United Nations A/70/ PV.87 General Assembly Official Records Seventieth session 87th plenary meeting Thursday, 18 February 2016, 11 a.m. New York President: Mr. Lykketoft ......................................... (Denmark) In the absence of the President, Ms. Moses (Nauru), Nations response to appalling crises in Europe, Africa Vice-President, took the Chair. and beyond. Outcomes from major conferences during his The meeting was called to order at 11.05 a.m. tenure in Rio, Vienna, Beijing and Cairo, together with his Agenda for Peace and his Agenda for Development, Tribute to the memory of His Excellency can now be seen very clearly at the heart of the 2030 Mr. Boutros Boutros-Ghali, sixth Agenda for Sustainable Development (resolution 70/1). Secretary-General of the United Nations His period at the helm demonstrates ever so clearly that The Acting President: It is our sad duty to pay the position of Secretary-General is indeed one of the tribute to the memory of His Excellency Mr. Boutros most difficult jobs in the world. Boutros-Ghali, sixth Secretary-General of the United On behalf of this entire Assembly, I would like to Nations, who passed away on 16 February. extend my most sincere condolences to the family and I have the honour to deliver this statement on behalf friends of Mr. Boutros-Ghali who mourn his passing of the President of the General Assembly, Mr. Mogens today. I extend also my sympathies to the people and Lykketoft, who is travelling on official business at this the Government of Egypt, who have lost one of their time. I also wish to acknowledge the presence among greatest sons and statesmen. us today of Mr. Thabo Mbeki, former President of the I would ask the members of the General Assembly Republic of South Africa. rise to observe a minute of silence in memory of Boutros This morning we gather together to mark the Boutros-Ghali. passing of the sixth Secretary-General, Mr. Boutros The members of the General Assembly observed a Boutros-Ghali. As the organ that ultimately appoints minute of silence. the Secretary-General, it is fitting that the General Assembly pay its respects to the man who led the The Acting President: I now give the floor to the Organization from 1992 to 1996. Secretary-General, His Excellency Mr. Ban Ki-moon. Mr. Boutros-Ghali was a first for the United The Secretary-General (spoke in French): I thank Nations — our first African, and indeed our first Arab the General Assembly for having decided to pay tribute Secretary-General. He held office during a period of to my eminent predecessor, Boutros Boutros-Ghali. I great change and incredible challenges. Taking over offer my sincere condolences to his widow, Mrs. Laila so soon after the fall of the Berlin Wall, Mr. Boutros- Boutros-Ghali, the other members of the Boutros-Ghali Ghali worked tirelessly to reform this large and at family, the Egyptian people and all those who deplore times unwieldy Organization and to manage the United this loss. This record contains the text of speeches delivered in English and of the translation of speeches delivered in other languages. Corrections should be submitted to the original languages only. They should be incorporated in a copy of the record and sent under the signature of a member of the delegation concerned to the Chief of the Verbatim Reporting Service, room U-0506 ([email protected]). Corrected records will be reissued electronically on the Official Document System of the United Nations (http://documents.un.org). 16-04270 (E) *1604270* A /70/PV.87 18/02/2016 (spoke in English) report entitled “An Agenda for Democratization” (A/51/761), he broke new ground in emphasizing the Boutros Boutros-Ghali had both the fortune links among peace, development and democracy at the and misfortune to serve as the first post-Cold War national level and in his calls for the democratization of Secretary-General of the United Nations. While the the international system. United Nations was never as paralysed during the Cold War as many have portrayed, the new dynamic gave the Mr. Boutros-Ghali won respect near and far, Organization new leeway to act. That brought promise including as a leading Egyptian diplomat before joining and peril — and Mr. Boutros-Ghali experienced both. the United Nations and, afterwards, as Secretary General of the International Organization of la Francophonie. In his very first month in office, Mr. Boutros-Ghali Yet he never attempted to endear himself to everybody. presided over the first-ever summit meeting of the Perhaps he was too direct for some; he might have been Security Council — a powerful symbol of the will of too professorial for others; some definitely found him world leaders to make greater use of the United Nations. too independent — a goal that he considered among “As the new era begins”, Mr. Boutros-Ghali told the the highest virtues for any Secretary-General of the assembled leaders, “it calls for both ideas and action United Nations. to place international life on stronger foundations” (S/PV.3046, p. 8). I thank my predecessor for his lasting contributions to our work and I invite all representatives to share their Mr. Boutros-Ghali was a fount of ideas, building on thoughts and tributes in a book of condolences, which his long career as a professor of international law. He has been placed near the Meditation Room just outside broke barriers as the first African and Arab Secretary- this Hall. At a tumultuous time, Boutros Boutros- General of the United Nations and consistently gave Ghali helped the United Nations find its footing in a voice to the poorest and least powerful members of the new global landscape. As we do the same today, let us human family. He steered the Organization through continue to build on his legacy. May he rest in peace. a series of world conferences on the environment, population, human rights, women’s rights, social The Acting President: I now give the floor to the development and the unique challenges faced by the representative of Swaziland, who will speak on behalf world’s small island developing States. Those global of the Group of African States. gatherings captured the imagination and gave the world Mr. Mnisi (Swaziland): The Group of African exciting new policies, directions and purpose. The 2030 States is saddened by the passing of His Excellency Agenda for Sustainable Development (resolution 70/1), Mr. Boutros Boutros-Ghali, an illustrious son of Africa which is our inspiring new template today, owes much and erudite diplomat. His ascendency to the helm of to the pioneering intellectual work of the 1990s. our global Organization as the first Secretary-General Mr. Boutros-Ghali also oversaw remarkable from the African continent was a great source of pride growth in peacekeeping. His Agenda for Peace report for us in Africa. We extend our heartfelt condolences to (A/47/277) made far-reaching proposals for fortifying the family of the late Boutros Boutros-Ghali, as well as that flagship United Nations activity, many of which to the Government and people of Egypt for their loss. have since become standard practice, but also many As the sixth Secretary-General, Boutros Boutros- of which remain unfulfilled. During his time in Ghali led the Organization during a very challenging office, peacekeeping helped Cambodia, El Salvador, period in a post-Cold War era as fundamental changes Mozambique and other countries emerge from conflict. shaped geopolitical order. Though daunting were At the same time, engagements in the Balkans, Somalia his tasks in steering the Organization and, against and Rwanda highlighted the gap between the needs of the backdrop of myriad of violent conflicts erupting a given situation and the material support and political around the world, including in Africa, Secretary- unity required from Member States, in particular the General Boutros Boutros-Ghali rose to the challenge Security Council. There, too, the echoes resound and, and provided a vision for making the United Nations indeed, haunt us to this very day. more efficient in addressing the challenging context Mr. Boutros Boutros-Ghali pursued major of global insecurity. His landmark report “An Agenda restructuring efforts, managerial reforms and other for Peace” (A/47/277) continues to be the lodestar for steps that strengthened the United Nations. In his the United Nations doctrine for preventive diplomacy, 2/7 16-04270 18/02/2016 A /70/PV.87 peacemaking and peacekeeping. In the Agenda for The late Secretary-General brought to the United Peace, the late Boutros Boutros-Ghali also provided his Nations the wealth of experience he had gained during manifesto for fostering partnership between the United his successful stints as Minister of State for Foreign Nations and regional organizations in the context of Affairs and, subsequently, Deputy Prime Minister for Chapter VIII of the Charter of the United Nations. Foreign Affairs of Egypt. Mr. Boutrous-Ghali showed no hesitation in posing tough questions to Member As we collectively construct the new peacebuilding States, and his aspiration was for the United Nations to architecture and also translate into reality the be a truly democratic body. His landmark report, “An recommendations emanating from the report of the High-level Independent Panel on Peace Operations (see Agenda for Peace: preventive diplomacy, peacemaking S/2015/446), invariably, we are building on the legacies and peacekeeping” (A/47/277), submitted within six of Boutros Boutros-Ghali. months of the start of his tenure as the Secretary- General, indicated that he meant serious business at The timing of his death, as the United Nations the United Nations. The report was an apt response to celebrates its seventieth anniversary, impels us to shape the Organization’s approach to the beginning of pay tribute to his sterling leadership of the milestone a new era.