2023 End of the Year Reception

Tonight we are celebrating friendship and strong partnership – between the United Nations and each one of you individually, in your personal and professional capacities. 

This friendship and partnership is a cornerstone of the multilateralism and the strong United Nations. This friendship and partnership is needed now more than ever – to stop wars and war crimes, to uphold human rights and humanitarian law, to halt climate change and eradicate poverty, to invest more in education, health, and gender equality.  

Wars are raging across continents. Apocalyptic scenes we are seeing in Gaza, invasion of Ukraine, conflicts in Sudan, Yemen, Libya, and Myanmar, make upholding the Charter of the United Nations more important that ever. The Charter is a promise of the nations of the world to save succeeding generations from the scourge of war. Are we upholding our promise? 

The Universal Declaration of Human Rights, that celebrated its’ 75th anniversary this year, is a promise that all people are born free and equal in rights and dignity. The humanitarian law is a promise to protect civilians and to comply with the principles of distinction, proportionality and precaution. Are we upholding this promise? 

The 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development is a promise that we will leaving no one behind. It is a promise that we will build a world of health, progress and opportunity for all. Are we upholding this promise?  

There are beacons of hope.  

With 28th UN Climate Change Conference just being finished, some bold decisions and statements on phasing out of fossil fuels made by the Member States. This gives a beacon of hope that joint efforts can halt climate change.  

With tremendous global solidarity shown while the world was fighting against the Covid pandemics, we jointly learning to address its’ social and economic consequences. This gives a beacon of hope that the world will build resilience and jointly respond to the future challenges. 

 Ladies and gentlemen, 

I came to Montenegro three years ago.  

In January 2021, we still had restrictive Covid policies in places – cities were closed, movement was limited, we were instructed to wear face masked. The country was addressing complex consequences of the pandemics. 

But, I have seen beacons of hope.  

Despite a vibrant political situation, Montenegro has counted many successes in the last three years – (i) peaceful changes of Government did have effect on the ability of the state to deliver, but I have seen efforts and good will to overcome this challenge, (ii) institutional setup for sustainable development and placing it in the heart of the Government has led to the successful processes of Voluntary National Review, preparing the state delegation for SDG Summit, and, in general, progressing in all dimensions of sustainable development management, (iii) the economic growth has led to reduced poverty, including the child poverty, reduced income inequalities, and increased employment, (iv) substantive steps were made in fighting corruption and organised crime, while (v) the country remaining open for the people who were fleeing from their home countries.  

This is a beacon of hope and a solid base for the new leadership to accelerate its’ reformative agenda towards the European Union and achieving the Sustainable Development Goals. Both of this processes give a clear policy blueprint and inspiration for the country to advance and improve quality of life for the people living in this beautiful country. 

The System of the United Nations has and is providing very broad support towards these aims – in 2023 alone, we assisted more than 1.000 migrants who came to Montenegro, and support the country to respond to influx of close to 100.000 Ukrainians and Russians, we invested in upgrading border crossings, supported victims of trafficking, supported the state to address recommendation from the Universal Periodic Review, we invested in new digital services of the government, public administrative reform, digital health systems, dismantling of small arms and light weapons, supported analysis on gender pay gap, tax and minimum wage reform, created new jobs through supporting women entrepreneurship and small businesses, supported the education sector reform, and many many more.  

Some flagship initiatives shall remain – (i) strengthened coordination among strategic international partners, (ii) investments in social cohesion and enhanced trust among the people and governance structures, and the (iii) Montenegro SDG Acceleration Fund that showed that innovative ideas coming from small countries have a power to change the world.  

Through my extensive visits to municipalities of Montenegro  in the last three years, I learned about challenges of local communities – from air pollution and thermo-power plant phasing out in Pljevlja, solid waste management challenges in the North and in Boka Bay, waste water challenges in Podgorica, Berane, and the coast, to problems of small producers carpenters in Plav, access to sustainable food systems in Boka, and Saline management in Ulcinj. Beyond these challenges, I have also seen hope. Countless smart and hard working people, ready to invest themselves every single day for a better future. 

This is a beacon of hope I have seen here, in Montenegro. 

This is why I believe in sustainable future of this country. 

And, as I close my final official statement as the UN Resident Coordinator to Montenegro, I would like to stress the strongest beacon of hope – education is the foundation of the future. Education is the key for sustainable development.  

This is why we have hosted this event in the Podgorica Grammar School, one of the best education institutions in the country, knowing that many of you, including the current President, got their foundational education among these halls.  

With the education in focus and the forthcoming reforms of the education sector, I believe that Montenegro has a very bright prospects for sustainable and long term-progress. It has a basis to fulfil the promises mentioned at the beginning – the promises of leaving no one behind, and providing equal life of dignity for all. 

It was my privilege and profound honour to serve in this country, and embed myself in the noble vision of its’ progress. 

Thank you.