Mozambique, 2025

The Assembly will now hear an address by His Excellency Daniel Francisco Chapo, President of the Republic of Mozambique. I request protocol to escort His Excellency and invite him to address the Assembly. Thank you so much. Your Excellency, Madam President of the 81st Session of the United Nations General Assembly, Your Excellency, Secretary General of the United Nations, Your Excellency, Heads of State and the Government present here, Distinguished Head of Delegations, Ladies and Gentlemen, it is for us an honor to address for the first time as the President of the Republic of Mozambique in a very important moment, both for Mozambique and for the Organization of the United Nations. I'm saying this because we celebrate 50 years of our national independence, 50 years of our admission as full members of the UN, and 80 years of these big organizations. Therefore, we would like to congratulate the President, Her Excellency, Madam Annalynne Barboque, for her presidency of the 80th Session, as well as commend the work of the outgoing President, His Excellency Philemon Young, that did a wonderful work. We cannot fail to pay tribute to the Secretary General of the United Nations, Engineer Antonio Guterres, for his tireless advocacy in the defense of multilateralism, for the attention to Africa's priorities, and for his vision in launching the UNAT Initiative. Today, eight years after its creation, we are pleased to witness the progress that the United Nations has helped to achieve. The independence of the Republic of Mozambique, as well as the many African countries and other continents of this planet, this is just one of the evidence of this legacy of the UN. Despite multiple challenges that the UN faces, it remains firm at the forefront of the global processes, which is why we emphasize that any reform effort aimed at making it more response and with better capacity to address contemporary realities will only be complete when we include the reform of the Security Council of the UN. Your Excellencies, the year 2025 has tested the limits of multilateralism with the United Nations at the epicenter. We have witnessed the intensification and escalation of conflicts and growing sense in the whole world, and we also see a growing sense of impunity. The ongoing conflicts in various corners of the world and the crisis remind us that the promise to save the future generations from the scourge of war, written in the letter of 1945 Charter, remains unfulfilled. Eight years of building multilateralism institutions, safeguards, and principles that have governed global affairs are now at risk. The result is clear. Wars are multiplying, the climate crisis is worsening, debt is mounting, tariffs are rising, disillusion is spreading, and above all, the nuclear spectra is returning. Added to these threats, we also have the economic consequence of successful crisis in the world. We are talking about the pandemic of COVID-19, the war in Europe, in the Middle East, and the wars in Africa. From the rising of commodity prices to financial volatility globally, all of these generate unsustainable debt and ever-deepening inequalities in the society. We are witnessing a concerning setback of the international commitment. With only five years to go until 2030, the agenda of SDG is at risk because the targets have not been met and we still have a long to go, and the climate crisis accelerates and intensifies all other crises that we know. Countries are turning the population with famine, cyclones, into humanitarian disasters, displaces into despair, which is exploited by unscrupulous stakeholders. It was in this context that the historic opinion of the International Court of Justice of 23rd of July 2025 unequivocally reaffirmed that the states have binded legal obligations to protect the climate and the environment from the greenhouse gas emissions. This is a milestone of universal significance. For countries such as Mozambique, which bears no historical responsibility for the climate crisis, but amongst those that are the hardest hit by its consequences, droughts, cyclones, floods, inundations, this decision is very important. It's a legal principle for us. It's a call to climate justice. It's a call to global solidarity and immediate actions from the side of all of us. The environmental crisis is compounded by the technological challenge. Artificial intelligence and other emerging technologies offer extraordinary opportunities, but also serious risks of exclusion, manipulation of the society, and even militarization throughout autonomous weapons. These advances pose new challenges to the defense and human dignity, justice, and labor. As long as we do not fully understand how these models work, we cannot entrust them critical tasks without robust safeguards in place. Otherwise, we are going to destroy the world. For that reason, Mozambique advocates a technological and climate diplomacy capable of regulating risk and democratizing benefits through genuine transfer and sharing of knowledge, of technology, so that the science and technology are not factors of exclusion, but rather instruments of climate justice and inclusive development in the world. Faced with these interconnected challenges, our continent, Africa, can and must play an active role in defining international roles and standards, formulating principles and scientific ethics, and determining research priorities, ensuring that technology innovation is always at the service of the humanity and not at the service of the destruction of the humanity. In face of this crisis, the isolation is not the answer. Contrastive dialogue and strengthening of multilateralism are. The Pact for the Future, adopted in 2024, offers concrete and innovative responses for a launching of multilateralism adapted to challenges to the 21st century. Mozambique, as an African country with vast natural resources and unparalleled cultural wealth, has distinguished itself in the promotion and strengthening of democracy in the African continent. Since we moved forward with political pluralism, we've been working tirelessly to consolidate the foundation of a robust democratic system, holding regular and transparent elections that reflect the will of people and ensure that every Mozambican citizen has the voice and a say in the decisions that shape the future of our nation in Mozambique. Indeed, our presence in this podium is a result of a free and a transparent process of the Mozambican people, from Ruvuma to Maputo, from Zumbo to Indigo, and in the diaspora. We have historically had an ongoing commitment to dialogue and building bridges between different political and social actors. This commitment to the dialogue was crucial for the lasting peace achieved after decades of conflicts and for the political stability that we enjoy today in Mozambique. Currently, Mozambique stands out for its ongoing efforts to promote an inclusive national dialogue, which the public consultation phase was launched on the 10th September. We are working to ensure that all the sectors of the society, regardless of their origin, political, societal, economic position, they all should be heard and have their concerns taken into account in the national decision. This process will not only strengthen the Mozambican democracy, but also ensure that the country development is truly reflected the needs and aspirations of all Mozambicans without exception. We do believe that the true strength of a nation, it does not lie only in its ability to resolve conflicts, but it also in its ability to promote in a peaceful and constructive manner. We are proud of the progress we have made so far, and we reaffirm our commitment to continue advancing as an example of democracy in Africa, of peaceful coexistence in the African continent and in the world. We are proud to have promoted during our term the Security Council, where we were able to have non-permanent members, the presidential statement on Africa about the role of Africa in global affairs, as well as to have contributed for the historic resolution 17-19-2023, which paved the way for the predictable and sustainable financing of the operations of support to peace in African Union through United Nations Treasurer. This milestone confirmed that Africa is not only a beneficiary of multilateral order, but also an indispensable actor in the reforms and revitalization. It is in this sense that Mozambique will keep defending a stronger African voice with two permanent seats on the Security Council and a greater weight in the decision of international financial institutions and internationally, a new global financial architecture capable of alleviating debt, mobilizing financial resources for the sustainable development and climate action, as well as correcting historical asymmetries, and inclusive multilateralism, which preserves intergovernmental character of the U.N. without allowing that this organization can become an assembly of shareholders dominated by the richest. We want to reiterate equally the fact that we want to have two states like Palestine living side by side with peace with Israel as the only fair way, legitimate and long-lasting, so that we can have the aspiration of both people. I would like to congratulate the countries that have recently decided to recognize Palestine the same right that was given to Israel, contributing to reinforce legitimacy and the fact that we are going to have the solution for both states. The same way, I would like to reaffirm our firm opposition against the coercive measurements that are unilaterally that are excluding the people, Cuba to Venezuela, Zimbabwe to other countries in clear violation of the U.N. Charter against the principles of justice, solidarity and the international law. Ladies and gentlemen, the topic chosen for this session is like it's better to be together eight years and counting for peace, development of human rights could not be more timely. It is intrinsically linked to the events of this week where we are having this high level in the U.N., the celebration of Beijing Conference on Women, the Climate Summit, the first BNL Summit for Sustainable and Inclusive and Resilient Global Economy mandated by the Pact for the Future, the celebration of youth, the elimination of nuclear weapons and the meeting on global health and well-being. All these meetings reaffirm the vitality and the centrality of the U.N. and conveys the same truth. What unites us as a humanity is much greater than what divides us. We are different people, but we share the same earth. We profess different creeds, but we all aspire to the same dignity. We speak different languages, but we share a single destiny. In fact, today where we are today, we all know the date of birth, but no one knows the day they are going to die. And this is a clear sign that we all are equal like human beings. Today the creed that we need is not one exclusion. We all need to be included, not excluded. Not isolation, but cooperation. Not unilateralism, but multilateralism based on solidarity. We need today, all of us, to have a renewed faith in the humanity's collective ability to face the common challenges of Gaia, our common home. The world is at a real turning point. We all feel this. Either we deliver the 23rd Agenda that we have written it ourselves, or we will have to accept seeing a relegated and failed promise. And for this, goodwill is not enough. Honoring the principle of common responsibility and this differentiality is important. We need resources on a scale. We need to work in a spatter way to align mandate with national priorities for each of us, to invest in data, technology, institutional capacity, and most of all, ensure that Africa has a full seat at the table where decisions are taken for its future. The message of Mozambique is very clear. We want partnerships based on mutual respect and shared value. To paraphrase the late president, Samora Moise Machel, the president of the popular Republic of Mozambique at the time, today Republic of Mozambique, international solidarity is not an act of charity. It is an act of unity amongst all. The 80th anniversary of the UN invites all of us to renew our spirit of solidarity, international solidarity, and human solidarity. The challenges before us are enormous, but we are indeed better together, as the topic of the UN says. And if it is true that each generation inherits the world from the previous one, it is also true that each generation has the duty of living a better world for the next generation. This is the guidance principle of the Agenda 2030. It is the spirit of the pact of the future, and it is the reason why we have this organization, the United Nations, to transform the hope of the people in the world into actions, solidarity into concrete results for the people, so that we may have the courage, all of us in the planet, to reform with wisdom, learn from our mistakes, and the determination to offer peace, development, and human rights to all. I would like to say that Mozambique counts on the UN, and the UN can count on Mozambique. Thank you so much everyone, and I wish you success. Thank you.