UN Secretary General Invites World Leaders To Choose Peace And Cooperation

JAKARTA - United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres invites world leaders to choose peace and cooperation, instead of chaos and multipolar needs multilateral.

Speaking at the opening of the General Debate of the United Nations' 80th General Assembly at the New York UN Headquarters, Tuesday local time, Secretary General Guterres emphasized that the world was hit by overlapping crises, ranging from war and humanitarian emergency to climate damage.

He said leaders should decide now "what kind of world we choose to build together," as quoted by UN News Sept. 24.

Coinciding with 80 years of the United Nations, Secretary General Guterres recalled the international agency was founded after World War II, when countries created the United Nations "as a practical strategy for the survival of mankind."

"Eight months later, we again faced the questions faced by our founders, it's just that they are more urgent, more related, more tireless," said Secretary General Guterres.

The Secretary-General described the landscape as characterized by violence, hunger, and climate catastrophe.

"We have entered an era of reckless disruption and endless human suffering," he explained, warning "the pillars of peace and progress are collapsing under the burden of impunity, inequality and indifference."

He said the military invasion, armed hunger, disinformation that silenced the truth, smoke rose from the cities that were bombed, anger that torn apart the social order, and the oceans that engulfed the entire coastline.

Everything is a warning and a question about the choices facing the current government. Therefore, he believes that the UN is still very necessary.

"In its best condition, the United Nations is more than just a meeting place, it is a moral compass, peace power, international lawkeeper, and a savior to people who are in crisis," said Secretary General Guterres.

The Secretary General of the United Nations further noted that the current multipolar world can carry dynamicism, but without cooperation, the multipolar world is at risk of instabilities.

"Effective multilateral institutions without multilateral institutions will cause chaos, as Europe learned from the bitter experience that resulted in the First World War," he recalled.

Secretary General Guterres emphasized that international cooperation is not naive, but must.

"No country can stop the pandemic alone. No army can stop the increase in temperature. No algorithm can rebuild trust after it is undermined," he said, saying it was a "hard-headed pragmatism" in the face of shared global threats.

During this crisis, the Secretary-General emphasized that the United Nations is becoming increasingly important.

"The world needs our unique legitimacy. Our strength is to gather. Our vision is to unite nations, bridge divisions, and face challenges in front of us," said the Secretary General of the United Nations.

The UN Secretary-General on that occasion expressed five important choices for the world; peace rather than war, dignity and human rights, climate justice, technology for humanity, and a stronger UN.

"The true power arises from the people, from our joint determination to uphold dignity," he said reflecting on growing up under the authoritarian regime.

"In a world full of choices, there is one option that we must not make: the option to give up. We must not give up," he concluded.