24 October

ON  this  occasion  of  the  74th  Anniversary  of  the  establishment  of  the  United  Nations,  I  wish  to  express,  on  behalf  of  the  Republic  of  the  Union of Myanmar, our heartfelt congratulations to the United Nations on its achievements so far, and to  extend  our  best  wishes  for  greater  success  in  its discharge of the mandate vested by the United Nations Charter

This United Nations Organization was estab-lished seventy-four years ago, on 24th October 1945, by peace-loving nations around the world. Member countries were resolved to maintain international peace and security; to develop friendly relations among  nations  based  on  the  principle  of  equal  rights and to achieve international co-operation in solving international issues as stipulated explicitly in the Charter of the United Nations. 

The annals of the organization reveal clearly that  important  goals  have  been  achieved  in  the  midst  of  imperfections  and  constraints.  People  are  better-fed  than  they  used  to  be,  wars  are  no  longer  as  frequent  as  they  once  were  and  many  people have escaped from extreme poverty. Such achievements on a global scale would not have been possible without collective efforts by the member countries of the United Nations.

The  World  continues  to  face  serious  global  challenges which cannot be addressed by a single nation alone. As such, the United Nations is playing an increasingly important role in solving common traditional and non-traditional challenges of global concern such as climate change, which necessitate members of the international community to work together. The onus is on the UN to support each UN member state to find pragmatic solutions for these  challenges  in  ways  their  capacity  and  re-sources permit. 

The theme of the General Assembly this year “Galvanizing multilateral efforts for poverty erad-ication,  quality  education,  climate  action  and  in-clusion” aptly reflects the current global scenario. With  strong  support  by  the  UN,  the  coordinated  efforts  of  the  international  community  are  to  be  channeled into multilateral cooperation to tackle global challenges and achieve our shared Sustain-able Development Goals (SDGs). 

The  principles  of  sovereign  equality,  impar-tiality and objectivity are vividly enshrined in the UN  Charter.  It  is  therefore  vital  for  the  United  Nations  to  ensure  that  it  remains  relevant  to  all  nations  regardless  of  their  size  and  power.  The  United Nations should discharge its mandate and allocate its scarce resources in the most effective manner. Its activities should be driven by objective needs rather than by the desire to accommodate the wishes of particular member countries. Such polarization will lead to a trust deficit in the inter-national  system  as  is  evidenced  by  the  increase  in  nationalism  and  populism  in  recent  years.  To  preserve the integrity of the organization, all of its members must play by the same rules under the UN umbrella. The values of the UN Charter must remain our guide. 

Myanmar  believes  that  the  United  Nations  should  remain  at  the  heart  of  multilateralism.  Cooperation with the United Nations has always ranked high in the tenets of our foreign policy. As an emerging democracy with numerous domestic challenges,  Myanmar  reaffirms  its  commitment  to  work  together  with  the  United  Nations  in  our  nation-building efforts.

The United Nations has, despite its limitations, yielded wide-ranging benefits to humankind and brought  benefits  to  many  people  the  world  over.  Although  questions  have  been  raised  as  to  the  capability of the United Nations, it has managed to tackle many global challenges and to forge ahead. The  UN  remains  a  beacon  of  hope  for  everyone.  “We  the  peoples”  should  unite  our  strength  in  supporting the task of the UN to build a brighter future for all.

On  this  auspicious  occasion  of  the  74th  anni-versary of the United Nations, I wish to reaffirm our belief in the purposes and principles of the UN Charter, and to state our determination to coop-erate with the United Nations and other member countries in support of constructive efforts of the organization for peace, prosperity, people and the planet.