YouSaid · the spoken record

Joseph Muscat

lines on the record

108

first

2013-09-24

most recent

2019-09-24

sittings or episodes

7

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

1. “Like slavery and apartheid, poverty is not natural. It is man-made and it can be overcome and eradicated by the actions of human beings.” Malta is committed to continuing to engage with its international partners in developing a post-2015 global development agenda that delivers on the promise of a better and fairer world for all. Malta also understands the need to act in other very tangible ways. When rickety boats laden with irregular migrants reach our shores, which happens each and every day, we see the suffering, we feel the loss of dignity etched on people’s faces. We understand that they are caught in a web of poverty and criminal exploitation. We feel for those fleeing persecution and poverty. They are desperately searching for safety and prosperity.”

   2013-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 68 (2013)

2. “I am equally proud to recall that this year marks the twenty-fifth year since Malta proposed to the General Assembly that climate conservation should be part of humankind’s shared concerns, a concept that launched the process leading to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change. Malta is proud to have been at the forefront of that discussion. We are adamant about keeping the issue alive, for we are conscious of the fact that climate change hits hardest the world’s most vulnerable. In defining a common vision for the future, we believe that the eradication of poverty and the promotion of sustainable development must be at the heart of the post-2015 development framework. In the words of the former President of South Africa, Mr. Nelson Mandela, “[o]vercoming poverty is not a gesture of charity. It is an act of justice.”

   2013-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 68 (2013)

3. “Our accession to the European Union took that solidarity a step further, and my country assumed responsibilities and obligations in the context of providing overseas development assistance to developing countries. That remains a cornerstone of Malta’s international relations, and we remain firmly engaged in seeking the eradication of poverty and the sustainable development of societies in need. We are proud to form part of the European Union, which is the world’s largest donor of development aid, and we are committed to reaching the goals that we have set and to being a reliable partner for those in need.”

   2013-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 68 (2013)

4. “We want to do something worthwhile. We want to commit our intelligence to being effective agents of change. “Make poverty history,” we once heard, and indeed we have worked towards that aim. But, as we hold those noble aims high, we also question whether our plan is a priority, whether it will fit within our national budget or our political life cycles. And then we pause to consider our options, to choose what will hurt us the least. The poor do not have the luxury of granting us time to take our decisions. Humankind cannot wait for a better time, when there is no financial crisis. We, the international community, need to forge ahead with determination to reach all our goals. I am proud to note today Malta’s long-standing history of solidarity with other nations all over the world.”

   2013-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 68 (2013)

5. “We have the luxury of exercising wilful blindness to malnutrition and disease, pretending that they belong to a different culture, to a different nationality, to a fictitious world that is wiped away as easily as flipping a television channel. It would also be easy for us to think that we can be altruistic, since we are lucky enough to live without want. But we are not here today to be blind. What brings us together at the General Assembly, year after year, to hear speech after speech, is a longing to belong. We want to be part of something bigger, something that goes beyond our self-imposed borders of language, culture and tradition. We want to belong to that global sea of peoples sharing a single purpose. That longing or need to come together tugs at our hearts with hope and empathy for those at the margins of humankind.”

   2013-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 68 (2013)

6. “The number of people living in extreme poverty has fallen, as have poverty rates. Access to sources of clean water has improved. The proportion of urban slum dwellers has declined substantially, and there has been visible improvement in the areas of health and education. Yet, as significant as those achievements are, we are now at a watershed moment. The international community has already recognized the need to push the Goals further, beyond 2015, and to see that they become sustainable development goals. An important stock-taking exercise has been taking place so as to ensure that no one is left behind, that no human being feels merely like a scrap of life, living at the edge of existence. It would be easy for us to think of poverty as belonging elsewhere, if we did not see it all around us.”

   2013-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 68 (2013)

7. “All here will certainly remember how not too long ago the world waited in anticipation and hope for the clock to push past midnight to the year 2000. As with most fresh starts, the new millennium brought with it a sense of promise and, indeed, something extraordinary was taking place. For the first time in history, Governments had committed themselves to “walk the talk” by adhering to a set of measurable targets aimed at lifting millions out of poverty by the year 2015. The so-called Millennium Development Goals were bold and ambitious. They became national and global priorities, setting Government policies and generating a strong commitment across wide areas towards their attainment. Failure, it was felt, was not an option. Undoubtedly, there have been remarkable successes.”

   2013-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 68 (2013)

8. “I wish to join other delegations at this gathering in congratulating you, Mr. President, on your election to the presidency of the General Assembly at its sixty-eighth session. I am sure that under your guidance and through your excellent diplomatic skills we will have a rich exchange of ideas and a fruitful outcome. I also wish to extend my congratulations and gratitude to your predecessor, Vuk Jeremi., for his successful stewardship of the previous session of the General Assembly. My deepest appreciation also goes to the Secretary-General, Mr. Ban Ki-moon, whose passion and commitment have been instrumental in the work of the organization. I will start by taking the Assembly back a few years.”

   2013-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 68 (2013)