Transcript of Ambassador Massari’s Farewell Video Message.
Dear friends, I have reached the end of my term as Permanent Representative of Italy to the United Nations here in New York, a term lasting four years and a few months.
It has been a period full of satisfaction, during which we have achieved many results that I would like to briefly summarize.
In the area of peace and security, we have been at the forefront in defending the principles of the United Nations Charter, which were violated during the Russian invasion of Ukraine.
We intervened more than twenty times in defense of these principles in the Security Council and we have played, and continue to play, a leading role in peacekeeping with the presence of more than a thousand soldiers in the UNIFIL mission in Lebanon, where we also took command of the mission itself with General Abbagnara.
In the field of development, we have consolidated our absolute leadership in food security. We have organized two global summits on food security: one in Rome in 2023 and the second in 2025, together with Ethiopia, in Addis Ababa, with the participation of a large number of heads of state and government, particularly, but not only, from African countries, the Secretary-General, Deputy Secretary-General of the United Nations, and the leaders of our government.
We have also played a leading role in the negotiations on the reform of the Security Council. Italy chairs the Uniting for Consensus negotiating group. We have held numerous meetings, actively participated in negotiations, and presented our model for reform to expand the Security Council to include non-permanent members, especially from Africa, Asia, and Latin America, as well as island states that are currently underrepresented.
In all this, despite the financial crisis that is well known in the United Nations, Italy has maintained its position as the seventh largest donor in terms of the regular budget and the peacekeeping budget, and we have climbed from twelfth to tenth place in terms of overall donors to the United Nations system, which therefore also includes voluntary contributions.
We have won many elections. I will not list them all here, but I would like to mention in particular the two consecutive elections for the ECOSOC mandate, of which I was also personally Vice-President, and most recently the election of the Human Rights Council with the highest number of votes among Western countries, for the period 2026-2028.
We have also co-sponsored a number of important resolutions. I would just like to mention the resolution on the moratorium on the death penalty, which passed with a very high number of votes, the highest ever, 130 votes. Resolutions on the Olympic truce, most recently, in view of the Milan-Cortina Winter Olympic Games. Resolutions for the establishment of the International Day of the Mediterranean Diet and many other resolutions for which we were the main sponsors.
Events. Our mission in New York has been a driving force behind the organization of events here at the UN Headquarters, which we have used to project what we call soft power, the power of attraction of Italy, of our country, of our system in all sectors: from Italian cuisine, to our humanitarian contribution in Africa, to our participation in peacekeeping operations, to art, and many other sectors where Italy has shown its calling card here at the UN, which has been very well received and widely participated in by the rest of the international community. Among these is the establishment, starting in 2024, of the Italian national holiday on June 2 here at the UN, something that has never been done before. We introduced it and it was received with great success.
So, there are really many achievements to be proud of. I would like to thank all my colleagues, the team that has accompanied me during these intense years of activity, all my colleagues, who are exceptional in their commitment and dedication.
And one last point: I would like to emphasize that the emblematic moment of my mission to the United Nations was undoubtedly President Mattarella’s historic visit to the United Nations in May 2024. And if I had to leave you with a message at the end of these four and a half years here in New York, I would repeat the words spoken by the President before the General Assembly on that occasion.
So, here is a quote from him, the beginning of the quote is: “More than ever in human history, we share a common destiny, and we can only master it by facing it together. That is why we have the United Nations.” End of quote.
Thank you again, best regards to all, and we hope to see you soon.
