Osman Saleh Mohammed, Minister for Foreign Affairs of Eritrea, observed that delegates gathering for the annual Assembly frequently have questions regarding the session’s overarching mission and how progress can be judged.  Recalling that peace and economic injustice were among the reasons for the UN’s creation, he emphasized that humanity must work to create a broader, fairer distribution of income.

The prevailing international order has become a zero-sum game, he said, urging:  “It is imperative to install a new world order that is predicated on justice and rationality.”  He added:  “That remains humanity’s collective right”.

Achieving peace and stability will help guarantee prosperity and economic growth, he said, and both fairness and justice are necessary to achieve peace and stability.  “Mutual respect to bolster wider regional and global peace and security and growth is necessary,” he emphasized.

For its part, the Assembly must rigorously assess progress towards achieving these goals.  The ongoing wars in Iran and Ukraine must end.  Enduring solutions to control global climate change must be found.

Further, he underlined the need to reverse the war and related acts of subversion that have unleashed chaos in Eritrea’s broader neighbourhood and impacted the region, including in the Nile Basin, the Horn of Africa, the Red Sea and the Gulf of Aden.

“There must be an end to interventions under the rubric of humanitarian assistance,” he said, adding that the African people are at the forefront of the struggle for justice and fairness.