Ambassador Jeffrey DeLaurentis
Senior Advisor for Special Political Affairs
New York, New York
June 18, 2021
AS DELIVERED
Thank you, Mr. President. On behalf of the host country, heartfelt congratulations, Secretary-General António Guterres, on your reappointment. We are pleased the UN Security Council chose to recommend, and the UN General Assembly agreed to appoint, Secretary-General Guterres to serve for an additional five years in this most critical post.
Mr. Secretary-General, you have proven yourself a capable leader in a demanding role, and we look forward to collaborating with you over these next years. You are once again being charged with the gravest of responsibilities: taking on the most important global challenges of our time. These past five years, those challenges have included a climate in crisis, human rights in peril, mass hunger, mass migration, increased humanitarian needs, and an unprecedented global pandemic – just to name a few. Your job is as difficult as it is important. We are counting on you to lead, and we are counting on you to use your voice when it matters most.
All of us hope that the next five years are more peaceful, secure, and prosperous than the last. But we are under no illusions about the difficulty of achieving that dream. It will require hard work and political will. It will require forging partnerships – especially from the private sector and civil society. It will require dedication to purpose and accountability to results. And it will require an impassioned, zealous commitment to the human rights of every individual, everywhere in the world – especially the most vulnerable. This is the charge of the United Nations – and therefore, it continues to be your charge, Mr. Secretary-General.
So, congratulations on your second term Mr. Secretary-General, and thank you to Member States of the UN Security Council and the UN General Assembly for the collective work required to finalize this appointment.
May you help us achieve more peace, security, and prosperity for us all. I thank you.
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