They said it: Leaders at the UN, in their own words

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UNITED NATIONS (AP) —

Many leaders saying many things about many topics that matter to them, to their regions, to the world: That’s what the U.N. General Assembly invariably produces each year.

And each year, certain voices dominate. Here, The Associated Press takes the opposite approach and spotlights some thoughts from leaders who might have not captured the headlines and airtime on Wednesday, the second day of the 2026 General Debate.

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“The Pacific is our home, not a theater for geopolitical competition. It must remain an ocean of peace.”

—Surangel Whipps Jr., president of Palau

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“Youth unemployment remains one of the most urgent challenges of our time. Managing it is a shared responsibility.”

—Duma Boko, president of Botswana

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“Africa must be represented more. It must be part of the decision-making.”

— Évariste Ndayishimiye, president of Burundi

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“Paraguay stands, and I say this loud and clear, with Taiwan. What happens there is not merely a regional matter. ... It affects Japan, all of East and Southeast Asia, and, above all, it affects the global economy. Anyone who pretends that this is far away or too distant simply has not understood the 21st century.”

—Santiago Peña, president of Paraguay

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"We cannot resign ourselves to turning human suffering into a statistic. Behind every victim lies a life cut short; behind every child killed, a future that disappears; behind every school or hospital destroyed, a part of our shared humanity that has failed."

—Xavier Espot Zamora, prime minister of Andorra