Cape Verde, 2025

The Assembly will hear an address by His Excellency José Ulysse Correa e Silva, Prime Minister and Minister of Reform of the Republic of Cabo Verde. I request Protocol to escort His Excellency and invite him to address the Assembly. Madam President, Excellencies, It is with great honor that I take the floor in this General Assembly, on behalf of the people and the government of Cabo Verde, in the session in which we celebrate the 80th anniversary of the United Nations. This is taking place during turbulent times, marked by devastating wars and armed conflicts, humanitarian crises of enormous magnitude, expansion of populism and extremism, a structure anti-system that fights to impose a system that eliminates the boundary between democracy and autocracy, as well as between truth and lies. This turbulent world helplessly watches the acceleration of climate change, threatening planet Earth and humanity. No country is immune to this disruptive movement that advances with the impulse to exercise absolute power, the provocation and exploitation of social fractures and the ideology of post-truth. This turbulent world requires a United Nations empowered as a global regulator and that is only effective when resulting from the political will of its member states. In this context, I would like to praise the UN80 initiative, launched by Secretary General António Guterres, as a space for reflection and renewal of multilateralism and to mobilize political will for peace, sustainable development and human rights. Cap Verde welcomes the revitalization of the Commission on the Status of Women, a central instrument for the promotion of gender equality in the multilateral system. We believe that the acceleration of the Sustainable Development Goals depends on the empowerment of women. We will continue to be staunch advocates for this cause both inside and outside the United Nations. We advocate the urgent and necessary reform of the Security Council in line with Africa's position. The Summit of the Future offers a unique opportunity to strengthen commitment to the SDGs. More than global goals, it is the human dignity of millions of people that is at stake. Real people, children of God, living in real countries. Acting in multiple dimensions, we recognize the importance and relevance of the Global Compact for digitalization, for equitable access to digital technologies and artificial intelligence. Excellencies, Cap Verde is an active and dynamic SIDS committed to the multilateral agenda. We currently hold the Vice Presidency of AeOSIS. We actively participate in the Third Ocean Conference. We were chosen to co-facilitate, along with Australia, the negotiations that led to the Nice Declaration, Our Ocean, Our Future, Our Responsibilities, containing firm commitments to the sustainability of the oceans. We welcome the OASIS Leader's Declaration, the adoption of which demonstrates a strong commitment to issues related to the ocean, climate, and sustainable development. We applaud the successful Fourth Conference on Financing for Development. The Seville commitment is a unique opportunity to boost development, especially in the most vulnerable countries, such as SIDS. For us, SIDS, it is essential to operationalize the Multidimensional Vulnerability Index, the mechanisms for converting debt into climate finance, and the Loss and Damage Fund. The Antigua and Barbuda Plan of Action stands. Its implementation into resilient prosperity is SIDS' greatest ambition. We note, with satisfaction, a historic achievement, the entry into force of the Agreement on Marine Biodiversity in areas beyond national jurisdiction. Cape Verde is among the first 60 states to ratify this important treaty. Unfortunately, we were not able to achieve consensus, and we must insist. The special meeting on climate convened by the Secretary-General and Brazil's President Lula as a preparation for COP30 in Belém. And it is a crucial moment for the full implementation of the Paris Accord. As SIDS, we demand clear commitments from all states, especially the largest emitters, to limit the temperature increase to 1.5 degrees Celsius. This is not a mere claim. It is a matter of survival for all, all in all. Excellencies, Madam President, global peace and security remain threatened, increasingly threatened. Cape Verde's position has been clear, predictable, and consistent. We condemn coup d'état. We condemn terrorism. We condemn genocide. We condemn assaults on the territorial integrity of countries. We advocate for dialogue and diplomacy for the prevention and resolution of conflicts. We support a just and durable peace for the resolution of the war in Ukraine. We support the two-state solution, with Israel and Palestine living side by side in peace and security. We advocate a strong commitment to preventing and combating terrorism and conflict in Africa. We advocate for multilateralism and a strong and effective UN, converging with the principles of the Chinese Global Governance Initiative. We are a democracy based on the rule of law and political freedom, freedom of expression and economic freedom, and we want to continue like this. We belong to ECOWAS, a space of economic integration and neighborhood, and to the CPLP, a space for the Portuguese language and cultural affinities. We have a special partnership with the European Union, anchored in shared values of democracy, freedom, and good governance, a region with which our currency has been linked with a fixed parity to the euro since 1998, and with which we have strong economic relations. Due to our location between the African continent, Europe and the Americas, the EU, the USA and Brazil are our first-line partners in cooperative maritime security, preventing and combating drug trafficking, human trafficking, maritime piracy, illegal fishing and cyber security. It is this democratic, stable Cape Verde, open to the world and guided by trust in the relations with our partners, that we want to preserve and develop in this troubled geopolitical world. Madam President, Cape Verde has the honor of assuming one of the vice presidencies of this General Assembly, with our Ambassador Tania Romald, and reaffirms its unwavering commitment to the Charter, the principles and values of the United Nations. We will continue to be a constructive voice, an active partner, and a country committed to being useful to the international community. Together we are better. Together we can honor the 80th anniversary of the UN and face the future with renewed hope for more peace, more development, and more human rights. Thank you very much. On behalf of the Assembly, I wish to thank the Prime Minister of Cape Verde. Mr. Prime Minister, thank you very much.