Thank you Mr President for convening this most timely and extremely relevant meeting today.
I align myself with the statement to be delivered by the EU and by New Zealand, already delivered, on behalf of a group of countries.

Colleagues,
Germany remains firmly convinced of the United Nations mission and mandate. We are also convinced of its ability to reform. These convictions have only grown stronger after Germany had the honor to co-facilitate the negotiations leading to the Pact for the Future, together with our esteemed partner and friend Namibia and with the support of so many in this room.
By showing the readiness to compromise, we, the UN Member States, agreed on a blueprint for what we jointly need to tackle and how we jointly need to adapt this organization.
Five months on, we cannot afford to lose any more time. We must take action now.
I would like to highlight three areas where Germany steps in to support the multilateral system with the United Nations at its core:
First: the future of peacekeeping. UN peacekeeping remains as relevant as ever in times of conflict and war. But we need to adapt peacekeeping to ensure that it can rise to current and future challenges. This objective will be at the center of this year’s Peacekeeping Ministerial, taking place in Berlin in May.
Second: The Pact clearly calls for more efficient conflict prevention. As Chair of the Peacebuilding Commission, I will both strengthen the PBC’s role as a bridge builder in the UN system and further foster its function as an inclusive platform for meaningful exchanges on conflict prevention. We are looking forward to building stronger linkages between the PBC and the Security Council.
Third: We are seeing great potential in a revitalized General Assembly. We are convinced that the General Assembly with its President at the top can play a key role in the follow up and the implementation of the Pact for the Future. This also includes increased activity of the General Assembly in the area of peace and security.
Last but not least, the Pact has a strong commitment to the long overdue reform of the Security Council. Text-based negotiations need to start as soon as possible to make this happen. We need to ensure that underrepresented regions and major contributors to international peace and security finally have a permanent seat at this table.

Colleagues:
We have the opportunity, we have a blueprint and we have excellent people to make the UN better and more functional. We do not have excuses. Germany stands ready to work with and for all partners.