palestine has stalled. The parties’ commitment is needed to negotiate a just and lasting peace and reach a two-State solution living side by side in peace and security. While Iran’s actions in the region give cause for concern, the abandonment of the nuclear agreement with Iran is not likely to improve the situation.”
2020-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 75 (2020)
“The rise of authoritarianism often goes hand in hand with a rise in simplistic populist, and even anti-scientific and irrational, narratives. Unfortunately, backsliding in the progress made in the recognition of certain rights also affects sexual and reproductive health, spilling over into United Nations bodies. With regard to my country, which is pursuing a feminist foreign policy, maintaining the gains made over many years of struggle must remain an absolute priority. We demonstrated that during our recent chairmanship of the Commission on Population and Development. I also take this opportunity to recall my country’s commitment to defending the rights of sexual minorities and its active participation in the LGBTI Core Group. In that regard, Europe is unfortunately of concern. Mr.”
2020-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 75 (2020)
“The suppression of opponents and human rights defenders is becoming widespread. When it is suppressed, civil society is often not heard. At the General Assembly during its seventy-fourth session, the Luxembourg chairmanship of the Third Committee committed to ensuring that civil society receive its rightful place in that forum, which is responsible for dealing with human rights issues. Civil Society’s involvement in United Nations forums will be one of our priorities as a candidate in the Human Rights Council elections to be held in October 2021. Overall, we are concerned about the rise of authoritarianism, to our dismay, in every region of the world — which is at times manifests itself more covertly and deviously, and, at others, openly, as we have recently seen in Belarus.”
2020-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 75 (2020)
“Recent experiences in global health governance can and should be reviewed in the aftermath of the current pandemic, and the relevant key lessons should be learned. The World Health Organization (WHO) is the appropriate agency to conduct such a review. Its role in global health governance needs to be strengthened. We are confident that that will enable us to better deal with future pandemics. Mr. Chairman, Dear friends, I said earlier that the world is in danger of undoing 20 years of development with regard to a significant number of Members of the Organization. Unfortunately, I do not see those as the only achievements at risk. The COVID-19 crisis has further incentivized curtailing civil liberties excessively. In many regions and States, civic space is shrinking dramatically.”
2020-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 75 (2020)
“At its special session in December, the General Assembly will have the opportunity to review the system’s response and initiatives that might be adopted in the future. The Security Council was somewhat slow to act on our Secretary-General’s call in the early spring for an immediate global ceasefire. Thanks to the persistence of some of its members, it finally did so, but it must be said that the obstacles that were encountered in the process are unfortunately emblematic of the Council’s difficulty to act and make decisions even in the most urgent situations. While New York-based United Nations agencies, such as UNDP and UNICEF, were of course quick to react, so were United Nations agencies based elsewhere. I am thinking of those based in Rome that had to act to address the food emergency and the emerging danger of starvation.”
2020-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 75 (2020)
“In the absence of physical meetings and despite the procedural limitations this entailed, the Assembly has demonstrated to the world that the United Nations was indeed present in meeting the challenges posed by the crisis. The management of the Assembly has set an example on how to sensibly improvise. I believe that, in the future, we will have to consider other arrangements to offset the disadvantages of consensus decision-making. Our Assembly has also prepared for the future by adopting a series of substantive resolutions designed to provide a United Nations response to the crisis. The adoption of the Omnibus resolution, which gives coherence to our approach, should be particularly noted and welcomed.”
2020-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 75 (2020)
“The event to mark the seventy-fifth anniversary of the United Nations, the Summit on Biodiversity and the Beijing +25 meeting are of particular interest. What does this demonstrate? It shows that even in extremely difficult circumstances, our Organization is capable of consultation, proposals and action. As early as March and April, the Secretary-General submitted a series of COVID-19-related analyses that paved the way for resolutions adopted by the General Assembly. Mr. President, The Assembly has been able to respond to the challenges posed by the crisis and take decisions that were crucial for the smooth functioning of the Organization thanks to the efforts of your predecessor.”
2020-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 75 (2020)
“This does not mean that the proven expertise of institutions, such as the Paris Club or the OECD, should not be revisited and even expanded. Luxembourg’s financial centre is fully involved in efforts to develop sustainable financing. The green stock exchange of the Grand Duchy of Luxembourg is one of the largest and most active in the world. Last week we launched a green bond that has been remarkably successful, with demand 10 times greater than the initial offer. We are now working to extend the climate finance model to other Sustainable Development Goals. I just mentioned one of the high-level meetings of this session. There are other meetings at which the representatives of Luxembourg will make a statement or have already made a statement.”
2020-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 75 (2020)
“I say this even as my country leads in the area of microfinance, in particular in Africa. Luxembourg’s official development assistance will remain at 1 per cent of its gross national income, in addition to its international climate and migration expenditure. The role of the Addis Ababa Action Agenda is to ensure financing for the implementation of the Sustainable Development Goals by 2030. The initiative of the Secretary-General, together with the Prime Ministers of Canada and Jamaica, to convene a high-level meeting on financing sustainable development post-COVID-19 should be welcomed. It will provide an opportunity to gain a comprehensive overview of an issue that is often addressed piecemeal in forums with very different processes.”
2020-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 75 (2020)
“Nor do they have the means to fund their emergence from the crisis through the capital market. Proportionally, their debt burden is much higher than that of developed countries. Luxembourg fully supports efforts to establish a moratorium and reduce the debt burden of the least developed countries. Financing needs are again on the rise for developing countries, whose progress could be rolled back 20 years. However, the means of meeting those needs may be lacking. Official development assistance must continue to play a key role. In the current circumstances — all the more so now than prior to the COVID-19 crisis — assistance cannot be mortgaged with the vagaries of financing through the capital market or other financial instruments, however innovative they may be.”
2020-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 75 (2020)
“In this regard, I would like to thank the States that helped us acquire personal protective equipment at the height of the crisis. Mr. President, Friends, The dire warnings from the World Food Programme and the Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs are simply frightening. There is a genuine risk that famine could return in large parts of the world, beyond conflict zones or countries hit by recent natural disasters. The social crisis has a disproportionate adverse effect on the countless people who survive on the informal economy and are deprived of resources in developed economies. The economic crisis affects all countries and in particular developing countries. Emerging countries have not been spared. These countries cannot guarantee the resilience of their social security or health systems in response to the crisis.”
2020-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 75 (2020)
“Responses to the challenges of the severity of the crisis have also led to the improvement and adaptation of medical and health equipment on the ground and to strengthening the resilience of rapid-response systems. That said, we know that, globally, the situation in a large number of countries is of great concern. The COVID-19 crisis has become a health crisis that extends beyond COVID-19 because of the burden it places on health-care systems, and, more generally, because we now question the strategies used to combat other diseases, such as malaria, tuberculosis and AIDS. The disruption of supply chains and obstacles to the distribution of personal protective equipment and other materials have also posed a major challenge.”
2020-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 75 (2020)
“We will continue to be tested in the coming months but I believe that we will be successful at the national and European levels. In addition to the temptation to focus solely on ourselves, we have also seen an, at times, a level of extraordinary international cooperation between State and institutional actors, in particular in the field of scientific research. Formidable efforts are under way to develop a COVID-19 vaccine. However, only by ensuring equitable global access to a vaccine will we put an end to this pandemic. We have also seen a myriad of concrete examples of solidarity among countries and peoples, for example, in the case of medical evacuations.”
2020-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 75 (2020)
“It has been compounded by restrictions on civil liberties, a return of borders, a re-examination of the gains made in the areas of free trade and economic integration and unprecedented challenges to public and private health-care systems, not to mention the ethical issues that many of us have not faced for quite some time. At the beginning of the health crisis, we in Europe acted quickly to protect our national space and that response continues today. The free movement of people in the European Union was also challenged, at times far beyond what would be considered reasonable. The time has come for European action at the health, social and economic levels. Historic decisions have been taken to ensure a way out of the crisis and an environmentally-friendly recovery and to meet the challenges of sustainable development.”
2020-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 75 (2020)
“As Head of Government, I have had to deal with all facets of this crisis and swift decisions had to be taken, with significant consequences on the lives of citizens, the functioning of public services, economic activity and the funding of anti-crisis measures. This remains the common plight of all Governments around the world. But beyond that, all of us, citizens of this planet, are in this crisis together and only together will we emerge from it. We face a global emergency. The crisis has affected all regions of the world almost at the same time.”
2020-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 75 (2020)
“Mr. President, Ladies and Gentlemen, Dear friends, We will remember this year — 2020. What a year! We cannot meet as we usually do in the Hall, which, once a year, is the centre of our world. New York, which is the most open city in existence, where all our meetings are held, cannot welcome us. For many long weeks, it has been an epicentre of the global health crisis, and I would like to pay special tribute to it here. The COVID-19 crisis has had an impact on everyone and in all areas, including the most prosaic and banal aspects of daily life. How do we visit our loved ones, our family? How do we get to work? How do we cope with online learning? How do we shop? How do we play sports? And these are the concerns of those who have or had a full-time job, social security and access to health care.”
2020-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 75 (2020)
“The summits and our debate this week have shown us that the United Nations is essential if we are to look to the future with clarity and address the challenges facing humankind today. My country is ready. The European Union is ready. Together with our partners in the international community, we want to ensure that we move forward together, because we know that the road is often long and sometimes difficult. So let us stop speaking about one another. Let us talk to one another.”
2019-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 74 (2019)
“That was clearly the original goal of the signatories to the Charter of the United Nations, whose seventy-fifth anniversary we will have the opportunity to celebrate next year. Seventy-five years is also when Auschwitz was liberated, as I said earlier, and also when my country was liberated by the Allies. And, as I stand in our host State, the United States, I am convinced that 99.9 per cent of the soldiers buried in the American cemetery in my country would not even have been able to find Luxembourg on a map. Nevertheless, they fought so that I could live in peace. I will never forget our gratitude to the Allies and our host country. Today, I can live in freedom and freely express my opinion. These cemeteries are proof that war leaves scars that do not heal. We must never forget that.”
2019-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 74 (2019)
“We count on the broad support of the General Assembly during the election in 2021. I do not want to miss this opportunity to remind the Assembly how important it is that our Organization, which alone can claim to represent the international community, and which, in a way, is the international community itself, adapt to the realities of today’s world. The reforms initiated by the Secretary-General have made good progress. We must now translate them into action on the ground, particularly in terms of development and the organization of the security pillar. The adaptation efforts of all components of the United Nations system is a prerequisite for the living and dynamic multilateralism that the world needs.”
2019-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 74 (2019)
“This year we are also commemorating the thirtieth anniversary of the Convention on the Rights of the Child, an almost universal convention. In this regard, I believe it is important to renew our commitments, including in the light of the developments that have taken place since its adoption, particularly in the field of climate and the digital economy. My country’s commitment to the promotion of human rights is part of its DNA, whether at the national, European or international level. It covers, without discrimination, the full range of rights recognized by our Organization, including economic and social rights. It is for these reasons that my country is a candidate for election as a member of the Human Rights Council for the period 2022-2024, for the first time since the Council was established.”
2019-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 74 (2019)
“Let us not make her life more difficult by trying to make them feel bad for making that decision. In 2020, we will also celebrate the twenty-fifth anniversary of the Beijing Conference, which strengthened the Commission on the Status of Women. I sometimes wonder if today we would be able to renew the commitments undertaken on that occasion, when I hear the positions and statements of some people on the rights of women. The same is true of the right to live according to one’s sexual orientation. Here in New York, I was able to launch a debate on hate speech against lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and inter sex persons. A lot of work remains to be done. Homosexuality is not a choice. It is time to accept it as it is. What is a choice is homophobia. Let us not forget that.”
2019-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 74 (2019)
“Abortion was no longer possible for women in distress or for therapeutic reasons. Women were forced to be interviewed by a panel of strangers. That law was changed immediately. I think that abortion is one of the most difficult decisions a woman must face. Every woman therefore needs to be heard and needs help. It is not the job of politics what is or is not good for her in this regard. It is a decision to be taken only after due reflection and help for the woman or couple concerned. It is not up to politics to say what is good for women, much less is it the job of men to decide what women should or should not do. This situation has become very difficult to tolerate and accept in 2020 — tomorrow — to tell the other sex what is good for her. The woman already has a difficult decision to make.”
2019-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 74 (2019)
“The work carried out within the Human Rights Council in Geneva on this issue is decisive and includes testimonies. Unfortunately, it is not only compliance with human rights that is being challenged. In recent years, we have seen the very existence of certain rights being called into question. We must admit that this is even true within our Organization’s forums, with regard to sexual and reproductive rights, which is adversely affecting programmes aimed at supporting the reproductive health of millions of women all over the world. I am convinced that this also applies to abortion and the right of every woman to make decisions about her own body. In the Grand Duchy of Luxembourg, a number of years ago women could still have an abortion for therapeutic reasons or if they are in distress. The law was changed.”
2019-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 74 (2019)
“In the camp, there are rooms filled with hair, rooms filled with glasses, rooms filled with prosthetic limbs, rooms filled with suitcases. Each item in these rooms was a life, a family. The people were condemned for being Jewish, for not espousing Nazi ideology, for being Gypsies, for being homosexuals, for being handicapped or simply being resisters. When I see that in certain countries there is a rise in revisionism, negationism, Nazism or Nazi ideology, I sometimes ask myself if we have ever truly learned anything from the Second World War. Let me also say how unacceptable it is for State resources to be increasingly used to silence those who have dedicated themselves to the protection of human rights or the protection of the environment or to reporting the news.”
2019-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 74 (2019)
“No distinction should be made between the rights of Christians, Jews or Muslims or members of any other faith. I know that Europe is not in a position to lecture others on this point. Barely seventy-five years after the liberation of the extermination camps in Europe, the European continent continues to have a duty to preserve and honour that memory, especially at a time when speeches invoke that same hatred, xenophobia, intolerance and anti-Semitism, which are all resurfacing in certain countries and in political speeches. In January, we will commemorate the seventy-fifth anniversary of the liberation of Auschwitz by the Red Army. I do not know if anyone has visited Auschwitz, but I can say clearly that it changed me.”
2019-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 74 (2019)
“The jurisdiction of the International Criminal Court (ICC) is not universal, but it is an integral part of the international system, and the Court’s representatives must be able to travel and operate in that capacity without obstacles, including here in New York at United Nations Headquarters. When the ICC is unable to act, impartial and independent investigative mechanisms, such as those established by the General Assembly in the case of Syria and by the Human Rights Council in the case of Myanmar, provide an alternative. The oppression of religious minorities and their lack of protection by the State have not been eliminated in the twenty-first century. In Asia, Africa, the Near and Middle East, countless women and men are persecuted.”
2019-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 74 (2019)