Secretary-General of the United Nations (UN), Antonio Guterres’ remarks at the opening of the General Debate of the 79th Session of the United Nations General Assembly (UNGA) ongoing in New York, US (Full)
 |
| United Nations (UN) Secretary-General, Antonio Guterres, makes his remarks at the opening General Debate of the 79th session of the United Nations General Assembly (UNGA) happening in New York City, US. Photo: @UN |
Mr. President of the General Assembly,
Excellencies,
Ladies and gentlemen,
Our world is in a whirlwind.
We are in an era of epic transformation – facing challenges unlike any we have ever seen – challenges that demand global solutions.
Yet geo-political divisions keep deepening. The planet keeps heating.
Wars rage with no clue how they will end.
And nuclear posturing and new weapons cast a dark shadow.
We are edging towards the unimaginable – a powder keg that risks engulfing the world.
Meanwhile, 2024 is the year that half of humanity goes to the polls – and all of humanity will be affected.
I stand before you in this whirlwind convinced of two overriding truths.
First, the state of our world is unsustainable.
We can’t go on like this.
And second, the challenges we face are solvable.
But that requires us to make sure the mechanisms of international problem-solving actually solve problems.
The Summit of the Future was a first step, but we have a long way to go.
Getting there requires confronting three major drivers of unsustainability.
A world of impunity – where violations and abuses threaten the very foundation of international law and the UN Charter.
A world of inequality – where injustices and grievances threaten to undermine countries or even push them over the edge.
And a world of uncertainty – where unmanaged global risks threaten our future in unknowable ways.
These worlds of impunity, inequality and uncertainty are connected and colliding.
Excellencies,
The level of impunity in the world is politically indefensible and morally intolerable.
Today, a growing number of governments and others feel entitled to a “get out of jail free” card.
They can trample international law.
They can violate the United Nations Charter.
They can turn a blind eye to international human rights conventions or the decisions of international courts.
They can thumb their nose at international humanitarian law.
They can invade another country, lay waste to whole societies, or utterly disregard the welfare of their own people.
And nothing will happen.
We see this age of impunity everywhere — in the Middle East, in the heart of Europe, in the Horn of Africa, and beyond.
The war in Ukraine is spreading with no signs of letting up.
Civilians are paying the price – in rising death tolls and shattered lives and communities.
It is time for a just peace based on the UN Charter, on international law and on UN resolutions.
Meanwhile, Gaza is a non-stop nightmare that threatens to take the entire region with it.
Look no further than Lebanon.
We should all be alarmed by the escalation.
Lebanon is at the brink.
The people of Lebanon – the people of Israel – and the people of the world — cannot afford Lebanon to become another Gaza.
Let’s be clear.
Nothing can justify the abhorrent acts of terror committed by Hamas on October 7th, or the taking of hostages – both of which I have repeatedly condemned.
And nothing can justify the collective punishment of the Palestinian people.
The speed and scale of the killing and destruction in Gaza are unlike anything in my years as Secretary-General.
More than 200 of our own staff have been killed, many with their families.
And yet the women and men of the United Nations continue to deliver humanitarian aid.
I know you join me in paying a special tribute to UNRWA and to all humanitarians in Gaza.
The international community must mobilize for an immediate ceasefire, the immediate and unconditional release of all hostages, and the beginning of an irreversible process towards a two-State solution.
For those who go on undermining that goal with more settlements, more landgrabs, more incitement — I ask:
What is the alternative?
How could the world accept a one-state future in which a large a large number of Palestinians would be included without any freedom, rights or dignity?
In Sudan, a brutal power struggle has unleashed horrific violence — including widespread rape and sexual assaults.
A humanitarian catastrophe is unfolding as famine spreads. Yet outside powers continue to interfere with no unified approach to finding peace.
In the Sahel, the dramatic and rapid expansion of the terrorist threat requires a joint approach rooted in solidarity – but regional and international cooperation have broken down.
From Myanmar to the Democratic Republic of the Congo to Haiti to Yemen and beyond – we continue to see appalling levels of violence and human suffering in the face of a chronic failure to find solutions.
Meanwhile our peacekeeping missions are too often operating in areas where simply there is no peace to keep.
Instability in many places around the world is a by-product of instability in power relations and geo-political divides.
For all its perils, the Cold War had rules.
There were hot lines, red lines and guard rails.
It can feel as though we don’t have that today.
Nor do we have a unipolar world.
We are moving to a multipolar world, but we are not there yet.
We are in a purgatory of polarity.
And in this purgatory, more and more countries are filling the spaces of geopolitical divides, doing whatever they want with no accountability.
That is why it is more important than ever to reaffirm the Charter, to respect international law, to support and implement decisions of international courts, and to reinforce human rights in the world.
Anywhere and everywhere. un.org
