GENERAL ASSEMBLY SIMULATION 2014 OPENING SPEECH BY THE PRESIDING OFFICER

Distinguished Representatives, Secretary General, His Excellency, Ladies and Gentlemen, Thank you very much for the opportunity to address you today. It is my great pleasure to open General Assembly simulation 2014 and it is my honour to welcome His Excellency Mr. Pekka Metso. Let me start by expressing my deepest appreciation to all of you for the many important decisions you will take in the following month. Your decisions will contribute to further strengthening the global, effective, efficient and focused United Nations. At the same time, I recognize that there is still lack of agreements on important issues and that important questions still have to be addressed. Ladies and Gentlemen, This is the age of integration and interconnection. No country can solve today's problems on its own. Just as countries and peoples are linked, so are the issues. It is the rare global challenge that can be addressed without looking at other issues as well. That means we need to connect the dots - not only among water, food and energy, for example, but between international peace and security and development issues. If we can do this, solutions to one problem can become solutions to others, many others. We need to explore how the United Nations can better address them. And we need to think big about how best to deliver results: tangible, concrete results that make a difference Ladies and Gentlemen, If there is one lesson I have learned over the past years, is the power of partnership. Governments, NGOs, the private sector - all pulling together in common cause. The power of partnership makes me hopeful for what we can achieve over the next month in our work for human security and human dignity. We must use this approach to take international cooperation to deeper levels. We should be proud of the progress so far, but clearly we have far to go.

Together, no challenge is too large. Together, nothing is impossible. Let us tackle the challenges ahead with even greater faith in our collective ability to strengthen the United Nations. I count on your leadership and strong commitment. Thank you very much.