UN Secretary-General Warns Multilateral Order Faces Existential Threat
Antonio Guterres delivered the stark assessment at Methodist Central Hall in London, the historic site where the inaugural General Assembly convened on January 10, 1946, calling on world leaders to be "bold enough to change."
"Bold enough to find the courage of those who came to this Hall 80 years ago to forge a better world," he said at an anniversary event organized by the UN Association-UK with attendance from more than 1,000 delegates from across the world.
Guterres emphasized the venue's profound symbolism, noting the first General Assembly occurred within those walls just four months following World War II's conclusion, "a powerful reminder as to why the UN had been created."
"To reach this Hall, delegates had to pass through a city scarred by war … and as those bombs fell, terrified civilians huddled here, in the basement of the Methodist Central Hall — one of the largest public air-raid shelters in London," he said.
The UN chief conceded that the General Assembly's operations "may not always be straightforward or seamless," yet it remains "a mirror of our world, its divisions and its hopes. And it is the stage on which our shared story plays out."
Surveying the past ten years, Guterres stated: "The conflicts in Gaza, Ukraine and Sudan have been vicious and cruel beyond measure; artificial intelligence has become ubiquitous almost overnight; and the (coronavirus) pandemic poured accelerant on the fires of nationalism, stalling progress on development and climate action."
He characterized 2025 as a "profoundly challenging" year for international cooperation and the UN's foundational principles.
"As global centers of power shift, we have the potential to build a future that is either more fair or more unstable," he added.
Guterres arrived Friday in London and met Prime Minister Keir Starmer to discuss the UN's ambitious reform agenda, which they agreed was vital for the UN to meet modern challenges in a volatile world.
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