Your Excellency Mr. Peter Thomson, President of the General Assembly, Your Excellency Mr. António Guterres, Secretary-General-designate of the United Nations, and Madame Catarina Vaz Pinto Your Excellency Mr. Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa, President of the Republic of Portugal, Your Excellency Mr. António Luís Santos da Costa, Prime Minster of Portugal, Excellencies, Ladies and Gentlemen,
Thank you for your very kind words and for your trust. I am deeply moved by your tributes.
Serving as Secretary-General of this great organization has been a great privilege for me of a lifetime.
As some of you said, I am a child of the United Nations.
After the Korean War, UN aid fed us. UN textbooks taught us. UN global solidarity showed us we were not alone.
For me, the power of the United Nations was never abstract or academic.
It is the story of my life, and many Korean people. It is a story of many millions, and millions of people around the world, many children, young boys and girls.
This profound appreciation grew even stronger every day during my service with the United Nations.
For the past ten years, I have been honoured to serve alongside the many courageous, dedicated and talented women and men of the United Nations.
I have seen the power of international cooperation in taking on our most pressing challenges.
And I have seen the United Nations open its doors wider than ever to civil society and many partners to help us transform our world.
Together, we have faced years filled with challenge:
The worst financial collapse since the Great Depression.
Eruptions of conflict and uprisings for freedom.
Record numbers of people fleeing war, persecution and poverty.
Disruptions brought by disease, disasters and a rapidly warming planet. This turmoil tested us. Despite huge difficulties, we helped save lives and protect tens of millions.
The 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development and the Paris Agreement on climate change have opened a pathway to a safer, more just and peaceful world for all of us.
The empowerment of women took great strides during these years. Youth took on new levels of leadership. New mindsets took hold.
Day by day, brick by brick, we built stronger foundations for peace and progress.
Yet, so much suffering and strife endure.
So many women and children face violence and exploitation. So many people face hatred solely because of who they are.
And so many problems have proven intractable - none more than the bloodshed in Syria and the upheaval it spawned.
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