Secretary General on the UN at 80: Humanity is strongest when we are one

Speak at the Methodist Central Hall, the very same venue where the first ever UN General Assembly was held on January 10, 1946, Mr. Guterres called on delegates at the event to “bold enough to change. Brave enough to find the courage of those who came to this room 80 years ago to create a better world.”

From air raid shelter to diplomatic meeting

Organized by the United Nations Association-UKSaturday’s anniversary event gathered more than 1,000 delegates from around the world, including speakers Chairman of the General Meeting, Annalena Baerbockthe UN space champion Professor Brian Cox and the UN Refugee Agency Goodwill Ambassador Maya Ghazal. The event also marks the 80th anniversary of the first UN Security Councilwhich took place on January 17, 1946 at nearby Church House.

During his keynote speech, Mr. Guterres reflected on the symbolic location of the commemoration. The first General Meeting took place within the same walls four months after the end of the Second World War, in a heavily bombed London where tens of thousands of people had died, a powerful reminder of why the UN was founded.

“To reach this hall, delegates had to pass through a war-scarred city. Buckingham Palace, Westminster Abbey and the House of Commons had been bombarded by the Luftwaffe. And when those bombs fell, terrified citizens huddled here, in the basement of the Methodist Central Hall – one of the largest public air raid shelters in London,” the Secretary General said.

During the Blitz, as many as 2,000 people gathered in the hall for protection, before the nations of the world gathered there in 1946 to ‘saving succeeding generations from the scourge of war’.

“In many ways, this room is a physical representation of what the United Nations is: a place where people put their faith – for peace, for security, for a better life,” said Mr. Guterres.

The world of 2026 is not the world of 1946

In the 80 years since the first General Assembly, the UN has grown from 51 members to 193. Mr. Guterres emphasized that the General Assembly, the UN’s principal deliberative, policy-making and representative body, is “the parliament of the family of nations.” every voice must be heard, a crucible for consensus and a beacon for collaboration.”

While he acknowledged that the work of the General Assembly “may not always be simple or seamless,” he described it as a “mirror of our world, its divisions and its hopes. And it is the stage on which our shared story plays out.”

Reflecting on the past decade, Mr. Guterres spoke of how “the conflicts in Gaza, Ukraine, and Sudan have been brutal and brutal beyond measure; artificial intelligence has become ubiquitous almost overnight; and the pandemic has accelerated the flames of nationalism and stalled progress on development and climate action.”

Mr Guterres highlighted how 2025 wasa “very challenging” year for international cooperation and the values ​​of the UN.

“Aid was cut. Inequality increased. Climate chaos has accelerated. International law was trampled underfoot. The crackdown on civil society intensified. Journalists were murdered with impunity. And United Nations employees were repeatedly threatened – or killed – during their work.”

The UN reported this in 2025 Global military spending reached $2.7 trillion – more than 200 times the current British aid budget, which amounts to more than 70 percent of the entire British economy.

Fossil fuel profits have also continued to rise as the planet broke heat records, Mr. Guterres underlined.

“And in cyberspace algorithms rewarded falsehoods, fueled hatred, and provided authoritarians with powerful tools of control.”

Multilateralism over division

A “robust, responsive and well-financed multilateral” system is needed to tackle the world’s interconnected challenges, Mr Guterres stressed, but the “values ​​of multilateralism are being swept away.”

The Secretary General set the example a groundbreaking international agreement to protect marine life in international waters and the seabedwhich comes into effect on Saturday, as a “model of modern diplomacy, guided by science, with the participation not only of governments, but also of civil society, indigenous peoples and local communities.”

“These quiet victories of international cooperation – wars prevented, famine averted, crucial treaties secured – don’t always make the headlines. Yet they are real. And they matter. If we want to secure more such victories, we must ensure full respect for international law and defend multilateralism and strengthen it for our time.”

Addressing the audience in London, the Secretary-General expressed his “gratitude to the United Kingdom for its decisive role in the founding of the United Nations” and for being “such a strong pillar of multilateralism and champion of the United Nations today.”

High commitment for a better world

Looking to the future, the Secretary-General called for an international system that reflects the modern world, including reform of the international financial systems and the Security Council.

“As global centers of power shift, we have the potential to build a future that is fairer – or more unstable.”

The Secretary-General reminded delegates in London that when the UN first opened its doors, “many of its staff bore the visible wounds of war – a limp, a scar, a burn.”

“There is a persistent myth – now growing louder every day – that peace is naive. That the only ‘real’ politics is the politics of self-interest and violence,” Mr. Guterres said.

But the founders of the United Nations were not unaffected by reality. On the contrary, they had seen war and knew: Peace, justice and equality are the bravest, the most practical and the most necessary goals of all.”

*Miranda Alexander-Webber is a communications officer at the United Nations Regional Information Center for Western Europe (UNRIC).