Official inauguration of the Permanent Mission of Fiji in Geneva

Your Excellency, Commodore Bainimarama
Ambassador Shameem
Distinguished Ambassadors and Guests

Congratulations on the opening of the Permanent Mission and a very warm welcome to our friends from Fiji into our International Geneva family. We look forward to working closely with you in our collective efforts to promote peace, rights and well-being for all.

With the opening of your Mission, we now have 192 Permanent Missions and Observer Offices here in Geneva. And it is a number that keeps growing in step with the increasing role of Geneva in addressing the challenges of our interconnected world – from promoting human rights and democracy, disarmament and sustainable development, to strengthening global health, providing decent jobs, spearheading the use of information and communication technologies, and ensuring a level playing field for international trade to allow all countries to prosper – to mention only some of the agenda items. These are all activities that will only take on added importance when we come to the implementation of the post-2015 development agenda, where all of the actors here will be translating the vision and commitments of Member States into reality for millions of people across the world.

It is a testament to the vision of the Prime Minister and the Government to open the Mission at this critical juncture. I believe it will be of immense value to the people of Fiji to be represented here, and to benefit from the rich expertise and capacity of the multitude of global players. Geneva may be far from Fiji in terms of distance, but the concerns and challenges of all Fijians are at the very centre of our work. And the efforts undertaken here have a direct and positive impact on the people of Fiji – as it has everywhere across the planet.

In turn, all of us very much look forward to being enriched by Fiji’s experience – in the promotion of human rights, in the fight against climate change, in advancing the cause of small island development States, in disaster risk reduction, in public health, in peace and security where Fiji is a strong contributor to our peacekeeping work – and to many other vital areas of our work.

Once again, a warm welcome and thank you for joining our International Geneva family. You can rely on our full support and strong commitment to the people of Fiji.

Thank you very much.