António Guterres today gave his first major public speech as UN Secretary-General in the UK, addressing an audience of 1,500 people at an event organised by the United Nations Association – UK (UNA-UK).
In his speech, Mr Guterres said:
"UNA-UK is one of the pillars of support of global public opinion of the United Nations"
"When one looks at globalisation it is clear that technological progress and globalisation have increased wealth, promoted trade, had a positive impact on wellbeing, and reduced absolute poverty. At the same time it is also true that globalisation and progress have increased inequality and left people behind.To rescue multilateralism we need to reform multilateral organisations."
You can watch the full speech here
You can watch the highlights package here
The Secretary-General’s speech highlights the importance of the United Kingdom continuing to engage with the UN, with an outward looking foreign policy built around a commitment to international cooperation. UNA-UK is today making that case by launching its manifesto for the 2017 General Election.
Natalie Samarasinghe, Executive Director UNA-UK, said:
“What happens in other countries increasingly matters to our own lives. It is time to put foreign policy at the heart of the General Election. It is time to put the UN at the heart of foreign policy. Peace and security, migration, human rights, the environment, the UN, Britain's role in the world - these issues are bigger and more important than party politics. We need to build a cross-party consensus around them. Our manifesto calls on all political parties to commit to placing the UN at the centre of an outward looking British foreign policy.”Following his speech, Mr Guterres took questions from the public in a session moderated by UNA-UK's Natalie Samarasinghe. During this session, the hashtag used to submit questions via twitter was trending number one in the UK.
About UNA-UK
We are a movement of 20,000 global citizens who believe an effective UN is essential if we are to build a safer, fairer and more sustainable world.
Photo: UNA-UK/Zoe Norfolk
