‘We Need to Move from a World of Rivalry to Find Common Ground’, Rethink Approach to Peace, Security, Achieve Just Future for All, Secretary-General Tells Forum

Following is the text of UN Secretary-General António Guterres’ video message for the Paris Peace Forum, “Seeking common ground in a world of rivalry”, in Paris today:

I am happy to greet the Paris Peace Forum once again.  You are meeting as our world is confronting a host of existential threats.

Conflicts are raging.  Our planet is burning.  The Sustainable Development Goals are slipping out of reach.  Divides — between North and South, East and West —— are deepening, and the risk of a great fracture is looming.

Make no mistake:  no country can meet these challenges alone.  We need to bridge divides, rebuild trust and leave no one behind.  We need strong, renewed multilateral institutions that are adapted to today’s world.

As your theme suggests, we need to move from a world of rivalry to find common ground.  Seeking common ground means rethinking our approach to peace and security by addressing the root causes of conflict and preventing the seeds of war from sprouting.

That is why I have called for reform of the Security Council and put forward ideas for a New Agenda for Peace, based on the UN Charter and international law.

The New Agenda for Peace calls on all countries:  to recommit to a world free from nuclear weapons; to maximize the convening power and good offices of the United Nations to bridge geo-political divides; to link national actions for peace with progress on the Sustainable Development Goals; 

To put women’s leadership and participation at the centre of decision-making, and commit to the eradication of all forms of violence against women; to make peacekeeping nimbler and more adaptable, with forward-looking transition and exit strategies from the start; 

To support peace enforcement action by regional organizations — notably the African Union — with Security Council mandates and predictable funding; and to establish new governance frameworks to manage emerging threats — including lethal autonomous weapons that function without human control.

But preventing conflict is also strongly linked with sustainable development and human rights.  Seeking common ground means transforming a global financial architecture that is outdated, dysfunctional and unjust into a system that is truly universal and serves as a global safety net for developing countries in trouble.

Seeking common ground means cutting emissions and ensuring climate justice for those who did least to cause this crisis but are paying the highest price — starting at the COP28 [twenty-eighth Conference of the Parties of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change].

Seeking common ground means ensuring that emerging revolutions in technology — such as artificial intelligence — work for all of humanity.  And seeking common ground means answering my Call to Action to put human rights at the heart of our work.

We have a common responsibility to achieve common ground for our common good.  At a time of rivalry, let us work together towards a more just, sustainable, and peaceful future for all.  Thank you.