Benin, 2025

I now give the floor to His Excellency Marc-Emmanuel Nadoudou Arraba, Chair of the Delegation of Benin. Madam President, United Nations Secretary General, Heads of Delegation, Distinguished Delegates, Ladies and Gentlemen, It is with a profound sense of honour and responsibility that I take the floor on behalf of His Excellency Mr. Patrice Tallon, President of the Republic of Benin, on the occasion of this 80th session of the United Nations General Assembly. I wish to first and foremost extend my warmest congratulations to Ms. Helena Baerbock on her outstanding election to preside over this session. I assure her that she will have the full support of my Delegation in this charge of her noble mission. I would also like to commend the unwavering commitment of Mr. Antonio Guterres, United Nations Secretary General, for his indefatigable efforts in favour of peace, security, sustainable development and respect for human rights in a global context marked by mounting uncertainties and multiple crises. At this time in which we are celebrating the oak jubilee of our common organisation, I believe it is timely to conduct an assessment of its progress in charting the path towards a better and more peaceful world. We meet this year in an international climate that is heavily overshadowed by the proliferation of hotbeds of tension, worsening humanitarian and climate crises, creeping inequality, as well as the erosion of trust in multilateral institutions. These challenges, which are unfolding around the planet, severely test our collective ability to preserve peace, to promote shared prosperity and to protect human dignity. This tumultuous global context fully confirms the relevance of the topic chosen for this general debate, better together, 80 years and more, for peace, development and human rights. For Benin, there is but one answer to these challenges, enhancing international cooperation, breathing new life into multilateralism and restoring the full meaning of solidarity among peoples. Madam President, We stand today at a critical juncture in contemporary history. The world as we knew it is being transformed by profound shifts, in particular the reshaping of strategic balances, fast-paced technological development, the climate crisis, rising interdependence but also rivalries. These are not merely cyclical adjustments, rather they augur a new global geopolitical order. We are witnessing a gradual shift towards a multipolar world. New powers are emerging, asserting their voice in international affairs, while strategic alliances are being redrawn. This dynamic provides opportunity for rebalancing but also carries with it risks of fragmentation. My delegation stresses that this nascent world should not relegate smaller-sized states to the role of mere bystanders nor drown them out under the commotion of great power rivalries. Our voices matter, our experiences matter, our solutions matter. The history of this organisation, founded on the principle of the sovereign equality of states, has often demonstrated that smaller actors are very often able to act as counterbalances thanks to their ability to embody restraint, dialogue and cooperation, the very essence of multilateralism. My country, Benin, perceives its place in this new global order as that of a stabilising and cooperative force, a font of proposals, which does not aspire to decide global policy, but which, in terms of the great challenges that we have to meet together, has a vision to share. Our foreign policy is based on respect for international law and the primacy of peaceful settlements to disputes. We believe that the rule of law must always prevail over the rule of force. We favour the virtues of preventive diplomacy, mediation and consensus-building within regional and international organisations. Heir of a plural history, we support cultural diversity as a pillar of global peace. We strive to reconnect Africa with its diasporas by, in particular, offering Beninese nationality as a gesture of recognition to Afro-descendants who wish to claim it. In this new global order in the making, the issue of national sovereignty has returned to the forefront of our debates. All around the world, nations are reaffirming their legitimate right to decide on their own path to protect their vital interests and to preserve their territorial integrity. This aspiration is legitimate. It is rooted in international law, in the United Nations Charter and in the will of the peoples. Nonetheless, at the same time, this quest for sovereignty is sometimes interpreted as a call for isolationism and closure. Rather, Benin sees sovereignty as synonymous with an ability to act independently, underpinned by a clear understanding of national interests. It is to be exercised in the context of an international system in which every state, while remaining the master of their own choices, recognises that common challenges demand collective responses. True sovereignty is also visible in the capacity to engage in dialogue, to negotiate, to cooperate and to be open to the world. Madam President, Benin observes with concern the proliferation of armed conflicts in Eastern Europe to the Middle East, the Sahel and the Great Lakes region, threatening millions of lives, triggering mass population displacements, weakening institutions and destroying infrastructure – this, in turn, fuels a cycle of poverty and violence in affected areas. In light of this reality, we have a clear belief that no conflict can be sustainably resolved by the force of weapons. Only an inclusive dialogue, backed by true political determination along with sustained international engagement, can open the way to just and lasting peace, perhaps in particular in the humanitarian chaos in Gaza, where the prospects for reconstruction appear uncertain. Benin reaffirms its support for the two-state solution as the only viable path towards a lasting settlement of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, in accordance with the relevant resolutions of the Security Council and the New York Declaration, adopted at the conclusion of the international conference organized jointly by France and the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia in July this year. Benin is also following with great concern the developments in the crisis in the Eastern DRC, marked by persistent violence despite recent diplomatic initiatives. We commend the efforts of Qatar and the United States of America to promote de-escalation and to open the way to an inclusive dialogue. We call on the parties to silence the guns and we encourage the African Union to ensure consistent strategies, complementary operations and coordinated peace efforts in the Great Lakes region. Benin is in favor of preventive diplomacy regaining its rightful place in the work of our organization. Ending a conflict is always less costly in human and financial terms than grappling with its consequences. This is the case in our sub-region, which is currently facing the threat of terrorism, violent extremism and trans-border crime. The situation in the north of my country, which is under attack from terrorist movements, particularly JNIM in the tri-border area with countries of the Sahel, is critical. The government is addressing this decisively with the support of international partners through an inclusive strategy combining reinforced border security, community development initiatives, assistance to internally displaced persons and refugees, together with radicalization prevention programs. Terrorism is a transnational threat and without strategic cooperation and strengthened mutual trust between countries, national efforts alone are alas insufficient. Furthermore, peace can only be preserved if it is underpinned by justice and respect for international law. This means that all member states must meet their obligations, must respect national sovereignty and renounce any form of interference or aggression. Madam President, ten years ago the international community adopted the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development, embodying the ambitious pledge to leave no one behind. Today we must face a troublesome reality, that is, that the global trajectory towards achieving the SDGs is seriously off track. Successive shocks, the COVID-19 pandemic, security crises, the exacerbated effects of climate change, geopolitical tensions and an economic slowdown have stalled or even reversed progress in many countries, particularly in sub-Saharan Africa. Despite these challenges, Benin, under the leadership of President Patrice Lalland, has undertaken profound reforms and has galvanized strategic investment to sustainably transform our economy and improve the living conditions of our citizens. We have seen some considerable results in terms of the SDGs, with almost 60% of our 49 priority targets on track. The 2025 SDG index for Benin is 57.8 points higher than previous years, which means that our country stands first worldwide in terms of progress, with a gain of 14.5 percentage points since 2015. These positive results speak to Benin's ability to transform our public policies into tangible progress for our population. And yet a number of challenges remain to be met in order to consolidate the gains made and to bridge gaps. We therefore call for collective mobilization, with less than five years to go before the end of the 2030 agenda. This calls for renewed multilateral action to ensure that the Seville commitment is consistently implemented. This was adopted at the fourth International Conference on Financing for Development. We call for a deep-rooted reform of the international financial architecture and of governance of multilateral development institutions so that they can better include countries of the South in their decision-making processes, can modernize their financial instruments in line with new challenges related to the energy transition, social inclusion and climate resilience. Furthermore, achieving the SDGs demands considering young people and women as more than mere beneficiaries, rather as genuine partners in change. In Benin, more than 65% of the population is under 30 years of age. Investing in their potential is not only a demographic imperative but rather a strategic choice to build a prosperous, inclusive and resilient society. Likewise, women's empowerment is a major lever for social and economic progress, guaranteeing shared equitable growth. With this in mind, the government of Benin in partnership with the United Nations Population Fund hosted the Global Youth Summit in Kotonou on the 4th and 5th of April 2024. On the 30th and 31st of July this year, the same city, Kotonou, hosted the Annual Coordination Meeting of the African Union and its member states on strategic issues such as climate change and strengthening the implementation of the Women, Peace and Security Agenda in the context of the 25th anniversary of the adoption of Resolution 1325 by the UN Security Council. In light of the current malaise in multilateralism resulting from geopolitical rivalries, the resurgence of power politics and a nationalist retrenchment, Benin calls for the establishment of a collective leap forward to breathe new life into multilateralism, making it more inclusive and action-oriented. In this context, my delegation takes note of the UNAT initiative launched by the Secretary General. Here we wish to stress the following points. One, the UNAT initiative must be transparent and accountable. It must ultimately aim to improve UN mandate delivery in the interest of its member states. Two, ensuring a better response to the organisation's recurrent liquidity problems falls first and foremost to member states who must honour their financial obligations in full, on time and without conditions. Finally, any proposal to achieve efficiency gains by reducing duplication and redundancies across the UN system shouldn't result in dismantling UN agencies or funds to the detriment of the assistance provided to member states. Finally, Benin would like to underscore the urgent need for a thorough reform of the UN Security Council. This is a requirement in light of the 21st century's geopolitical realities. It's essential to build on the outcomes of the Summit for the Future last year, particularly the Pact for the Future, which contains commitments on the Council's enlargement. Benin reaffirms here its support for the Common African Position set out in the Ezelwini Consensus and the Serta Declaration. Africa, which represents more than one quarter of member states and which is the theatre of a number of issues on the Council's agenda, can no longer be sidelined in decision-making. Allow me to conclude by citing the African aphorism, if you want to go faster, go alone. If you want to go far, go together. May this maxim guide our steps, inspire our decisions and unite us in our quest for a better future for all of humanity. Thank you.