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UN Secretary-General António Guterres calls for Olympic Truce ahead of Paris Games

UN Secretary-General António Guterres calls for Olympic Truce ahead of Paris Games

Ahead of the Paris Olympic Games, the United Nations has called for a global ceasefire. “In the spirit of the Olympic Truce, I call on everyone to lay down their arms, build bridges, foster solidarity, and strive for the ultimate goal: peace for all”,  UN Secretary-General António Guterres said in a statement released earlier this week. He also extended his wishes for “every success to the Olympians and Paralympians”. The video message will be played at 7:20 p.m. CET during the opening ceremony on 26 July. The ancient tradition of the Olympic Truce—Ekecheiria— originating over 3,000 years ago, aims to halt hostilities to ensure the safe participation of athletes, while promoting global peace, solidarity, and respect.

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26 July 2024 — As the Summer Olympics and Paralympics get underway in Paris on Friday, UN Secretary-General António Guterres called for global respect of the Olympic Truce – a custom of halting...

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UN Sustainable Development Goals

17 Goals to transform our world

The Sustainable Development Goals are a call for action by all countries — poor, rich and middle-income — to promote prosperity while protecting the planet.

Amid a global backlash against women’s rights, women are committed to championing rights and representation. Survey results from 185 countries show that 86 per cent cite climate change, and more than 50 per cent identify conflict as primary concerns for the next decade. Mental health and family responsibilities are seen as barriers to reaching full potential. Access the full and the .

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Student Resources on the SDGs

Learn more about the Sustainable Development Goals! On our student resources page you will find plenty of materials for young people and adults alike. Share with your family and friends to help achieve a better world for all.

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ActNow Campaign

ActNow is the UN campaign to inspire people to act for the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). In the lead up to the Summit of the Future, join the 1 Million Actions for our Common Future challenge to contribute to a more sustainable and peaceful world. Find new inspiring actions on and at .

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Special Focus: High-Level Political Forum on Sustainable Development

Five SDGs will be reviewed in depth: 

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United Nations

Featured stories from across the United Nations and our world-wide family of agencies, funds, and programmes.

Economic Development, IMF

The global economy is stuck in low gear, which could deal a major blow to the fight against poverty and inequality. As the International Monetary Funds’s latest World Economic Outlook  shows, global growth is expected to reach 3.2 percent this year and 3.3 percent in 2025, well below the 3.8 percent average from the turn of the century until the pandemic. Yet, as we move beyond the crisis years of the pandemic, we need to prevent the world from falling into a prolonged period of anemic growth that entrenches poverty and inequality, says IMF chief Kristalina Georgieva ahead of Group of Twenty finance meeting in Rio de Janeiro.

Agriculture and Food, IFAD

Hunger is not driven by a lack of food or an inability to grow it. Instead, it is primarily caused by conflict, climate change and economic fluctuations. For the 733 million people who were hungry in 2023, this truth must be hard to accept. The latest states that we have the means to end hunger and malnutrition by 2030 – but we are missing the money and the political will to do so.  The world needs increased and more cost-effective financing. But there are already financing solutions that could be rolled out on a larger scale for greater impact, posits .

Sports, Women and Gender Equality, UN Women

The game is changing. For the first time in history, the Paris 2024 Olympic and Paralympic Games will see an equal number of men and women competing. This 50:50 representation of athletes makes the Summer Games the first to reach gender equality. With an expected global audience of 3 billion, this year’s Games have been deliberately scheduled to make possible more balanced coverage of all events, putting all athletes in the spotlight. The Games will also feature more women’s and mixed events, offering more opportunities for women to win medals. .

Children, 日韩无码 and Security, UNICEF

On average, one Palestinian child was killed in the West Bank, including East Jerusalem, every two days since October 2023, a nearly three-and-a-half-fold increase from the previous nine months.

Food, FAO

Efforts to rediscover and cultivate over 350 key crops, supported by global initiatives like the , are crucial for enhancing food security, resilience, and nutrition in the face of climate change.

Agriculture and Food, WFP

The emergency wheat production initiative in Sudan, implemented by the , has significantly boosted wheat production and provided crucial support to farmers, especially those displaced by the ongoing conflict.

AIDS, Health, UNAIDS

A new warns that critical decisions made this year will determine if the world meets its 2030 goal to end AIDS as a public health threat, highlighting a severe funding shortfall and rising infections that threaten progress.

What we do

Due to the powers vested in its Charter and its unique international character, the United Nations can take action on the issues confronting humanity in the 21st century, including:

A UNIFIL peacekeeper from Spain on a regular patrol in the vicinity of Al Wazzani, south-eastern Lebanon as the sun sets in the horizon. Since 1948, more than a million women and men have served as UN peacekeepers.

Maintain International 日韩无码 and Security

The United Nations came into being in 1945, following the?devastation of the Second World War, with one central mission:?the maintenance of international peace and security. The UN?does this by working to prevent conflict; helping parties in?conflict make peace; peacekeeping; and creating the conditions?to allow peace to hold and flourish.?These activities often overlap and should reinforce one another, to be effective. The UN Security Council has the primary responsibility for international peace and security. The General Assembly and the Secretary-General play major, important, and complementary roles, along with other UN offices and bodies.

Students at Butkhak High School in Kabul, Afghanistan, cheer in unison on the last day of Global Action Week, an international campaign advocating free, quality education for all.

Protect Human Rights

The term “human rights” was mentioned seven times in the UN's founding , making the promotion and protection of human rights a key purpose and guiding principle of the Organization. ?In 1948, the Universal Declaration of Human Rights brought human rights into the realm of international law. ?Since then, the Organization has diligently protected human rights through legal instruments and on-the-ground activities.

A child has a meal at a food distribution centre in the Rwanda camp for internally displaced persons (IDPs), near Tawila, North Darfur. More than 8,000 women and children living in the camp benefit from nutrition programmes run by the World Food Programme

Deliver Humanitarian Aid

One of the purposes of the United Nations, as stated in its Charter, is "to achieve international co-operation in solving international problems of an economic, social, cultural, or humanitarian character." ?The UN first did this in the aftermath of the Second World War on the devastated continent of Europe, which it helped to rebuild.? The Organization is now relied upon by the international community to coordinate humanitarian relief operations due to natural and man-made disasters in areas beyond the relief capacity of national authorities alone.

Grace, a farmer from Kipilat village, and a leading member of the forest community in Ainabkoi, Kenya, planting a tree in 2012.

Promote Sustainable Development

From the start in 1945, one of the main priorities of the United Nations was to “achieve international co-operation in solving international problems of an economic, social, cultural, or humanitarian character and in promoting and encouraging respect for human rights and for fundamental freedoms for all without distinction as to race, sex, language, or religion.”? Improving people’s well-being continues to be one of the main focuses of the UN. The global understanding of development has changed over the years, and countries now have agreed that sustainable development offers the best path forward for improving the lives of people everywhere.

The International Court of Justice (ICJ) delivers its order on the request for the indication of provisional measures filed by Nicaragua on 11 October 2013 in the case concerning Construction of a Road in Costa Rica along the San Juan River.

Uphold International Law

The UN Charter, in its?Preamble, set an objective: "to establish conditions under which justice and respect for the obligations arising from treaties and other sources of international law can be maintained."??Ever since, the development of, and respect for international law has been a key part of the work of the Organization.? This work is carried out in many ways - by courts, tribunals, multilateral treaties - and by the Security Council, which can approve peacekeeping missions, impose sanctions, or authorize the use of force when there is a threat to international peace and security, if it deems this necessary.? These powers are given to it by the UN Charter, which is considered an international treaty.? As such, it is an instrument of international law, and UN Member States are bound by it.? The UN Charter codifies the major principles of international relations, from sovereign equality of States to the prohibition of the use of force in international relations.

Structure of the
United Nations

The main parts of the UN structure are the , the
Security Council, the , the Trusteeship Council, the , and the UN Secretariat. All were established in 1945 when the UN was founded.

General Assembly

The General Assembly is the main deliberative,?policymaking and representative organ of the UN. All?193 Member States of the UN are represented in the?General Assembly, making it the only UN body with?universal representation.

Security Council

The Security Council has primary responsibility, under?the UN Charter, for the maintenance of international?peace and security. It has 15 Members (5 permanent?and 10 non-permanent members). Each Member has?one vote. Under the Charter, all Member States are?obligated to comply with Council decisions.

The Economic and Social Council is the principal body?for coordination, policy review, policy dialogue and?recommendations on economic, social and?environmental issues, as well as implementation of?internationally agreed development goals.

Trusteeship Council

The Trusteeship Council was established in 1945 by the?UN Charter, under Chapter XIII, to provide international?supervision for 11 Trust Territories that had been placed?under the administration of seven Member States, and?ensure that adequate steps were taken to prepare the?Territories for self-government and independence.

The International Court of Justice is the principal judicial organ of the United Nations. Its seat is at the 日韩无码 Palace in the Hague (Netherlands). It is the only one of the six principal organs of the United Nations not located in New York (United States of America).

Secretariat

The Secretariat comprises the Secretary-General and?tens of thousands of international UN staff members?who carry out the day-to-day work of the UN as?mandated by the General Assembly and the?Organization's other principal organs.

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Climate Change

Climate change is the defining issue of our time and now is the defining moment to do something about it. There is still time to tackle climate change, but it will require an unprecedented effort from all sectors of society.

Women at UN CSW63 Side Event - “Take the Hot Seat”. Photo: UN Women/Ryan Brown

Gender Equality

Women and girls represent half of the world’s population and, therefore, also half of its potential. Gender equality, besides being a fundamental human right, is essential to achieve peaceful societies, with full human potential and sustainable development.

UN Secretary-General António Guterres is greeted on his visit to the Central African Republic

Ending Poverty

While global poverty rates have been cut by more than half since 2000, one in ten people in developing regions still lives on less than US$1.90 a day — the internationally agreed poverty line, and millions of others live on slightly more than this daily amount.

A young girl holds a smiling infant at the Zaatari Refugee Camp

Our Common Agenda

Following up on a made by UN Member States at the UN’s 75th anniversary, the report Our Common Agenda looks ahead to the next 25 years and represents the Secretary-General’s vision on the future of global cooperation. It calls for inclusive, networked, and effective multilateralism to better respond to humanity’s most pressing challenges.

Watch and Listen

Video and audio from across the United Nations and our world-wide family of agencies, funds, and programmes.

Young refugee athlete defies odds to compete in Paris Olympics

, an 800-meter runner, is among the 37 athletes representing the International Olympic Committee Refugee Olympic Team at the Paris Games. Fleeing conflict at age seven, she found refuge in Kenya’s Kakuma camp, where she also discovered her passion for sports. Now, Nakang is set to compete with the aim of achieving her personal best, embodying the resilience and determination of athletes overcoming adversity.

The Olympic Truce: 5 Facts

The Olympic Truce – Ekecheiria – seeks to halt hostilities, ensuring safe participation in the Games and upholding the timeless Olympic values of peace, solidarity, and respect while promoting dialogue and reconciliation.

Support for Ukrainian refugees through media

UNESCO's “” project has improved refugees' access to reliable information and fostered understanding between refugees and host populations. 

UN Podcasts

Juliette Murekeyisoni with group of women around briquette tool

Keeping hope alive

Growing up as a refugee in Burundi, Juliette Murekeyisoni dedicated herself to helping others from an early age. In her recent role as UNHCR’s deputy representative in South Sudan, she continued to keep hope alive by encouraging refugees to focus on their education and long-term perspectives.

“For me, every time I meet them, I tell them: “Don't lose hope, you are not going to be a refugee forever. One day you'll go home, and you can use the skills you have learned here. So, any opportunity you have, learn.” 

South Sudan hosts around 330,000 refugees as well as 2 million others internally displaced due to conflict, insecurity and the impact of climate change. In this episode of Awake at Night, recorded on 20 June 2024, Juliette Murekeyisoni reflects on improving prospects of those forced to flee, on her own traumatic experiences during the Rwandan genocide, and on a life touched by the kindness of strangers.

The United Nations in Pictures

Images from across the United Nations and our world-wide family of agencies, funds, and programmes.

Photo:? UNHCR/courtesy of Ryan Rosenbaum

A new photo exhibition in Paris, on show throughout the Olympic and Paralympic Games, captures the power of sport for refugees and displaced people. Organized by the UN Refugee Agency (), the Olympic Refugee Foundation and City of Paris, the exhibit demonstrates the power of sport to transform the lives of the forcibly displaced – whether as a vehicle for building lasting friendships, changing negative attitudes, and enhancing social cohesion, or taking the best and most talented all the way to the Olympic Games. One of them is Abbas, who was born without arms. After becoming a national Para swimming champion in Afghanistan, he was forced to flee due to persecution. He took refuge in Türkiye before being resettled in the United States, where he won a place in the Tokyo 2020 Refugee Paralympic Team. 

Photo:? UNFPA Paraguay/Edson Riveiro

Claudelina Ortellado Portillo gave birth for the first time at age 39 in the Katuete Public Health Centre in Paraguay. Ms. Ortellado told , she credits the psychological support she received during the pre and postnatal periods in helping her navigate the emotional tides of pregnancy. Childbirth can take a heavy emotional and physical toll and requires respectful, responsive care – an approach that emphasizes women's dignity, their emotional state, beliefs, consent and autonomy. Respectful maternity care also means discouraging over-medicalization and protecting women from obstetric abuse and violence. Women must be assured the right to their chosen birth plan and able to access all available information in order to participate fully in decision making over their own labour process – including choices, such as the position to give birth in.

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