00:00President Putin and Mr. Lavrov, I say this.
00:06The path to peace is clear.
00:09The choice should be easy.
00:13Withdraw your troops. End this war.
00:18Mr. President, excellencies, I want to tell you about my grandmother Alice.
00:24Growing up in rural Sweden as the 7th of 11 siblings, her opportunities were very different from those of her
00:34brothers.
00:35Her parents expected her to focus first and foremost on family life.
00:40Yet, she was curious, capable and determined to build a life of her own.
00:47A job at a local bank gave her not only an income, but also independence and confidence.
00:54There, at the bank, she met many women with little to no experience with finances and who were left vulnerable
01:02when circumstances changed.
01:04She wrote in her diary about some of the women she met, many of whom were recently widowed,
01:12coming to the bank in tears because they didn't know anything about their own family finances.
01:18One woman came to the bank holding two safe deposit keys without knowing which bank they belonged to.
01:27My grandmother was as independent as a woman in that time and place could be.
01:34But she worried deeply about the consequences for the women who were not.
01:40During her life, she witnessed extraordinary progress, but two generations later, far too many women are still entirely economically dependent
01:52on men.
01:53Mr. President, 80 years ago, when Sweden joined the United Nations, the foundations of our modern society were being laid.
02:03In the 1940s and 50s, Swedish women joined the labor market in large numbers.
02:08This was not only a matter of principle, it also came from the realization that our economy needed women in
02:17the workforce.
02:19Women's economic empowerment is a matter of freedom.
02:23When women work and earn their own money, their self-determination grows.
02:28Gender equality is not only the right thing to do, it's also the smart thing to do.
02:34When women work, economies grow.
02:37Mr. President, each generation must fight for equality.
02:43In 1919, the same year my grandmother was born, Sweden decided that women should have the right to vote.
02:52That very same year, women in Afghanistan were also granted the right to vote.
02:59More than a century later, the contrast between women's freedoms in our two countries is as striking as it is
03:08saddening.
03:09It is a painful reminder that progress is never irreversible.
03:14Rights once gained can be lost.
03:17Freedoms do not defend themselves.
03:19It is up to us to protect them, for women and girls everywhere and for generations to come.
03:27Mr. President, when Sweden joined the UN in 1946, the world was emerging from the devastation of war.
03:35The lesson from that catastrophe was clear.
03:38Peace must not be taken for granted.
03:41Defense of sovereignty and territorial integrity has been at the heart of Swedish foreign policy ever since.
03:48Eight decades later, these principles are once again being challenged.
03:54Bad faith, conflict and utter contempt for the common rules are weakening the institutions that we build together.
04:04These are times of upheaval.
04:06The number of armed conflicts is growing and civilians are paying the price.
04:12In Ukraine, Sudan, Yemen, Palestine, Lebanon, Myanmar, the Democratic Republic of the Congo and many other conflict zones, millions are
04:22suffering.
04:24Mr. President, Russia's aggression against Ukraine is a blatant violation of international law.
04:29It strikes at the heart of the very principles upon which the United Nations was founded.
04:38Sweden's support for Ukraine is felt deeply throughout our entire society.
04:43It comes from our people, our civil society and the business community.
04:48We will support Ukraine for as long as it takes.
04:54Russia has not only violated the UN Charter, it has repeatedly violated international humanitarian law and human rights law.
05:01Attacks targeting civilians, forcible transfer of and deportation of children, conflict-related sexual violence and torture.
05:10The list is far too long.
05:14Ensuring accountability for these violations is crucial.
05:17If there is anything that we have learned from history, it is that there cannot be a just and lasting
05:25peace without accountability.
05:28Sweden stands firmly behind the ICC, its independence and integrity, and recognizes its vital role, not least in Ukraine.
05:38Russia must also be held accountable for its breaches of the Chemical Weapons Convention, both on and off the battlefield.
05:48Russia's war of aggression against a peaceful neighbor is one of the biggest strategic mistakes and moral failures of the
05:5821st century.
06:00Four and a half years after launching its full-scale invasion, Russia has failed to achieve its objectives.
06:07Its economy is under strain and its casualty numbers are devastating.
06:12Ordinary Russians are withdrawing their funds from the bank, and a substantial share of Russia's young people are dying on
06:21the front lines.
06:23The impact of Russia's war of aggression extends far beyond Ukraine.
06:29Russia intensified its systematic attacks on civilian infrastructure and on vessels in the Black Sea this summer.
06:38This has once again disrupted global food supply chains, exacerbating an already dire situation for vulnerable people across the globe.
06:50To President Putin and Mr. Lavrov, I say this.
06:57The path to peace, the path to peace, is clear.
07:01The choice should be easy.
07:04Withdraw your troops, end this war.
07:10Mr. President.
07:14Sweden has been an active contributor to the United Nations for 80 years, and we remain committed.
07:21But as a staunch partner, we will continue to push for a UN that is more effective, more transparent, and
07:29better equipped to uphold the principles of its charter.
07:34A UN that is resolute.
07:35Sweden's first peacekeepers, 300 of them, served this organization during the Suez crisis in 1956.
07:45Since then, more than 80,000 Swedes have followed in their footsteps.
07:51We have a long tradition of supporting mediation through the UN.
07:55It began in 1948 with UN's first mediator, Sweden's Folke Bernadotte.
08:00We have long been a major donor of development assistance, and we remain devoted to tackling global development challenges and
08:10contributing to urgent humanitarian efforts.
08:15Sweden remains a generous donor, but development assistance alone will not be enough to meet the challenges before us.
08:23Mr. President, reducing emissions to curb climate change is a common and global challenge and is necessary to safeguard and
08:33increase development gains in the coming decades.
08:37Sweden will continue to promote climate action based on urgency and opportunity.
08:43Urgency based on what science tells us, opportunity based on the economic growth, jobs, and strengthened competitiveness that climate transition
08:54brings.
08:55Given the state of the world, changes are necessary to ensure the UN's central role in international affairs and its
09:04ability to address today's challenges.
09:06An efficient, effective, nimble, and well-coordinated UN is urgently needed.
09:14Sweden strongly supports the Secretary General's UN-80 initiative and expects all UN entities to engage fully, with a clear
09:24focus on improving delivery at country level.
09:27We also expect member states to give the UN adequate resources.
09:33Assessed contributions must be paid in full and in time.
09:39As members, we also need to carefully consider institutional reforms and align mandates with available resources.
09:47UN-80 is an opportunity to strengthen the UN's impact across all three pillars and to reinforce the international system,
09:54firmly grounded in the UN Charter.
09:57As a member of international law.
10:00Sweden remains firm in its defense of the UN's normative mandates on human rights, gender equality, and sexual and reproductive
10:10health and rights.
10:12Everyone has the right to live freely and with dignity.
10:17To be who they are and to love whom they choose.
10:22Sweden will always stand up for that freedom and for equal rights of all.
10:30Mr. President, a balanced expansion of the Security Council would strengthen its credibility and the legitimacy of its decisions.
10:39Sweden would like to see permanent and non-permanent seats added and a fairer representation of all continents on the
10:47Council.
10:48Africa, home to 1.3 billion people and the largest regional bloc in the United Nations, has no permanent seat.
10:58This is neither logical nor fair.
11:02Further, the veto should never be used to prevent the UN from acting against serious violations of international law or
11:10in humanitarian disasters.
11:12Mr. President, we must continue to strengthen our United Nations to make the organization stronger and better equipped to prevent
11:22conflict and meet the challenges of tomorrow.
11:25We must continue to find common agreements based on the fundamentals of every country's sovereignty and territorial integrity.
11:36Prohibition of the use of force, respect for international law, human rights and humanitarian principles.
11:45It is our shared responsibility to ensure that the UN remains relevant, effective and resolute, that it becomes greater than
11:54the sum of its parts.
11:56To show once again that we can turn the page on conflict and chaos and move towards peace and prosperity.
12:06Mr. President, this year also marks 65 years since Secretary General Dag Hammarskjöld died.
12:15His integrity, conviction and commitment to the vision and values of our organization are still remembered.
12:25Sweden continues to support the UN investigation aimed at clarifying the circumstances surrounding Secretary General Hammarskjöld's death.
12:36And I would like to conclude with the words of Mr. Hammarskjöld.
12:43It is no news to anybody, but we sense it in different degrees that the world of today is more
12:53than ever before one world.
12:56The weakness of one is the weakness of all.
13:01And the strength of one, not the military strength, the real strength, the economic and social strength.
13:08The happiness of the people is indirectly the strength of all.
13:29I thank the Minister of Foreign Affairs of Sweden.
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