Having taken office with a call for peace to be the watchword of 2017, United Nations Secretary-General António Guterres on Tuesday said the world instead had ‘gone in reverse,” and that there are critical areas that need action in the New Year, including climate change, the nuclear issue on the Korean Peninsula, the Middle East conflict, and the Rohingya crisis.
“I took office last year calling for us to make 2017 a year for peace. One year later, we must recognize that peace remains elusive,” the Secretary-General said in his informal briefing to the UN Member States on his top concerns for 2018.
He said that conflicts have deepened and new dangers have emerged, global anxieties about nuclear weapons are the highest since the Cold War, and climate change is moving faster than counter-measures.
Further, inequalities are growing, horrific violations of human rights are ongoing, and nationalism, racism and xenophobia are on the rise, he added, stressing the need for greater unity and courage to “set the world on track towards a better future.”
Noting that it is up to Member States to define the priorities of UN action, the Secretary-General went on to highlight some parts of the world requiring attention.
On the Korean Peninsula, Mr. Guterres reiterated the need to avoid sleepwalking into calamity.
To that end, he welcomed the firm decisions the Security Council has taken in response to nuclear tests and ballistic missile launches by the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea (DPRK), while also welcoming the reopening of inter-Korean communication channels, especially military-to-military.
He said he was also encouraged by the decision of the DPRK to participate in the upcoming Winter Olympics in the Republic of Korea.
“We need to build on these small signs of hope, and expand diplomatic efforts to achieve the peaceful denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula in the context of regional security,” he said.
On the broader Middle East region, including Yemen, Syria and Iraq, he said the situation has become a Gordian knot, stressing the need for “disentangling the mess.”
“With so many inter-related flashpoints, the risk of an escalatory cycle is real,” he said.
As for the conflict between Israelis and Palestinians, there is no alternative to a two-State solution, he stressed.
The UN chief also stressed the need for pushing back the dangerous tide of nationalism in Europe, and the need for revitalizing the relevant mediation initiatives for Eastern Ukraine, Nagorno-Karabakh, Georgia and Transnistria.
A concerted effort is also urgently needed for solutions leading to long-term stability in the Western Balkans, he added.
Turning to the need to reverse the large-scale exodus of Myanmar’s Rohingya Muslims, Mr. Guterres called on the Government to ensure unfettered humanitarian access in Rakhine State, and appealed to the international community to support those who have fled to Bangladesh.
