UN Secretary General addressed his Greetings to the General Eurasian Peoples’ Assembly

In the photo: UN Secretary General António Guterres

UN Secretary-General António Guterres expressed his sincere sympathy and support to the Eurasian Peoples' Assembly, and warm wishes for health, peace, well-being and prosperity to its inspirers and delegations.

Vladimir Kuznetsov, Director of the UN Information Center in Moscow, Representative of the UN Secretary General, conveyed the greetings of the UN Secretary-General at the General Eurasian Peoples' Assembly:

- Dear organizers, participants and guests of the General Eurasian Peoples’ Assembly. It is a great honor for me to greet you on behalf of the UN Secretary-General António Guterres, as well as on behalf of the team of UN agencies represented in the Russian Federation.

The UN Secretary-General authorized me to convey to the General Eurasian Peoples’ Assembly words of sincere sympathy and support, and warm wishes for health, peace, well-being and prosperity to its inspirers and delegations.

In turn, I would like to thank the leadership, members and partners of the Eurasian Peoples' Assembly for your support, your initiatives and, most importantly, for your friendly attitude towards the activities of the United Nations. The Eurasian Peoples' Assembly is a very important structure not only for involving civil society in public diplomacy, but also for involving the best minds in the discussion of global problems at authoritative dialogue platforms.

It fell to us to become contemporaries and direct participants in a difficult period in the history of mankind. To claim that we live in an interconnected and interdependent world would be a repetition of a common knowledge. Today, there is hardly any problem that would not penetrate across borders and even generations, would not require justice and solidarity, the unity of action of the whole world.

But are we living up to these truths? Do we take this relationship into account in our actions? Unfortunately no. There is no doubt that the problems we have faced more recently have evolved into more complex ones. A pandemic that has put lives at risk and the economy on the brink of collapse, climate change that has reached a point of no return, a sharp decline in biodiversity, pollution reaching ethical highs, geostrategic divisions, conflicts with no end in sight, skyrocketing inequality, an unprecedented humanitarian crisis - in the midst of all this, international cooperation is being tested like never before. The values of multilateral institutions and effective beginnings are questioned and sometimes sabotaged.

These trends have resulted in a profound paradox. International cooperation was not as necessary and in demand as it is now. But it often becomes immeasurably more difficult to be achieved. The climate emergency and COVID-19 have highlighted how our destinies and our inability to solve common problems are intertwined. The pandemic has turned our lives upside down, wiping out a decade of painstaking progress towards ending poverty and hunger, children's access to education, gender equality, immunization, health care and more.

The UN member States, of course, have their own views on building a new world. The UN Charter, the Paris Climate Agreement, and the Sustainable Development Goals are a global plan for peace and security, mutual trust, equality and justice. We can and must build on these achievements, strengthen and redouble our efforts, being fully resolved to bring our plans to life.

The UN World Organization sees it as its mission to act as a catalyst and platform for more inclusive and effective forms of multilateralism. Our ability to transform the current situation for the better for all can only be successfully realized if we are determined and committed to join our efforts to achieve our common agenda for the benefit of humanity and the planet. In this regard, we at the UN support the thesis voiced in the speech of the Vice-Speaker of the Federation Council Konstantin Kosachev about the importance of the upcoming World Conference on Intercultural and Interreligious Dialogue next year in St. Petersburg, and the Eurasian Peoples' Assembly can contribute to its preparation.

With all my heart I wish you success in your noble work.