Address by Prime Minister TAKAICHI Sanae at the Eighty-First Session of the United Nations General Assembly

The international order is experiencing a period of great instability. The free and open international order based on the rule of law that we have fostered is facing difficult challenges on multiple fronts. Amid a shifting balance of power and intensifying geopolitical competition, innocent civilian lives are being lost around the world every day.

The “stable post-Cold War era” is now a thing of the past. The distribution of goods is stagnating, people across the world are suffering from high cost of living, progress towards development goals is not on track, and human rights issues are arising in various places around the world.

Against this backdrop, has the United Nations, now eighty years on since its foundation, been failing to fulfill its role in promoting peace and stability around the world?

We are even hearing such concerns today.

Despite these concerns, the United Nations has never been more important than it is today in bringing about peace and stability to the world, and enabling the international community to overcome new challenges and prosper. Japan will continue to fulfill its significant responsibilities towards the United Nations. And I am here today to express that resolve.

This year marks the 70th anniversary of Japan’s accession to the United Nations. In this milestone year, I would first like to address how Japan has been tackling the challenges facing the international community, working hand-in-hand with the United Nations. Then, together with you all, I would like to take this opportunity to revisit the role of the United Nations in the international community.

2. Challenges facing the International Community in light of Escalating International Tensions

First, let us turn our attention to escalating international tensions.