Speech by 

H.E. President José Ramos-Horta 

of the Democratic Republic of Timor-Leste 

at the 77th Session 

of the United Nations General Assembly 

23rd September 2022 

Mr. President, 

Sr. Secretario-General, 

Excelências, 

It is an honour to return to this Assembly of Nations once again as President of my country for which I was re-elected five months ago.

by Sadhana Sen and Stephen Howes

The Pacific Island Forum (PIF) leaders meeting in Fiji this week was rocked by the non-arrival of several leaders and by the surprise announcement by Kiribati that it would not be withdrawing its earlier resignation from the Forum.

by Ambassador Peter Thomson, UN Secretary-General’s Special Envoy for the Ocean

With every breath we take, we are connected to the ocean. The ocean gives us oxygen, provides us with food and livelihoods. It stabilises our climate, absorbing most of the heat trapped in the Earth’s system. Billions of humans, animals and plants rely on a healthy ocean. But the ocean’s health is in trouble.