In September, the world gathered in New York: 193 delegations in one place – heads of state, heads of government, foreign ministers, including advocates of peace, beacons of hope, critics of the United Nations, doubters, and also states that are trampling on international law. They all turned up for the opening of the General Assembly of the United Nations because each and every one of them knows that this is the place where nations talk to each other – about the major questions of coexistence on our planet: peace, human rights, development.

In New York, the qualities that characterise this organisation were once again visible.

It is a mirror and a stage, but also an admonisher, driver and facilitator, a measure, norm and shaper of the world. That is the purpose and that was the goal when, 80 years ago, in spring 1945, the United Nations Conference on International Organization, as it was officially called back then, convened.

The Second World War and the Holocaust, disasters that were unleashed from German soil, had left unprecedented devastation in the world. It was the victorious powers, the liberators, who seized this crucial historic moment. In the face of the abyss, one shared conviction had taken hold among the 50 participating states: if we want to preserve peace in future, we need binding, common, enforceable rules. Peace needs an institution that is stronger than hatred, mistrust and power politics. It was a unique moment of collective learning after the shared experience of the betrayal of all civilised values.

This is reflected in the preamble to the Charter of the United Nations, in which “We the peoples of the United Nations” speak. They undertake to prevent war, safeguard peace and respect the rights and dignity of all people.

Today, 80 years on, it does not always feel as though our world has truly become a better place everywhere. I am thinking of Russia’s brutal, illegal war against Ukraine – a war which is very directly also attacking Europe’s security order and is casting doubt on the future of our entire continent. I am thinking of the Middle East, of Israel and Gaza, where, thank goodness, we are now seeing progress. But we still need a secure ceasefire. Important tasks from the 20-point plan must be implemented, and humanitarian access to Gaza must be further improved. That was one of the reasons why I visited Israel again last week. And I am thinking of the Sudan, a country where one of the biggest man-made humanitarian crises is raging and the fighting between the army and the RSF militia is escalating. It is good that the UN Security Council last week unanimously condemned the atrocities committed by the RSF and called for an immediate end to the violence. These are just a few of the wars and crises ongoing in this world.

It is clear that the United Nations is needed. It is also needed, by the way, in order to make further progress on and to implement the 20-point plan. I expressly appeal to the UN Security Council to give the stabilisation forces that are to be deployed in the Gaza Strip a strong mandate. This is a fresh opportunity for the United Nations to show that the UN Security Council is capable of action. This call is addressed to all members of the Security Council – to show movement here and to demonstrate that the global community is capable of action and is in a position to overcome this conflict.

Today, 80 years on, we also see, however, that the United Nations is not without weaknesses. Sometimes it is clunky, sometimes even incapable of action. Too often, national interests block what was conceived as a global community. Again and again in the Security Council, we see vetoes instead of responsibility, standstill instead of protection. We must voice this criticism openly, because it stems from disappointment in an institution of which many countries in the world, including our own, have extremely high expectations.

The United Nations itself speaks very clearly about this criticism. Secretary-General Guterres did not view UN80 – 80 years of the United Nations – first and foremost as a cause for celebration; rather, he named a major reform initiative after this anniversary, a reform initiative that we wholeheartedly support. In its current incarnation, the United Nations still reflects the 20^th century. We must carry this institution into the 21^st century; it must reflect the international community of the 21^st century. In particular, this means that the Global South, especially Africa, must be given more weight in the United Nations.

Esteemed colleagues, the United Nations was not created to take mankind to heaven, but to save humanity from hell. These words from former UN Secretary-General Dag Hammarskjöld have been quoted often, and they remind us, all the disappointed expectations notwithstanding, that the United Nations has to this day met one expectation, the one to the forefront of its founders’ minds in 1945: to prevent another, nuclear world war.

Despite all its failings, the United Nations remains the only forum in which all countries in the world talk to each other. The Charter of the United Nations remains the central rulebook to which all states in the world have committed themselves. Without the United Nations, there would be no Universal Declaration of Human Rights, no 2030 Agenda, no joint mandates for peacekeeping missions, no international, non-partisan humanitarian assistance for hundreds of millions of people, no forum that institutionalises international responsibility for all – a legacy to which our country is committed, also in our own fundamental interest. Because conflicts in this world, no matter how distant they may appear to us, will eventually affect us in some way. Of that I am convinced.

That is why it is right and proper that Germany is ready to assume a leading role in the United Nations, as is being demanded of us more and more: not to pull back, as some others are doing, also in financial terms, but to remain engaged in the United Nations. It is in this context that we see our offer to work in the UN Security Council. We are applying for a non-permanent seat on the UN Security Council for 2027/2028 because we are convinced that we belong at this table.

We want to help ensure that the words “We the peoples of the United Nations” once again become a promise that is trusted the world over.

Thank you.