U.N. Secretary‑General Antonio Guterres says Charter is under strain, urges renewed cooperation

United Nations Secretary‑General Antonio Guterres told the General Assembly that the U.N. Charter’s founding pledge of "We the peoples" is under strain and urged member states to reinforce international law and collective responses to shared threats.

Guterres framed his address around the Charter’s promise that cooperation, law and dignity must guide global relations. He credited U.N. peacekeepers, humanitarian convoys and vaccination campaigns with saving and protecting millions of people, but said the system is being tested by "wars of territorial expansion," famine used as a bargaining chip and repeated violations of ceasefires.

"We the peoples," he said, invoking the Charter’s opening words, and argued that a world in which rules apply only to some is "a world of uncertainty, injustice, and impunity." He warned that the "nuclear shadow" is lengthening again and that international law is often invoked selectively.

Rejecting isolationist responses, Guterres stated plainly that "Retreat is not safety. It is surrender," adding that no border can shield a country from climate change and that no nation can govern artificial intelligence or respond to pandemics alone. He urged cooperation grounded in rules "set out in the Charter," saying those principles are "not optional and they are not negotiable."

The secretary‑general called for strengthening diplomacy, broadening solidarity across regions and accelerating sustainable development because, he said, "peace, dignity and opportunity go hand‑in‑hand." He also urged that the United Nations adapt to changing global realities so it can be more effective in delivering humanitarian aid, mediating disputes and supporting development.

A portion of the transcript of Guterres’s later remarks contains garbled or unclear lines; the record indicates he reiterated a call for institutional reform to improve efficacy and impact, but the exact phrasing in the transcript is corrupted. In closing, he reaffirmed the need for nations to act together "when we the people of the United Nations act as one nation."