Secretary-General Ant¨®nio Guterres (right) pays tribute to Mahatma Gandhi at the Raj Ghat memorial in New Delhi on 2 October 2018 to mark the beginning of the celebrations of his 150th birthday. UN Photo/Ishan Tankha
Secretary General's message - 2023
On this International Day of Non-Violence, we commemorate not only the birth of Mahatma Gandhi but also the timeless values he championed: mutual respect and understanding, justice, and the power of peaceful action.
Our world confronts grave challenges: growing inequalities, rising tensions, proliferating conflicts, and worsening climate chaos.
We also see divides deepening within countries ¨C with democracy under threat and hate speech and intolerance on the march.
We can overcome these afflictions and chart a course towards a brighter, more peaceful future.
If we understand ¨C as Gandhi did ¨C that the magnificent diversity of our human family is a treasure, not a threat.
If we invest in social cohesion, nurture the courage to compromise, and the determination to cooperate.
If we ensure that all of us ¨C regardless of status, background, circumstance, or faith ¨C can live lives of dignity, opportunity, and rights.
If we unite around our common humanity.
Let us remember Gandhi¡¯s wise counsel: ¡°Our ability to reach unity in diversity will be the beauty and the test of our civilization.¡±
Let us heed his words today and re-commit ourselves to this essential purpose.
Let us remember Gandhi¡¯s wise counsel: ¡°Our ability to reach unity in diversity will be the beauty and the test of our civilization.¡± Let us heed his words today and re-commit ourselves to this essential purpose.
