Quotes from Miroslav Lajcak

U.N. employees, including senior leadership, should be selected based on merit and competence while continuing endeavors to achieve gender parity and geographical balance.

The U.N. must have adequate resources and the right capabilities to fully engage in global peacekeeping.

We must recognize that Small Island Developing States are particularly vulnerable to climate change, natural disasters, and external shocks.

South Sudan has faced numerous challenges, which include professionalising the security sector, establishing ministries and parliamentary structures with the appropriate capacity for policy making and oversight, as well as improving community safety and access to justice.

My own country, Slovakia, has been there for South Sudan and its people. We made South Sudan a priority country of our official development assistance and humanitarian aid.

Membership of the E.U. is not about cherry picking. It brings a lot of advantages and, of course, it requires a lot of responsibilities.

We cannot prevent hurricanes or earthquakes, floods or volcanic eruptions. But we can ensure that both people and communities are better prepared and more resilient.

I do believe we can do more to bring the U.N. closer to the world's citizen and make a real difference in their lives.

The Commission is extremely important. The E.U. without the Commission would not be the European Union.

Sustaining Peace is happening. But it is the exception - not the norm.

The General Assembly is a unique organ. It's the most representative organ of the United Nations, where all 193 Member States are present. Each has one vote regardless of its size, power, or wealth. That gives the body a huge authority.

The longer it takes to respond to a major development or crisis, the higher the chance of violence being seen as the only answer.

People are saying that the next war will be about water. Let's make sure there will be no next war, and let's make sure that we treat water the way it deserves.

I wish to pay attention to what we can do better to prevent conflict. Because by avoiding conflict, we save human lives, and we also save money.

It is far easier and more effective - and not just in terms of cost - to prevent conventional conflicts than to intervene after an eruption of violence.

Engagement is always better then disengagement. If we don't talk, somebody else will.

When my country was born, many people were sceptical about the chances for us to exist, let alone prosper.

Coming from a smaller nation in Central Europe, I have learned pretty soon how important are agreed rules, cooperation, respect for partners and, most of all, willingness to listen and find common solutions.

Climate change is not a theoretical question for the people of the Caribbean.

The E.U. should pay more attention to the plight of African nations hosting large numbers of refugees themselves - at times for decades.

As our world gets more interconnected, no one country or region can meet development challenges on its own.

We will continue our work on the Global Compact for safe, orderly, and regular migration.

'Peace' means rules respected by everyone - big or small, rich or poor - means cooperation. It means respect for human rights and dignity.

We need to address significant funding gaps when it comes to implementing the SDGs.