Delivered By: Ms. Sarah Al Awadhi, Second Secretary

At the outset, I would like to thank the Secretary-General for the solid and innovative policy briefs submitted to inform the Summit of the Future next year. The UAE welcomes the New Agenda for Peace and looks forward to the consideration of its many recommendations.

Today, I want to highlight two critical contributions from the brief.

The first issue is the importance of developing prevention capacities worldwide. In a world increasingly affected by geopolitical tensions and global challenges — from climate change to nuclear proliferation — investing in prevention and resilience should be the responsibility of every single Member State. This can establish a more solid foundation for peace and prosperity and achieving the Sustainable Development Goals.

A critical element in bringing about a shift in this prevention paradigm is to address the very threats that erode the social fabric of our communities, such as hate speech, discrimination and extremism, which can also fuel the outbreak, escalation and recurrence of conflict. Promoting the values that highlight our common humanity, such as tolerance, peaceful coexistence and human fraternity, is crucial to consolidate sustainable, resilient and inclusive societies.

Technology can be an enabler of public goods. The UAE is fully leveraging technologies to process data and better plan and respond to emerging needs. At the same time, something that we need to address collectively is the exploitation of new technologies by extremist and terrorist groups, which can act as a threat multiplier amplifying misinformation, disinformation, hate speech and incitement to violence. We welcome efforts to establish a common set of rules and principles to mitigate their harmful impact.

The second issue I want to highlight is the importance of connecting financial matters and political action. We are seeing this every single day on discussions regarding climate ambition and sustainable development. These issues are eminently political, but without the relevant financial commitments, political will on its own falls short. Bold decisions regarding the reform of international financial institutions, or a quantum leap in climate finance, have the potential to make a positive impact on global peace, equality and stability. This very principle is driving our approach to organize a successful and results-oriented COP28 later this year.

Secretary-General, fellow delegates,

The process that will lead to a successful Summit of the Future must see us consider new ideas and leverage what we have in common. At a moment of growing geopolitical polarization, the role of the multilateral system is critical to compartmentalize disagreement, build on areas of convergence, and make decisions that can improve the lives of the 8 billion people that we aim to serve. We look forward to engaging with all of you with this objective in mind.

Thank you.