Celebrating 74 years of the UN in Samoa

Honorable Tuilaepa Dr. Sailele Malielegaoi, Prime Minister of Samoa,

Hon. Cabinet Ministers,

Distinguished representatives of the Governments of the Pacific countries,

Distinguished United Nations Colleagues,

Ladies and Gentlemen,

74 years ago, on 26 June 1945, in the city of San Francisco, representatives of 51 countries committed to ensuring the world will never see another war signed the United Nations Charter and began together a profoundly transformational journey in the name of peace, security and dignity for all.

With China, France, Russia, the United Kingdom, and the United States ratifying the Charter followed by a large number of signatories, on 24 October 1945, the United Nations came into being.

We are here today to mark together the 74th Anniversary of the United Nations and celebrate the UN Day, and to acknowledge the incredible journey that the organization together with its Member States has had over almost three quarters of a century. Much older than the United Nations as we know it, the International Labor Organization celebrated this year its 100th anniversary, a full century of commitment to freedom of association, labor standards, equal opportunities, decent work and universal social protection that contributed to the remarkable human development progress we have seen over years. We do celebrate today the power of global diplomacy to recognize and protect the fundamental rights and freedoms that the United Nations stands for. 

In the words of United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres, “the United Nations Day highlights the enduring ideals of the UN Charter, which entered info force on this date 74 years ago. Amid stormy global seas, the Charter remains our shared moral anchor.”

Aiming to build a better world, the Charter outlines 4 main purposes of the United Nations:

1. To maintain international peace and security,
2. To develop friendly relations among nations based on respect for the principle of equal rights and self-determination of peoples, and to take other appropriate measures to strengthen universal peace;
3. To achieve international co-operation in solving international problems of an economic, social, cultural, or humanitarian character, and in promoting and encouraging respect for human rights and for fundamental freedoms for all without distinction as to race, sex, language, or religion; and
4. To be a centre for harmonizing the actions of nations in the attainment of these common ends.

When the United Nations was founded in 1945, some 750 million people, nearly a third of the world's population at the time lived in Territories that were dependent on colonial Powers. Today, fewer than 2 million people (less than 0.03% of the total population) live under colonial rule in the 17 remaining non-self-governing territories. The wave of decolonization, which changed the face of the planet, was born with the United Nations and represents the world body’s first great success.

Through the pursuit of the United Nations Millennium Development Goals, the world’s extreme poverty has been cut in half from 2000 to 2015, but among us today there are still around 592 million people -  close to 8% of the global population - who are still living below $1.9/day, lacking basic means to lead a decent life. Among them, close to $300mill are children whose future development and socio-economic integration are at critical risk.

We are now racing together towards the completion of the Sustainable Development Goals, a highly ambitious agenda that requires positive leadership, solidarity and responsible investment of all the resources we still posses. Only 47 countries are still Least Developed, most of them soon to graduate to a higher income status in recognition of the progress they have made, most of which drew on development cooperation, be it North-South, South-South or regional cooperation.

Over seven decades in its existence, the United Nations, an organization that emerged from war and devastation continues to uphold its values and its purpose to give humanity hope that there will be a future for our planet and that the new generations will live in a peaceful and prosperous world. We do appreciate the unconditional commitment to our values that Samoa has constantly displayed and thank you, Prime Minister Malielegaoi, and, trough you, the nation of Samoa for being such a great ally and partner of the United Nations and such a hospitable nation for our large UN family here.

While we celebrate success stories of development cooperation, we also know that problems have no borders, no geography or race. Countries whether small, wealthy or powerful, continue to face a wide range of growing challenges in response to which solidarity and continued dialogue represent the only way forward.

Climate change, inequality, injustice and poverty, discrimination and exclusion, and the rapidly depleting resources of our beautiful planet are critically threatening the stability of the global system, the United Nations again being on the front line of action and response.

In the Pacific, fragility and vulnerability make our joint efforts to address and mitigate risks much more complicated and costly, but we are encouraged by the strong regional solidarity, the quality of the leadership governing the Pacific nations and the progressive nature of all Government’s engagement with the United Nations. Ultimately, multi-stakeholder partnerships, access to knowledge and technology can overcome remoteness and the economic limitations that are common to Small Island States and the United Nations has put at the heart of its reform better serving these most challenged nations in the years to come within the framework of the SAMOA Pathway and the 2030 Agenda.   

But at this celebratory time, we also need to acknowledge failure and slow progress in some important areas of our mandate.

The number of people fleeing violence is the highest recorded since World War II, according to figures released by United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees as old conflicts have not ended while new ones erupted.

The global population of people displaced by conflict reached 70.8 million in 2018, almost double from the 43 million a decade ago. Half of the refugees are children. Around 80 percent of the world’s refugees have been living in exile for five years and around one-fifth of them for 20 years, the return home being not an option for many of them.  

Progress is also slow in the achievement of gender equality and women’s empowerment. If the current rates of progress are maintained, we will need 108 years to close the overall global gender gap. The most challenging gender gaps to overcome are economic and political empowerment, which will take 202 and 107 years to close respectively.

Over seven decades after, the world still needs the United Nations.  

Our organization will be 75 years in 2020. At 75 years, the UN will take a new turn in its journey.

It will be more engaged with the people, listen to the people and dialogue with them as their perceptions, experiences and ideas on how to solve these problems, together as one world, are essential to an organization that was established to serve all nations.

UN@75 seeks answers to 4 big questions:

a) What kind of future do we want to create?

b) Are we on Track?

c) What action is needed to close the gap?

d) What is the United Nations you need ?

Your and everyone’s answers will shape the way the UN serves, and together, we as the people, we can create the future we want.

I suppose the first answer to the question about the United Nations you need might be an organization capable to address the most pressing challenges of our time and, above all, able to end conflict everywhere and free people of all forms of fear and insecurity.

Later today, we will launch the website for the UN Country Team in Samoa, which us our new virtual home to share who we are and what we do together with the countries we serve. Please look us up every day and engage with us to help us be of use to you, your family, your community, your country.

The website is part of the UNCT common branding for a wider recognition of the organization and for us, the UN family, to speak to the world about the Pacific, its nations and its cultures and the values we promote together.

Equally important, the website is a platform to transparently engage with the partners on sustainable development and to ensure we continue to change to become the organization you want us to be.

But we will not just dialogue. We will act. From January 2020, the UN will connect with people through programmes that are culture-informed, be they music festivals, sports competitions, arts and crafts exhibitions as means of tapping into the sentiments and ideas of the Pacific people across all communities; especially those we may not have heard as much from in the past such as indigenous groups, local artists including fashion industry and others.

Culture gives us valuable behavioral insights of the people we work with and helps us design programmes that are more effective in delivering lasting results. 

Diversity of voices and opinions, shared knowledge and continued dialogue and cooperation maybe what is needed to forge global solutions at this critical time for our world.

In closing, allow me to acknowledge once again with great appreciation our host country that 12 UN agencies and the Resident Coordinator have been calling home for decades. Can I also thank my UN colleagues and fellows who are here in the room or are traveling across the region and the world for their dedicated work to the betterment of the Pacific people and of all the people on the planet. 

We are humbled by the mission we are given to change lives and are guided by the sacrifice of our fallen colleagues, far too many, who taught us that peace is everyone’s responsibility and that the United Nations and its role in the world is a bigger cause than each and every one of us serving under its flag.

May this Day every year find the people of Samoa and the people everywhere healthier, happier and united.

Faafetai ma ia manuia.