Wreath Laying Ceremony at the United Nations to commemorate the 62nd Anniversary of the death of the former Secretary-General, H.E. Mr. Dag Hammarskjöld, New York, 13 September 2023.
Thank you, Secretary-General, for inviting me to say a few words today.
I am grateful to the Deputy Secretary-General, the President of the General Assembly, and everyone here today, for joining this annual ceremony.
We are here to honour the life and legacy of Dag Hammarskjöld and of the staff and crew who tragically lost their lives in Ndola in 1961.
A true statesman, Dag Hammarskjöld served the United Nations for eight years as Secretary-General. He helped the new organisation find its voice and its role in a turbulent time.
For Dag Hammarskjöld, the UN Charter was the cornerstone on which a new and better world order would be constructed. He held that the aims of the Charter were “holier than the policies of any single nation”.
Today, with a permanent member of the Security Council continuing to stand in blatant violation of the Charter, we are reminded of Hammarskjöld’s fierce commitment to a world order based on international law.
As we prepare for the Summit of the Future, we should honour Dag Hammarskjöld’s legacy by strengthening our support for multilateral cooperation and for a rules-based international order with the UN at its core.
Standing before this Memorial Wall, we are reminded of all those who have paid the ultimate price while serving the United Nations. To this day, UN personnel, be they peacekeepers or humanitarian workers, continue to be targeted and killed. Today, we also honour their legacies – they are not forgotten.
The exact circumstances surrounding the plane crash on September 18 in 1961 that killed Dag Hammarskjöld and his staff and crew are still unknown.
Allow me therefore to also to thank and express support for the Independent Eminent Person, Mohammed Chande Othman, and his team for their tireless efforts in search of truth.
I am grateful for the strong support that UN member states have repeatedly expressed for the Dag Hammarskjöld investigation – including when the General Assembly extended its mandate in December last year.
Our efforts will continue, for the sake of those who lost their lives in 1961 and their families – and for the sake of the whole United Nations.
Thank you.