Statement by the Swedish Minister for Foreign Affairs Ann Linde at the General Assembly Informal Commemorative Meeting to Mark the 60th Anniversary of the Death of Former Secretary-General Dag Hammarskjöld (1905-1961)
Excellencies,
First of all, let me start by thanking you, President of the General Assembly, His Excellency Volkan Bozkir, for hosting this event today. Thank you also to Secretary-General Guterres for your address. I am pleased to congratulate you on your reappointment as UN Secretary-General.
This year marks 60 years since Dag Hammarskjöld, his staff and crew tragically lost their lives in Ndola, Zambia. Every year, we have gathered to commemorate and remember them. To mark the 60th anniversary of the tragic crash, events are being arranged in New York, Lusaka, Kinshasa, Uppsala and Stockholm, in honour of their memory.
The exact circumstances surrounding the fateful plane crash warrant further follow-up. Sweden has for several years taken the initiative to prolong the mandate of the Secretary-General’s Independent Eminent Person, to seek answers to what happened. We are grateful for the dedication and unanimous support expressed by the UN membership, and we count on it to continue as we will remain steadfast in our efforts to get closer to the truth.
As Foreign Minister of Sweden, I am sincerely proud of Dag Hammarskjöld and his work as Secretary-General of the United Nations. He believed in equality between people and nations. He was a true champion of peace with an extraordinary sense of duty and vision.
Despite facing regular challenges and criticism, he worked tirelessly to defend the independence and integrity of the international civil service so that it could enhance the UN’s effectiveness and reinforce its legitimacy during a time of great geopolitical tension.
Let us be encouraged by the strength in this message. The world today is very different compared to 60 years ago. But the complex, transboundary and interrelated challenges of today makes international cooperation even more necessary.
Let us use the 60th anniversary of the death of Dag Hammarskjöld to honor his legacy by joining forces to strengthen international cooperation. We need a stronger and more inclusive UN to tackle the challenges ahead. Taking forward the Secretary-Generals Common Agenda report will be key to reinvigorating multilateralism for the next seventy-five years.
Dag Hammarskjöld’s tenure as UN Secretary-General serves as an inspiration for international civil servants across the globe. Let us continue - in his spirit - to pave the way forward, toward a more peaceful and sustainable future. And to tirelessly prove that, through international cooperation, and through doing it together as equals, we can achieve more.
As Dag Hammarskjöld said:
To build for man a world without fear, we must be without fear. To build a world of justice, we must be just.
Thank you.