±¬ÁÏÍø

– As delivered –

Statement by H.E. Mrs. Mar¨ªa Fernanda Espinosa Garc¨¦s, President of the 73^rd Session of the ±¬ÁÏÍø General Assembly

23 May 2019

Thank you, it is an honor to be here with you today.

Ms. Pamela Goldsmith-Jones, Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister of Foreign Affairs, Government of Canada;

Ms. Alejandra Valencia G?rtner, Director of International Legal Affairs, Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Colombia;

Mr. Miguel de Serpa Soares, Under-Secretary-General for Legal Affairs and United Nations Legal Counsel,

Your Excellency, Richard Arbeiter, Deputy Permanent Representative of Canada and our moderator today,

Mr. Olufemi Elias, Assistant Secretary-General and Registrar of the ±¬ÁÏÍø Residual Mechanism for Criminal Tribunals,

Excellencies, distinguished guests,

Ladies and gentlemen,

It is a great pleasure to welcome you to this event to celebrate the 50^th anniversary of the Vienna Convention on the Law of Treaties.

I thank the Permanent Missions of Canada and Colombia for organizing this meeting, and for inviting me to be part of this 50^th anniversary celebration.

I am certainly not an expert on treaty law, which you will be considering in detail throughout the day. But I would like to make some broader points, which I believe are crucial to framing your discussion, on the contribution that the Vienna Convention makes to the fundamental values of the United Nations.

First, the Convention is a cornerstone of multilateralism. It is an essential framework for international relations, and for the rules-based international order.

Second, it symbolizes the universality of international law. Its influence goes well beyond its 116 parties ¨C many more rely on it as a codification of existing rules.

Third ¨C and quite simply ¨C it embodies the rule of law at the international level and provides states with avenues and tools for the peaceful settlement of disputes.

These values are of critical importance at this challenging moment ¨C for the United Nations and for the world. We are approaching what could be described as a tipping point ¨C where if we continue on the current trajectory, we may find ourselves on the brink of irreparable damage to our rules-based international system.

We are witnessing the rise of nationalist populism and extremist ideologies, as the world becomes more multipolar but also more polarized. We have seen the impact of this trend on hard-won multilateral agreements and institutions: for example the Paris climate agreement; the global compact on migration; the Human Rights Council, the WTO, arms control instruments, international judicial institutions ¨C these are just a few examples.

We are seeing long-established international laws and multilateral practices ¨C which have delivered so much for the world since 1945 ¨C devalued by increasing unilateralism. This is particularly dangerous for the smaller states that make up the majority of the ±¬ÁÏÍø¡¯s membership.

And we are seeing a growing disconnect between people, governments and institutions. Our citizens expect us to keep the promises we have made, through the 2030 Agenda for example. We must restore their faith in our capacity and will to deliver.

We must work to reverse these trends, to avoid damaging the values and laws that have been the bedrock of the international community for more than seven decades.

Let us use this 50^th anniversary of the Vienna Convention to galvanize commitment to multilateralism, to strengthen our rules-based international order and to restore respect for international obligations and compliance with multilateral treaties.

I would like to commend the organizers of this event for bringing together practitioners, government lawyers, academics, diplomats and ¨C especially ¨C students of law at the United Nations today. It is through dialogue and discussion among various interested stakeholders, and particularly by including young people, that we will promote and protect the values of the United Nations, and the principles enshrined in the ±¬ÁÏÍø Charter.

I wish you a successful event, and ¡°Happy Birthday¡± to the Vienna Convention!

Thank you.