From bomb shelter to diplomatic meeting
Hosted by the United Nations Association-UK, Saturday’s anniversary event brought together more than 1,000 delegates from around the world, with speakers including General Assembly President Annalena Baerbock, UN Space Champion Professor Brian Cox, and UN Refugee Agency Goodwill Ambassador Maya Ghazal. The event also marks the 80th anniversary of the first UN Security Council, which took place on January 17, 1946 at nearby Church House.
During his keynote address, Mr. Guterres reflected on the symbolic place of commemoration. The first General Assembly took place within the same walls four months after the end of the Second World War, in a heavily bombed London where tens of thousands had died, a powerful reminder of why the United Nations had been created.
“To reach this Hall, delegates had to pass through a city scarred by war. Buckingham Palace, Westminster Abbey and the House of Commons had been bombed by the Luftwaffe. And when those bombs fell, terrified civilians crowded here, in the basement of the Methodist Central Hall, one of the largest public air raid shelters in London,” said the General Secretary.
During the Blitz, some 2,000 people gathered in the hall seeking protection, before the nations of the world gathered there in 1946 to “save coming generations from the scourge of war.”
“In many ways, this Hall is a physical representation of what the United Nations is: a place where people put their faith in peace, security and a better life,” reflected Mr. Guterres.
The world of 2026 is not the world of 1946
In the 80 years since the first General Assembly, the UN has expanded from 51 members to 193. Guterres emphasized that the General Assembly, the main deliberative, policy-making and representative body of the UN, is “the parliament of the family of nations. It is a forum for every voice to be heard, a crucible for consensus and a beacon for cooperation.”
While acknowledging that the work of the General Assembly “may not always be simple or smooth,” he described it as “a mirror of our world, its divisions and its hopes. And it is the stage on which our shared history plays out.”
Reflecting on the past decade, Guterres spoke of how “the conflicts in Gaza, Ukraine and Sudan have been cruel and cruel beyond measure; artificial intelligence has become ubiquitous almost overnight; and the pandemic has accelerated the fires of nationalism, stalling progress on development and climate action.”
Mr. Guterres emphasized how 2025 was a “deeply challenging” year for international cooperation and the values of the UN.
“Aid was cut. Inequalities widened. Climate chaos accelerated. International law was trampled. Repressive measures against civil society intensified. The journalists were murdered with impunity. And United Nations staff were repeatedly threatened (or killed) in the line of duty..”
The UN reported in 2025 that Global military spending reached $2.7 trillion. — more than 200 times the current UK aid budget, or equivalent to more than 70 percent of the entire British economy.
The profits from fossil fuels have also continued to rise. while the planet broke heat records, Guterres stressed.
“And in cyberspace, Algorithms rewarded falsehoods, fueled hate, and provided authoritarians with powerful tools of control..”
Multilateralism over division
A “robust, responsive and well-resourced” multilateral system is needed to address the world’s interconnected challenges, Guterres urged, but “The values of multilateralism are being undermined..”
The Secretary-General gave the example of a historic international agreement to protect marine life in international waters and the seabed, which comes into force on Saturday, as a “model of modern diplomacy, led by science, with the participation not only of governments, but also of civil society, indigenous peoples and local communities.”
“These quiet victories of international cooperation – wars averted, famine averted, vital treaties won – don’t always make the headlines. Yet they are real. And they matter. If we want to secure more such victories, We must guarantee full respect for international law and defend multilateralism, strengthening it for our times.”
Addressing the London audience, the Secretary-General expressed his “gratitude to the United Kingdom for its instrumental role in the creation of the United Nations” and for being “such a strong pillar of multilateralism and a champion of the United Nations today.”
UN Secretary-General António Guterres (right) met with UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer at 10 Downing Street in London on Friday.
Much at stake for a better world
Looking to the future, the Secretary-General called for an international system that reflects the modern world, including reform of the international financial systems and the Security Council.
“As global centers of power shift, We have the potential to build a future that is more just or more unstable..”
The Secretary-General reminded delegates in London that when the UN first opened its doors, “many of its employees carried the visible wounds of war: a limp, a scar, a burn.”
“There is a persistent myth – now resonating more strongly every day – that peace is naive. That the only ‘real’ politics is the politics of self-interest and force,” Guterres said.
“But the founders of the United Nations were not oblivious to reality. On the contrary, they had seen the war and knew: Peace, justice and equality are the bravest, most practical and most necessary pursuits of all..”
*Miranda Alexander-Webber is a communications officer at the United Nations Regional Information Center for Western Europe (UNRIC).