U.N. Secretary-General António Guterres issued an appeal for world leaders to invest in peace, diplomacy, and conflict prevention as widening violence and geopolitical division continue to exacerbate human suffering across the globe.
Speaking during the annual ceremony at the Japanese Peace Bell on the grounds of U.N. Headquarters in New York on Wednesday, Guterres warned that international action for peace is faltering when it is needed most.
The address precedes the International Day of Peace on Sept. 21, observed under the theme “Investing in Peace: For Everyone, Everywhere, Every Day,” and marked Guterres’ final time presiding over the ceremony before his tenure concludes at the end of the year.
Stressing that “peace is never a passive achievement,” Guterres emphasized that resolving global crises requires deliberate, hard work that is currently missing from the international stage.
“Violence and division are tearing apart communities,” Guterres said. “Conflicts are widening and deepening. People are suffering. And the dialogue and solidarity that solutions require are missing in action.”
He observed that where governments are failing to deliver peace, grassroots advocates, civil society leaders, volunteers, and peacekeepers are showing another way forward by raising their voices, bridging divides, and healing local communities.
Ahead of the upcoming U.N. General Assembly high-level week, the Secretary-General urged world leaders to follow the example of local peacemakers by directing resources into essential social foundations.
Guterres called on global decision-makers to invest in health, education, nutrition, and social protection, while constructing trusted institutions and systems.
He further implored state leaders to safeguard human rights and human dignity by recommitting to the proven tools of international diplomacy, including dialogue, negotiation, and multilateral peacekeeping, to bring active wars to an end.
The ceremony carried added historical weight as it took place around a monument presented to the United Nations by the U.N. Association of Japan on June 8, 1954.
Cast from coins donated by delegates from 60 nations and housed in a wooden structure modeled after a traditional Shinto shrine, the bell was originally described by Japanese observer Renzo Sawada as a symbol of the universality of the U.N. and humanity’s shared aspiration for peace.
Traditionally rung on the vernal equinox and the International Day of Peace, the bell served as the backdrop for Guterres’ departure message: “This is the last time I will ring the Peace Bell, but I will always stand with the champions of peace around the world.”
UN NEWS
