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A Human Approach to World Peace

When we rise in the morning and listen to the radio or read the newspaper, we are confronted with the same sad news: violence, crime, wars, and disasters. I cannot recall a single day without a report of something terrible happening somewhere. Even in these modern times it is clear that one's precious life is not safe. No former generation has had to experience so much bad news as we face today; this constant awareness of fear and tension should make any sensitive and compassionate person question seriously the progress of our modern world.   It is ironic that the more serious problems emanate from the more industrially advanced societies. Science and technology have worked wonders in many fields, but the basic human problems remain. There is unprecedented literacy, yet this universal education does not seem to have fostered goodness, but only mental restlessness and discontent instead. There is no doubt about the increase in our material progress and technology, but somehow this is not sufficient as we have not yet succeeded in bringing about peace and happiness or in overcoming suffering.   We can only conclude that there must be something seriously wrong with our progress and development, and if we do not check it in time there could be disastrous consequences for the future of humanity. I am not at all against science and technology - they have contributed immensely to the overall experience of humankind; to our material comfort and well-being and to our greater understanding of the world we live in. But if we give too much emphasis to science and technology we are in danger of losing touch with those aspects of human knowledge and understanding that aspire towards honesty and altruism.   Science and technology, though capable of creating immeasurable material comfort, cannot replace the age-old spiritual and humanitarian values that have largely shaped world civilization, in all its national forms, as we know it today. No one can deny the unprecedented material benefit of science and technology, but our basic human problems remain; we are still faced with the same, if not more, suffering, fear, and tension. Thus it is only logical to try to strike a balance between material developments on the one hand and the development of spiritual, human values on the other. In order to bring about this great adjustment, we need to revive our humanitarian values.   I am sure that many people share my concern about the present worldwide moral crisis and will join in my appeal to all humanitarians and religious practitioners who also share this concern to help make our societies more compassionate, just, and equitable. I do not speak as a Buddhist or even as a Tibetan. Nor do I speak as an expert on international politics (though I unavoidably comment on these matters). Rather, I speak simply as a human being, as an upholder of the humanitarian values that are the bedrock not only of Mahayana Buddhism but of all the great world religions. From this perspective I share with you my personal outlook - that:

1. Universal humanitarianism is essential to solve global problems; 2. Compassion is the pillar of world peace; 3. All world religions are already for world peace in this way, as are all humanitarians of whatever ideology; 4. Each individual has a universal responsibility to shape institutions to serve human needs.

Solving Human Problems through Transforming Human Attitudes

Of the many problems we face today, some are natural calamities and must be accepted and faced with equanimity. Others, however, are of our own making, created by misunderstanding, and can be corrected. One such type arises from the conflict of ideologies, political or religious, when people fight each other for petty ends, losing sight of the basic humanity that binds us all together as a single human family. We must remember that the different religions, ideologies, and political systems of the world are meant for human beings to achieve happiness. We must not lose sight of this fundamental goal and at no time should we place means above ends; the supremacy of humanity over matter and ideology must always be maintained.   By far the greatest single danger facing humankind - in fact, all living beings on our planet - is the threat of nuclear destruction. I need not elaborate on this danger, but I would like to appeal to all the leaders of the nuclear powers who literally hold the future of the world in their hands, to the scientists and technicians who continue to create these awesome weapons of destruction, and to all the people at large who are in a position to influence their leaders: I appeal to them to exercise their sanity and begin to work at dismantling and destroying all nuclear weapons. We know that in the event of a nuclear war there will be no victors because there will be no survivors! Is it not frightening just to contemplate such inhuman and heartless destruction? And, is it not logical that we should remove the cause for our own destruction when we know the cause and have both the time and the means to do so? Often we cannot overcome our problems because we either do not know the cause or, if we understand it, do not have the means to remove it. This is not the case with the nuclear threat.   Whether they belong to more evolved species like humans or to simpler ones such as animals, all beings primarily seek peace, comfort, and security. Life is as dear to the mute animal as it is to any human being; even the simplest insect strives for protection from dangers that threaten its life. Just as each one of us wants to live and does not wish to die, so it is with all other creatures in the universe, though their power to effect this is a different matter.   Broadly speaking there are two types of happiness and suffering, mental and physical, and of the two, I believe that mental suffering and happiness are the more acute. Hence, I stress the training of the mind to endure suffering and attain a more lasting state of happiness. However, I also have a more general and concrete idea of happiness: a combination of inner peace, economic development, and, above all, world peace. To achieve such goals I feel it is necessary to develop a sense of universal responsibility, a deep concern for all irrespective of creed, colour, sex, or nationality.   The premise behind this idea of universal responsibility is the simple fact that, in general terms, all others' desires are the same as mine. Every being wants happiness and does not want suffering. If we, as intelligent human beings, do not accept this fact, there will be more and more suffering on this planet. If we adopt a self-centred approach to life and constantly try to use others for our own self-interest, we may gain temporary benefits, but in the long run we will not succeed in achieving even personal happiness, and world peace will be completely out of the question.   In their quest for happiness, humans have used different methods, which all too often have been cruel and repellent. Behaving in ways utterly unbecoming to their status as humans, they inflict suffering upon fellow humans and other living beings for their own selfish gains. In the end, such shortsighted actions bring suffering to oneself as well as to others. To be born a human being is a rare event in itself, and it is wise to use this opportunity as effectively and skillfully as possible. We must have the proper perspective that of the universal life process, so that the happiness or glory of one person or group is not sought at the expense of others.   All this calls for a new approach to global problems. The world is becoming smaller and smaller - and more and more interdependent - as a result of rapid technological advances and international trade as well as increasing trans-national relations. We now depend very much on each other. In ancient times problems were mostly family-size, and they were naturally tackled at the family level, but the situation has changed. Today we are so interdependent, so closely interconnected with each other, that without a sense of universal responsibility, a feeling of universal brotherhood and sisterhood, and an understanding and belief that we really are part of one big human family, we cannot hope to overcome the dangers to our very existence - let alone bring about peace and happiness.   One nation's problems can no longer be satisfactorily solved by itself alone; too much depends on the interest, attitude, and cooperation of other nations. A universal humanitarian approach to world problems seems the only sound basis for world peace. What does this mean? We begin from the recognition mentioned previously that all beings cherish happiness and do not want suffering. It then becomes both morally wrong and pragmatically unwise to pursue only one's own happiness oblivious to the feelings and aspirations of all others who surround us as members of the same human family. The wiser course is to think of others also when pursuing our own happiness. This will lead to what I call 'wise self-interest', which hopefully will transform itself into 'compromised self-interest', or better still, 'mutual interest'.   Although the increasing interdependence among nations might be expected to generate more sympathetic cooperation, it is difficult to achieve a spirit of genuine cooperation as long as people remain indifferent to the feelings and happiness of others. When people are motivated mostly by greed and jealousy, it is not possible for them to live in harmony. A spiritual approach may not solve all the political problems that have been caused by the existing self-centered approach, but in the long run it will overcome the very basis of the problems that we face today.   On the other hand, if humankind continues to approach its problems considering only temporary expediency, future generations will have to face tremendous difficulties. The global population is increasing, and our resources are being rapidly depleted. Look at the trees, for example. No one knows exactly what adverse effects massive deforestation will have on the climate, the soil, and global ecology as a whole. We are facing problems because people are concentrating only on their short-term, selfish interests, not thinking of the entire human family. They are not thinking of the earth and the long-term effects on universal life as a whole. If we of the present generation do not think about these now, future generations may not be able to cope with them.

Compassion as the Pillar of World Peace

According to Buddhist psychology, most of our troubles are due to our passionate desire for and attachment to things that we misapprehend as enduring entities. The pursuit of the objects of our desire and attachment involves the use of aggression and competitiveness as supposedly efficacious instruments. These mental processes easily translate into actions, breeding belligerence as an obvious effect. Such processes have been going on in the human mind since time immemorial, but their execution has become more effective under modern conditions. What can we do to control and regulate these 'poisons' - delusion, greed, and aggression? For it is these poisons that are behind almost every trouble in the world.   As one brought up in the Mahayana Buddhist tradition, I feel that love and compassion are the moral fabric of world peace. Let me first define what I mean by compassion. When you have pity or compassion for a very poor person, you are showing sympathy because he or she is poor; your compassion is based on altruistic considerations. On the other hand, love towards your wife, your husband, your children, or a close friend is usually based on attachment. When your attachment changes, your kindness also changes; it may disappear. This is not true love. Real love is not based on attachment, but on altruism. In this case your compassion will remain as a humane response to suffering as long as beings continue to suffer.   This type of compassion is what we must strive to cultivate in ourselves, and we must develop it from a limited amount to the limitless. Undiscriminating, spontaneous, and unlimited compassion for all sentient beings is obviously not the usual love that one has for friends or family, which is alloyed with ignorance, desire, and attachment. The kind of love we should advocate is this wider love that you can have even for someone who has done harm to you: your enemy.   The rationale for compassion is that every one of us wants to avoid suffering and gain happiness. This, in turn, is based on the valid feeling of '1', which determines the universal desire for happiness. Indeed, all beings are born with similar desires and should have an equal right to fulfill them. If I compare myself with others, who are countless, I feel that others are more important because I am just one person whereas others are many. Further, the Tibetan Buddhist tradition teaches us to view all sentient beings as our dear mothers and to show our gratitude by loving them all. For, according to Buddhist theory, we are born and reborn countless numbers of times, and it is conceivable that each being has been our parent at one time or another. In this way all beings in the universe share a family relationship.   Whether one believes in religion or not, there is no one who does not appreciate love and compassion. Right from the moment of our birth, we are under the care and kindness of our parents; later in life, when facing the sufferings of disease and old age, we are again dependent on the kindness of others. If at the beginning and end of our lives we depend upon others' kindness, why then in the middle should we not act kindly towards others? The development of a kind heart (a feeling of closeness for all human beings) does not involve the religiosity we normally associate with conventional religious practice. It is not only for people who believe in religion, but is for everyone regardless of race, religion, or political affiliation. It is for anyone who considers himself or herself, above all, a member of the human family and who sees things from this larger and longer perspective. This is a powerful feeling that we should develop and apply; instead, we often neglect it, particularly in our prime years when we experience a false sense of security.   When we take into account a longer perspective, the fact that all wish to gain happiness and avoid suffering, and keep in mind our relative unimportance in relation to countless others, we can conclude that it is worthwhile to share our possessions with others. When you train in this sort of outlook, a true sense of compassion - a true sense of love and respect for others - becomes possible. Individual happiness ceases to be a conscious self-seeking effort; it becomes an automatic and far superior by-product of the whole process of loving and serving others.   Another result of spiritual development, most useful in day-to-day life, is that it gives a calmness and presence of mind. Our lives are in constant flux, bringing many difficulties. When faced with a calm and clear mind, problems can be successfully resolved. When, instead, we lose control over our minds through hatred, selfishness, jealousy, and anger, we lose our sense of judgement. Our minds are blinded and at those wild moments anything can happen, including war. Thus, the practice of compassion and wisdom is useful to all, especially to those responsible for running national affairs, in whose hands lie the power and opportunity to create the structure of world peace.

World Religions for World Peace

The principles discussed so far are in accordance with the ethical teachings of all world religions. I maintain that every major religion of the world - Buddhism, Christianity, Confucianism, Hinduism, Islam, Jainism, Judaism, Sikhism, Taoism, Zoroastrianism - has similar ideals of love, the same goal of benefiting humanity through spiritual practice, and the same effect of making their followers into better human beings. All religions teach moral precepts for perfecting the functions of mind, body, and speech. All teach us not to lie or steal or take others' lives, and so on. The common goal of all moral precepts laid down by the great teachers of humanity is unselfishness. The great teachers wanted to lead their followers away from the paths of negative deeds caused by ignorance and to introduce them to paths of goodness.   All religions agree upon the necessity to control the undisciplined mind that harbours selfishness and other roots of trouble, and each teaches a path leading to a spiritual state that is peaceful, disciplined, ethical, and wise. It is in this sense that I believe all religions have essentially the same message. Differences of dogma may be ascribed to differences of time and circumstance as well as cultural influences; indeed, there is no end to scholastic argument when we consider the purely metaphysical side of religion. However, it is much more beneficial to try to implement in daily life the shared precepts for goodness taught by all religions rather than to argue about minor differences in approach.   There are many different religions to bring comfort and happiness to humanity in much the same way as there are particular treatments for different diseases. For, all religions endeavour in their own way to help living beings avoid misery and gain happiness. And, although we can find causes for preferring certain interpretations of religious truths, there is much greater cause for unity, stemming from the human heart. Each religion works in its own way to lessen human suffering and contribute to world civilization. Conversion is not the point. For instance, I do not think of converting others to Buddhism or merely furthering the Buddhist cause. Rather, I try to think of how I as a Buddhist humanitarian can contribute to human happiness.   While pointing out the fundamental similarities between world religions, I do not advocate one particular religion at the expense of all others, nor do I seek a new 'world religion'. All the different religions of the world are needed to enrich human experience and world civilization. Our human minds, being of different calibre and disposition, need different approaches to peace and happiness. It is just like food. Certain people find Christianity more appealing, others prefer Buddhism because there is no creator in it and everything depends upon your own actions. We can make similar arguments for other religions as well. Thus, the point is clear: humanity needs all the world's religions to suit the ways of life, diverse spiritual needs, and inherited national traditions of individual human beings.   It is from this perspective that I welcome efforts being made in various parts of the world for better understanding among religions. The need for this is particularly urgent now. If all religions make the betterment of humanity their main concern, then they can easily work together in harmony for world peace. Interfaith understanding will bring about the unity necessary for all religions to work together. However, although this is indeed an important step, we must remember that there are no quick or easy solutions. We cannot hide the doctrinal differences that exist among various faiths, nor can we hope to replace the existing religions by a new universal belief. Each religion has its own distinctive contributions to make, and each in its own way is suitable to a particular group of people as they understand life. The world needs them all.   There are two primary tasks facing religious practitioners who are concerned with world peace. First, we must promote better interfaith understanding so as to create a workable degree of unity among all religions. This may be achieved in part by respecting each other's beliefs and by emphasizing our common concern for human well-being. Second, we must bring about a viable consensus on basic spiritual values that touch every human heart and enhance general human happiness. This means we must emphasize the common denominator of all world religions - humanitarian ideals. These two steps will enable us to act both individually and together to create the necessary spiritual conditions for world peace.   We practitioners of different faiths can work together for world peace when we view different religions as essentially instruments to develop a good heart - love and respect for others, a true sense of community. The most important thing is to look at the purpose of religion and not at the details of theology or metaphysics, which can lead to mere intellectualism. I believe that all the major religions of the world can contribute to world peace and work together for the benefit of humanity if we put aside subtle metaphysical differences, which are really the internal business of each religion.   Despite the progressive secularization brought about by worldwide modernization and despite systematic attempts in some parts of the world to destroy spiritual values, the vast majority of humanity continues to believe in one religion or another. The undying faith in religion, evident even under irreligious political systems, clearly demonstrates the potency of religion as such. This spiritual energy and power can be purposefully used to bring about the spiritual conditions necessary for world peace. Religious leaders and humanitarians all over the world have a special role to play in this respect.   Whether we will be able to achieve world peace or not, we have no choice but to work towards that goal. If our minds are dominated by anger, we will lose the best part of human intelligence - wisdom, the ability to decide between right and wrong. Anger is one of the most serious problems facing the world today.

Individual Power to Shape Institutions

Anger plays no small role in current conflicts such as those in the Middle East, Southeast Asia, the North-South problem, and so forth. These conflicts arise from a failure to understand one another's humanness. The answer is not the development and use of greater military force, nor an arms race. Nor is it purely political or purely technological. Basically it is spiritual, in the sense that what is required is a sensitive understanding of our common human situation. Hatred and fighting cannot bring happiness to anyone, even to the winners of battles. Violence always produces misery and thus is essentially counter-productive. It is, therefore, time for world leaders to learn to transcend the differences of race, culture, and ideology and to regard one another through eyes that see the common human situation. To do so would benefit individuals, communities, nations, and the world at large.   The greater part of present world tension seems to stem from the 'Eastern bloc' versus 'Western bloc' conflict that has been going on since World War II. These two blocs tend to describe and view each other in a totally unfavourable light. This continuing, unreasonable struggle is due to a lack of mutual affection and respect for each other as fellow human beings. Those of the Eastern bloc should reduce their hatred towards the Western bloc because the Western bloc is also made up of human beings - men, women, and children. Similarly those of the Western bloc should reduce their hatred towards the Eastern bloc because the Eastern bloc is also human beings. In such a reduction of mutual hatred, the leaders of both blocs have a powerful role to play. But first and foremost, leaders must realize their own and others' humanness. Without this basic realization, very little effective reduction of organized hatred can be achieved.   If, for example, the leader of the United States of America and the leader of the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics suddenly met each other in the middle of a desolate island, I am sure they would respond to each other spontaneously as fellow human beings. But a wall of mutual suspicion and misunderstanding separates them the moment they are identified as the 'President of the USA' and the 'Secretary-General of the USSR'). More human contact in the form of informal extended meetings, without any agenda, would improve their mutual understanding; they would learn to relate to each other as human beings and could then try to tackle international problems based on this understanding. No two parties, especially those with a history of antagonism, can negotiate fruitfully in an atmosphere of mutual suspicion and hatred.   I suggest that world leaders meet about once a year in a beautiful place without any business, just to get to know each other as human beings. Then, later, they could meet to discuss mutual and global problems. I am sure many others share my wish that world leaders meet at the conference table in such an atmosphere of mutual respect and understanding of each other's humanness.   To improve person-to-person contact in the world at large, I would like to see greater encouragement of international tourism. Also, mass media, particularly in democratic societies, can make a considerable contribution to world peace by giving greater coverage to human interest items that reflect the ultimate oneness of humanity. With the rise of a few big powers in the international arena, the humanitarian role of international organizations is being bypassed and neglected. I hope that this will be corrected and that all international organizations, especially the United Nations, will be more active and effective in ensuring maximum benefit to humanity and promoting international understanding. It will indeed be tragic if the few powerful members continue to misuse world bodies like the UN for their one-sided interests. The UN must become the instrument of world peace. This world body must be respected by all, for the UN is the only source of hope for small oppressed nations and hence for the planet as a whole.   As all nations are economically dependent upon one another more than ever before, human understanding must go beyond national boundaries and embrace the international community at large. Indeed, unless we can create an atmosphere of genuine cooperation, gained not by threatened or actual use of force but by heartfelt understanding, world problems will only increase. If people in poorer countries are denied the happiness they desire and deserve, they will naturally be dissatisfied and pose problems for the rich. If unwanted social, political, and cultural forms continue to be imposed upon unwilling people, the attainment of world peace is doubtful. However, if we satisfy people at a heart-to-heart level, peace will surely come.   Within each nation, the individual ought to be given the right to happiness, and among nations, there must be equal concern for the welfare of even the smallest nations. I am not suggesting that one system is better than another and all should adopt it. On the contrary, a variety of political systems and ideologies is desirable and accords with the variety of dispositions within the human community. This variety enhances the ceaseless human quest for happiness. Thus each community should be free to evolve its own political and socio-economic system, based on the principle of self-determination.   The achievement of justice, harmony, and peace depends on many factors. We should think about them in terms of human benefit in the long run rather than the short term. I realize the enormity of the task before us, but I see no other alternative than the one I am proposing - which is based on our common humanity. Nations have no choice but to be concerned about the welfare of others, not so much because of their belief in humanity, but because it is in the mutual and long-term interest of all concerned. An appreciation of this new reality is indicated by the emergence of regional or continental economic organizations such as the European Economic Community, the Association of South East Asian Nations, and so forth. I hope more such trans-national organizations will be formed, particularly in regions where economic development and regional stability seem in short supply.   Under present conditions, there is definitely a growing need for human understanding and a sense of universal responsibility. In order to achieve such ideas, we must generate a good and kind heart, for without this, we can achieve neither universal happiness nor lasting world peace. We cannot create peace on paper. While advocating universal responsibility and universal brotherhood and sisterhood, the facts are that humanity is organized in separate entities in the form of national societies. Thus, in a realistic sense, I feel it is these societies that must act as the building-blocks for world peace. Attempts have been made in the past to create societies more just and equal. Institutions have been established with noble charters to combat anti-social forces. Unfortunately, such ideas have been cheated by selfishness. More than ever before, we witness today how ethics and noble principles are obscured by the shadow of self-interest, particularly in the political sphere. There is a school of thought that warns us to refrain from politics altogether, as politics has become synonymous with amorality. Politics devoid of ethics does not further human welfare, and life without morality reduces humans to the level of beasts. However, politics is not axiomatically 'dirty'. Rather, the instruments of our political culture have distorted the high ideals and noble concepts meant to further human welfare. Naturally, spiritual people express their concern about religious leaders 'messing' with politics, since they fear the contamination of religion by dirty politics.   I question the popular assumption that religion and ethics have no place in politics and that religious persons should seclude themselves as hermits. Such a view of religion is too one-sided; it lacks a proper perspective on the individual's relation to society and the role of religion in our lives. Ethics is as crucial to a politician as it is to a religious practitioner. Dangerous consequences will follow when politicians and rulers forget moral principles. Whether we believe in God or karma, ethics is the foundation of every religion.   Such human qualities as morality, compassion, decency, wisdom, and so forth have been the foundations of all civilizations. These qualities must be cultivated and sustained through systematic moral education in a conducive social environment so that a more humane world may emerge. The qualities required to create such a world must be inculcated right from the beginning, from childhood. We cannot wait for the next generation to make this change; the present generation must attempt a renewal of basic human values. If there is any hope, it is in the future generations, but not unless we institute major change on a worldwide scale in our present educational system. We need a revolution in our commitment to and practice of universal humanitarian values.   It is not enough to make noisy calls to halt moral degeneration; we must do something about it. Since present-day governments do not shoulder such 'religious' responsibilities, humanitarian and religious leaders must strengthen the existing civic, social, cultural, educational, and religious organizations to revive human and spiritual values. Where necessary, we must create new organizations to achieve these goals. Only in so doing can we hope to create a more stable basis for world peace.   Living in society, we should share the sufferings of our fellow citizens and practise compassion and tolerance not only towards our loved ones but also towards our enemies. This is the test of our moral strength. We must set an example by our own practice, for we cannot hope to convince others of the value of religion by mere words. We must live up to the same high standards of integrity and sacrifice that we ask of others. The ultimate purpose of all religions is to serve and benefit humanity. This is why it is so important that religion always be used to effect the happiness and peace of all beings and not merely to convert others.   Still, in religion there are no national boundaries. A religion can and should be used by any people or person who finds it beneficial. What is important for each seeker is to choose a religion that is most suitable to himself or herself. But, the embracing of a particular religion does not mean the rejection of another religion or one's own community. In fact, it is important that those who embrace a religion should not cut themselves off from their own society; they should continue to live within their own community and in harmony with its members. By escaping from your own community, you cannot benefit others, whereas benefiting others is actually the basic aim of religion.   In this regard there are two things important to keep in mind: self-examination and self-correction. We should constantly check our attitude toward others, examining ourselves carefully, and we should correct ourselves immediately when we find we are in the wrong.   Finally, a few words about material progress. I have heard a great deal of complaint against material progress from Westerners, and yet, paradoxically, it has been the very pride of the Western world. I see nothing wrong with material progress per se, provided people are always given precedence. It is my firm belief that in order to solve human problems in all their dimensions, we must combine and harmonize economic development with spiritual growth.   However, we must know its limitations. Although materialistic knowledge in the form of science and technology has contributed enormously to human welfare, it is not capable of creating lasting happiness. In America, for example, where technological development is perhaps more advanced than in any other country, there is still a great deal of mental suffering. This is because materialistic knowledge can only provide a type of happiness that is dependent upon physical conditions. It cannot provide happiness that springs from inner development independent of external factors.   For renewal of human values and attainment of lasting happiness, we need to look to the common humanitarian heritage of all nations the world over. May this essay serve as an urgent reminder lest we forget the human values that unite us all as a single family on this planet.   I have written the above lines To tell my constant feeling. Whenever I meet even a 'foreigner', I have always the same feeling: 'I am meeting another member of the human family., This attitude has deepened My affection and respect for all beings. May this natural wish be My small contribution to world peace. I pray for a more friendly, More caring, and more understanding Human family on this planet. To all who dislike suffering, Who cherish lasting happiness - This is my heartfelt appeal.

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Speech: ‘Be the light that brings hope and that accelerates progress towards an equal, sustainable, and peaceful future’

Opening remarks delivered by un women executive director sima bahous at the un official commemoration of international women’s day, 8 march 2024, un headquarters.

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[As delivered.]

I will begin on this International Women’s Day with a moment of reflection for all the women and girls killed in wars and conflicts that are not of their making.

Wars and conflicts are eroding the achievements of decades of investments in gender equality and women’s empowerment. From the Middle East, to Haiti, to Sudan, Myanmar, the Sahel, Ukraine, Afghanistan, and elsewhere in the world, women pay the biggest price of conflicts.

Conflict is inherently violent, but for women and girls ever more so, including in sexual and gender-based ways. This is intolerable. No woman or girl anywhere, ever, should experience sexual violence or any form of violence. UN Women, alongside everyone here, condemns it unequivocally.

The need for peace has never been more urgent. We salute women everywhere who strive to bring peace every day, who are human rights activists, who are human rights defenders, who lead and fight for change.

This year’s International Women’s Day sees a world hobbled by confrontation, fragmentation, fear, and, most of all, inequality.

Persistent poverty gaps continue to exist worldwide, and women bear an increasingly heavy burden. One in every ten women in the world lives in extreme poverty. Poverty has a female face.

Men own 105 trillion dollars [USD] more wealth than women. They dominate the corridors of power.

And the pushback against gender equality is well resourced and powerful, fuelled by anti-gender movements, de-democratization, restricted civic space, a breakdown of trust between people and state, and regressive policies and legislation.

We all feel this pushback acutely. Our values and principles have never been as challenged as they are today.

I thank all of you for lending your energies to this struggle, to the cause of women’s rights and gender equality, and I thank you all for joining us in pushing forward against the pushback.

This year’s International Women’s Day calls us all to invest in women and girls and to accelerate progress.

It is only by investing in women and girls that we will meet the challenges we face, be they economic-, conflict- or climate-related.

Investing in women and girls is indisputably the best pathway to the achievement of the Sustainable Development Goals , to peace and security.

When more women are economically empowered, economies grow.

Where women are equally represented in government, governance thrives.

Where women are free to live their lives without the perpetual threat of violence, families flourish, and businesses benefit.

Where women have a bigger say in peace processes, peace is found sooner and is more durable.

But in spite of these clear facts, we continue to stubbornly invest in weapons more than we invest in women and girls.

We continue to say gender equality can be postponed for “later”, as we watch the world fall further off track, and even “later” is postponed.

In the coming months and year, we have a collective opportunity to recommit ourselves to gender equality. The Summit of the Future presents an opportunity to centrally place gender equality across discussions on development, financing, technology, and peace and security. The thirtieth anniversary of the Beijing Platform for Action next year has the potential to be a watershed moment for increased and accelerated action to make truth of the promises made 29 years ago. I welcome the Secretary-General’s announcement of the Gender Equality Acceleration Plan. Please count on UN Women as your partners in this.

The International Women’s Day this year has a call. And this call is clear and compelling. For every woman and girl, we ask that we finally make the best investment we can: financing gender equality and unlocking its dividends for all. More than 100 million women and girls could be lifted out of poverty if governments prioritized education, healthcare, fair and equal wages, and expanded social benefits. We know that when women raise their voices it is for equality, for their rights and for the rights of others, for peace and justice for all. They fight to leave a better world behind them for all the people and for our shared planet.

On International Women’s Day we elevate their voice. We elevate their cause, and our cause. We commit to affording it the resources it deserves and demands.

Allow me before I end to echo the call of the Secretary-General, the President of the General Assembly, the Chair of the Commission on the Status of Women: We need a humanitarian ceasefire in Gaza now. More than 9000 women have been killed in Gaza, and this must stop. We cannot return to a path to peace without justice for all survivors of this conflict—and I say all survivors of this conflict—and without an end to the indiscriminate violence in Gaza.

I began my remarks today with a moment of reflection. I end my remarks with a call for all of us to be the light that brings hope and that accelerates progress towards an equal, sustainable, and peaceful future. For all people. For every woman and for every girl, everywhere. I know that together, it is within our reach.

I thank you.

• 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development
• Executive Director
• Conflict, war
• Commission on the Status of Women
• Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs)
• Financing for gender equality
• Economic empowerment
• Gender equality and women’s empowerment
• Governance and national planning
• Intergovernmental processes
• Peace and security
• UN Women administration

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U.N. General Assembly Biden Pledges to Work Toward ‘Peaceful, Prosperous Future For All’

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Follow the latest updates from the United Nations General Assembly .

In his U.N. debut, Biden calls for global unity against common threats.

Biden urges unity against common threats in an ‘interconnected’ world, president biden called for an era of international cooperation in tackling global threats in his first address to the united nations general assembly as president..

We stand, in my view, at an inflection point in history. And I’m here today to share with you how the United States intends to work with partners and allies to answer these questions, and the commitment of my new administration help lead the world toward a more peaceful, prosperous future for all people. Instead of continuing to fight the wars of the past, we are fixing our eyes on devoting our resources to the challenges that hold the keys to our collective future. Ending this pandemic, addressing the climate crisis, managing the shifts in global power dynamics, shaping the rules of the world on vital issues like trade, cyber and emerging technologies, and facing the threat of terrorism as it stands today. We’ve ended 20 years of conflict in Afghanistan. And as we close this period of relentless war, we’re opening a new era of relentless diplomacy, of using the power of our development aid, to invest in new ways of lifting people up around the world, of renewing and defending democracy, of proving that no matter how challenging or how complex the problems you’re going to face government by and for the people is still the best way to deliver for all of our people. And as the United States turns our focus to the priorities and the regions of the world like the Indo-Pacific that are most consequential today and tomorrow, we’ll do so with our allies and partners through cooperation and multilateral institutions like the United Nations to amplify our collective strength and speed, our progress toward dealing with these global challenges. Our security, our prosperity and our very freedoms are interconnected, in my view, as never before, and so I believe we must work together as never before.

President Biden delivered his debut address to the annual gathering of world leaders at the United Nations on Tuesday amid strong new doubts about his ability to vault the United States back into a position of global leadership after his predecessor’s promotion of “America First” isolationism.

Speaking to a smaller than usual audience of his peers because of the still-raging Covid-19 pandemic, Mr. Biden called for a new era of global unity against the coronavirus, climate change, emerging technological threats and the expanding influence of autocratic nations such as China and Russia.

“No matter how challenging or how complex the problems we’re going to face, government by and for the people is still the best way to deliver for all of our people,” he said, insisting that the United States and its Western allies would remain vital partners.

“Our security, our prosperity and our very freedoms are interconnected, in my view as never before,” Mr. Biden said.

Calling for the world to make the use of force “our tool of last resort, not our first,” he defended his decision to end the U.S. war in Afghanistan, a chaotic withdrawal of American troops that left allies blindsided.

“Today, many of our greatest concerns cannot be solved or even addressed by the force of arms,” he said. “Bombs and bullets cannot defend against Covid-19 or its future variants.”

But Mr. Biden’s efforts to move America past President Donald J. Trump’s more confrontational policies come amid growing frustration among allies with his administration’s diplomatic approach.

His familiar refrain that the world must choose between democracy and autocracy looks different now that the Taliban are once again in control of Kabul, reversing many of the democratic gains of the past 20 years. Covid is resurging in much of the world. And the French just recalled their ambassador in outrage — not just over losing a $60 billion-plus submarine contract , but because it was made clear they are not in the inner circle of allies.

Mr. Biden and other leaders are gathering against a backdrop of disastrous climate change , polarized superpower relations and a devastating pandemic that has worsened the global rich-poor divide .

The event is a major test of credibility for Mr. Biden, who was among the first to address the 193-member General Assembly . The last to speak in the morning session was President Xi Jinping of China, via prerecorded video, bookending with the competing views of the two most powerful countries in the world.

Both leaders announced potentially significant steps to address climate change, a rare moment of common purpose: Mr. Biden said he intended to double the American financial contribution to developing countries’ efforts to tackle the climate crisis, and Mr. Xi said China would stop financing coal-fired power projects abroad, a major source of heat-trapping gases.

Secretary General António Guterres, who has openly fretted about the bitter rivalry between China and the United States, said he was encouraged by “the leaders of the world’s two largest economies regarding their commitment to climate action.”

Still, a dominant theme of Mr. Biden’s speech was what he described as the choice faced by the world between the democratic values espoused by the West and the disregard for them by China and other authoritarian governments.

“The future belongs to those who give their people the ability to breathe free, not those who seek to suffocate their people with an iron hand authoritarianism,” he said. “The authoritarians of the world, they seek to proclaim the end of the age of democracy, but they’re wrong.”

But the president vowed not to pursue a new era of sustained conflict with countries like China, saying that the United States would “compete vigorously and lead with our values and our strength to stand up for our allies and our friends.”

“We’re not seeking — say it again, we are not seeking — a new Cold War or a world divided into rigid blocs,” he said.

Climate change and the pandemic are also expected to dominate the week, and Mr. Biden planned to host a Covid summit on the sidelines to push other countries to increase capacity to manufacture vaccines for poor countries.

“This year has also brought widespread death and devastation from the borderless climate crisis,” Mr. Biden said. “Extreme weather events that we’ve seen in every part of the world — and you all know it and feel it — represent what the secretary general has rightly called Code Red for humanity.”

On Covid, Mr. Biden urged leaders to move more quickly to rein in a pandemic that has killed millions.

“We need a collective act of science and political will,” he said. “We need to act now to get shots in arms as fast as possible, and expand access to oxygen, tests, treatments, to save lives around the world.”

— Michael D. Shear ,  David E. Sanger and Rick Gladstone

The Taliban nominate a U.N. envoy, complicating a quandary for the General Assembly.

The Taliban have nominated an ambassador to represent Afghanistan at the United Nations, U.N. officials said Tuesday, injecting a new twist into what was already a delicate diplomatic quandary in the global organization.

The nomination, submitted to Secretary General António Guterres on Monday, sets up a showdown with the envoy of Afghanistan’s toppled government, Ghulam Isaczai, who has so far retained his post.

The showdown may not be resolved soon. But it raised the startling prospect that the Taliban — the violent, extremist Islamic movement that retook power last month as the American-backed government collapsed — would occupy an ambassador’s seat at the United Nations.

Stéphane Dujarric, a spokesman for Mr. Guterres, confirmed a Reuters report that the secretary general had been notified of the Taliban request in a letter signed by Amir Khan Muttaqi, identified as the movement’s foreign minister. The letter stated that the Taliban’s choice of U.N. ambassador was Suhail Shaheen, the movement’s spokesman based in Doha, Qatar.

The letter further stated that Mr. Muttaqi wanted to speak at the General Assembly, which got underway on Tuesday and ends next Monday. On Wednesday, Bilal Karimi, an aide to the Taliban’s chief spokesman, Zabiullah Mujahid, confirmed that the Taliban had sent the letter.

Mr. Dujarric said the Taliban’s request had been forwarded to the General Assembly’s Credentials Committee, a nine-member group that includes the United States. It remained unclear on Tuesday when the committee might evaluate the request.

Pakistan’s foreign minister, Shah Mahmood Qureshi, who knew about the Taliban’s request, said it raised a number of questions about Mr. Shaheen and those in the Taliban hierarchy who had picked him.

“Who is he representing?” Mr. Qureshi said, responding to questions about the request during a session with reporters on Afghanistan’s future, held by the Foreign Press Association on the sidelines of the General Assembly. “Who is he reporting to? What kind of communication can you have with a person at the U.N. who is not recognized? It is a complex and evolving situation.”

The Taliban’s triumphal return to control in Afghanistan is among the crises confronting the General Assembly this week, along with Myanmar’s brutal military coup early this year. Both events created a conundrum for the world’s biggest diplomatic gathering: Who is the rightful representative of each country?

The Taliban remain subject to U.N. economic sanctions. Many countries, including the United States, have said that any Taliban request to replace Afghanistan’s envoy at the 193-member organization would need to undergo careful review.

In Myanmar, the junta that seized power in February and has been widely condemned for a deadly crackdown on opponents also has sought to replace the U.N. ambassador of the deposed government with a junta loyalist.

Envoys from all kinds of political systems, including parliamentary democracies, monarchies and dictatorships, have long worked at the United Nations, the one place in the world where even governments that reject one another’s ideologies enjoy some measure of equal standing. Still, there are standards to verify the legitimacy of both the envoys and the governments they represent.

“Normally a country has the right to nominate somebody,” Volkan Bozkir, a Turkish statesman and the departing president of the General Assembly, told reporters at his farewell news conference this month.

“We can’t say, ‘I don’t like this government,’” Mr. Bozkir said, when seeking to resolve United Nations disputes over who is — and is not — a country’s rightful envoy.

A seat at the United Nations carries symbolic significance, a benchmark of a government’s credibility and acceptance in the world community even if rivals oppose it.

United Nations membership affords governments an opportunity not only to speak and be heard in the General Assembly, but also to participate in a range of other U.N. agencies like the World Health Organization and Human Rights Council. So the credentialing of a country’s ambassador to speak on its behalf is enormously important.

— Rick Gladstone and Farnaz Fassihi

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China won’t build more coal plants abroad, Xi Jinping says.

President Xi Jinping of China told the United Nations General Assembly on Tuesday that his country would stop promoting the growth of the world’s dirtiest fossil fuel overseas, in a major step to address climate change: China, he said, “will not build new coal-fired power projects abroad.”

Mr. Xi’s announcement, in prerecorded remarks, was a surprise move designed to lift his country’s standing on global efforts to rein in global greenhouse emissions.

China currently produces the largest share of emissions. It is by far the biggest producer of coal domestically, and by far the largest financier of coal-fired power plants abroad, with an enormous 40 gigawatts of coal power planned.

A hint of China’s shift came earlier this year. For the first time in several years, China did not fund new coal projects as part of its global development undertaking, known as the Belt and Road Initiative, in the first six months of 2021.

Chinese coal projects have faced considerable pushback in countries like Bangladesh, Kenya and Vietnam, mainly by civil society groups.

The United States has repeatedly called out China for helping to build coal plants abroad. There was no immediate reaction from the White House on Tuesday.

What Mr. Xi did not say at the General Assembly was anything about China’s coal plants at home. It is building the largest fleet of coal-fired power plants within its borders, and most of its electricity still comes from coal. Nor did Mr. Xi make any new announcements about its plans to rein in emissions by 2030, beyond repeating his pledge to reach peak emissions before the end of this decade. That is nowhere near what is necessary to keep global temperature rise to 1.5 degrees Celsius, beyond which the world faces a far greater likelihood of devastating climate consequences.

“This is an important step by the world’s biggest provider of overseas coal finance,” said Simon Steill, the environment minister of Grenada, which is among the world’s smallest countries most susceptible to the harm caused by climate change. “We look forward to seeing commensurate action domestically on coal.”

Burning coal is the largest source of carbon dioxide emissions, and after a pandemic-year retreat, demand for coal is set to rise 4.5 percent this year, mainly to meet soaring electricity demand, according to the International Energy Agency.

The United Nations secretary general, António Guterres, has called for a moratorium on new coal-fired power plants in practically every global speech he has made on climate change, his signature issue.

Globally, coal is at a crossroads .

Spending on coal projects dropped to its lowest level in a decade in 2019. And over the last 20 years, more coal-fired power plants have been retired or shelved than commissioned.

In some countries where new coal-fired power plants were only recently being built by the gigawatts, plans for new ones have been shelved (as in South Africa), reconsidered (as in Bangladesh) or facing funding troubles (as in Vietnam). In India, existing coal plants are running far below capacity and losing money. In the United States, they are being decommissioned quickly.

Jake Schmidt, the senior strategic adviser for international climate issues at the Natural Resources Defense Council, a research and advocacy group, called Mr. Xi’s announcement “a really big step.”

“China has been under a lot of pressure,” he said. “If it wants to be a climate leader, it can’t be the leading financier of overseas coal plants.”

— Somini Sengupta

Iran’s new president delivers an angry rebuke of the U.S. and is vague on the threatened nuclear deal.

Iran’s new hard-line new president delivered one the most forceful and angry denunciations of the United States at the General Assembly on Tuesday, showing little sign of flexibility on talks over the threatened nuclear agreement and describing American power in the world as both evil and irrelevant.

“Today, the world doesn’t care about ‘America First’ or ‘America is Back,’ the Iranian president, Ebrahim Raisi, said in the prerecorded address, referring to the slogans of isolationism promoted by President Donald J. Trump and the international engagement espoused by President Biden.

It was Mr. Raisi’s first speech to the world body, and he almost immediately plunged into a narrative that cast the United States as a scourge that had unsuccessfully sought to use economic sanctions to pressure its foes.

“Sanctions are the U.S.’s new way of war with the nations of the world,” he said.

Mr. Raisi, who is on an American sanctions blacklist himself, said nothing about stalled negotiations aimed at rescuing the 2015 nuclear accord with big powers, which Mr. Trump renounced in 2018 and Mr. Biden has sought to restore. Iranian officials have said that all nuclear-related sanctions reimposed and expanded under Mr. Trump must be terminated before Iran resumes adhering to the accord.

At the same time, Mr. Raisi did not appear to rule out a solution to the impasse.

“While decisively defending all its rights and the interests of its people, Iran is keen to have large-scale political and economic cooperation and convergence with the rest of the world,” he said. “I seek effective interaction with all the countries of the world, especially with our neighbors, and shake their hands warmly.”

In several portions of his speech, when talking about U.S. sanctions on Iran, Mr. Raisi raised his voice and practically shouted, a contrast to his predecessor, President Hassan Rouhani, who sought in his U.N. speeches to appear more moderate and accommodating.

Mr. Raisi also criticized American policies on Afghanistan, Iraq and Syria. He said the two lasting images of the past year were the Capitol riots of Jan. 6 and Afghans falling to their death after clinging to U.S. military jets evacuating Kabul.

The Iranian leader was speaking against a backdrop of expectations of back-room diplomacy at the General Assembly on ways to salvage his country’s endangered nuclear agreement with big powers.

His foreign minister, Hossein Amir Abdollahian, is attending the General Assembly and has indicated a willingness to discuss rescuing the deal, which could provide Iran with enormous economic relief.

A foreign ministry spokesman said on Tuesday that talks in Vienna aimed at reviving the accord would resume in the next few weeks, after being suspended for months.

The agreement was intended to end many sanctions on Iran in return for verifiable pledges to severely curtail its supply of enriched uranium, which can fuel nuclear bombs. After Mr. Trump withdrew the United States from the deal, Iran responded by gradually reneging on its pledges.

The Biden administration has supported restoring the accord, but Mr. Raisi, who took office in August , is expected to want new concessions. The other countries that are part of the agreement — Britain, China, France, Germany and Russia — have all said they want to salvage it.

Biden vows to double aid on climate change, one of the key issues facing leaders.

President Biden said on Tuesday that his administration would seek to double aid aimed at helping developing nations address climate change, raising a pledge he made in April to about $11.4 billion a year by 2024.

The pledge is considered critical to the success of United Nations-led climate talks that are scheduled to take place in November in Glasgow, though whether and when the money will materialize depends on congressional approval.

Climate change is perhaps the most important subject at this year’s General Assembly meeting, with new scientific evidence showing a losing battle in what the United Nations secretary general, António Guterres, has called an existential struggle.

Many developing countries have repeatedly pointed out that rich countries have not delivered the $100 billion a year in aid that they promised under the landmark 2015 Paris climate accord. A tally by the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development found a nearly $20 billion shortfall.

Earlier in the year, Mr. Biden had pledged $5.7 billion, money that also requires approval from Congress.

Mr. Guterres has warned that a failure to make good on such promises could jeopardize cooperation to rein in global greenhouse emissions and avert the worst effects of warming. “This is a crucial question of trust,” he said at a climate summit organized by the White House last week.

Prime Minister Boris Johnson of Britain, who will host the Glasgow talks, led a preparatory meeting with Mr. Guterres on Monday. Mr. Johnson told reporters afterward that the November gathering would be “a turning point for the world, and it is the moment when we have to grow up and take our responsibilities.”

The scientific consensus is that global temperature rise needs to be limited to 1.5 degrees Celsius. Beyond that threshold, there is a far greater likelihood of devastating consequences, like widespread crop failures and the collapse of the polar ice sheets.

“We are no longer on the wrong path — we are on the edge of the cliff,” Abdulla Shahid, the foreign minister of the Maldives who is serving as president of the General Assembly, told the gathering on Tuesday. The low-lying Maldives is one of several nations at risk of devastating flooding because of rising sea levels.

Altogether, nearly 200 countries have made pledges to reduce or slow down emissions of planet-warming gases under the Paris agreement. But still missing are new pledges from 70 countries, including China, which currently produces the largest share of greenhouse gas emissions, and India and Saudi Arabia, both large economies with a significant climate footprint. Brazil, Mexico and Russia have submitted new pledges that have weaker emissions targets than their previous ones.

Mr. Biden’s revised pledge would make the United States, the largest emitter of planet-warming gases since the start of the industrial era, among the largest global climate donors, though advocacy groups said it still fell short of Washington’s fair share.

“It’s good to see President Biden is upping the amount that the U.S. is contributing,” Mohamed Adow, the director of Power Shift Africa, said in a statement. “However, the U.S. is still woefully short of what it owes.”

Tina Stege, the climate envoy of the Marshall Islands, said: “Watching Biden’s speech today, I thought — this is the announcement we’ve been waiting for. Now we’re looking to Congress to work with Biden to deliver, and to the rest of the G20 to follow suit.”

— Somini Sengupta and Rick Gladstone

Protesters denounce the leaders of Brazil and Iran.

With world leaders addressing the United Nations General Assembly about the most pressing issues, protesters took to the streets outside the New York City gathering on Tuesday to raise awareness over concerns that they say the leaders should be focused on changing.

During the speech by President Jair Bolsonaro of Brazil, activists protested his environmental and economic policies, which critics say have contributed to devastation of the Amazon rainforest and widespread hunger in Brazil.

Myriam Marques, 58, a nurse in Manhattan who is a member of the activist group Defend Democracy in Brazil, marched between police barricades with about 50 other people. She said they were demonstrating to oppose Mr. Bolsonaro’s speech and to stand up for the Indigenous people of Brazil.

“We are very thankful for our Indigenous peoples, because they are organizing, they want to save the forest, they want the rivers clean and they are fighting for that,” she said.

Earlier, campaigners had projected messages onto a building next to the Brooklyn Bridge that read, “Bolsonaro will lie at the United Nations” and “Bolsonaro is burning your future.”

Around 10:30 a.m. on Tuesday, protesters holding Iranian flags and wearing #FreeIran shirts and hats held signs condemning a government they regard as criminal. Referring to Ebrahim Raisi, Iran’s former judiciary head who became the country’s president in August, they chanted, “Prosecute Raisi now now now!”

A hard-line cleric who is a close ally of Iran’s supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, Mr. Raisi has been accused of playing a role in sending thousands of political prisoners to their deaths in the 1980s, and in lethal crackdowns on antigovernment protests in 2009 and 2019.

Khalil Khani, 71, a former professor at the University of Tehran who now lives in Phoenix, said he had flown to New York to protest what human rights groups have described as the killing of 30,000 political prisoners in Iran in 1988.

His group had brought signs and a large red book that Mr. Khani said was filled with 5,000 names of the killed political prisoners.

“The United Nations shouldn’t be a place for an executionist,” Mr. Khani said.

— Precious Fondren and Ernesto Londoño

Duterte accuses rich countries of hoarding Covid vaccines while the poor ‘wait for trickles.’

With his country badly lagging in Covid vaccinations, President Rodrigo Duterte of the Philippines railed against the world’s affluent countries at the United Nations on Tuesday, accusing them of hoarding vaccines while the poor “wait for trickles.”

Reinforcing his reputation as blunt speaker, Mr. Duterte described the rich-poor divide over vaccination rates as scandalous. His remarks, delivered via prerecorded video to the 193-member General Assembly, were among the most forceful criticisms of the inequities that have been laid bare by the pandemic.

Just 10 rich countries account for most of the 5.86 billion vaccine doses administered so far.

“There is a man-made drought of vaccines ravaging poor countries,” Mr. Duterte said. “Rich countries hoard lifesaving vaccines while poor nations wait for trickles. They now talk of booster shots, while developing countries consider half-doses just to get by.”

The disparity, he said, “is shocking beyond belief and must be condemned for what it is — a selfish act that can neither be justified rationally nor morally.”

The Philippines has one of the lowest Covid vaccination rates in Asia, with just 16 percent of its population fully inoculated, and Delta variant infections have surged in recent months. The country also is among only a handful that have kept schools closed throughout the pandemic, which has put its 27 million school-age children at an increased disadvantage .

Mr. Duterte has justified keeping elementary schools and high schools closed by arguing that students and their families need to be protected from contagion. But his policy has spawned a backlash among parents and students in a sprawling nation with endemic poverty. Many people, particularly in remote and rural areas, lack access to online learning.

— Rick Gladstone

Xi Jinping chastises the U.S., saying, ‘Democracy is not a special right reserved to an individual country.’

Xi’s general assembly remarks reject u.s. portrayal of china, president xi jinping of china, in a prerecorded speech to the united nations general assembly, pushed back against u.s. criticism of his government as authoritarian, asserting that the world should embrace “civilizations of various forms”.

Translator: We must strengthen solidarity, and promote mutual respect and win-win cooperation in conducting international relations. A world of peace and development should embrace civilizations of various forms, and must accommodate diverse paths to modernization. Democracy is not a special right reserved to any individual country, but a right for the people of all countries to enjoy. Recent developments in the international situation show, once again, that military intervention from the outside and so-called democratic transformation entail nothing but harm. We need to advocate peace, development, equity, justice, democracy and freedom, which are the common values of humanity and reject the practice of forming small circles or zero-sum games. Differences and problems among countries — hardly avoidable — need to be handled through dialogue and cooperation on the basis of equality and mutual respect. One country’s success does not have to mean another country’s failure. And the world is big enough to accommodate common development and progress of all countries.

President Xi Jinping of China used his General Assembly speech on Tuesday to reject the American portrayal of his government as authoritarian, predatory and expansionist, asserting that he supports peaceful development for all peoples and that democracy is “not a special right reserved to an individual country.”

Mr. Xi’s prerecorded speech was broadcast hours after President Biden addressed the gathering in person at the United Nations headquarters in New York, the biggest diplomatic convocation since the pandemic began. Mr. Biden reinforced his view that the world faces a choice between democratic freedoms and the authoritarian model exemplified by China.

The two leaders are engaged in a contentious rivalry that the United Nations secretary general, António Guterres, has described as a dysfunctional relationship between the two dominant powers in the world that could devolve into a new Cold War.

While Mr. Xi’s language was restrained, he also alluded to China’s anger over the Biden administration’s announcement of a new security pact with Australia that will put U.S. nuclear-powered subs in the Australian arsenal . That deal upended an Australian contract for conventional French submarines, a shift that outraged France . It also represents a new military challenge to China as it asserts increased military muscularity in the Asia Pacific region.

Without mentioning the United States or Australia by name, Mr. Xi said the world must “reject the practice of forming small circles or zero-sum games.”

Disputes between countries, Mr. Xi said, “hardly avoidable, need to be handled through dialogue and cooperation on the basis of equality and mutual respect.”

The competition between the United States and China for influence at the United Nations has intensified under the Biden administration, which has sought to strengthen America’s role in the global organization after four years of cutbacks undertaken by President Donald J. Trump.

The United States and China are the leading providers of financial resources to the 193-member organization.

In Mr. Xi’s 2020 General Assembly speech, he sought to distinguish China from the isolationist posture that Mr. Trump took. Mr. Xi described China as a responsible global citizen and champion of multilateralism that also gave a greater voice to the developing world.

An earlier version of this article misquoted the Chinese leader Xi Jinping's address at the United Nations General Assembly. He said international disputes must be handled "on the basis of equality and mutual respect," not "on the basis of quality and mutual respect."

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In pictures: Scenes from the U.N. gathering.

As world leaders addressed the annual gathering of the 193-member United Nations General Assembly on Tuesday, they vowed to make progress on issues of global importance.

A million viewers tuned into a U.N. livestream — to watch a Korean pop group.

The seven members of the Korean pop group BTS — a multibillion-dollar act known for its dynamic dance moves, catchy lyrics and frenzied fans — promoted coronavirus vaccines and lauded young people for their resilience during a nearly seven-minute speech at the U.N. headquarters on Monday.

Accompanying President Moon Jae-in of South Korea, who designated them as special presidential envoy for future generations and culture, the band then showed a video of their hit song “Permission to Dance.”

The video showed the young crooners dancing in the empty aisles of the Assembly Hall — where presidents and autocrats have lobbed threats of annihilation and diplomats have staged walkouts — and later outside the complex.

The band’s legion of fans followed along intently on the U.N.’s YouTube channel, flooding a live chat with gushing messages, many with purple heart emojis that have become a calling card.

“I’ve heard that people in their teens and 20s today are being referred to as Covid’s lost generation,” said Kim Nam-joon, the band’s lead singer, who performs under the stage name RM (formerly Rap Monster). “But I think it’s a stretch to say they’re lost just because the path they tread can’t be seen by grown-up eyes.”

It was not the first time that the band, a dominant force in the Korean pop music space known as K-pop, had appeared at the United Nations. In 2018, BTS visited the United Nations to help UNICEF promote Generation Unlimited , a campaign dedicated to educating young people and providing them vocational training.

On Monday, a livestream of the band’s appearance on the U.N.’s YouTube channel racked up about one million views. Later in the day, the view count surpassed six million.

— Neil Vigdor

The U.N. secretary general urges nations to address a ‘cascade of crises.’

‘we are on the edge of an abyss,’ u.n. secretary general says, antónio guterres, the united nations secretary general, pressed for increased cooperation in facing a global “cascade of crises,” including wars, the pandemic, climate change and a polarization of world powers during a speech at the general assembly..

I’m here to sound the alarm. The world must wake up. We are on the edge of an abyss, and moving in the wrong direction. Our world has never been more threatened or more divided. We face the greatest cascade of crises in our lifetimes. The Covid-19 pandemic has supersized glaring inequalities. The climate crisis is pummeling the planet, upheaval from Afghanistan to Ethiopia to Yemen and beyond. A thwarted peace. A surge of mistrust and misinformation is polarizing people and paralyzing societies. Human rights are in the fires and science is under assault, and the economic lifelines for the most vulnerable are coming too little and too late, if they come at all. Solidarity is missing in action just when we need it most. Excellencies, we face a moment of truth. Now is the time to deliver. Now is the time to restore trust, and now is the time to inspire hope. And I do have hope — the problems we have created are problems we can solve. Humanity has shown that we are capable of great things when we work together, and that is the raison d’être of our United Nations.

Threatened by wars, climate change and a continuing pandemic, the world is becoming increasingly divided, the United Nations secretary general, António Guterres, warned on Tuesday in a sobering speech that called on nations to act.

“I am here to sound the alarm: The world must wake up,” Mr. Guterres said in the opening address of the U.N. General Assembly in New York, adding that the world faced “the greatest cascade of crises in our lifetimes.”

Covid-19 has exposed glaring inequalities, he said, pointing to a surplus of vaccines in wealthier nations while poorer countries remain largely unvaccinated . A window for combating climate change, which has already been blamed for driving scorching temperatures and other disasters, was “rapidly closing,” he said.

Peace remained “a distant dream” in places like Afghanistan, Ethiopia and Myanmar, Mr. Guterres noted, adding that misinformation and mistrust in institutions had polarized people.

And although he did not refer to the countries by name, he vocalized fears that a deepening competition between China and the United States, the world’s two largest economies, would further divide the world geopolitically — calling it “far less predictable than the Cold War.”

“Instead of the path of solidarity,” Mr. Guterres said, “we are on a dead end to destruction.”

The remarks were an indictment of the state of world affairs at the opening of a meeting meant to foster multilateralism and to demonstrate solidarity against global challenges. Mr. Guterres called on nations to create an agenda of peace and to institute climate-friendly fiscal and political overhauls.

Countries, he added, also needed to protect rights for women, who have been disproportionately affected by the pandemic, and address power imbalances between genders.

Nonetheless, hinting at hope for the future, Mr. Guterres, a Portuguese statesman who is serving his second term as secretary general , said: “The problems we have created are problems we can solve.”

— Isabella Kwai

Unvaccinated and defiant, Bolsonaro pushes back against criticism in his U.N. speech.

Brazilian president says he is not vaccinated, during a meeting with prime minister boris johnson of britain, who hailed the astrazeneca vaccine, brazil’s president, jair bolsonaro, said he had not been inoculated against covid-19..

“Boris.” “Mr. President, how are you? Very nice to see you. Well, welcome, welcome, welcome. [unclear] Here we go. Here we go. Here we go. How’s that? How are you doing?” “OK.” “Very good.” “Thank you.” “Come here.” “AstraZeneca —” it’s a great vaccine. I had AstraZeneca. Thanks, everybody. Get AstraZeneca vaccine. I had it twice.” “Not yet.” [laughter]

President Jair Bolsonaro of Brazil kicked off the United Nations General Assembly on Tuesday by defending the use of ineffective drugs to treat the coronavirus and by pushing back on criticism of his government’s environmental record.

Brazil’s far-right president said doctors should have had more leeway in administering untested medications for Covid-19, adding that he had been among those who recovered after “off label” treatment with an anti-malaria pill that studies have found ineffective to treat the disease.

“History and science will hold everyone accountable,” said Mr. Bolsonaro, whose handling of the pandemic in South America’s largest country has been widely criticized.

Mr. Bolsonaro’s decision to not get vaccinated against the coronavirus has loomed large over his first couple of days in New York. It made for an awkward moment during a meeting on Monday with Prime Minister Boris Johnson of Britain, who hailed the AstraZeneca vaccine, which was developed at Oxford University.

“Get AstraZeneca vaccines,” Mr. Johnson said during his meeting with the Brazilian president. “I’ve had it twice.”

Mr. Bolsonaro pointed to himself and said: “Not yet.”

Brazil’s president has led one of the world’s most criticized responses to the pandemic. Mr. Bolsonaro repeatedly downplayed the threat the virus posed, railed against quarantine measures and was fined for refusing to wear a mask in the capital.

His government was slow to secure access to coronavirus vaccines even as the virus overwhelmed hospitals across the country. Covid-19 has killed more than 590,000 people in Brazil.

Mr. Bolsonaro, who had a mild case of Covid-19 in July of last year, has said he is in no hurry to get a shot. Earlier this year, the president said he was undecided about getting a vaccine.

“After the last Brazilian gets vaccinated, if there’s a spare shot, I will decide whether or not I get vaccinated,” he said in a televised video , adding, “that’s the example the boss must provide.”

His unvaccinated status has caused logistical problems when it comes to finding a place to eat in New York, where restaurants require that patrons show proof of inoculation for indoor seating. Mr. Bolsonaro and his traveling party have been taking the rule in stride. On Sunday, one of his ministers posted a photo on Twitter of the president and several top aides eating pizza standing up on the street.

Jantar de luxo em NYC. @jairbolsonaro @gilsonmachadont @mqueiroga2 @andersongtorres pic.twitter.com/SVQuFZXHGY — General Ramos (@GenLuizRamos) September 20, 2021

“A luxurious dinner in NYC,” joked the minister, Luiz Ramos.

On Tuesday, Mr. Bolsonaro started his speech by telling the assembly that his nation was unfairly portrayed in the press.

“I came here to show a Brazil that is different from what is shown in the newspapers and on television,” he said. “Brazil has changed, and a lot, since we assumed office in January 2019.”

Mr. Bolsonaro’s government has weakened enforcement of environmental laws and hollowed out the agencies responsible for enforcing them. Yet on Tuesday he argued that Brazil should be applauded for how much of its forests remain intact and said the country could sustainably develop land in environmentally critical regions like the Amazon.

“The future of green jobs is in Brazil,” he said.

— Ernesto Londoño

Female leaders are more prominent this year.

At last year’s General Assembly, which was held almost entirely virtually because of the pandemic, the first 51 leaders to speak were men, presenting optics that contradicted the organization’s avowed commitment to gender parity.

This year, the first woman to speak was No. 6 on the list.

The speaker, President Zuzana Caputova of Slovakia, delivered her address via prerecorded video, following live addresses by the presidents of Brazil, the United States, the Maldives and Colombia and the emir of Qatar.

Protocol for the General Assembly’s speaker schedule is based partly on a first-come, first-served basis. But the glaring absence of prominent women last year raised concerns that gender should be taken into consideration.

Ms. Caputova made a point of raising women’s rights in her speech on Tuesday, including remarks on the threat to women created by the Taliban’s triumph in Afghanistan.

She and other female leaders, including the prime ministers of Iceland and New Zealand, have organized a call to support Afghan women and girls, and she called on other countries “to join forces to ensure this turns into concrete steps.”

The Slovak leader concluded her speech by emphasizing inclusiveness.

“We cannot save our planet if we leave out the vulnerable — the women, the girls, the minorities,” she said. “The silent pandemic of gender-based violence can prove lethal to the health of our societies.”

A top European official calls for a ‘pause and reset’ in the U.S. relationship.

A top European Union official made a plea on Tuesday to “pause and reset” the relationship between the bloc and the United States as a diplomatic spat between France and the Biden administration has become a European issue.

“There is a growing feeling in Europe — and I say this with regret — that something is broken in our trans-Atlantic relations,” Thierry Breton, the E.U. trade commissioner, said at a virtual event organized by the Atlantic Council , a Washington-based research organization, on the sidelines of the United Nations General Assembly.

“Trust is not a given,” Mr. Breton said. “And after the latest events, there is a strong perception that trust between the E.U. and U.S. has been eroded.”

Mr. Breton was the latest official from the bloc to question the Biden administration’s commitment to a strong alliance with the European Union. Tensions have escalated in recent days after Australia scrapped a $66 billion agreement to buy French-built submarines in favor of U.S.-manufactured, nuclear-powered ones.

France has reacted with anger to the security deal among the United States, Britain and Australia , and recalled its ambassadors to the United States and Australia last week.

The submarine deal came after a chaotic U.S. withdrawal from Afghanistan about which European leaders said they had not been consulted. Many officials who had welcomed the election of President Biden — and his pledge that “America is back” — are now expressing concerns.

While the Biden administration has tried to play down the spat, European officials have sharpened their tone, although they’ve stopped short of concrete action.

“What does it mean, ‘America is back’?” Charles Michel, the president of the European Council, which represents the leaders of the bloc’s 27 members, told reporters in New York on Monday. “Is America back in America or somewhere else? We don’t know.”

The words of Mr. Breton and Mr. Michel have echoed the position of Ursula von der Leyen, the president of the European Commission, the European Union’s executive arm, who on Monday told CNN that she would seek to “know what happened and why” before the bloc could “keep on going with business as usual” with the United States.

But despite such rhetoric from France and E.U. officials, there is concern in some European capitals that the dispute could hurt the bloc’s wider interests. Though European countries have showed solidarity to France in public, in private some officials have called the clash a bilateral matter between France and the United States.

A European diplomat said that President Emmanuel Macron of France had often taken a leading role in promoting more “strategic autonomy” for Europe, only to realize that not many E.U. members were following.

And a lawmaker at the European Parliament took a nuanced view. “Of course we cannot act as if nothing had happened,” Reinhard Bütikofer, the lawmaker, said on Monday . “But how the E.U. will react is not decided unilaterally by Paris.”

— Elian Peltier

Who is speaking at the U.N. General Assembly, who isn’t — and why did Brazil go first?

Several prominent leaders delivered in-person addresses at the U.N. General Assembly meeting on Tuesday, including President Jair Bolsonaro of Brazil, an avowed Covid skeptic whose mismanagement of the pandemic threatens his political future . Mr. Bolsonaro also created a stir by vowing to defy the meeting’s vaccination requirement.

Many leaders are opting to use prerecorded video, as was done last year, or to have a lower-ranking representative speak in person, and the absence of a particular country’s leader this year can send a message.

Perhaps the most prominent leader to skip a personal appearance at the General Assembly is President Xi Jinping of China, an increasingly important financial contributor to the United Nations and a rival with the United States for influence there, an underlying source of tension.

Mr. Xi originally intended to have his deputy prime minister represent China, but in a last-minute change posted Monday by U.N. officials, Mr. Xi addressed the General Assembly by prerecorded video on Tuesday.

President Vladimir V. Putin of Russia will not attend either, and his foreign minister, Sergey V. Lavrov, will speak instead.

In what may be another sign of France’s anger at the United States over a secret arms deal with Australia , the French president, Emmanuel Macron, abandoned the idea of speaking at the gathering even by video. Instead he tapped his foreign minister, Jean-Yves LeDrian, to speak, which now could happen on the final day.

Iran’s new president, Ebrahim Raisi, also sent a prerecorded speech, skipping the opportunity for personal diplomacy that could help save Iran’s near-moribund nuclear agreement with major powers.

Mr. Bolsonaro was the first head of state to address the gathering when speeches began on Tuesday morning. Brazil has spoken first since the mid-1950s, and U.N. protocol officials say that the tradition began because at the time no other country’s leader was willing to take on that role. That position is now considered a coveted slot that can help set the tone of the week.

The order of speakers generally adheres to the principle that the leader of the host country goes second, followed by other heads of state, heads of government, vice presidents, crown princes, foreign ministers, then deputies and ambassadors. It is also determined by the date when each of the 193 members makes the request.

As the General Assembly returns to New York, so does the traffic.

In another sign of New York City’s steady recovery from the pandemic, another fall tradition is returning to its streets: United Nations gridlock.

Traffic jams and security-related street closures are expected to turn Midtown Manhattan into a labyrinth this week as the General Assembly meets in person again. World leaders, including President Biden, and their motorcades will be descending upon streets that were largely cleared of traffic at the height of the pandemic but have steadily grown more congested as regular life resumes.

“There will be multiple closures, detours and checkpoints around the Midtown area,” Kim Y. Royster, the New York Police Department’s chief of transportation, said at a news conference .

Whereas last year’s gathering was held virtually, this week a large chunk of the east side of Midtown Manhattan, from 42nd Street to 57th Street and from First Avenue to Fifth Avenue, will be closed or restricted to traffic from 6 a.m. to 7 p.m., Chief Royster said.

Other streets, including a stretch of the F.D.R. Drive, a major north-south artery through Manhattan, could also be closed at times through Sept. 30, according to a city transportation agency website .

Chief Royster asked people to avoid driving or making deliveries in East Midtown during the U.N. meeting. Only vehicles that pass a checkpoint will be allowed in the area right around the United Nations, along 42nd Street between First and Second Avenues.

City transportation officials have also issued gridlock alert days — an annual warning of the worst congestion — for this week, the first time they have done so since 2019. There are 19 gridlock alert days for 2021, including Sept. 20-24 and Sept. 27, plus around the holiday season in November and December.

On Monday, a man was arrested and accused of threatening to kill the president of the Dominican Republic during his trip to New York. Beyond that, law enforcement officials said there were no credible threats against the U.N. meeting, though they were expecting widespread disruptions from crowds and dozens of protests.

“Our traffic agents will be deployed to intersections to make sure that the traffic is flowing and make sure that we provide safety to the pedestrians and bicyclists alike,” Chief Royster said, adding: “The city is opening up and we want to make sure the city continues to move and make sure everyone is safe.”

— Winnie Hu

Here’s how pandemic rules are shaping the U.N. gathering.

Unlike in 2020, when the U.N. General Assembly session was conducted almost entirely virtually because of the pandemic, more than 100 world leaders and other high-ranking representatives intend to deliver their speeches in person this year.

But access to the 16-acre United Nations complex in Manhattan remains strictly limited, with mandatory mask-wearing and other Covid prevention measures. Ambassador Linda Thomas-Greenfield of the United States told reporters that the measures were meant to ensure that the General Assembly “does not become a superspreader event.”

Confusion erupted last week over a New York City requirement that all General Assembly participants show proof of vaccination. This year’s president of the General Assembly, Foreign Minister Abdulla Shahid of the Maldives, endorsed the requirement .

U.N. officials have said that the organization’s headquarters staff must be vaccinated,.

In what appeared to be a good-will gesture, New York City’s municipal government deployed a mobile vaccine clinic outside the United Nations complex, offering free testing and Johnson & Johnson vaccines.

Many speakers this year still chose to deliver their addresses via prerecorded video, as was done by all leaders last year when vaccines were still under development and each delegation in the General Assembly hall was limited to two people. Nearly all events at the 2020 event were conducted virtually.

This year each member state may seat as many as four people in the General Assembly hall.

• Secretary-General
• Statements and Messages

Secretary-General Urges Delivering Justice, Solutions to Create ‘World of Peace, Prosperity for All’, in Economic and Social Council Youth Forum Remarks

Following are UN Secretary-General António Guterres’ remarks at the annual Economic and Social Council Youth Forum, in New York today: 

Welcome to the Economic and Social Council Youth Forum — and thank you for your presence and your engagement.

The energy and conviction of young people are infectious and more vital than ever.

Our world is bristling with challenges, tragedies and injustices — many of them linked.

The Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) are way off track.  This means children hungry, families trapped in poverty and young people out of school.

The climate crisis is spiralling downward — as emissions continue to rise and the fossil fuel industry, in its immense greed, tries to block change at every turn.

Great rifts within and between countries are fuelling mistrust and eroding solidarity:

Inequality and poverty are rife.  Polarization and hate are spreading — stoked by digital disinformation and division.  Human rights are under attack.  And conflicts are raging around the world.

Israel’s military operations in Gaza, following the devastating terror attacks by Hamas on 7 October, are having an appalling impact on civilians — including young people.  Thousands of children have been killed.  Thousands more have lost one or both parents.  And 100 per cent of young people in Gaza — every single child — is out of school.

It is high time for an immediate humanitarian ceasefire, the unconditional release of all hostages, the protection of civilians and the unimpeded delivery of humanitarian aid.

In the face of all these crises, public trust is plummeting.  Alienation is growing.  And the international system is creaking.

The future of multilateralism is at stake.  And so, we need action, and we need justice.

I salute young people around the world for standing up, speaking out and working for real change.  We need you.

And I am fully committed to bringing young people into political decision-making; not just listening to your views but acting on them. We established a new Youth Office in the United Nations to advance advocacy, coordination, participation and accountability for and with young people.  We will renew the United Nations Youth Strategy — to take this work to the next level.

And I am committed to making sure young people have a strong role as we gear up for the Summit of the Future in September.  That includes this Forum’s discussions, virtual consultations on the Pact for the Future — which will include a chapter on youth and future generations — and your work mobilizing in your communities.

We are also holding a youth-led action day as the Summit begins, so that your voices are heard from the start.

The Summit of the Future is a pivotal moment to turbocharge the SDGs and reinvigorate multilateralism.

We have already put forward a number of concrete ideas on strengthening youth engagement for Member States to consider.  This includes establishing national youth consultative bodies, a global standard for meaningful youth engagement in decision-making and creating a UN Youth Townhall.

We are also working to advance a Global Digital Compact to help build a world where digital technologies support sustainable development — including education and jobs for young people:

A world where children and young people are protected online, benefit from digital technologies, and have a say in the decisions shaping digital life.

We have created a High-level Advisory Body on Artificial Intelligence (AI) to make recommendations on international governance of AI.  This group of experts is gender-balanced.  It includes young leaders and people from the Global South.  And it is feeding into the Global Digital Compact.

We have also proposed a New Agenda for Peace, to renew and strengthen multilateral security frameworks and to embed young people’s participation in peace and security institutions that are funded in full.

As we are pushing for reform of the United Nations Security Council and a fundamental overhaul of the international financial architecture, we count on youth engagement and leadership.

Many of today’s developing countries had no voice when those institutions were established eight decades ago.  These systems were designed by the rich and remain controlled by the rich and are failing in some of their most basic functions.

We must shake off the relics of the past and create institutions that reflect the world today and serve its needs.  This is a matter of justice.

I urge all Member States to get behind our proposals.  And I ask young people to join forces with allies and partners across civil society — to demand that Governments make the Summit count.

You can start by supporting the Summit of the Future digital campaigns we are launching today:  take on the ActNow challenge — and share it with your networks — to show leaders how many of us demand a sustainable future for all; and sign the open letter to world leaders on reviving multilateralism, launched today by the United Nations Youth Office.

Beyond the Summit of the Future, I salute young people for being on the front lines for bold climate action.

Our climate is in meltdown, and the poorest are paying the price.  This is breathtaking injustice and a terrible betrayal of your generation.

Governments need to adopt strong policies to accelerate the global phase-out of fossil fuels and a just transition to clean energy.  They need to create new national climate plans by 2025 that align with the 1.5°C limit; and they need to bring young people into this work — meaningfully.

The transition to renewables must be just, and it must be sustainable.

We will soon launch our Panel on Critical Energy Transition Minerals — to help to ensure developing countries benefit fully from this transition.

My Youth Advisory Group on Climate Change will have a seat on this panel — and will help to engage young people in its work.

Developed countries must also keep their promises on climate finance, and Governments must make generous contributions to the new loss and damage fund as a step towards climate justice.

And we must all push to get finance flowing to sustainable development more broadly — to turbocharge the Sustainable Development Goals. That includes countries backing and implementing our plans for an SDG Stimulus and supporting deep reforms to the multilateral development banks.

Every generation serves as caretaker of this world.  Let’s be honest:  mine has been careless with that responsibility.  But yours gives me hope.

The United Nations stands with you.  Together, let’s deliver justice.  Let’s deliver solutions.  And let’s create a world of peace and prosperity for all.

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Sep 21, 2021

Joe Biden UN General Assembly Speech Transcript: Climate Agenda, COVID-19 Vaccines

President Joe Biden addressed the UN General Assembly on September 21, 2021. He said the world is at an “inflection point” amid the climate crisis and COVID-19 pandemic. Read the transcript of his full speech here.

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Speaker 1: ( 00:03 ) On behalf of the General Assembly. I have the honor to welcome to the United Nations, His Excellency, Joseph R. Biden, Jr., President of the United States of America. And to invite him to address the assembly.

President Biden: ( 00:19 ) Mr. President, Mr. Secretary General, my fellow delegates, to all those who dedicate themselves to this noble mission of this institution. It’s my honor to speak to you for the first time as president of the United States. We meet this year in a moment of intermingled with great pain and extraordinary possibility. We’ve lost so much to this devastating pandemic that continues to claim lives around the world and impact so much on our existence. We’re mourning more than 4.5 million people, people of every nation, from every background. Each death is an individual heartbreak, but our shared grief is a poignant reminder that our collective future will hinge on our ability to recognize our common humanity and to act together.

President Biden: ( 01:21 ) Ladies and gentlemen, this is the clear and urgent choice that we face here at the dawning of what must be a decisive decade for our world. A decade that will quite literally determine our futures. As a global community, we’re challenged by urgent and looming crises, and where in lie enormous opportunities if we can summon the will and resolve to seize these opportunities. Will we work together to save lives, defeat COVID-19 everywhere and take the necessary steps to prepare ourselves for the next pandemic, for there will be another one? Or will we fail to harness the tools at our disposal as more virulent, dangerous variants take hold?

President Biden: ( 02:11 ) Will we meet the threat of the challenging climate we’re all feeling already ravaging every part of our world with extreme weather, or will we suffer the merciless march of ever worsening droughts and floods, more intense fires and hurricanes, longer heat waves and rising seas? Will we affirm and uphold the human dignity and human rights under which nations in common cause more than seven decades ago formed this institution? Will we apply and strengthen the core tenants of the international system, including the UN Charter and the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, as we seek to shape the emergence of new technologies and deter new threats. Or will we allow those universal principles to be trampled and twisted in the pursuit of naked political power?

President Biden: ( 03:15 ) In my view, how we answer these questions in this moment, whether we choose to fight for our shared future or not, will reverberate for generations yet to come. Simply put, we stand in my view at an inflection point in history. And I’m here today to share with you how the United States intends to work with partners and allies to answer these questions. And the commitment of my new administration helped lead the world toward a more peaceful, prosperous future for all people.

President Biden: ( 03:52 ) Instead of continuing to fight the wars of the past, we are fixing our eyes on devoting our resources of the challenges that hold the keys to our collective future. Ending this pandemic, addressing the climate crisis, managing the shifts in global power dynamics, shaping the rules of the world on vital issues like trade, cyber, and emerging technologies and facing the threat of terrorism as it stands today.

President Biden: ( 04:26 ) We’ve ended 20 years of conflict in Afghanistan. And as we close this period of relentless war, we’re opening a new era of relentless diplomacy, of using the power of our development aid to invest in new ways of lifting people up around the world, of renewing and defending democracy, proving that no matter how challenging or how complex the problems we’re going to face, government by and for the people is still the best way to deliver for all of our people.

President Biden: ( 05:02 ) And as the United States turns our focus to the priorities and the regions of the world, like the Indo-Pacific that are most consequential today and tomorrow, we’ll do so with our allies and partners through cooperation and multilateral institutions like the United Nations to amplify our collective strength and speed, our progress toward dealing with these global challenges. It is the fundamental truth of the 21st century within each of our countries and as a global community, that our own success is bound up in other succeeding as well. To deliver for our own people, we must also engage deeply with the rest of the world to ensure that our own future, we must work together with other partners, our partners toward a shared future. Our security, our prosperity, and our very freedoms are interconnected in my view as never before. And so, I believe we must work together as never before.

President Biden: ( 06:11 ) Over the last eight months, I prioritized rebuilding our alliances, revitalizing our partnerships, and recognizing they’re essential and central to America’s enduring security and prosperity. We have reaffirmed our sacred NATO Alliance to article five commitment. We’re working with our allies toward a new strategic concept that will help our alliance better take on the evolving threats of today and tomorrow. We renewed our engagement with the European Union, a fundamental partner in tackling the full range of significant issues facing our world today. We elevated the quad partnership among Australia, India, Japan, and the United States to take on challenges ranging from health security, to climate, to emerging technologies.

President Biden: ( 07:07 ) We’re engaging with regional institutions from [inaudible 00:07:10] to the African Union to the Organization of American States, to focus on people’s urgent needs for better health and better economic outcomes. We’re back at the table in international forums, especially the United Nations to focus attention and dispar global action on shared challenges.

President Biden: ( 07:35 ) We are reengaged at the World Health Organization and working in close partnership with Kovacs to deliver life-saving vaccines around the world. We rejoin the Paris Climate Agreement and we’re running to retake a seat in the Human Rights Council next year at the UN. And as the United States seeks to rally the world action, we will lead not just through the example of our power, but God willing with the power of our example. Make no mistake. The United States will continue to defend ourselves, our allies, and our interest against attack, including terrorist threats, as we prepare to use force, if any is necessary. But to defend our vital US national interest, including against ongoing and imminent threats. But the mission must be clear and achievable. Undertaken with informed consent of the American people. And whenever possible, in partnership with our allies. US military power must be our tool of last resort. Not our first. It should not be used as an answer to every problem we see around the world. Indeed, today, many of our greatest concerns cannot be solved or even addressed through the force of arms. Bombs and bullets cannot-

President Biden: ( 09:03 ) … through the force of arms. Bombs and bullets cannot defend against COVID-19 or its future variants. To fight this pandemic, we need a collective act of science and political will. We need to act now to get shots and arms as fast as possible, and expand access to oxygen, tests, treatments to save lives around the world. And for the future, we need to create a new mechanism to finance global health security that builds on our existing development assistance and a global health threat council that is armed with the tools we need to monitor and identify emerging pandemics so that we can take immediate action.

President Biden: ( 09:53 ) Already the United States has put more than $15 billion toward the global COVID response. We’ve shipped more than 160 million doses of COVID-19 vaccine to other countries. This includes 130 million doses from our own supply and the first tranches of the half a billion doses of Pfizer vaccine, we purchased to donate through COVAX. Planes carrying vaccines from the United States have already landed in 100 countries, bringing people all over the world, a little dose of hope as one American nurse termed it to me. A dose of hope direct from the American people and importantly, no strings attached.

President Biden: ( 10:44 ) And tomorrow at the US hosted Global COVID-19 Summit, I’ll be announcing additional commitments as we seek to advance the fight against COVID-19 and hold ourselves accountable around specific targets on three key challenges. Saving lives now, vaccinating the world, and building back better. This year has also brought widespread death and devastation from the borderless climate crisis. The extreme weather events that we have seen in every part of the world, and you all know it and feel it represent what the Secretary General has rightly called code red for humanity.

President Biden: ( 11:32 ) And the scientists and experts are telling us that we’re fast approaching a point of no return in a literal sense. To keep within our reach the vital goal of limiting global warming to 1.5 degrees Celsius, every nation needs to bring their highest possible ambitions to the table when we meet in Glasgow for COP26. And then to have to keep raising our collective ambition over time.

President Biden: ( 12:05 ) In April, I announced the United States ambitious new goal under the Paris Agreement. To reduce greenhouse gas emissions from the United States by 50 to 52% below 2005 levels by 2030, as we work toward achieving the clean energy economy with net zero emissions by 2050. And my administration’s working closely with our Congress to make critical investments in green infrastructure and electric vehicles will help us lock in progress at home toward our climate goals. And the best part is making these ambitious investments isn’t just good climate policy, it’s a chance for each of our countries to invest in ourselves and our own future.

President Biden: ( 12:56 ) It’s an enormous opportunity to create good paying jobs for workers in each of our countries and to spur long-term economic growth that will improve the quality of life for all of our people. We also have to support the countries and people that will be hit the hardest and that have the fewest resources to help them adapt. In April, I announced that United States will double our public international financing to help developing nations tackle the climate crisis. And today, I’m proud to announce that we’ll work with the Congress to double that number again, including for adaptation efforts.

President Biden: ( 13:38 ) This will make the United States leader in public climate finance, and with our added support together with increased private capital from other donors, we’ll be able to meet the goal of mobilizing $100 billion to support climate action in developing nations. As we deal with these crises, we’re also encountering a new era. An era of new technologies and possibilities that have potential to release and reshape every aspect of human existence. And it’s up to all of us to determine whether these technologies are forced to empower people or to deepen repression.

President Biden: ( 14:24 ) As new technologies continue to evolve, we’ll work together with our democratic partners to ensure that new advances in areas from biotechnology to quantum computing, 5G, artificial intelligence, and more are used to lift people up, to solve problems and advance human freedom, not to suppress dissent or target minority communities. And the United States tends to make a profound investment in research and innovation, working with countries at all stages of economic development to develop new tools and technologies to help us tackle the challenges of this second quarter of the 21st century and beyond.

President Biden: ( 15:11 ) We’re hardening our critical infrastructure against cyber attacks, disrupting ransomware networks and working to establish clear rules of the road for all nations, as it relates to cyberspace. We reserve the right to respond decisively to cyber attacks that threaten our people, our allies, or our interest. We will pursue new rules of global trade and economic growth to strive a level of playing field. So it’s not artificially tipped in favor of any one country at the expense of others. And every nation has the right and opportunity to compete fairly.

President Biden: ( 15:54 ) We will strive to ensure that basic labor rights, environmental safeguards, and intellectual property are protected, and that the benefits of globalization are shared broadly throughout all our societies. We’ll continue to uphold the long-standing rules and norms that have formed the guardrails of international engagement for decades that have been essential to the development of nations around the world. Bedrock commitments, like freedom of navigation, adherence to international laws and treaties, support for arms control measures to reduce the risk and enhance transparency.

President Biden: ( 16:37 ) Our approach is firmly around it and fully consistent with the United Nation’s mission and the values we’ve agreed to when we drafted this charter. These are commitments we all made, and that we’re all bound to uphold. And as we strive to deal with these urgent challenges, whether they’re long-standing or newly emerging, we must also deal with one another. All of the major powers of the world have a duty, in my view, to carefully manage their relationships. So they do not tip from responsible competition to conflict.

President Biden: ( 17:18 ) The United States will compete and we will compete vigorously and lead with our values and our strength. We’ll stand up for our allies and our friends and oppose attempts by stronger countries to dominate weaker ones, whether through changes to territory by force, economic coercion or technical exploitation or disinformation, but we’re not seeking, say it again, we are not seeking a new cold war or a world divided into rigid blocks. The United States is ready to work with any nation that steps up and pursues peaceful resolution to share challenges even if we have intense disagreements in…

President Biden: ( 18:03 ) Even if we have intense disagreement in other areas, because we’ll all suffer the consequences of our failure, if we do not come together to address the urgent threats like COVID-19 and climate change or enduring threats like nuclear proliferation. The United States remains committed for ready to preventing Iran from getting a nuclear weapon. Where are working with the P5+1 to engage Iran diplomatically, and to seek a return to JCPOA. We’re prepared to return to full compliance if Iran does the same.

President Biden: ( 18:44 ) Similarly, we seek serious and sustained diplomacy to pursue the complete denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula. We seek concrete progress toward an available plan with tangible commitments that would increase stability on the peninsula and in the region, as well as improve the lives of the people in the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea.

President Biden: ( 19:11 ) We must also remain vigilant to the threat of terror, that terrorism poses to all our nations. Whether emanating from distant regions of the world, or in our own backyard. We know the bitter string of terrorism. The bitter sting of terrorism is real. We’ve almost all experienced it.

President Biden: ( 19:32 ) Last month, we lost 13 American heroes and almost 200 innocent Afghan civilians in a heinous terrorist attack at Kabul airport. Those who commit acts of terrorism against us will continue to find a determined enemy in the United States. The world today is not the world of 2001 though, and the United States is not the same country we were when we were attacked on 9/11, 20 years ago. Today, we’re better equipped to detect, to prevent terrorist threats and we are more resilient in our ability to repel them and to respond. We know how to build effective partnerships to dismantle terrorist networks by targeting their financing and support systems, countering their propaganda, preventing their travel as well as disrupting imminent attacks. We’ll meet terrorist threats that arise today and the future with a full range of tools available to us, including working in cooperation with local partners so that we need not be so reliant on large scale military deployments.

President Biden: ( 20:42 ) One of the most important ways we can effectively enhance security and reduce violence is by seeking to improve the lives of the people all over the world, who see that their governments are not serving their needs. Corruption fuels inequality, siphons off a nation’s resources, spreads across borders and generates human suffering. It’s nothing less than a national security threat in the 21st century. Around the world, we’re increasingly seeing citizens demonstrate their discontent. Seeing the wealthy and well connected grow richer and richer, taking payoffs and bribes, operating above the law while the vast majority of the people struggle to find a job or put food on the table or to get their businesses off the ground, or simply send their children to school. People have taken to the streets in every region to demand that their governments address people’s basic needs, give everyone a fair shot to succeed and protect their God-given rights.

President Biden: ( 21:57 ) And in that chorus of voices, across languages and continents, we hear a common cry. A cry for dignity, simple dignity. As leaders, it’s our duty to answer that call, not to silence it. The United States has committed to using our resources and our international platform to support these voices, listen to them, partner with them, to find ways to respond that advance human dignity around the world. For example, there’s an enormous need for infrastructure in developing countries. With infrastructure that is low quality or that feeds corruption or exacerbates environmental degradation, may only end up contributing to greater challenges for countries over time. Done the right way, however, with transparent, sustainable investment in projects that respond to the country’s needs and engage their local workers to maintain high labor and environmental standards, infrastructure can be a strong foundation that allows societies in low and middle income countries to grow and to prosper. That’s the idea behind the Build Back Better world. And together with the private sector and our G7 partners, we aim to mobilize hundreds of billions of dollars in infrastructure investment. We will also continue to be the world’s largest contributor to humanitarian assistance, bringing food, water, shelter, emergency healthcare, and other vital life-saving aid to millions of people in need. When the earthquake strikes, the typhoon rages or disaster anywhere in the world, the United States shows up, we’ll be ready to help. And at a time when nearly one in three people globally do not have access to adequate food, adequate food just last year, the United States is committing to rallying our partners to address immediate malnutrition and to ensure that we can sustainably feed the world for the decades to come. To that end, the United States is making a $10 billion commitment to end hunger and invest in food systems at home and abroad.

President Biden: ( 24:28 ) Since 2000, the United States government has provided more than $140 billion to advance health and strengthen health systems. And we will continue our leadership to drive these vital investments to make people’s lives better every single day, just give them a little breathing room.

President Biden: ( 24:49 ) And as we strive to make lives better, we must work with renewed purpose to end the conflicts that are driving so much pain and hurt around the world. We must redouble our diplomacy and commit to political negotiations, not violence, as a tool of first resort, to manage tensions around the world. We must seek a future of greater peace and security for all people of the Middle East.

President Biden: ( 25:18 ) The commitment of the United States Digital Securities, without question, are our support for an independent Jewish state is unequivocal, but I continue to believe that a two-state solution is the best way to ensure Israel’s future as a Jewish democratic state, living in peace, alongside of viable sovereign and democratic Palestinian state. We’re a long way from that goal at this moment, but we must never allow ourselves to give up on the possibility of progress.

President Biden: ( 25:49 ) We cannot give up on solving raging civil conflicts, including in Ethiopia and Yemen, who are fighting between warring parties is driving famine, horrific violence, human rights violations against civilians, including an unconscionable use of rape, as a weapon of war. We’ll continue to work with the international community, to press for peace and bring an end to this suffering.

President Biden: ( 26:21 ) As we pursue diplomacy across the board, the United States will champion the democratic values that go to the very heart of who we are as a nation and a people. Freedom, equality, opportunity, and a belief in the universal rights of all people. It’s stamped into our DNA as a nation and critically it’s stamped into the DNA of this institution, the United States, we sometimes forget. To quote the opening words of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, quote, “The equal and inalienable rights of all members of the human family is the …

President Biden: ( 27:03 ) …All members of the human family is the foundation of freedom, justice, and peace in the world. The founding ethos of the United Nations places the rights of individuals at the center of our system, and that clarity and vision must not be ignored or misinterpreted. The United States will do our part, but we’ll be more successful and more impactful if all of our nations are working toward the full mission to which we are called. That’s why more than 100 nations united around a shared statement, and the Security Council adopted a resolution outlining how we’ll support the people of Afghanistan moving forward, laying out the expectations to which we’ll hold the Taliban when it comes to respecting universal human rights. We all must advocate for the rights of women and girls to use their full talents, to contribute economically, politically, and socially, and pursue their dreams free of violence and intimidation, from Central America to the Middle East to Africa to Afghanistan, wherever it appears in the world. We all must call out and condemn the targeting and oppression of racial, ethnic, and religious minorities, whether it occurs in Xinjiang or northern Ethiopia or anywhere in the world. We all must defend the rights of LGBTQI individuals so they can live and love openly without fear, whether it’s Chechnya or Cameroon or anywhere. As we steer our nations toward this inflection point and work to meet today’s fast-moving, cross-cutting challenges, let me be clear. I am not agnostic about the future we want for the world. The future will belong to those who embrace human dignity, not trample it. The future will belong to those who unleash the potential of their people, not those who stifle it. The future will belong to those who give their people the ability to breathe free, not those who seek to suffocate their people with an iron hand. The authoritarians of the world may seek to proclaim the end of the age of democracy, but they’re wrong. The truth is, the democratic world is everywhere. It lives in anti-corruption activists, human rights defenders, the journalists, the peace protesters, on the front lines of this struggle in Belarus, Burma, Syria, Cuba, Venezuela, and everywhere in between. It lives in the brave women of Sudan who withstood violence and oppression to push a genocidal dictator from power and who keep working every day to defend their democratic progress. It lives in the proud Moldovans who helped deliver a landslide victory for the forces of democracy with a mandate to fight graft to build a more inclusive economy. It lives in the young people of Zambia who harnessed the power of their vote for the first time, turning out in record numbers to denounce corruption and chart a new path for their country.

President Biden: ( 30:37 ) And while no democracy is perfect, including the United States, we’ll continue to struggle to live up to the highest ideals to heal our divisions, and we face down violence and insurrection. Democracy remains the best tool we have to unleash our full human potential. My fellow leaders, this is the moment where we must prove ourselves the equals of those who come before us, who with vision and values and determined faith in our collective future built our United Nations, broke the cycle of war and destruction, and laid the foundations for more than seven decades of relative peace and growing global prosperity. Now we must again come together to affirm the inherent humanity that unites us is much greater than any outward divisions or disagreements. We must choose to do more than we think we can do alone, so that we accomplish what we must together.

President Biden: ( 31:43 ) Ending this pandemic and making sure we’re better prepared for the next one; staving off climactic climate change and increasing our resilience to the impacts we already are seeing; ensuring a future where technologies are the vital tool to solving human challenges and empowering human potential, not a source of greater strife and repression. These are the challenges that will determine what the world looks like for our children and our grandchildren and what they’ll inherit. We can only meet them by looking to the future. I stand here today, for the first time in 20 years, the United States is not at war. We’ve turned the page. All the unmatched strength, energy, and commitment, will and resources of our nation, are now fully and squarely focused on what’s ahead of us, not what was behind.

President Biden: ( 32:42 ) I know this; as we look ahead, we will lead. We will lead on all the greatest challenges of our time, from COVID to climate, peace and security, human dignity and human rights, but we will not go it alone. We will lead together, with our allies and partners, in cooperation with all those who believe as we do, that this is within our power to meet these challenges, to build a future that lifts all of our people and preserves this planet. But none of this is inevitable. It’s a choice. And I can tell you where America stands. We will choose to build a better future. We, you and I, we have the will and capacity to make it better. Ladies and gentlemen, we cannot afford to waste any more time. Let’s get to work. Let’s make our better future now. We can do this. It’s within our power and capacity. Thank you. God bless you all.

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ADDRESS OF HIS HOLINESS POPE FRANCIS TO THE STUDENTS AND TEACHERS OF THE NATIONAL NETWORK OF "SCHOOLS FOR PEACE"

Paul VI Audience Hall Friday, 19 April 2024

[ Multimedia ]

________________________________________

Dear boys, dear girls, dear teachers, good morning everyone!

I am pleased to meet once again the national network of “Schools for Peace”. I greet Dr. Lotti and I welcome all of you.

I first want to thank you. Thank you for this journey, rich in ideas, initiatives, educational processes and activities, which are intended to promote a new vision of the world. Thank you for being full of enthusiasm in pursuing objectives of beauty and goodness, in the midst of dramatic situations, injustices and violence that disfigure human dignity. Thank you, because with passion and generosity you are committed to working in the “building site” of the future, overcoming the temptation of a life restricted merely to today, that risks losing the ability to dream big. Today however, more than ever, there is a need to live responsibly, broadening our horizons, looking forward and sowing day by day those seeds of peace that tomorrow will be able to germinate and bear fruit. Thank you, boys and girls!

This coming September, the  Summit of the Future  will take place in New York, convened by the United Nations to face the major global challenges of this moment in history and to sign a “Pact for the Future” and a “Declaration on the future generations”. It will be an important event, and your contribution is needed so that it does not remain “on paper”, but becomes concrete and is implemented through processes and actions for change.

You carry in your heart this great dream: “ Let us transform the future. For peace, with care ”. And it I would like to pause briefly to tell you something I believe very much: that you are called – listen carefully –  you are called to be protagonists and not spectators of the future . I ask you: to what are you called? To be what? ( The young people answer ). I can’t hear you! ( The young people answer loudly ). Come on! Go ahead! The convocation of this global Summit, in fact, reminds us that we are all called to build a better future and, above all, that we must build it together! I ask you: can we build the future by ourselves? ( The young people answer “no” ). I can’t hear you… ( A loud “no” ). Must we build it? ( “Yes!” ). Good! We cannot simply delegate the worries for the “world that will come” and for the resolution of its problems to the designated institutions and to those who have particular social and political responsibilities. It is true that these challenges require specific competences, but it is equally true that they affect us closely, touching the lives of everyone and demanding active participation and personal commitment from each one of us. In a globalized world like this, where we are all interdependent, it is not possible to proceed as individuals who tend only to their own “garden”, who cultivate their own interests: it is instead necessary to connect and form networks. What is needed?  To connect and form networks . What is needed?  To connect and form networks . All together: ( The young people answer the Pope’s appeal ). Good, yes, and this is important: it is necessary to connect, to work in synergy and harmony. This means passing from “I” to “we”, passing from “I” to “we”: not “I work for my own good”, but “we work for the common good, for the good of all”. We work for the good of all. Together… ( The young people repeat ). Good!

In effect, today’s challenges, and especially the risks that, like dark clouds, gather above us, threatening our future, have also become global. They affect all of us, they challenge the enter human community, they require the courage and creativity of a  collective dream  that inspires constant commitment in order to confront together the environmental crises, the economic crisis, the political and social crises that our planet is going through.

Dear boys, dear girls, dear teachers, it is a dream that requires that we be awake, and not slumbering! Yes, because it is brought about by working, not sleeping; walking the streets, not lying on the sofa; using information media well, not wasting time on social media; and then – listen carefully – this type of dream is fulfilled also with prayer, that is, together with God, and not by our own strength alone.

Dear students, dear teachers, you have placed two key words at the heart of your commitment:  peace  and  care . They are two interconnected realities: indeed, peace is not merely the silence of weapons and absence of war; it is a climate of benevolence, trust and love that can mature in a society based on relations of care, in which individualism, distraction and indifference give way to the capacity to pay attention to others, to listen to them in their fundamental needs, to heal their wounds, to be instruments of compassion and healing for him or her. This is the care that Jesus has towards humanity, in particular towards the most fragile, and of which the Gospel speaks often. From mutual “caring” an inclusive society is born, founded on peace and dialogue.

In this time, still marked by war, I ask you to be artisans of peace; in a society still imprisoned by the throwaway culture, I ask you to be protagonists of inclusion; in a world traversed by global crises, I ask you to be builders of the future, so that our common home may become a place of fraternity.

I would like to speak to you for a couple of minutes about war… Think of the children who are in war, think of the Ukrainian children who have forgotten how to smile… Pray for these children, keep them in your heart… the children who are at war. Think of the children of Gaza, under fire, hungry… Think of the children. Now a moment’s silence, and each one of you, think of the Ukrainian children and the children of Gaza…

I wish for you always to be impassioned by the dream of peace! I say so with the motto of Don Lorenzo Milani, the prior of Barbiana, who opposed “I don't care”, typical of mindless indifference, with the “I care”, that is, “I take it to heart”, “I am interested”. May all this be dear to you, may you always care about the fate of our planet and your fellow human beings; may you care about the future that is opening before us, so that it may truly be as God dreams it for all: a future of peace and beauty for all humanity. And may you care about the children of Ukraine, who forget to smile. The children of Gaza, who suffer under machine-gun fire. I bless you from my heart. Enjoy school and have a good journey! And please remember to pray for me.

Thank you very much!

________________________________

Holy See Press Office Bulletin , 19 April 2024

Copyright © Dicastero per la Comunicazione - Libreria Editrice Vaticana

Young people hold the key to creating a better future

Image:  Fateme Alaie/Unsplash

.chakra .wef-1c7l3mo{-webkit-transition:all 0.15s ease-out;transition:all 0.15s ease-out;cursor:pointer;-webkit-text-decoration:none;text-decoration:none;outline:none;color:inherit;}.chakra .wef-1c7l3mo:hover,.chakra .wef-1c7l3mo[data-hover]{-webkit-text-decoration:underline;text-decoration:underline;}.chakra .wef-1c7l3mo:focus,.chakra .wef-1c7l3mo[data-focus]{box-shadow:0 0 0 3px rgba(168,203,251,0.5);} Klaus Schwab

.chakra .wef-9dduvl{margin-top:16px;margin-bottom:16px;line-height:1.388;font-size:1.25rem;}@media screen and (min-width:56.5rem){.chakra .wef-9dduvl{font-size:1.125rem;}} Explore and monitor how .chakra .wef-15eoq1r{margin-top:16px;margin-bottom:16px;line-height:1.388;font-size:1.25rem;color:#F7DB5E;}@media screen and (min-width:56.5rem){.chakra .wef-15eoq1r{font-size:1.125rem;}} Youth Perspectives is affecting economies, industries and global issues

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Stay up to date:, youth perspectives.

Listen to the article

• Young people are the most affected by the crises facing our world.
• They are also the ones with the most innovative ideas and energy to build a better society for tomorrow.
• Read the report "Davos Labs: Youth Recovery Plan" here .

Have you read?

Youth recovery plan.

Young people today are coming to age in a world beset by crises. Even before the COVID-19 pandemic devastated lives and livelihoods around the world, the socio-economic systems of the past had put the liveability of the planet at risk and eroded the pathway to healthy, happy, fulfilled lives for too many.

The same prosperity that enabled global progress and democracy after the Second World War is now creating the inequality, social discord and climate change we see today — along with a widening generational wealth gap and youth debt burden, too. For Millennials, the 2008 financial crisis and the Great Recession resulted in significant unemployment, huge student debt and a lack of meaningful jobs. Now, for Generation Z, COVID-19 has caused school shutdowns, worsening unemployment, and mass protests.

Young people are right to be deeply concerned and angry, seeing these challenges as a betrayal of their future.

But we can’t let these converging crises stifle us. We must remain optimistic – and we must act.

The next generation are the most important and most affected stakeholders when talking about our global future – and we owe them more than this. The year 2021 is the time to start thinking and acting long-term to make intergenerational parity the norm and to design a society, economy and international community that cares for all people.

Young people are also the best placed to lead this transformation. In the past 10 years of working with the World Economic Forum’s Global Shapers Community, a network of people between the ages of 20 and 30 working to address problems in more than 450 cities around the world, I’ve seen first-hand that they are the ones with the most innovative ideas and energy to build a better society for tomorrow.

Over the past year, Global Shapers organized dialogues on the most pressing issues facing society, government and business in 146 cities, reaching an audience of more than 2 million. The result of this global, multistakeholder effort, “ Davos Labs: Youth Recovery Plan ,” presents both a stark reminder of our urgent need to act and compelling insights for creating a more resilient, sustainable, inclusive world.

One of the unifying themes of the discussions was the lack of trust young people have for existing political, economic and social systems. They are fed up with ongoing concerns of corruption and stale political leadership, as well as the constant threat to physical safety caused by surveillance and militarized policing against activists and people of colour. In fact, more young people hold faith in governance by system of artificial intelligence than by a fellow human being.

Facing a fragile labour market and almost bankrupt social security system, almost half of those surveyed said they felt they had inadequate skills for the current and future workforce, and almost a quarter said they would risk falling into debt if faced with an unexpected medical expense. The fact that half of the global population remains without internet access presents additional hurdles. Waves of lockdowns and the stresses of finding work or returning to workplaces have exacerbated the existential and often silent mental health crisis.

So, what would Millennials and Generation Z do differently?

Most immediately, they are calling for the international community to safeguard vaccine equity to respond to COVID-19 and prevent future health crises.

Young people are rallying behind a global wealth tax to help finance more resilient safety nets and to manage the alarming surge in wealth inequality. They are calling to direct greater investments to programmes that help young progressive voices join government and become policymakers.

I am inspired by the countless examples of young people pursuing collective action by bringing together diverse voices to care for their communities.

To limit global warming, young people are demanding a halt to coal, oil and gas exploration, development, and financing, as well as asking firms to replace any corporate board directors who are unwilling to transition to cleaner energy sources.

They are championing an open internet and a $2 trillion digital access plan to bring the world online and prevent internet shutdowns, and they are presenting new ways to minimize the spread of misinformation and combat dangerous extremist views. At the same time, they’re speaking up about mental health and calling for investment to prevent and tackle the stigma associated with it.

The Global Shapers Community is a network of young people under the age of 30 who are working together to drive dialogue, action and change to address local, regional and global challenges.

The community spans more than 8,000 young people in 165 countries and territories.

Teams of Shapers form hubs in cities where they self-organize to create projects that address the needs of their community. The focus of the projects are wide-ranging, from responding to disasters and combating poverty, to fighting climate change and building inclusive communities.

Examples of projects include Water for Life, a effort by the Cartagena Hub that provides families with water filters that remove biological toxins from the water supply and combat preventable diseases in the region, and Creativity Lab from the Yerevan Hub, which features activities for children ages 7 to 9 to boost creative thinking.

Each Shaper also commits personally and professionally to take action to preserve our planet.

Join or support a hub near you .

Transparency, accountability, trust and a focus on stakeholder capitalism will be key to meeting this generation’s ambitions and expectations. We must also entrust in them the power to take the lead to create meaningful change.

I am inspired by the countless examples of young people pursuing collective action by bringing together diverse voices to care for their communities. From providing humanitarian assistance to refugees to helping those most affected by the pandemic to driving local climate action, their examples provide the blueprints we need to build the more resilient, inclusive, and sustainable society and economy we need in the post-COVID-19 world.

We are living together in a global village, and it’s only by interactive dialogue, understanding each another and having respect for one another that we can create the necessary climate for a peaceful and sustainable world.

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Work together to build peace, fight injustice and shape a better world

Addressing young leaders at One Young World, Gro Harlem Brundtland defends the concept of global citizenship and calls for collaboration to tackle global challenges.

This keynote speech was delivered at One Young World's London Summit on 25 October 2019.

Excellencies, Ladies and Gentlemen, dear friends,

It is a privilege and a pleasure to be with you here today, and to have enjoyed the opportunity for so many stimulating discussions here at One Young World.

I am speaking here as a member of The Elders, the group of independent leaders founded by Nelson Mandela in 2007 to work for peace, justice and human rights.

It is deeply rewarding for us “Elders” to talk to you, the “Youngers”, and learn more about your thoughts and hopes for the future.

The determination of One Young World delegates to work together for a better world, and your optimism that such an outcome is achievable, is a welcome antidote to the pessimism, cynicism and sometimes even despair that seems to characterise the global political debate of our times.

I share your determination, applaud your optimism and offer you my solidarity in the momentous task of building peace, securing social justice and protecting human rights in open, diverse and tolerant societies.

And for all the well-founded concerns about the future of multilateralism and the international rules-based system that we have heard in the various discussions, we are fortunate to have two remarkable multilateral accomplishments to help us in this common task: the Sustainable Development Goals , and the Paris Agreement on climate change.

Taken together, they offer a realistic pathway to a more equitable and peaceful world where climate disaster is averted, and human rights and justice are integral to national and international development plans.

We will only tackle the threat of climate change and truly implement sustainable development if our efforts are rooted in the principles of multilateralism, cooperation and inclusion.

This means listening to the voices of young people, and recognising that climate change indeed is an intergenerational injustice.

It is wrong that you young people should pay the price for my generation’s failure to act with sufficient urgency and ambition to curb emissions, end the use of fossil fuels and invest in renewable energy.

And it is critical that your voices are heard in the debates now underway about the best way to face the future. You are following in the admirable footsteps of Greta Thunberg, and other youth activists and environmentalists in the room today like Farwiza Farhan and Abdulla Fisam.

These courageous young women and men do recognise that the existential threats facing humanity know no borders.

They act as global citizens to find common solutions, and offer us all a model to follow.

This concept of global citizenship is essential to peacebuilding. It is an expression of solidarity that echoes the opening lines of the UN Charter:

“We, the peoples… [are] determined to save succeeding generations from the scourge of war.”  

But I fear it is an indisputable fact that the political and cultural environment in which a true sense of global citizenship can be nurtured has become much more challenging over the past four years, the deceptive allure of populism and isolationism has grown across all continents, from North and South America to Africa, Asia and Europe.

Faced with complex, multi-faceted challenges from nuclear proliferation to climate change and a radical transformation of our economic and social models, it is perhaps understandable that many people from everyday walks of life feel overwhelmed and seek solace in simplified narratives of a bygone “golden age” when they had a sense of being in control of their individual and national destinies.

What is profoundly irresponsible, however, is for politicians to collude in or deliberately stoke these illusions for their own aims of securing and sustaining power, in full knowledge that no one country, however powerful, will be able to meet these global challenges on its own.

Even here in the United Kingdom, a country I admire for its openness to the world and the richness of its multicultural heritage, some politicians have sneered at the concept of being a global citizen, dismissing and distorting it as being a “citizen of nowhere”.

Nothing could be further from the truth!

I think that all of you in this hall today understand both personally and politically that being a global citizen does not mean your attachment to and love of the country of your birth is in any way diminished.

On the contrary, it is enhanced by building new connections, discovering common interests and priorities, and working together to overcome global challenges.

This is why I believe it is absolutely essential for global peace and security that the member states of the United Nations understand and meet their responsibilities under the UN Charter and act in the service of all humanity rather than the narrow fields of national, ideological or sectarian interests.

Next year, the UN will celebrate its 75 th anniversary.

This is an important moment for member states to recommit to its founding values, and for civil society worldwide to act with vigilance and resolve to not only celebrate past achievements, but ensure the organisation can succeed in its mission in the future.

We need only look at the appalling scenes from Syria and Yemen to see the price paid by innocent civilians when world powers reduce foreign policy decisions to the level of business transactions, without any consideration for humanitarian needs, long-term strategic alliances or respect for human rights.

It seems that some leaders have forgotten the meaning of integrity, as they recklessly or cynically abandon previous alliances, or tolerate assassinations and poisonings as an instrument of state power, while insisting in public that no such moves have taken place and creating the concept of “fake news” to confuse and obscure their real motives.

Leaders need to be reminded that concepts of truth, honour and trustworthiness are indispensable if the peoples of the world are to live in lasting peace.

For this to happen, the citizens of these countries – and particularly young leaders such as yourselves – need to hold their leaders to account.

You need to get organised, engage with existing political structures – and vote!

Those of you in this hall who are already in positions of leadership should insist that your older colleagues recognise both the severity of our global challenges, and the imperative of a collaborative, multilateral approach.

This has been the guiding principle of my political career and wider engagement in public life for over four decades.

As threats mounted to the environment on which we all depend, and the need to protect Planet Earth became a major concern, I found myself in the role of minister of Environment in Norway in the 1970s.

I became deeply involved, engaged and convinced in pursuing a pattern of development that could benefit everyone, protect our planet and promote peace.

I continued this agenda as Prime Minister in the 1980s, while I also chaired the World Commission on Environment and Development at the invitation of UN Secretary-General Javier Pérez de Cuéllar.

I am glad to say that our 1987 report,  “Our Common Future” , became a landmark document that brought sustainable development to the attention of Presidents, Prime Ministers and Finance Ministers, and thereby into the mainstream of policymaking, nationally and internationally. It initiated the Rio Conference in 1992 and continues to influence global thinking today.

When I look back at the words I wrote in the Foreword of our report, in 1987, I am struck by their continued relevance today:

“Our most urgent task today is to persuade nations of the need to return to multilateralism… the challenge of finding sustainable development paths ought to provide the impetus - indeed the imperative - for a renewed search for multilateral solutions and a restructured international economic system of co-operation.”

Of course, the world has changed immeasurably since the 1980s.

The ideological struggles between capitalism and Communism have been consigned to the history books, and the Berlin Wall and Iron Curtain are mercifully fading memories.

Issues that were then still viewed as “fringe”, from feminism, racism and sexual equality to climate change and biodiversity, are now taken seriously at the very highest levels of state power.

Globalisation has transformed economic models, supply chains, labour markets, industrial relations and migratory flows.

Millions of people worldwide now work in the so-called “gig economy”, facilitated by digital technology, while advances in robotics and artificial intelligence are fundamentally transforming everything from manufacturing and heavy industry to education and the service sector.

From fighting terrorism to managing migration , from developing new methods of environmentally-sustainable economic growth to promoting tolerance in multicultural societies, we will only make progress if we act in concert with one another, not just competition.

None of this is possible without a strong, effective and principled system of international rules and institutions to ensure that fairness lies at the heart of governance and decision-making.

Fairness means inclusion. It means the voices of young people, women, indigenous communities, migrants, sexual minorities and other marginalised groups are listened to in the decision-making process, from the Chamber of the UN Security Council to SDG Summits and national parliaments.

The “UN75” programme of activities offers many such opportunities for citizen engagement. However a collaborative and inclusive approach to solving global problems cannot begin and end at the UN.

Business leaders, including those represented here at One Young World, can and must play a critical role alongside non-governmental organisations, labour unions, women, youth, faith leaders and other representatives of civil society.

Business leaders must also speak up for a regulatory environment that protects all human rights and meets climate obligations. They must also do more to be transparent and accountable about their own activities, including their roles in partnerships to help implement the SDGs.

Nearly four hundred years ago, the English poet John Donne wrote some memorable lines that echo down the generations. These should inspire us also today:

“ No man is an island, Entire of itself, Every man is a piece of the continent, A part of the main.”

Donne’s words are literally true today in the context of climate change, and their metaphorical strength resounds when we think about almost any aspect of geopolitics, from the future of the European Union to building peace in the Middle East, developing just and resilient frameworks to manage global refugee policy, and working to prevent nuclear proliferation and the spread of new weapons of mass destruction.

Global problems cannot be solved if countries cut themselves off from their neighbours by building walls or leaving regional bodies that have helped maintain peace and stability for decades.

Proclaiming one's country to be “greater” than any other may win applause in an election campaign, but it is an unrealistic and ultimately dishonest approach to the hard realities of governance – and sooner or later, its shortcomings will be exposed.

The challenges facing our world, and the consequences for the future of you young people gathered here, let alone your children and grandchildren, are too grave and pressing to allow leaders to indulge in blinkered or disingenuous isolationism.

This is why The Elders seek to address the twin existential threats of our age – climate change and nuclear weapons – and to support all efforts to bolster the international rules-based system and a multilateral response.

On climate change, the science is clear. As the 2018 report from the UN’s Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change set out, we have less than a dozen years to cut global emissions by 45 percent and keep temperature rises to 1.5 degrees Celsius. Any rise over this level spells catastrophe for global ecosystems, flora, fauna and whole communities.

This is not just a matter of environmental concern. It affects social justice, sustainable development, human rights, peace and global stability – in short, it matters to every woman, man and child on the face of the planet.

Many of the same moral arguments apply to the issue of nuclear disarmament and non-proliferation.

Those of us who grew up in the shadow of the Cold War were acutely aware of the devastating, indiscriminate threat posed by these weapons and were determined that they should never be used.

But over the past three decades since the collapse of the Soviet Union, an alarming complacency has grown up around the importance of this threat. 

The institutions and mechanisms established during the period of superpower rivalry have withered through neglect or deliberate misuse, even though the risks posed by nuclear weapons have in many ways increased through technological developments.

The termination by the United States of the Intermediate-range Nuclear Forces (INF) Treaty has dangerously raised the stakes for a new nuclear arms race, making it all the more critical to renew and defend other nuclear treaties – or risk the dangerous prospect of no formal arms control mechanisms in place between the two leading superpowers for the first time in nearly half a century.

The common strand binding these two challenges is that both can only be effectively addressed by ethical leadership and multilateral cooperation. 

We need to insist on a people-centred, holistic and inclusive approach to tackling all interlocked global challenges – including equality for women and girls, sustainable development, universal health coverage, access to justice and the strengthening of democratic institutions. 

My generation cannot do this on its own. Some might even say that we cannot be trusted to do it on our own.  We need the fierce clarity of youth to hold us to our principles and stiffen our resolve!

So let us work together to build peace, fight injustice and build that better world that is your birthright.

FEATURED ELDERS

Gro Harlem Brundtland

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Speech on peace delivered by President John F. Kennedy

Peace at Any Price: John F. Kennedy's Lasting Legacy - Gordon Review

[…] “What kind of peace do we seek? Not a Pax Americana enforced on the world by American weapons of…

The Peace Corps

Speech on peace delivered by President John F. Kennedy at American University on 10 June 1963

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President Anderson, members of the faculty, board of trustees, distinguished guests, my old colleague, Senator Bob Byrd, who has earned his degree through many years of attending night law school, while I am earning mine in the next 30 minutes, ladies and gentlemen:

It is with great pride that I participate in this ceremony of the American University, sponsored by the Methodist Church, founded by Bishop John Fletcher Hurst, and first opened by President Woodrow Wilson in 1914. This is a young and growing university, but it has already fulfilled Bishop Hurst’s enlightened hope for the study of history and public affairs in a city devoted to the making of history and to the conduct of the public’s business. By sponsoring this institution of higher learning for all who wish to learn, whatever their color or their creed, the Methodists of this area and the Nation deserve the Nation’s thanks, and I commend all those who are today graduating.

Professor Woodrow Wilson once said that every man sent out from a university should be a man of his nation as well as a man of his time, and I am confident that the men and women who carry the honor of graduating from this institution will continue to give from their lives, from their talents, a high measure of public service and public support.

“There are few earthly things more beautiful than a university,” wrote John Masefield, in his tribute to English universities—and his words are equally true today. He did not refer to spires and towers, to campus greens and ivied walls. He ad-mired the splendid beauty of the university, he said, because it was “a place where those who hate ignorance may strive to know, where those who perceive truth may strive to make others see.”

I have, therefore, chosen this time and this place to discuss a topic on which ignorance too often abounds and the truth is too rarely perceived—yet it is the most important topic on earth: world peace.

What kind of peace do I mean? What kind of peace do we seek? Not a Pax Americana enforced on the world by American weapons of war. Not the peace of the grave or the security of the slave. I am talking about genuine peace, the kind of peace that makes life on earth worth living, the kind that enables men and nations to grow and to hope and to build a better life for their children—not merely peace for Americans but peace for all men and women—not merely peace in our time but peace for all time.

I speak of peace because of the new face of war. Total war makes no sense in an age when great powers can maintain large and relatively invulnerable nuclear forces and refuse to surren-der without resort to those forces. It makes no sense in an age when a single nuclear weapon contains almost ten times the explosive force delivered by all of the allied air forces in the Sec-ond World War. It makes no sense in an age when the deadly poisons produced by a nuclear exchange would be carried by wind and water and soil and seed to the far corners of the globe and to generations yet unborn.

Today the expenditure of billions of dollars every year on weapons acquired for the purpose of making sure we never need to use them is essential to keeping the peace. But surely the acquisition of such idle stockpiles—which can only destroy and never create—is not the only, much less the most efficient, means of assuring peace.

I speak of peace, therefore, as the necessary rational end of rational men. I realize that the pursuit of peace is not as dra-matic as the pursuit of war—and frequently the words of the pursuer fall on deaf ears. But we have no more urgent task.

Some say that it is useless to speak of world peace or world law or world disarmament—and that it will be useless until the leaders of the Soviet Union adopt a more enlightened attitude. I hope they do. I believe we can help them do it. But I also be-lieve that we must reexamine our own attitude—as individuals and as a Nation—for our attitude is as essential as theirs. And every graduate of this school, every thoughtful citizen who despairs of war and wishes to bring peace, should begin by looking inward—by examining his own attitude toward the possibilities of peace, toward the Soviet Union, toward the course of the cold war and toward freedom and peace here at home.

First: Let us examine our attitude toward peace itself. Too many of us think it is impossible. Too many think it unreal. But that is a dangerous, defeatist belief. It leads to the conclusion that war is inevitable—that mankind is doomed—that we are gripped by forces we cannot control.

We need not accept that view. Our problems are man-made—therefore, they can be solved by man. And man can be as big as he wants. No problem of human destiny is beyond human beings. Man’s reason and spirit have often solved the seemingly unsolvable—and we believe they can do it again.

I am not referring to the absolute, infinite concept of uni-versal peace and good will of which some fantasies and fanatics dream. I do not deny the value of hopes and dreams but we merely invite discouragement and incredulity by making that our only and immediate goal.

Let us focus instead on a more practical, more attainable peace—based not on a sudden revolution in human nature but on a gradual evolution in human institutions—on a series of concrete actions and effective agreements which are in the in-terest of all concerned. There is no single, simple key to this peace—no grand or magic formula to be adopted by one or two powers. Genuine peace must be the product of many na-tions, the sum of many acts. It must be dynamic, not static, changing to meet the challenge of each new generation. For peace is a process—a way of solving problems.

With such a peace, there will still be quarrels and conflicting interests, as there are within families and nations. World peace, like community peace, does not require that each man love his neighbor—it requires only that they live together in mutual tolerance, submitting their disputes to a just and peaceful set-tlement. And history teaches us that enmities between nations, as between individuals, do not last forever. However fixed our likes and dislikes may seem, the tide of time and events will often bring surprising changes in the relations between nations and neighbors.

So let us persevere. Peace need not be impracticable, and war need not be inevitable. By defining our goal more clearly, by making it seem more manageable and less remote, we can help all peoples to see it, to draw hope from it, and to move ir-resistibly toward it.

Second: Let us reexamine our attitude toward the Soviet Union. It is discouraging to think that their leaders may actu-ally believe what their propagandists write. It is discouraging to read a recent authoritative Soviet text on Military Strategy and find, on page after page, wholly baseless and incredible claims—such as the allegation that “American imperialist cir-cles are preparing to unleash different types of wars . . . that there is a very real threat of a preventive war being unleashed by American imperialists against the Soviet Union . . . and that the political aims of the American imperialists are to en-slave economically and politically the European and other cap-italist countries . . . and to achieve world domination . . . by means of aggressive wars.”

Truly, as it was written long ago: “The wicked flee when no man pursueth.” Yet it is sad to read these Soviet statements—to realize the extent of the gulf between us. But it is also a warning—a warning to the American people not to fall into the same trap as the Soviets, not to see only a distorted and desperate view of the other side, not to see conflict as inevi-table, accommodation as impossible, and communication as nothing more than an exchange of threats.

No government or social system is so evil that its people must be considered as lacking in virtue. As Americans, we find communism profoundly repugnant as a negation of personal freedom and dignity. But we can still hail the Russian people for their many achievements—in science and space, in eco-nomic and industrial growth, in culture and in acts of courage.

Among the many traits the peoples of our two countries have in common, none is stronger than our mutual abhor-rence of war. Almost unique, among the major world powers, we have never been at war with each other. And no nation in the history of battle ever suffered more than the Soviet Union suffered in the course of the Second World War. At least 20 million lost their lives. Countless millions of homes and farms were burned or sacked. A third of the nation’s territory, including nearly two thirds of its industrial base, was turned into a wasteland—a loss equivalent to the devastation of this country east of Chicago.

Today, should total war ever break out again—no matter how—our two countries would become the primary targets. It is an ironic but accurate fact that the two strongest powers are the two in the most danger of devastation. All we have built, all we have worked for, would be destroyed in the first 24 hours. And even in the cold war, which brings burdens and dangers to so many countries, including this Nation’s closest allies—our two countries bear the heaviest burdens. For we are both devoting massive sums of money to weapons that could be better devoted to combating ignorance, poverty, and disease. We are both caught up in a vicious and dangerous cycle in which suspicion on one side breeds suspicion on the other, and new weapons beget counter-weapons.

In short, both the United States and its allies, and the Soviet Union and its allies, have a mutually deep interest in a just and genuine peace and in halting the arms race. Agreements to this end are in the interests of the Soviet Union as well as ours—and even the most hostile nations can be relied upon to ac-cept and keep those treaty obligations, and only those treaty obligations, which are in their own interest.

So, let us not be blind to our differences—but let us also di-rect attention to our common interests and to the means by which those differences can be resolved. And if we cannot end now our differences, at least we can help make the world safe for diversity. For, in the final analysis, our most basic common link is that we all inhabit this small planet. We all breathe the same air. We all cherish our children’s future. And we are all mortal.

Third: Let us reexamine our attitude toward the cold war, remembering that we are not engaged in a debate, seeking to pile up debating points. We are not here distributing blame or pointing the finger of judgment. We must deal with the world as it is, and not as it might have been had the history of the last 18 years been different.

We must, therefore, persevere in the search for peace in the hope that constructive changes within the Communist bloc might bring within reach solutions which now seem beyond us. We must conduct our affairs in such a way that it becomes in the Communists’ interest to agree on a genuine peace. Above all, while defending our own vital interests, nuclear powers must avert those confrontations which bring an adversary to a choice of either a humiliating retreat or a nuclear war. To adopt that kind of course in the nuclear age would be evidence only of the bankruptcy of our policy—or of a collective death-wish for the world.

To secure these ends, America’s weapons are non-provocative, carefully controlled, designed to deter, and capable of selective use. Our military forces are committed to peace and disciplined in self-restraint. Our diplomats are instructed to avoid unnecessary irritants and purely rhetorical hostility.

For we can seek a relaxation of tensions without relaxing our guard. And, for our part, we do not need to use threats to prove that we are resolute. We do not need to jam foreign broadcasts out of fear our faith will be eroded. We are unwilling to impose our system on any unwilling people—but we are willing and able to engage in peaceful competition with any people on earth.

Meanwhile, we seek to strengthen the United Nations, to help solve its financial problems, to make it a more effective in-strument for peace, to develop it into a genuine world security system—a system capable of resolving disputes on the basis of law, of insuring the security of the large and the small, and of creating conditions under which arms can finally be abolished.

At the same time we seek to keep peace inside the non-Communist world, where many nations, all of them our friends, are divided over issues which weaken Western unity, which invite Communist intervention or which threaten to erupt into war. Our efforts in West New Guinea, in the Congo, in the Middle East, and in the Indian subcontinent, have been persistent and patient despite criticism from both sides. We have also tried to set an example for others—by seeking to adjust small but significant differences with our own closest neigh-bors in Mexico and in Canada.

Speaking of other nations, I wish to make one point clear. We are bound to many nations by alliances. Those alliances exist because our concern and theirs substantially overlap. Our commitment to defend Western Europe and West Berlin, for example, stands undiminished because of the identity of our vital interests. The United States will make no deal with the Soviet Union at the expense of other nations and other peoples, not merely because they are our partners, but also because their interests and ours converge.

Our interests converge, however, not only in defending the frontiers of freedom, but in pursuing the paths of peace. It is our hope—and the purpose of allied policies—to convince the Soviet Union that she, too, should let each nation choose its own future, so long as that choice does not interfere with the choices of others. The Communist drive to impose their polit-ical and economic system on others is the primary cause of world tension today. For there can be no doubt that, if all na-tions could refrain from interfering in the self-determination of others, the peace would be much more assured.

This will require a new effort to achieve world law—a new context for world discussions. It will require increased under-standing between the Soviets and ourselves. And increased understanding will require increased contact and communica-tion. One step in this direction is the proposed arrangement for a direct line between Moscow and Washington, to avoid on each side the dangerous delays, misunderstandings, and mis-readings of the other’s actions which might occur at a time of crisis.

We have also been talking in Geneva about other first-step measures of arms control, designed to limit the intensity of the arms race and to reduce the risks of accidental war. Our primary long-range interest in Geneva, however, is general and complete disarmament—designed to take place by stages, per-mitting parallel political developments to build the new institutions of peace which would take the place of arms. The pursuit of disarmament has been an effort of this Government since the 1920’s. It has been urgently sought by the past three administrations. And however dim the prospects may be today, we intend to continue this effort—to continue it in order that all countries, including our own, can better grasp what the problems and possibilities of disarmament are.

The one major area of these negotiations where the end is in sight, yet where a fresh start is badly needed, is in a treaty to outlaw nuclear tests. The conclusion of such a treaty, so near and yet so far, would check the spiraling arms race in one of its most dangerous areas. It would place the nuclear powers in a position to deal more effectively with one of the greatest haz-ards which man faces in 1963, the further spread of nuclear arms. It would increase our security—it would decrease the prospects of war. Surely this goal is sufficiently important to require our steady pursuit, yielding neither to the temptation to give up the whole effort nor the temptation to give up our insistence on vital and responsible safeguards.

I am taking this opportunity, therefore, to announce two important decisions in this regard.

First: Chairman Khrushchev, Prime Minister Macmillan, and I have agreed that high-level discussions will shortly begin in Moscow looking toward early agreement on a comprehensive test ban treaty. Our hopes must be tempered with the caution of history—but with our hopes go the hopes of all mankind.

Second: To make clear our good faith and solemn convic-tions on the matter, I now declare that the United States does not propose to conduct nuclear tests in the atmosphere so long as other states do not do so. We will not be the first to resume. Such a declaration is no substitute for a formal binding treaty, but I hope it will help us achieve one. Nor would such a treaty be a substitute for disarmament, but I hope it will help us achieve it.

Finally, my fellow Americans, let us examine our attitude toward peace and freedom here at home. The quality and spirit of our own society must justify and support our efforts abroad. We must show it in the dedication of our own lives—as many of you who are graduating today will have a unique opportunity to do, by serving without pay in the Peace Corps abroad or in the proposed National Service Corps here at home.

But wherever we are, we must all, in our daily lives, live up to the age-old faith that peace and freedom walk together. In too many of our cities today, the peace is not secure because freedom is incomplete.

It is the responsibility of the executive branch at all levels of government—local, State, and National—to provide and protect that freedom for all of our citizens by all means within their authority. It is the responsibility of the legislative branch at all levels, wherever that authority is not now adequate, to make it adequate. And it is the responsibility of all citizens in all sections of this country to respect the rights of all others and to respect the law of the land.

All this is not unrelated to world peace. “When a man’s ways please the Lord,” the Scriptures tell us, “he maketh even his enemies to be at peace with him.” And is not peace, in the last analysis, basically a matter of human rights—the right to live out our lives without fear of devastation—the right to breathe air as nature provided it—the right of future generations to a healthy existence?

While we proceed to safeguard our national interests, let us also safeguard human interests. And the elimination of war and arms is clearly in the interest of both. No treaty, however much it may be to the advantage of all, however tightly it may be worded, can provide absolute security against the risks of deception and evasion. But it can-—if it is sufficiently effective in its enforcement and if it is sufficiently in the interests of its signers—offer far more security and far fewer risks than an un-abated, uncontrolled, unpredictable arms race.

The United States, as the world knows, will never start a war. We do not want a war. We do not now expect a war. This generation of Americans has already had enough—more than enough—of war and hate and oppression. We shall be prepared if others wish it. We shall be alert to try to stop it. But we shall also do our part to build a world of peace where the weak are safe and the strong are just. We are not helpless before that task or hopeless of its success. Confident and unafraid, we labor on—not toward a strategy of annihilation but toward a strategy of peace.

Thank you to Sweet William, author of  JFK & RFK Made Me Do It:   1960–1968  for suggesting the publication of this speech today.

Looking back, 1960 an intern at WGBH-TV meeting JFK, first seeking the Democratic Party nomination, then as nominee, when he was the guest on Louis Lyons’ (Nieman Journalism Foundation Curator, Harvard) news program on which I was thssistant.

On the first, Lyons spoke to Hubert Humphreys’ idea of what would become the Peace Corps, something similar to the American Friends Service Committee and other programs abroad. And about as alternative to waging war, to promote peace. .

SENATOR John Kennedy replied in his best almost happy/ smart manner that it was a good idea and that good ideas from any source he would support. Then he added with almost a wink: “When I am president, I will start such a program” (or words pretty close to that, and ending with his handsome head cocked to the side and smiling — you know like the cat that ate the cream).

I was 23 then and thrilled not just at the idea for beginning such an organization but as much for the joyful intelligence/ daring-do..

Then as a Peace Corps Volunteer before heading abard a propeller 2-engine airplane to Ghana in late August 1961 in the White House, I attended PRESIDENT Kennedy both in the Rose Garden and in Oval Office that day with other volunteers who would head to Columbia, Tanganyika, The Phillipines & my own contingent of 49 (Arnold Zeitdlin, 50th, came later) with Ghana One.. Arnold later wrote the first book about the Peace Corps. Robert Klein another PCV Ghana One wrote BEING FIRST in 2010.

Edward Mycue now 84 Tuesday November 23, 2021 remembering early days before and as our U.S. Peace Corps began.

A good account of what Peace Corps Volunteers may have experienced then and later PCV’S met and experienced is in John Coyne’s 2014 novel LONG AGO AND FAR AWAY, about the PCV’s of Ethiopia spanning four decades.

Hey can we be friends or do you want to date because I’m free.

EDWARD MYCUE

THIS SPEECH IS WHY THE CIA HAD KENNEDY KILLED.

[…] “What kind of peace do we seek? Not a Pax Americana enforced on the world by American weapons of war. Not the peace of the grave or the security of the slave. I am talking about genuine peace, the kind of peace that makes life on earth worth living, the kind that enables men and nations to grow and to hope and to build a better life for their children—not merely peace for Americans but peace for all men and women—not merely peace in our time but peace for all time.” – President John F. Kennedy at American University – Summer, 1963 […]

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Earth Day 2024: 3 Short Speech Ideas For Students To Champion Environmental Action

As Earth Day approaches, it's essential to prepare students with impactful speech ideas that resonate with them and inspire action.

• Itisha Arya
• Updated - 2024-04-17, 17:57 IST

Speech On Climate Change Awareness:

Speech On Plastic Pollution:

Pope at Audience: Temperance won't rob our joy, but will fill us with happiness

By Deborah Castellano Lubo v

Our ability to master ourselves and moderate our passions, can lead us toward true happiness....

Pope Francis offered this reminder during his weekly General Audience on Wednesday in St. Peter's Square.

This week, the Pope continued his catechetical series on vices and virtues. After months dedicated to the vices, he transitioned to discussing virtues, thus far focusing on prudence, patience, justice, fortitude, and, now, temperance.

Moderates our relationship with pleasures

The Catechism describes the cardinal virtue of temperance as “the moral virtue that moderates the attraction of pleasures and provides balance in the use of created goods.” 

Moreover, the Catechism says that temperance “ensures the will’s mastery over instincts and keeps desires within the limits of what is honorable," noting the temperate person "directs the sensitive appetites toward what is good and maintains a healthy discretion, and does not follow the base desires, but restrains the appetites.” 

With the other three cardinal virtues, this virtue shares a history that goes far back in time and does not only belong to Christians.

Power over oneself

The Pope recalled Aristotle's reflecting on  enkráteia , the Greek term literally means “power over oneself,” as the great philosopher studied virtues as he explored the concept of happiness.

Over time, the Holy Father recalled, temperance was understood as one's "capacity for self-mastery," the "art of not letting oneself be overcome by rebellious passions."

Temperance, the Pope suggested, is the virtue of the right measure.

Savours with good judgment amid impulses

Faced with pleasures, the Pope said the temperate person acts judiciously.

"The free course of impulses and total license accorded to pleasures end up backfiring on us, plunging us into a state of boredom," the Pope said. "How many people who have wanted to try everything voraciously have found themselves losing the taste for everything!"

Given this, he said, we should enjoy moderately.

"For example, to appreciate a good wine," the Pope observed, is "to taste it in small sips," rather than drinking it all at once.

“To appreciate a good wine, to taste it in small sips, is better than swallowing it all in one go”

Knows the right measure

The temperate person, Pope Francis said, knows how to weigh words and dose them well. "He does not allow a moment’s anger to ruin relationships and friendships that can then only be rebuilt with difficulty," especially, the Pope said, "in family life, where inhibitions are lower, we all run the risk of not keeping tensions, irritations and anger in check."

He acknowledged that they know the time to speak and to be silent, both in the right measure, knowing how to control their own irascibility.

"This does not mean we always find him with a peaceful and smiling face," the Pope said, recognizing that at times it is necessary to be indignant, "but always in the right way."

A word of rebuke, he said, is at times healthier than a sour, rancorous silence. "The temperate person knows that nothing is more uncomfortable than correcting another person, but he also knows that it is necessary." 

Manages extremes gracefully

"In some cases, the temperate person succeeds in holding extremes together," the Pope said, stating, "he affirms absolute principles, asserts non-negotiable values, but also knows how to understand people and shows empathy for them."

The gift of the temperate person, the Holy Father said, is being "balanced," which the Pope described as precious and rare.

When "everything in our world pushes to excess," the Pope said that temperance "combines well with Gospel values such as smallness, discretion, modesty, meekness." 

Pope Francis concluded, by clarifying that temperance does not make one "grey and joyless," but "on the contrary," it "lets one enjoy the goods of life better."

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UN Youth Forum focuses on sustainable future for all

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Young leaders from around the world are sharing their visions and actions to advance sustainable development at a three-day meeting that opened on Tuesday at UN Headquarters in New York.  

The Economic and Social Council (ECOSOC) Youth Forum provides a platform for young people to have a dialogue with diplomats on challenges affecting their well-being.

Discussions are centred around five of the 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) – ending poverty; zero hunger; climate action; peace, justice and strong institutions, and partnerships to make the goals reality.

Hope for better 

These issues will be reviewed at ECOSOC ’s High-Level Political Forum in July, the chamber’s president, Paula Narváez, said in her opening remarks.

Speaking in Spanish, she expressed commitment and faith in the world’s young people, whose enthusiasm and determination are crucial for building a better and more inclusive future for all. 

“ Your ideals are the music of humankind, which is not giving up hope - hope that better days will come ,” she said. 

Poverty limits prospects 

Ms. Narváez noted that the global fight against poverty “is getting tougher”, with only one third of countries on the path to reducing numbers by the SDG deadline of 2030.

Today, seven per cent of the global population, 570 million people, are living in extreme poverty, she said, and young people account for “a significant part” of their ranks.

“We know that poverty seriously limits the prospects for development of our young people, thus perpetuating the cycle,” she said.  “ We have to do more for our young people , and part of the response is including them in public decisions.”

Energy and conviction 

Addressing the forum, UN Secretary-General António Guterres said the energy and conviction of young people are infectious, and more vital than ever.

He used the occasion to again focus on the war in Gaza, sparked by the Hamas-led attacks on Israel on 7 October.

“It is high time for an immediate humanitarian ceasefire, the unconditional release of all hostages, the protection of civilians, and the unimpeded delivery of humanitarian aid,” he said, drawing applause from participants.

‘We need you’ 

In a world “bristling with challenges, tragedies and injustices - many of them linked”, he commended young people across the planet for standing up, speaking out and working for real change.

“We need you,” the Secretary-General said.  “And I am fully committed to bringing young people into political decision-making; not just listening to your views but acting on them .”

This commitment has included establishing a new Youth Office at the UN and ensuring that young people have a strong role in the run-up to the Summit of the Future in September, which he called “a pivotal moment to turbocharge the SDGs, and reinvigorate multilateralism.”

The Secretary-General also saluted youth for being on the frontlines for bold climate action.  He urged governments to adopt strong policies, including to accelerate the shift from fossil fuels to clean energy, and to create new national climate plans that align with the goal of limiting global warming to 1.5 degrees Celsius.

“And they need to bring young people into this work – meaningfully. The transition to renewables must be just, and it must be sustainable,” he said.

The power to dream

Sarah Baharaki, Global Youth Ambassador with the children’s education charity Theirworld, highlighted the situation in her homeland, Afghanistan, which she fled following the Taliban’s return to power three years ago.   

The de facto authorities have banned young women from the workforce and attending school, but Afghan youth “refuse to remain silent” and are taking matters into their own hands by protesting and advocating for their rights, she said.

She noted that although education is vital in reducing poverty, conflict, and the climate crisis, over two million girls are barred from attending school in Afghanistan “and millions of others are in a state of uncertainty in Ukraine, Palestine and Sudan ”.

With the SDG deadline just six years away, “it is the time to act and make right decisions because we are running late,” she said.

Ms. Baharaki stressed the need to involve youth in decision-making processes and called for greater support from governments, the private sector and civil society.

“Not only because we make up to 16 per cent of the world’s population,” she said, “or because we are the most educated generation so far, but because we have power – the power to dream for a better world and the courage and bravery to work and make these dreams a reality .” 

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