UN Commemorates 80 Years With Peace Call and Reflection

A wide view of the high-level meeting of the General Assembly to commemorate the eightieth anniversary of the establishment of the United Nations.

Music, memories, and messages of peace filled the UN General Assembly Hall on Monday as the world body commemorated 80 years since its founding.

The ceremony coincided with the arrival of world leaders in New York for the annual debate. The historic chamber was darkened and bathed in blue light to mark the milestone event.

Assembly President Annalena Baerbock recalled how the UN was founded in the aftermath of two world wars and “the unspeakable horrors of the Holocaust,” at a time when 72 territories were still under colonial rule.

The signing of the UN Charter on 26 June 1945 “was a promise from leaders to their peoples, and from nations to one another, that humanity had learned from its darkest chapters,” she said.

Yet, “the hours indeed feel dark once again,” with crises in Gaza, Ukraine, Sudan, and Haiti, alongside “unfiltered hatred online.”

“As we mark 80 years of our United Nations, we are once again standing at a crossroads,” Ms. Baerbock told delegates.

“We cannot take the easy path and simply give up. We have to choose the right path; to show the world that we can be better together,” she said, echoing her theme for this landmark session of the General Assembly.

UN Secretary-General António Guterres also recalled the Organization’s earliest days, noting that many of the first staff members and delegates “bore visible wounds from war.”

These people were not idealists but had witnessed the worst of humanity and knew that “peace is the most courageous, the most practical, the most necessary pursuit of all,” he said.

“In building the United Nations, they created something extraordinary—a place where all nations, large and small, could come together to solve problems that no country can solve alone.”

The Secretary-General warned that “the principles of the UN are under assault as never before.”

“As we meet, civilians are targeted, and international law trampled,” he said. Poverty and hunger are rising as progress towards the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) falters, while the climate crisis intensifies.

“At the same time, we are moving towards a multipolar world,” he added.

“To meet these challenges, we must not only defend the United Nations but strengthen it.”

He urged the international community “to rise to this moment with clarity, courage, and conviction” and “realize the promise of peace.”