UN Chief Urges Global Leaders to Recommit to Peace, Multilateralism, and International Law
United Nations Secretary-General António Guterres has delivered a stark warning to world leaders, calling on them to make decisive choices to safeguard humanity in the face of escalating conflict, inequality, and global instability.
Addressing the 80th anniversary session of the UN General Assembly, Mr. Guterres reminded delegates of the organisation’s founding after World War II, stressing that cooperation, international law, and peace must once again be chosen over “chaos, lawlessness, and conflict.”
“This Assembly is not just a meeting place,” he said. “It is a moral compass – a force for peace and peacekeeping, a guardian of international law, and a lighthouse for human rights.”
The Secretary-General warned that the principles of the UN are “under siege,” citing the weaponization of hunger, the silencing of truth, the devastation of war, and the existential threat posed by climate change. He cautioned that a multipolar world without strong multilateral institutions risks spiralling into chaos.
“International cooperation is not naïveté,” he declared. “It is hard-headed pragmatism. No country can stop a pandemic alone. No army can halt rising temperatures. No algorithm can rebuild trust once it is broken.”
Outlining five urgent choices, Mr. Guterres said peace rooted in international law must remain the first obligation of nations. He condemned ongoing atrocities in Sudan, the relentless violence in Ukraine, and the “monstrous scale of death and destruction” in Gaza, where he demanded an immediate ceasefire, release of hostages, and full humanitarian access. He further reaffirmed that the two-State solution is the only sustainable path to Middle East peace.
“Impunity is the mother of chaos,” he warned. “When accountability shrinks, graveyards grow.”
The UN chief also called for urgent reforms to strengthen global governance, including making the Security Council more representative, transparent, and effective. He insisted that true security depends on fairness, justice, and opportunity for all.
As the Assembly marks eight decades since its founding, Mr. Guterres urged world leaders to live up to the promise contained in the UN Charter’s first words: “We the peoples.”
“The choices we face today are not ideological debates,” he concluded. “They are matters of life and death for millions. We must choose peace, justice, and multilateralism – because humanity deserves nothing less.”
