President Anura Kumara Dissanayake delivered a powerful address at the General Debate of the 80th Session of the United Nations General Assembly (UNGA) today, urging world leaders to confront poverty, corruption, and conflict through united global action.
Making his first appearance before the assembly, the Sri Lankan President reminded delegates that the UN was established to ensure a just and lasting peace among nations. He called poverty the most urgent challenge facing humanity, describing it as the greatest tragedy endured since the dawn of civilisation. Poverty, he said, is a global pandemic that deprives millions of children of their right to education, noting that even as leaders gathered in New York, countless children in every represented country were going hungry.
Turning to the debt crisis, President Dissanayake condemned the unsustainable financial burdens placed on developing nations, observing that low-income countries spend more than twice as much on interest payments as they do on health and education. This, he warned, keeps nations trapped in a cycle that obstructs development and progress.
He also issued a firm condemnation of global conflict, recalling Sri Lanka’s own decades-long civil war and its lessons on the cost of violence. Addressing the crisis in the Middle East, he described the situation in Gaza as a “painful, tragic open-air prison” and called for an immediate ceasefire by all parties, the unrestricted delivery of humanitarian aid, and the release of all hostages. He reiterated Sri Lanka’s support for the creation of two neighbouring states based on the 1967 borders, in accordance with UN resolutions.
On governance, the President described corruption as a “destructive epidemic” that erodes democracy, fuels poverty, and ruins societies from the grassroots up. He urged nations to embed the fight against corruption into their political culture despite the risks, warning that failing to act was far more dangerous.
He further raised alarm over the spread of organised crime and drug trafficking, warning that criminal networks are turning sovereign states into their hunting grounds and fuelling a torrent of crises that threaten global health, democracy, and stability.
President Dissanayake strongly criticised the vast sums spent globally on weapons while millions face hunger and lack access to education and healthcare. “In a world where millions of children are going hungry, we are spending billions on weapons. When tens of millions lack proper health and schools, trillions are spent on endless wars,” he said.
Concluding his speech, the President urged member states to choose a path of hope and courage, calling on the world to walk hand in hand toward peace and prosperity. He invited nations to become “sublime pilgrims of peace” and to work together to build a just, humane, and peaceful global order.
