Guterres urges leaders to invest in peace as conflicts deepen

António Guterres was speaking during the annual ceremony at the Japanese Peace Bell on the grounds of UN Headquarters in New York. 

“Each year, the toll of the Peace Bell reminds us of the most important and consequential job we have: building peace,” he said. 

Peace in peril 

He stressed that “peace is never a passive achievement” and requires hard work as well as action, yet action for peace is faltering. 

“Violence and division are tearing apart communities,” he said. “Conflicts are widening and deepening.  People are suffering. And the dialogue and solidarity that solutions require are missing in action.” 

The Secretary-General’s appeal comes ahead of the International Day of Peace on 21 September, which is being celebrated under the theme of ‘Investing in Peace: For Everyone, Everywhere, Every Day.” 

Follow the leaders 

He highlighted the volunteers, advocates, civil society leaders, peacekeepers and peacemakers across the world who are bringing this theme to life. 

He noted that “where governments are failing to deliver peace, people are showing another way” by raising their voices, bridging divides and healing communities.  

The Secretary-General urged world leaders preparing to gather at the United Nations in the coming weeks to follow their lead by investing in health, education, nutrition and social protection, as well as by building institutions and systems that people can trust. 

Solidarity, action and investment 

They also must safeguard human rights and dignity, recommit to “the proven tools of peace — diplomacy, dialogue, negotiation and peacekeeping, and end wars and conflicts. 

“Today, I call on world leaders to stand with us: take action; invest in solutions; and do the hard work of building lasting, sustainable peace.” 

An enduring symbol of peace 

The Japanese Peace Bell was presented to the United Nations by the UN Association of Japan on 8 June 1954. 

The bell was cast from coins donated by delegates of 60 nations and individual contributions of various kinds of metal, and is housed in a wooden structure resembling a traditional Shinto shrine. 

Speaking at the time, Renzo Sawanda, Japanese observer to the UN, said that “the bell embodies the aspiration for peace not only of the Japanese but of the peoples of the entire world. Thus, it symbolized the universality of the United Nations.”  

The bell is rung twice a year on the first day of Spring, at the vernal equinox, and to commemorate the International Day of Peace.    

“This is the last time I will ring the Peace Bell,” said Mr. Guterres, who leaves the UN at the end of the year, but stressed that “I will always stand with the champions of peace around the world.”