Each September, the heads of state and the government meet in New York for a high -level week, where managers present their global priorities. The secretary general’s opening address traditionally sets the tone.
This year, while the UN marks its 80th anniversary, António Guterres recalled the institution’s foundation after the Second World War, when the Nations created the United Nations “as a practical strategy for the survival of humanity”.
“Eighty years later-we will once again face the question of which our founders were confronted-only more urgent, more intertwined, more ruthless,” he told delegates.
Key points of the address
- The world faces crises that overlap – Wars, climate change and disruptive technology.
- International cooperation is not idealism – It is essential for survival.
- The United Nations is crucial -It provides a global platform for dialogue, law and collective action.
- Peace, human rights and dignity must guide decisions – They are the foundation of a just world.
- Climate action and responsible technology are urgent – They determine the future of people and the planet.
- The UN must be reinforced – Only a robust organization can take up challenges of the 21st century.
Complete remarks Available here.
A besieged world
The UN chief described a landscape marked by violence, hunger and climate disaster.
“” We have entered an era of reckless disruption and relentless human suffering,“He said, warning that” pillars of peace and progress are to complete under the weight of impunity, inequalities and indifference. »»
He cited military invasions, armed hunger, disinformation lower than truth, smoke rising from bombed cities, anger that is tearing out on the social fabric and the seas swallowing entire coasts.
Everyone was a warning – and a question about the choices that governments are now confronted.
The unit counts
In this context, Mr. Guterres argued that the UN remains essential.
“” To its best, the United Nations is more than a meeting place, it is a moral compass, a force for peace … A guardian of international law and a rescue buoy for people in crisis.“”
He noted that today’s multipolar world could bring dynamism, but without cooperation, this risks instability.
“Multipolarity without effective multilateral institutions runs chaos-as Europe has learned the hard way of the First World War,” he said.
International cooperation, he insisted, is not naive but a necessity.
“” No country can stop a pandemic alone. No army can stop growing temperatures. No algorithm can rebuild confidence once it is broken.“It is,” he said, “pragmatism with a hard head” in the face of shared global threats.
At this time of crisis, the United Nations has never been so essential, the Secretary General said.
“The world needs our unique legitimacy. Our competition power. Our vision to unite nations, bridge divisions and confront the challenges we are seized. ”
Five urgent choices
The secretary general set out “five critical choices” for governments:
Peace on war: Sudan’s conflicts in Ukraine in Gaza show the cost of ignorance of international law. “” The charter is not optional. It is our foundation,“He said, urging ceasefires, responsibility and diplomacy.
Dignity and rights: human rights are “the foundation of peace”, He continued. The protection of civic freedoms must go hand in hand with the financing of development so that countries can invest in health, education and opportunities.
Climate justice: “fossil fuels are a losing bet”, ” He declared, urging a faster investment in renewable energies, the promises of stronger national climates and more funding for vulnerable nations. “Science says that limiting the rise in temperature to 1.5 degrees is still possible … but the window is closing.”
Technology for humanity: Artificial intelligence and other tools must be regulated responsible. “” No machine should decide who lives or dies,He said, calling for global standards to maintain technology at the service of people.
One more strongly: The crises multiplying, Mr. Guterres said that the UN must adapt and that the member states should finance it properly. He criticized the imbalance where “For each dollar invested in the construction of peace, the world spends $ 750 in weapons of war.“”
‘We must never give up’
Mr. Guterres ended with a personal note, remembering to have grown “in the darkness of the dictatorship, where the fear of voices and hope would have been almost silent.
This experience that matures under the authoritarian regime of Portugal, taught him that “The real power rises from people – from our shared determination to maintain dignity.“”
His primordial message was simple: leaders cannot go to despair.
“In a world of many choices, there is a choice that we must never make: the choice to abandon. We must never give up, ”he swore. “It’s my promise to you.”
Originally published at Almouwatin.com
