Following is the text of UN Secretary-General António Guterres’ toast at a lunch for Heads of State and Government, in New York today:

In a world of increasingly fragmented societies and deepening political divides, a greater focus on people — and bolstered trust between them — was critical to tackling the threats posed by nuclear weapons, forced migration and other urgent challenges, stressed Secretary-General António Guterres as he opened the General Assembly’s seventy-second high-level debate today.

Acting on the recommendation of its General Committee, the General Assembly adopted the work programme and agenda for its seventy-second session today, deciding for the first time in 12 years to include the item “The Responsibility to Protect and the prevention of genocide, war crimes, ethnic cleansing and crimes against humanity”.