Sri Lankan President Anura Kumara Dissanayake, addressing the 80th United Nations General Assembly, called on world leaders to pursue their national dreams not through competition but through cooperation, emphasizing peace, dignity, equality, and care for the planet. He urged nations to become “true healers of the world,” echoing the founding spirit of the UN.
The full speech delivered by President Anura Kumara Dissanayake at the 80th Session of the United Nations General Assembly is as follows:
Madam President, Mr. General Secretary, honored invitees and distinguished delegates,
Allow me, Madame Annalena Baerbock, representing the beautiful country of Germany, to begin my speech by offering my warmest congratulations to you on being elected the President of the 80th session of this organization, formed with the noble aim of bringing about a just and lasting peace among the nations of the world.
I would also like to use this opportunity to express my country’s appreciation to His Excellency Philemon Young for the exceptional leadership he provided during the 79th session. We are gathered here today to plan the future path of this organization, which has worked tirelessly for eight decades to bring about a world of peace.
It is my honor to address this August Assembly for the first time as the President of Sri Lanka.
As representatives of nations, we all bear the responsibility to work towards fulfilling the aspirations of our people. The decisions we make now will impact people across the world and play a decisive role in the future of this planet, our common home.
Distinguished delegates,
Our decisions will have a very important impact on our future. Poverty, a tragedy as old as human civilization, has accompanied humankind on its journey through time. For centuries, countries across the world have faced this painful and relentless struggle. Poverty and problems stemming from it are also casting an oppressive shadow on our future. This assembly must pay special attention to eradicating extreme poverty. I believe our conscience dictates to us to do so.
Distinguished delegates,
For centuries, many countries in the world have been struggling against poverty. Poverty is a terrible enemy with many faces. Even as we gather here in the countries we represent, including in my own, children are suffering from hunger. A child’s right to education is an internationally accepted fundamental right.
This right is enshrined in the constitutions of most of our nations. Yet, across the world, poverty has denied this right to hundreds of thousands of children. In a world that boasts of its technological advances, how can there be children without access to education? Education is the foundation of every great nation.
It is the most vital factor deciding one’s future. We firmly believe that investment in education is an investment in global progress. Many developing countries are constrained in their struggle against poverty by indebtedness.
Low-income countries allocate twice as much to debt servicing as to education or healthcare.
Our people and our countries are caught in debt traps. The 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development pledges to leave no one behind and to reach the last first. The Agenda acknowledges that the most critical challenge before the world is the challenge to end poverty.
I would also like to recall the decisions taken at the Global Summit for Social Development in Copenhagen in 1995.
However, wars and political upheavals, and the COVID pandemic have obstructed the fulfillment of these hopeful agendas. I propose to you that the time has come to accept that inequality and poverty are a global catastrophe, and we should act accordingly.
Madam President, esteemed guests,
Drugs and organized crime linked to drugs have become a serious concern in this world. This has been acknowledged in the World Drug Report 2025 published by the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime.
The drug problem is a complex issue affecting millions of people globally. The market for drugs and the related criminal organizations are creating issues globally. Drug cartels are turning entire states into their hunting grounds. They pose a major threat to global health and politics, and eventually global well-being as well.
While Sri Lanka is taking effective steps to address this challenge, I respectfully request all of you to join in the effort to implement the global agenda on drugs and crime.
I bring to your notice the need to implement the law strictly against these drug traffickers and prevent drug traffickers from taking refuge in our countries, and also to set up rehabilitation centers for rehabilitation purposes.
Madam President, honored guests,
We regard corruption as an epidemic causing widespread harm to broad swathes of society. We believe corruption to be an obstruction to development, a decisive threat to democracy and global well-being, and also a cause for poverty. Let me remind you that fighting corruption is dangerous, but not fighting corruption is even more dangerous.
The Universal Declaration of Human Rights of 1948 was a remarkable victory for the people of the world. Civilizational achievements were never accomplished overnight. They were all results of unwavering efforts and sacrifices. And the struggle against corruption is also a difficult one. We must take the necessary steps here. The first step may be difficult, but if the courageous first step we take is correct, a thousand steps will follow. That is what I believe.
Madam President, delegates, be brave. All the rest will follow.
Sri Javaharlal Nehru once stated so. I represent a small island of nearly 22 million people. Sri Lanka’s population is about 0.30 of the global population. We are indeed small in size and in numbers, yet we have begun the struggle against corruption for the future generations of our country and the world. I propose that an integral part of the culture of all UN member countries should be to fight against corruption.
Madam President,
I feel confident that all of you will join me in condemning war. No nation in the world desires a war. The result of a war is a tragedy wherever it happens. We all know that. Even now, many countries of the world are experiencing the pain of that tragedy. As a country that lived through a three-decade war, we know well the futility of war. No one who sees the pain and the suffering of parents, spouses, and children of the victims of war would ever dream of another war.
We have witnessed these painful sights with our own eyes. Even as suffering caused by conflict has reached unprecedented levels, the international community has become reduced to bystanders.
Opportunistic power politics has turned the lives of children and innocent civilians into a game. No one has the right to inflict pain and suffering on another to enhance one’s own power. The duty of a ruler is not to destroy lives but to protect them.
We are deeply distressed by the ongoing catastrophe in the Gaza Strip. Gaza has been turned into an open prison full of pain and suffering, echoing with the cries of children and innocent civilians. The United Nations Organization and all related parties must work towards an immediate ceasefire, enable adequate humanitarian aid to these areas, and ensure the release of hostages of all parties. We recognize the Palestinian people’s inalienable right to their own state.
We also believe that the legal, security, and humanitarian concerns of Israel and the Palestinian people need to be acknowledged.
Sri Lanka reiterates the importance of early implementation of the UN General Assembly resolutions regarding a two-state solution on the basis of the 1967 borders. The time has come for the international community to stop being a mere spectator and to move decisively to end the suffering of millions.
Religious extremism and racism have been major causes of wars and conflicts, bringing suffering to millions of people.
Although a century has passed since the abolition of slavery, the poison of racism still lingers in many places. Extremist and racist ideas are as deadly as epidemics. We must ask ourselves how these extremist and racist ideas survive like sparks under the ashes in a world that has witnessed so many advances on so many fronts.
I believe that we must awaken our conscience to oppose racism and religious extremism in the protection of human rights and freedoms. We must be brave enough to speak up for peace. We must not be afraid to speak up against war. We must be afraid to speak up for war. In a world where millions of children die of hunger, we spend millions on weapons. When tens of millions die of inadequate health facilities, hundreds of millions are spent on futile wars. When hundreds of thousands of children are denied the right to an education, millions are spent on invading another’s land.
If every inch of this world could be turned into peaceful communities, what a wonderful world it would be. As a country that suffered the horrors of war for decades, where families still weep in remembrance of their loved ones, we have a duty to make that heartfelt proposal.
I would like to remind you that at the last election, the people of Sri Lanka decided in favor of a centuries-old dream. A legislature has been established according to that decision, reflecting the ethnic and religious diversity of the country.
A parliament has been established with women and other marginalized communities in representation. We believe that the duty of legislatures is to develop the country and the people, not to develop themselves. And we have established that idea.
Madam President, distinguished guests,
Our people have chosen light over darkness. They have given their approval to realize the vision of a thriving nation, a beautiful life. To fulfill this historic mandate, we have focused on establishing non-corrupt administration, poverty eradication, and digitalization. And we have also placed great emphasis on education and health as well. We are moving towards these goals step by step. Digital democracy is one of our aims.
Ensuring that every person and every country can enjoy the opportunities of the digital age is a global challenge. If we succeed in our task, we will be able to open doors to technology, accelerate development, and strengthen governance. If we fail, technology will turn into one more force, worsening inequality, insecurity, and injustice.
The digital gap between states that can and cannot establish access to digital tools is clear. An even greater gap is being created in relation to artificial intelligence. Sri Lanka and many other developing nations in Asia and as many other nations, are facing challenges in using AI as a development tool due to inadequate infrastructure facilities.
Madam President, distinguished delegates,
I ask the international community to work together, and we have to develop a dignified society, a dignified world. I present this August assembly a proposal to set up a neutral sovereign Artificial Intelligence zone. We must build a new and better world, a world that represents the dignity of humankind. You, as members of this assembly, must be the architects of that better world.
As President Harry Truman stated on the occasion of founding the United Nations, in your hands rests our future. We must not act in fear or under compulsion, but with hope for a better and more secure world.
Today, we must commit ourselves not to lead the world to another disaster, but to make it a better place for the next generation.
I have dreams and expectations for my country. Similarly, you have dreams and expectations for your country. My dream is to ensure that my people are rich and they are happy. I believe that you, too, have such dreams. We must try to achieve these dreams not in competition with each other, but by working arm in arm, in peace, dignity, and equality on a healthy planet. That is the motto of the United Nations organization. Therefore, let us become the true healers of the world.
