Amid Division, Inequality, Disinformation and Climate Crisis, ‘We Must Cultivate a Culture of Peace’, Secretary-General Urges at Headquarters Ceremony

Following are UN Secretary-General António Guterres’ remarks at the Peace Bell ceremony, in New York today:

We come together today to sound the call for peace.  Here at the United Nations, peace is our raison d'être, our guiding light and our founding creed.  Yet, peace is under threat.  War is on the march.

From the Middle East to Sudan, Ukraine and beyond, we see bullets and bombs maim and kill, bodies piled high, populations traumatized and buildings reduced to rubble.

Meanwhile, the foundations of a peaceful world are fracturing. Geo-political divisions are widening, inequalities are growing, disinformation is fanning the flames of hate, new technologies are being weaponized with no guardrails and the climate crisis is fuelling instability, depleting resources and forcing people from their homes.

International institutions must be better positioned to respond, and we have a chance for change.  Later this month, at the Summit of the Future, we can begin the process of reform and revitalisation:

By adapting multilateral institutions to today’s reality, instead of the reality of the Second World War.  By advancing “A New Agenda for Peace”.  By revitalising the Sustainable Development Goals.  By protecting human rights.  By tackling the point where climate and security meet.  By agreeing guardrails on new technologies in conflict.  By defending and advancing gender equality.  By combating racism and discrimination.

And by securing full and meaningful participation in civic life and peacebuilding — particularly young people, women and girls and other historically marginalized communities.

In short, we must cultivate a culture of peace.  That is the theme of this year’s International Day of Peace.  And it is a cause all us devotees of peace and justice must rally behind, this day and every day, through the Summit of the Future and beyond.

That is the call we make today.  May it ring out around the world.

Before I sound the Peace Bell, please join me in a moment of silence to reflect on the meaning and necessity of peace — and the way in which each of us can nurture the conditions needed for a peaceful world to flourish.