UN DAY MESSAGE - 24 October 2022 - UN Resident Coordinator in Serbia

Dobro vece, bonsoir and dobro dosli!

Madame Tamara Vucic, Monsieur le Ministre des Affaires Etrangeres, dear Mari, Ministers, excellencies, my great UN team and mostly, Friends!

I am happy to welcome you to this beautiful theater, to mark the 77th anniversary of the UN Charter. We hope that this will be an evening celebrating peace, diversity and solidarity.

The musical programme is absolutely enchanting. So, I will keep this address very short, starting with today’s quote from the UN SG Antonio Guterres: The United Nations is the product of hope. The hope — and resolve to move beyond global conflict to global cooperation. Now, more than ever, we need to nurture and uphold the values and principles of the UN Charter - By giving peace a chance and ending conflicts that jeopardize lives, futures and global progress.

Here are a few thoughts on how we can translate this to Serbia:

1. We need to accelerate action to reduce inequalities, deliver the public good, and focus on our Common Agenda. The multiple crises and their synchronicity are warning signs that we did not make enough progress towards the SDGs. We have to make the principle of Leave No One Behind a priority in all our endeavour, whether they are of public or private nature. Here, I also want to mention the renewed commitment from the UN to prioritise education, as well as universal and resilient health and social care systems. From both a societal and economic point of view, we know that investing in health and education provides the highest return on the present and the future.  

2. We need to safeguard our planet, accelerate the green transformation and energy transition, fight hard to reduce all forms of pollution and destructive practices to the environment. This is an agenda full of opportunities, for people, for communities and for business. Turning commitments into reality will be the focus of the upcoming COP27, with a call for more ambitious, credible actions and financing targets – For Serbia, this means using the energy crisis as an accelerator towards energy efficiency, sustainable foods systems, and sustainable transport strategies, with fair solutions also catering to the most vulnerable.

3. We need to balance the scales of opportunity and freedom for women and girls, ensure gender equality and human rights for all. There has been progress in Serbia in the past 2 years, some steps backwards, and we know that we can never drop the guard on these matters.

4. Finally, I would like to renew the UN call for all responsible parties to shape solutions, policies, political and diplomatic decisions that bring people together, and build social cohesion. We call for citizens and their representatives to nurture solidarity, diversity, dignity and non-discrimination for all, in other words, to promote a culture of dialog, tolerance, and equality – every day, in every circumstance.

As we mark UN Day, we renew our hope, trust and conviction in what we can achieve when we work together. The UN team is committed to support the new government and all our partners here, towards an accelerated implementation of Agenda 2030.

Now, I am done, I know that our musicians will have a more magical way to talk to your heart - Enjoy the concert! Hvala – Merci