What world leaders said in UNGA on first day

Following were the quotable quotes from UN General Assembly's (UNGA) annual debate which opened here Wednesday:

The UN chief during the week-long debate in his address said "this year, the horizon of hope is darkened. Our hearts are made heavy by unspeakable acts and the deaths of innocents".

"Not since the end of the Second World War have there been so many refugees, displaced people and asylum seekers. Never before has the United Nations been asked to reach so many people with emergency food assistance and other life-saving supplies."

Sam Kutesa, president of the 69th Session of the UN General Assembly, said, "As we tackle the momentous tasks ahead of us, let us do so as optimists."

"Let us refrain from being disheartened and discouraged at the enormity of the challenges that lay before us. Let us seize this moment as an opportunity to make history."

US President Barack Obama gave a call to the international community to come together against terrorism, as he said, "No God condones this terror. No grievance justifies these actions."

"There can be no reasoning -- no negotiation -- with this brand of evil. The only language understood by killers like this is the language of force. So the United States of America will work with a broad coalition to dismantle this network of death."

Brazilian President Dilma Rousseff said, "The current generation of world leaders -- our generation -- is also being called to face significant challenges concerning peace, collective security and the environment."

" We have been unable to solve old disputes and to prevent new threats. The use of force is incapable of eliminating the underlying causes of conflict," she added.

Ugandan President Yoweri Kaguta Museveni said, "Africa, Uganda included, is, at long last, emerging from the long night of decline the African continent has been through in the last 500 years, ever since 1472 when the Portuguese started encroaching on the African coastline."

"The 500 years witnessed great traumas inflicted on the African continent: slave trade, colonialism, neo-colonialism, plunder, human hemorrhage and even genocide in some cases."

Spanish King Felipe VI said, "We live in times marked by the proliferation of conflicts -- some of them specifically devastating, due to their indiscriminate impact on civilians. Our primary objective must be to prevent wars, and when we fail in this, we must protect and assist the innocent victims."

" We must never relent in our efforts to resolve conflicts through diplomacy and through all of the instruments bestowed by the Charter of the United Nations," he added.