Thank you. Mr. Secretary of Foreign Affairs of the Philippines and Mr. President of the UN General Assembly.

We are very proud and honored to be here today. We believe that this is a great initiative. I would like to commend all of you for bringing us together because sometimes, if not most of the time, we forget about the essential part of our endeavors here in the United Nations. We forget that in representing our individual States to work together for peace and international security, there is a very important dimension which would support and sustain our endeavor which is the spiritual vision we should have of our common humanity.

Whatever is our faith, we are all members of a common humanity, we are the sons and daughters of one Creator. Coming here together is not only a necessity, it is a must. We have to come together, we have to listen together, we have to be able to look at each other, and understand each other so that we can work together.

We are very honored to be here, Mr. Secretary of Foreign Affairs, because we believe that this is the kind of meeting, let us put aside the luncheon. This is the kind of meeting that we would like to attend. If not everyday, at least once a week so that we will be reminded about who we are and what we should be doing for each other and for humanity.

As you know Africa is an example of communion and the existence of different faiths and religions. We would like to be part of this endeavor and support all efforts so that we can come together and understand each other and work together for peace and a better world.

Thank you very much.