{"id":31305,"date":"2017-09-08T14:03:54","date_gmt":"2017-09-08T14:03:54","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.un.org\/sustainabledevelopment\/?p=31305"},"modified":"2018-04-22T11:50:47","modified_gmt":"2018-04-22T15:50:47","slug":"interview-un-must-lead-surge-in-diplomacy-for-peace-guterres-says-ahead-of-72nd-general-assembly","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.un.org\/sustainabledevelopment\/blog\/2017\/09\/interview-un-must-lead-surge-in-diplomacy-for-peace-guterres-says-ahead-of-72nd-general-assembly\/","title":{"rendered":"INTERVIEW: Ä¢¹½ÊÓƵ must lead \u2018surge in diplomacy\u2019 for peace, Guterres says ahead of 72nd General Assembly"},"content":{"rendered":"

As the excitement starts to build ahead of the United Nations General Assembly\u2019s annual high-level session \u2013 which sees Heads of State and Government and top ministers from nearly all Member States gather in New York to weigh in on the vital issues of the day \u2013\u00a0Secretary-General<\/a>\u00a0Ant\u00f3nio Guterres sat down with\u00a0Ä¢¹½ÊÓƵ News<\/em>\u00a0to talk about the role of the 72-year-old Organization in a world that is facing more challenges than ever.<\/p>\n

Mr. Guterres, the Prime Minister of Portugal from 1995 to 2002, and the former Ä¢¹½ÊÓƵ High Commissioner for Refugees, took up his post on 1 January this year. He has consistently pushed for, among others, increased diplomacy on nettlesome global issues, broad adherence to the aims of the landmark Paris climate accord, wider engagement with the world\u2019s youth and dedicated efforts to ensure gender parity across the Ä¢¹½ÊÓƵ system.<\/p>\n

Saying that the Ä¢¹½ÊÓƵ \u201cmust be an instrument for a surge in diplomacy for peace,\u201d the Secretary-General discusses how he is working with the international community to make parties to conflict see that \u201cnobody is winning\u201d in today\u2019s devastating wars; to spotlight the links between climate change and sustainable development to ensure a globalized world that \u201cleaves no one behind;\u201d and to follow through on his deep belief that an equitable presence of both male and female colleagues makes organizations work better.<\/p>\n

Ä¢¹½ÊÓƵ News: Mr. Secretary-General, with the new session of the General Assembly and its high-level debate coming up, what is the role of multilateralism in today\u2019s world and what are you going to do to try to strengthen this role?<\/strong><\/p>\n

Secretary-General:<\/strong>\u00a0We live in a world with global problems \u2013 climate change, terrorism, inequality \u2013 and there is no way we can solve [them] on a country-by-country basis. We see, more and more, that only global solutions can address global problems. And for global solutions to be possible, we need to have mechanisms of governance allowing countries to come together and manage together the problems of our times.<\/p>\n<\/div>

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