Maldives, 2025

Now I give the floor to His Excellency Abdullah Khalil, Minister for Interference of the Maldives. Bismillahir Rahmanir Rahim, Madam President, Mr. Secretary General, Excellencies, Ladies and Gentlemen. On the 21st of this month, we mark the 60th anniversary of the Maldives joining the United Nations. Over the last 60 years, we have placed our confidence in this institution and in the multilateral system it represents. A promise that sovereignty matters, borders are respected, and every country, small or large, has an equal voice in shaping our shared future. That confidence was never naive. It rested on the conviction that laws restrain might and rules hold firm against coercion. But assurances endure only when the rules-based order is upheld. When it is breached without accountability, we lose more than order, we lose faith in the system itself. And when faith collapses, it is not peace that fills the void. It is unrestrained might, power that redraws boundaries, silences voices and tramples norms. This is the erosion we confront, three fault lines in the global order. First, the taboo against conquest. For many decades, the rule that borders cannot be changed by force underwrote peace. That foundation is cracking. Every breach, once allowed, becomes precedent. And precedent invites repetition. Second, respect for sovereignty and territorial integrity. These are not slogans, but the ground rules for peace, development, and dignity. But today, powerful aggressors treat them as optional. Third, multilateralism, the doctrine that shared challenges require shared solutions. That doctrine is under siege. When institutions are bypassed, when vetoes paralyzed, when laws are applied selectively, confidence unravels, and with it, the system itself. We see erosion everywhere. In Palestine, especially Gaza, Israel's ongoing genocide has killed more than 66,000 civilians, more than half of them women and children. In the West Bank, settler violence intensifies, trying to force more Palestinians out and annex more land. Israel has willfully, shamelessly, and repeatedly violated international law. It has defied hundreds of resolutions of the Security Council and this very Assembly. It has rejected the decisions of the International Court of Justice and sanctioned the International Criminal Court. People killed while begging for food. Mothers holding lifeless babies. Children staring blankly at the ruins of their homes and their future. These are the images that you simply cannot forget and move past. And the sheer hypocrisy is, this genocide is sustained by weapons and money from the very countries that claim to defend human rights. The same countries that helped define the very norms and laws being broken. By their actions, they refuse to see Palestinians as equal human beings deserving of life, dignity, and freedom. This complicity is the shame, is the shame of this century. Once again, this complicity is the shame of this century. Let me be clear. Feminism can never be a weapon of war. Innocence must not be mercilessly maimed, arbitrarily jailed, and ruthlessly killed. The assault on sovereignty is equally clear in Israel's illegal attacks against Qatar, Syria, Lebanon, Yemen, Tunisia, and Iran. Each strike is a reminder that borders are trampled when power speaks louder than law. In each case, where laws and norms give way to leverage, where responsibility gives way to convenience, the pattern is the same. If this erosion continues, the question will no longer be whether it will happen again, but who will be the next victim. UN80 must be the repair moment, the turning point. Reform is no longer optional. It is the only pathway forward. Any serious reform must tackle the Security Council, the Council's paralysis. We need an expanded and more representative Council. A rotating seat for SIDS is where we must start. We need a Council that is transparent in its deliberations and accountable in its decisions to the membership and to itself. We need a Council that does not hide under the threat of veto. The Secretary-General's three-track reform should be member-state-led, member-state-driven, and implementation-focused. It should enhance the UN's presence, especially in SIDS. It should align mandates and secure predictable development finance. It should ensure sufficient program delivery staff. Realign must not mean less, but better service and better support. We must also confront another imbalance. The United Nations should exemplify equally, but the shameful reality is that it has never had a female Secretary-General until today. The time has come to correct that. Reform is not only about structures, it is about credibility. And credibility lives or dies with trust in multilateralism. That trust is eroding, and unless we act, the institutions built to uphold our systems will weaken further. If the UN cannot act to prevent, to protect, and to provide, trust in multilateralism will continue to erode. UN80 must repair the guardrail before they fail beyond repair. Repair also begins with the global commons, the ultimate test of whether law and multilateralism still matter. A decade ago, this Assembly adopted three foundational documents, but today the 2030 agenda is off track. The promise of Paris is broken, and the Addis Ababa action agenda lies unfulfilled. The climate emergency deepens as major emitters evade their responsibility to cut emissions and to pay for loss and damage inflected on countries like mine, the Maldives. Similarly, under the crushing weight of external debt, creditors and institutions tighten the vice, stripping developing economies of the fiscal space needed for resilience, health, and education. There are promises worth keeping. The BB&J agreement entering into force next January must be universally ratified and fully implemented with benefit sharing, technology transfer, and capacity building that are real, predictable, and accessible to SIDS. Comments from the UN Ocean Conference and the Financing for Development Conference must translate into tangible gains for our islands and, above all, deliver debt relief. The global financial architecture must deliver deeper, faster, fairer structuring, scaling up concessional financing for SIDS, and ensure that climate finance is additional, predictable, and aligned with adaptation needs. We do not need to look for solutions. The Antigua and Barbuda agenda provides the roadmap for SIDS to achieve resilient prosperity, but it requires building economic resilience, scaling up climate action and support, accelerating biodiversity protection, conserving and sustainably using the ocean, and mainstreaming disaster risk reduction. The upcoming World Social Summit in Doha must renew the social contract. A clean, healthy, and sustainable environment, decent work, universal social protection, and inclusion are not privileges. They are rights. Human rights must never be wielded as tools for political or diplomatic leverage. They must be a means to relieve suffering and support communities. The more this will continue to champion core human rights values, including climate justice, gender equality, and the voice of youth, we will continue to be a voice for small island developing states too often excluded, unheard, and ignored. We advocate for reform abroad by taking responsibility at home. Maldives 2.0 is our blueprint for change. It is reshaping governance, digitalizing services, and building an inclusive, future-ready economy so every child on every island has the same chance to thrive. Health is central. We have banned vaping devices, e-cigarettes, and tobacco for the next generation. We are bringing NCD treatment into communities, expanding mental health care, and preparing for the realities of an aging population. Young people are at the heart of our choices. We are broadening access to skills and vocational training, opening new pathways to work, and creating space for them to build the future they imagine. NDC anchors our development. Ocean accounts now guide how we protect biodiversity, while our third NDC commits us to generating one-third of our electricity from renewable sources. Innovation drives resilience. President Dr. Moyes has positioned the Maldives as a hub for investment and ideas. The Maldives International Financial Center will be the cornerstone supported by competitive tax and regulatory incentives under our special economic zone framework. Geography is an asset we are determined to use. By investing in maritime logistics and trade gateways, we are placing the Maldives at the crossroad of global exchange. And inclusion remains our promise. Content creators, entrepreneurs, and MSMEs, especially those led by women and persons with disabilities, will have the support they need to succeed. In doing so, we are not only building resilience at home, but also contributing to a fairer and stronger global community. The choice before us is stark. Either we rebuild the foundations of law and norms, or reconcile ourselves to a world where might makes right. Small states will be the first casualty of a lawless world. But we will not be the only ones who will suffer. No state, small or large, will be safe. In such a world, borders become bargaining chips, human rights become selective, and the global commons become free for all. We refuse to accept that fad. At UN80, let us restore the taboo against conquest. Let us renew respect for sovereignty and territorial integrity. Let us revitalise multilateralism, not as a talkshop, but as a system that acts with courage, clarity, and conviction. If the rules stand, the small can stand. And if the small can stand, all of us will stand taller. I thank you all.