Ms. María Fernanda Espinosa Garcés, 
Mr. António Guterres, Secretary-General of the United Nations,
Mr. Moussa Faki, Chairperson of the African Union
Mr. Cyril Ramphosa, President of the Republic of South Africa
Mr. Leo Varadkar, Prime Minister of Ireland
Excellencies, 
Ladies and Gentlemen,

Before I begin, I would like to add my congratulations to the distinguished representatives from South Africa and Ireland, His Excellency Jerry Matjila and Her Excellency Geraldine Byrne Nason, and all of our distinguished delegates for their commitment to this consultation process. 

Madame President, my fellow delegates have given full and inspiring accounts of the life of service that His Excellency Nelson Mandela lived and the legacy he bequeathed to humanity—a legacy of tolerance, reconciliation, equality and kindness. 

As a political activist, then through 27 years of imprisonment, as a national leader and finally as an international statesman, he held firm to his principles and acted with supreme wisdom. 

Through his life and legacy, Madiba is an inspiration to all of us who strive to respect and protect the human rights of all people. 
That legacy should mean a great deal to every person on earth. But it holds special meaning for the nation and people that I lead, because like South Africa, Fiji and the Fijian people suffered for decades under a political culture of division, hatred and disunity. 

It is only in recent years that we’ve begun to shed that legacy and unshackle ourselves from our difficult history of ethnic division. 

We’ve done that through a strict and unrelenting adherence to the same principles that Madiba so nobly sacrificed to defend in his life; a commitment to equal opportunity, common and equal citizenry, mutual understanding and inclusive, wide-reaching prosperity. These principles lie at the heart of Fiji’s constitution. 

So, it is with the greatest pride that I give my support to this Political Declaration, a pride I know is shared by the Fijian people – a people that stand together and united, today like never before in our history. 

Madame President, the journey of human progress is unending. And yes, we still face a world afflicted by conflict, racism and intolerance. But even in the bleakest of situations, Mandela showed us that we can always forge common ground—and we can always find understanding in the shared experiences of our common humanity. At home, abroad, in every encounter and exchange, we must engage with an open mind, we must strive for acceptance and understanding, and we must remain committed to peace and democratic ideals. That was Mandela’s vision, and that is what is captured by the Mandela Declaration. 

Madame President, sometimes we have to make sacrifices to forge enduring and just solutions to long-standing problems. Mandela knew that. In fact, that is how he lived his life. 

It is a truth we in Fiji recognise as well. That is why thousands of brave Fijians have served on the frontlines of conflict areas around the world as UN Peacekeepers over the past 40 years. We’re deeply proud of that legacy. We’re proud to make such a large commitment to global peace for a nation of our size and population. And we are equally proud to lead the world in confronting some of the great challenges facing humanity, like that of climate change and the degradation of our oceans and seas. 

We’ve led those important campaigns, as President of COP23 and co-chair of the UN Ocean Conference, as part of our commitment to the global human family, and we have built bridges to nations, state and local governments, civil society, business leaders and ordinary citizens to overcome what differences we may have in order to realise common goals—a stated objective in the Declaration. 

In that way and so many others, the Nelson Mandela Political Declaration and this Summit amplify our own national priorities and with how we Fijians see ourselves in the world, as champions of peace, able and willing to forge bonds across the global stage, and as committed partners in uplifting and protecting all people, irrespective of who they are or where they may come from. 

Madame President, with those few words I am pleased to support this Political Declaration on behalf of Fiji, and together with other leaders here, give my full support to ensuring that we build a better, more peaceful, a more equal and more inclusive world—a world that lives up to the example of the great Nelson Mandela. 

Thank you.