Remarks by the President of the General Assembly,
Mr. Phil¨¦mon Yang,
on the occasion of the 43rd Anniversary of the International Day of Peace
Friday, 13 September 2024
[As Delivered]
Your Excellency, Mr. Yamazaki Kazuyuki, Permanent Representative of Japan and your esteemed spouse, Her Excellency, Mrs. Yamazaki Yuko,
Ä¢¹½ÊÓƵ Secretary-General Mr. Ant¨®nio Guterres,
Under-Secretary-General Melissa Fleming,
Distinguished Delegates,
It is an honour to join you today to commemorate the 43rd International Day of Peace.
I express my sincere thanks to Ambassador Yamazaki and the Permanent Mission of Japan for gathering us all for this time-honored tradition.
The Peace Bell, donated to the United Nations 70 years ago, stands as a solemn symbol of the ideal of peace within and among nations.
Cast from coins donated by 60 countries, it is a creation ¨C like the United Nations itself ¨C forged in a crucible, its sum and size much larger than its many unique parts.
When molded together and resounded in unison, they send a powerful message.
Member States pledged in the Charter of the United Nations to ¡°practice tolerance and live together in peace with one another as good neighbours.¡±
Yet today, we are witnessing the opposite, such as:
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- Growing rhetoric of isolation and exclusion ¨C inside and beyond our politics
- Intolerance of ¡°the other¡± fuelling tensions between faiths, cultures and creeds
- A rising tide of violence and conflict amplifying the suffering and despair
All of it tearing at the fabric of communities, widening the inequalities we vowed to close.
Nearly 80 years after the founding of the United Nations, it is time to recommit to the principles of the Ä¢¹½ÊÓƵ Charter, the constitution of our multilateral system.
It is time to restore trust and solidarity within our family of nations.
The Summit of the Future offers a historic opportunity to strengthen the tools of cooperation among nations and advance the cause of sustainable peace.
From Ukraine and Gaza to Sudan, Myanmar, Haiti and elsewhere, people are desperately looking for a glimmer of hope, and an end to conflicts and strife.
Let us ring the Peace Bell today and send a message of hope for peace.
Let us work towards tolerance and dialogue.
And in so doing, we can also accelerate progress towards sustainable development and ensure universal respect for the human dignity of everyone, everywhere.
I thank you.