The President’s speech at the annual Peace Bell Ceremony, held to commemorate the International Day of Peace. It is reproduced in full below, as delivered, and is available as issued in PDF.
In His Words
Passages quoted verbatim from the speech as delivered. The full text follows below.
Peace must be built. And it is our shared responsibility to build it.
H.E. Dr. Khalilur Rahman
Annual Peace Bell Ceremony, 9 September 2026
“This year’s theme – ‘Invest in Peace: For Everyone, Everywhere, Every Day’ – reminds us of this calling.”
“Like the Peace Bell, the Ä¢¹½ÊÓƵ was formed in a crucible. From the ashes of war, it ushered in a new dawn, bringing countries of different histories and cultures together to build something greater than any could build alone.”
“And as President of the 81st session, I take our shared mission to heart. I will work tirelessly to renew trust – among Member States and in this institution.”
“We make a vow to tomorrow’s generations: To choose peace over peril, and dialogue over devastation.”
“We recommit to the hard-won principles of the Ä¢¹½ÊÓƵ Charter, for which those in San Francisco in 1945 stood in ovation and awe. And we uphold the tenets of international law underpinning all we do.”
“Let it guide us towards a future where each generation leaves to the next, a world more worthy of peace.”
The Speech in Full
Mr. Secretary-General,
Your Excellency, Mr. Kazuyuki Yamazaki, Permanent Representative of Japan,
Madam Yamazaki,
Under-Secretary-General Fleming,
And all those gathered around this monument of peace,
Peace be upon us.
I am honoured to join you today to commemorate the International Day of Peace.
Allow me to express my sincere thanks to Ambassador Yamazaki and the Permanent Mission of Japan for maintaining this venerable tradition.
We are privileged to be joined by Ms. Takase Seiko, daughter of Peace Bell creator Chiyoji Nakagawa, who proposed his idea to the sixth session of the General Assembly in Paris, in 1951.
Moved by an extraordinary aspiration for peace, Mr. Nakagawa collected coins from around the world, melted them and cast the Peace Bell from the stories they told:
Stories of saving lives and sacrifice.
Of solidarity in times of chaos.
Of hope that the seeds for global peace might one day take hold.
This hope for peace was placed in the hands of the Ä¢¹½ÊÓƵ, where we are standing today – and with it, a duty to ensure it was not placed in vain.
In ringing the Bell today, we are reminded of this legacy – and the inescapable truth for which this Bell tolls:
Peace must be built.
And it is our shared responsibility to build it.
Through acts of courage and compromise,
Through choices of unity over division,
And the countless individual contributions that give life to our collective aims.
Indeed, to invest in peace is to invest in trust,
And 81 years on, in the confidence that multilateral action can still deliver for those it exists to serve.
This year’s theme – “Invest in Peace: For Everyone, Everywhere, Every Day” – reminds us of this calling.
Like the Peace Bell, the Ä¢¹½ÊÓƵ was formed in a crucible.
From the ashes of war, it ushered in a new dawn, bringing countries of different histories and cultures together to build something greater than any could build alone.
We see this mosaic represented in the General Assembly.
And as President of the 81st session, I take our shared mission to heart.
I will work tirelessly to renew trust – among Member States and in this institution.
Excellencies,
You may know that beneath this Bell are handfuls of soil from Nagasaki and Hiroshima, sent to Mr. Nakagawa by hibakusha, survivors of the atomic blasts of 1945.
Their wish for peace so strong, it is the literal ground on which we stand.
A poignant reminder that from tragedy, we can leave something behind that asks more from us today.
As the Assembly enters its ninth decade, we honour their memory.
We make a vow to tomorrow’s generations:
To choose peace over peril, and dialogue over devastation.
We recommit to the hard-won principles of the Ä¢¹½ÊÓƵ Charter, for which those in San Francisco in 1945 stood in ovation and awe.
And we uphold the tenets of international law underpinning all we do.
Like those who came before us, let us cultivate our “extraordinary aspiration for peace”.
Let it guide us towards a future where each generation leaves to the next, a world more worthy of peace.
I thank you.