U.N. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres addressed rising global “impunity, inequality, and unpredictability” with a push for 193-member states to focus on “more effective, inclusive, and networked multilateralism” when he spoke Tuesday morning at the opening session of the General Assembly in New York.
The veteran Portuguese socialist saw a world of turmoil and pleaded for all and sundry to work together in multiple channels to stop fighting because “we are edging towards the unimaginable. A powder keg which risks engulfing the world”.
“ Twenty twenty-four is the year that half of humanity goes to the polls, and half of humanity will be affected. I stand before you in these whirlwinds convinced of two arriving truths,” he said, further citing wars in Ukraine, the Gaza Strip and Sudan.
“First, the state of our world in 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 the 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 threatened the very foundation of international law and U.N. charter.”
Turning to the immediate challenge posed by wars in the Middle East, Guterres said the fighting must end and talking begin.
“The international community must mobilise for an immediate ceasefire. The immediate and unconditional release of the hostages and the beginning of an irreversible process towards the two-state solution.
“For those who go on and their mining that goal with more settlements, more land grabs, more incitement, I ask: What is the alternative?
“How could the world accept one state in which a large number of Palestinians would be included without any freedom, any rights or dignity.”
Guterres also pinpointed the war in Ukraine is continuing with “no signs of letting up.”