Every September, the Heads of State and the Government meet in New York for high -level week, where leaders present their global priorities. The Opening Directorate of the General Secretary traditionally establishes the tone.
This year, as the UN marks its 80th anniversary, António Guterres recalled the foundation of the institution after World War II, when the nations created the United Nations “as a practical strategy for the survival of humanity.”
“Eight years later, we faced the question that our founders faced, only more urgent, more intertwined, more implacable,” he told the delegates.
Key address points
- The world faces overlapping crises – Wars, climate change and disruptive technology.
- International cooperation is not idealism – It is essential for survival.
- The United Nations are crucial – Provides a global platform for dialogue, law and collective action.
- Peace, human rights and dignity must guide decisions – They are the basis of a fair world.
- Climate action and responsible technology are urgent – They determine the future of people and the planet.
- The UN must be strengthened -You, only a robust organization can meet the challenges of the 21st century.
Complete observations available here.
A low siege world
The UN Chief described a landscape marked by violence, hunger and climate disaster.
“We have entered an era of reckless interruption and implacable human suffering,“He said, warning that” the pillars of peace and progress fate under the weight of impunity, inequality and indifference. “
He cited military invasions, armed hunger, misinformation that silenced the truth, the smoke that rises from the bombed cities, the anger torn in the social fabric and the seas that draw whole coasts.
Each was a warning, and a question about the options that governments now face.
The subject matters
In this context, Mr. Guterres argued that the UN remains indispensable.
“In the best case, the United Nations are more than a meeting place, it is a moral compass, a force for peace … A guardian of international law and a life line for people in crisis.“
He pointed out that today’s multipolar world could bring dynamism, but without cooperation it runs the risk of instability.
“Multipolarity without effective multilateral institutions has chaos of cutting cuts, since Europe learned in the difficult way that resulted in World War I,” he said.
International cooperation, he insisted, is not naive but a necessity.
“No country can stop a pandemic alone. No army can stop the growing temperatures. No algorithm can rebuild trust once it breaks.“It is, he said,” difficult head pragmatism “in the face of shared global threats.
In this moment of crisis, the United Nations have never been more essential, the secretary general emphasized.
“The world needs our unique legitimacy. Our power of call. Our vision of joining the nations, Bridge divides and faces the challenges we have before us.”
Five urgent options
The general secretary established “five critical options” for governments:
Peace about war: Sudan conflicts to Ukraine to Gaza show the cost of ignoring international law. “The letter is not optional. It is our base,“He said, urging cessation, responsibility and diplomacy.
Dignity and Rights: Human Rights are “The Base of Peace” He continued. The protection of civic freedoms must go hand in hand with the finances of development so that countries can invest in health, education and opportunities.
Climate justice: “fossil fuels are a loser bet”, He declared, urging a faster investment in renewable energies, stronger national climatic promises and more finance for vulnerable nations. “Science says that the increase in temperature limiting 1.5 degrees is still possible … but the window is closing.”
Technology for humanity: Artificial intelligence and other tools must be governed responsible. “No machine must decide who lives or dies,“He said, asking for global standards to keep technology at people’s service.
A stronger UN: With crisis multiplying, Guterres said that the UN must adapt and that Member States must finance it correctly. Criticized the imbalance where “For every dollar invested in peace construction, the world spends $ 750 in weapons of war.“
‘We should never give up’
Mr. Guterres ended with a personal note, remembering to grow “in the darkness of the dictatorship, where fear silenced voices and hope almost crushed.
That experience in the age of age in Post-Authoritarian Portugal taught him that “Real power increases from people, from our shared resolution to maintain dignity.“
His primary message was simple: leaders cannot surrender to despair.
“In a world of many options, there is an option that we should never do: the choice to give up. We should never give up,” he promised. “That is my promise to you.”