Today is United Nations (UN) Day. It marks the entry into force of the UN Charter – built on three pillars of peace, development, and human rights. I have the privilege to work for the UN here in Guyana with my UN Country Team colleagues. I want to remind you that it is your actions, the actions of people and of countries that ultimately uphold the UN – the only global organization which belongs to all nations.
First, peace. Peace is not just the absence of wars. It is the outcome of actions of countries using the timeless tools of diplomacy and dialogue, underpinned by international law, to prevent conflict. Guyana will soon take a seat on the UN Security Council, thus associating itself unequivocally with this ambition, and with actions for global peace.
Second, development. Recently, Guyana presented its progress on the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), a set of global goals representing humanity’s aspirations for a better world. Guyana’s authorities called on the world’s wealthiest countries to live up to their financing promises, whilst committing Guyana to accelerating its own progress towards the SDGs. No doubt, much still has to be done: to be clear, there are no short-cuts to development. But Guyana’s budgetary and planning frameworks deliberately anchor national policy in the SDGs.
Finally, rights. The government and civil society of Guyana engage actively with the UN forums and UN conventions – increasingly through national institutional setups such as the National Mechanism for Reporting and Follow-up. These engagements, as in the case of all democratic societies, are complex. And working with and through these UN bodies entails a process of sometimes frustrating examinations. But it is working.
We at the UN do not take for granted Guyana’s continued and expanding engagement with the UN’s peace, development and human rights mechanisms. Our multilateral system depends precisely on this kind of engagement and action from all its Member States so that it withstands the many assaults it faces.
Next year, the UN Secretary-General will convene the Summit of the Future. That Summit will be all about strengthening the multilateral system, with the UN at its core, to reaffirm existing commitments, including to the SDGs and the UN Charter, and to elicit new ones for our organization to be fit for purpose to overcome the many crisis humanity faces.
On this UN day, I invite you, the people of Guyana to sustain Guyana’s contributions to peace, development and human rights by its actions. Act Now.
