At this time the world is looking to New York – a place that, more than any other, for many people around the world stands for the hope of a better future. A place whose inhabitants represent the power of not giving up even in the darkest moments, of reinventing themselves time and again. The place that is home to the most important institution for our international interactions – the United Nations.

The United Nations was founded almost 80 years ago by women and men who sought to counter the horrors of the Second World War with the power of our shared humanity. Today, it is our job to protect that which is intended to protect us: the rules of international law on which the world has agreed.

When the world comes together in New York, we fight for even the slightest bit of progress: how to support the people of Ukraine in protecting themselves against Putin’s terror so that they can find the way to a just peace. How to ward off a further dangerous escalation in the situation in the Middle East. How to get medicines and foodstuffs to the suffering population in the Sudan at last. How to prevent the voices of girls and women in Afghanistan from being silenced. And how to alleviate the repercussions of climate change, poverty and health risks, not least for the world’s weakest.

It is clear that, to ensure a more peaceful and more sustainable world, the UN must become fit for the future. That is one reason why Germany has worked so intensively with Namibia for the Pact for the Future that has just been adopted. This gives the green light for making the UN fairer, more inclusive and more capable of action.

However, it is also clear that polishing our tools will not be enough. We will have to adjust and refine them, and in some cases add to the toolbox. Germany will assume responsibility here: by working with our partners to further develop the Rome Statute so that those who commit the severest violations of international law can be held to account. By working with our partners to reform the Security Council – because only if Africa, Asia and Latin America have an appropriate voice and weight can the highest UN body represent the world as it is today.

By standing as a candidate for Security Council membership in the 2027/2028 term. Because we believe that the United Nations can find the power to keep reinventing itself in the future, too, in order to work together to tackle the challenges facing the world. To play an active role in this – that is the pledge Germany makes.