The Met Chorus Artists accompanied by pianist Mr. Howard Watkins, together with Sing for Hope Youth Chorus under the direction of Mr. Tilman Michael set the tone the 80th Commemoration Anniversary of the United Nations.
Annalena Baerbock – President of General Assembly the United Nations officially kicked off the opening by calling the audience recollecting the 80 years memories of the UN establishment: when a desperate world grasping for any sign of hope, the courageous leaders gave that hope through the United Nations’ charter signed on 26th June 1945. It was more than yet another empty political declaration. It was a promise from leaders to their people and from nations to one another that humanity had learned from its darkest chapters. It was a pledge not to deliver us to heaven, but to never again be dragged into hell by the forces of hatred and unchecked ambition. An acknowledgment that our failures came not from a lack of power but from complacency and the strong belief that our world could be better and we could be better. In the darkest moments of history, our grandparents had humility and grace, and put aside the differences, self-interests, and resentments. They agree to work together. When facing crossroads, they choose the right path, the path of hope which is not blind optimism nor a guarantee that everything will work out.
Today, as we mark 80 years of our United Nations, Mme. President confirms that we are once again standing at a crossroads. We cannot take the easy path and simply give up. We must choose the right path to show the world that we can be better together. This building has stood as a monument to the shared hopes for a better future. Lot of experiences passes; disagreements, struggles and so the triumphs. For 80 years, this institution has driven progress on sustainable development, peace and security, and human rights. Today’s commemoration is not the story of an institution. It is the story of thousands and hundreds of thousands of people who tried to turn hope into something real. The people who stood between war and peace and choose peace. The people who are risking their lives. The people who are not only wearing the symbol of the United Nations but are out there on the ground showing how we are better together.
Mme. President concluded the speech by confirming the theme of this 80th session is ‘Better Together’; a commitment of all members for the next 80 years; not only hope for problems to vanish, but to find courage and to confront. Better Together means to act where action is hard, to choose dialogue and diplomacy when division is easier. The hope for this 80th anniversary is that people do not just see it as a milestone year but rather remember this session for its remarkable determination and the challenges faced.
Secretary-General António Guterres recalled the sincerity meaning of the establishment of United Nations: A place where all nations, large and small, could come together to solve problems that no country can solve alone. And yet, at this moment, the principles are under assault as never before. As we gather, civilians in places like Gaza, Ukraine, Sudan, and elsewhere are enduring hardship, targeted amid the neglect of international law. Poverty and hunger are on the rise as progress on sustainable development goals falters. The planet burns with fires, floods and record heat raging through climate chaos. At the same time, we are moving towards a multipolar world without strong multilateral institutions multipolarity as its risks as Europe learned in the First World War. To meet these challenges, we must not only defend the United Nations, and to strengthen it. It is the purpose of agenda 2030, the pact for the future and UNAT initiative to renew the foundations of international cooperation and to ensure we can deliver to people everywhere. To meet these challenges, let us remember what our founders knew. The only way forward is together. Let us rise to this moment with clarity, courage, and conviction to realize the promise of peace.
Former President of Liberia Ellen Johnson Sirleaf at her address highlighted that peace is built not only in conference rooms; but in classrooms where girls learn without fear; clinics where mothers deliver safely; markets where youth find dignified work; courts where law is fair; and in daily acts of neighborly coexistence. The former Liberian President continued, “Eighty years on, the UN’s founding generation would ask if we were still worthy of the hopes inherited. Our answer must be yes—not because the world is less dangerous, but because our determination is stronger.”
Former Director-General of the World Health Organization (WHO) Gro Harlem Brundtland commended the world body’s work on gender equality. She said ‘through education, through micro-finance, through work for sexual and reproductive health, and through intense and effective advocacy work. With resolve and determination, we will get there in the end.’
Maria Ressa, Nobel Peace Prize Laureate brought attention to Information Integrity which is ‘the mother of all battles.’ To win means we win the rest. Lose this, and we lose everything,’ Ressa reiterated. She called on the General Assembly to “choose courage over comfort, facts over fiction, hope over fear.” Eighty years after its founding, the UN’s core values, human rights, justice, and rule of law, remain as crucial as ever. It is time to create again: to build better, to act Now, before it is too late,” the Nobel Peace Prize Laureate concluded.
Related link:
80th anniversary of the establishment of the UN – General Assembly | United Nations
