Statement to the 64. Regular Session of the United Nations General Assembly, 2 November 2009, New York, USA

This is the last speech of Dr. Mohamed ElBaradei to the General Assembly as Director General of the International Atomic Energy Agency. He is reviewing the achievements of the IAEA during the last 12 years of his service to the Agency as Director General. He summarizes the activities of nuclear power, nuclear safety, technical cooperation, the Programme of Action for Cancer Therapy (PACT), the technical cooperation programme, the global non-proliferation landscape (in particular Iraq and the DPRK), uranium enrichment and plutonium reprocessing, as well as nuclear disarmament. Ultimately, a new global system of collective security is needed that entails an overhaul of the United Nations system and, above all, of the Security Council. A new system in which no country feels the need to rely on nuclear weapons for its security. A new system with effective global mechanisms for conflict prevention, peacekeeping and peacemaking. An equitable and inclusive system in which security is not perceived as a zero sum game, or based on domination, or on a balance of power. A system that places human security and human solidarity at its core, that grasps our shared destiny as one human family and that enables all of us to live together free from fear and free from want. In concluding, he takes this opportunity to express his deep gratitude to the Republic of Austria for being a most gracious and supportive host country of the IAEA. He congratulates his successor, Director General-elect Yukiya Amano, and wishes him every success. He thanks the General Assembly for its support during his 12 years as Director General