United Nations Secretary-General António Guterres has lamented in a Human Rights Day message that the world is losing its way.
“Conflicts are raging. Poverty and hunger are increasing. Inequalities are deepening. The climate crisis is a human rights crisis that is hitting the most vulnerable hardest,” Guterres observed.
He also noted that authoritarianism was on the rise, civic space was shrinking, and the media was under attack from ‘all sides.’
“Gender equality remains a distant dream and women’s reproductive rights are being rolled back,” Guterres declared.
“Today, it is more important than ever to promote and respect all human rights – social, cultural, economic, civil and political – which protect us all,” the UN Secretary-General observed.
In addition to Human Rights Day, Sunday, December 10, was the 75th anniversary of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights.
The UN Secretary-General said the Universal Declaration showed the way to common values and approaches to help resolve tensions and create the security and stability that the world craves.
Guterres called attention to the Declaration’s ‘iconic’ opening sentence: “All human beings are born free and equal in dignity and rights.”
He said that sentence was as important today as its adoption 75 years ago.
Guterres called on Member States to use the 75th anniversary and the Summit of the Future next year to strengthen their commitment to the timeless values of the Universal Declaration.
He also urged people worldwide to promote and respect human rights every day, for everyone, everywhere.
The UN has become irrelevant.
Sir, while I support your wish for a better world, if there is anything to go by, the world has not achieved much of its developmental goals…and the reason all these inequalities persist is because the powers that be are intransigent and don’t want to loose their pedestal which they have gained whether legally of illegally. I am no pessimist but I am afraid that better world is a far distant dream if it is achievable at all…we are more likely to go up in a conflagration of smoke and fire than save the world from its impending doom….but good luck with your better world mission….
@The Crow: “The UN has become irrelevant” because…???
Truth seekers need to know!
@C-WIZ: Your commentary might become relevant & less nihilistic if you choose bravery over cowardice, by naming “the powers that be!”
Here’s what United Nations Secretary-General, António Guterres, neglected to say in his lament of crocodile tears:
Chris Hedges “The Genocide in Gaza”
https://www.youtube.com/watch?app=desktop&v=ly6lfhOxTe0
The main reason the World is losing its way is because the UN has been irreparably corrupted, across all its agencies, by the US empire of lies!
Since the end of World War II (some might argue it was since before the Spanish-American War of 1898), the US has used its vast military resources to sow chaos across the globe & kill millions of innocent civilians, in its quest to plunder the natural resources of militarily helpless countries. The militarily capable countries were kept quiet through the threat of nuclear annihilation (US devastation of innocent civilians in Hiroshima & Nagasaki was all the warning needed). The booty it stole was used to fuel its industrial activity up to 1980.
After 1980, the US voluntarily de-industrialized by sending its industries off-shore, in search of cheap labor & to maximize profits. Now, the only viable export for the US is war & chaos via arms sales to countries, where they can pacify the workers in which the US corporations have set up shop, to keep wages low.
Three countries have resisted US hegemony successfully: China, Russia & Iran. They are united in paving a well-lighted way from the dark road of US world domination! One needs only to follow the progress of alternative, cooperative organizations, which have been instituted & led by them.
Iran was the first to stymie US machinations, when they overthrew the Shah, who had been installed by the US, after the US overthrew the democratically-elected government, led by Mossadegh. in 1953. Since then, it has used Israel, with its nuclear arsenal, to keep Iran & the Arab nations under constant threat of annihilation. The sanctions regime imposed by the US has only helped Iran become self-reliant across all public sectors; Iran having & maintaining a high per capita of STEM graduates to accomplish this.
China has used a hybrid of capitalism with Chinese characteristics plus grass-roots socialist controls to become the industrial capital of the world. The US does not dare attack them because it would spell disaster for the US economic house of cards; most of its US$30trillion debt (apart from to Japan) is owed to China. It might be tempting, using Taiwan as a catspaw, to obliterate China militarily, but China has ensured that if it is attacked, the US would cease to exist (and is co-operating with Russia to increase its deterrence capabilities).
The election of Putin spelled the end of the US’ rape of Russia for its vast natural resources, after the auto-collapse of the Soviet Union. One would have thought that Russia’s military might, its vastness (across all essential sectors), yet social & cultural cohesiveness would have been enough to detract US aggression; but the prize was too juicy & US greed immeasurable. Instead, the US is now facing public humiliation from the catastrophic failure of its proxy war in Ukraine. Here, I introduce a video from Andrei Martyanov summarizing current events:
NYT (New York Times) Admissions: War – American Style
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MZipb65YcQM