Secretary-General on International Day of Peace 2021

This year’s International Day of Peace comes at a crisis point for humanity.

COVID-19 has turned our world upside-down.

Conflicts are spinning out of control.

The climate emergency is worsening.

Inequality and poverty are deepening.

And mistrust and division are driving people apart at a time when solidarity and collaboration are needed more than ever.

As a human family, we face a stark choice —

Peace or perpetual peril.

We must choose peace.

That is why I call for a 24-hour ceasefire today.

And by working in solidarity for a lasting, sustainable peace every day, we can tackle the issues facing us.

We need peace to urgently deliver lifesaving vaccines and treatment for COVID-19.

We need peace to recover from the pandemic and re-build shattered systems and shattered lives.

We need peace to level the playing field and reduce inequalities.

We need peace to renew trust in one another — and faith in facts and science.

And we need to make peace with nature — to heal our planet, build a green economy, and achieve our net-zero targets.

Peace is not a naïve dream.

It’s a light in the darkness.

Guiding us to the only pathway to a better future for humanity.

Let’s walk the pathway of peace as if our lives depended on it.

Because they do.

Thank you.