Antonio Guterres
Authorities that erect major obstacles to migration - or place severe restrictions on migrants' work opportunities - inflict needless economic self-harm, as they impose barriers to having their labor needs met in an orderly, legal fashion. Worse still, they unintentionally encourage illegal migration.Collection: Legal
If resources become scarce, people tend to fight for them. This is increasing the number of people on the move and the number of people forced to move. They're not refugees, according to the legal definition, but they represent a major humanitarian and human rights challenge, as well as a major challenge for world politics.Collection: Legal
The future of the U.N. will be determined by its readiness to change and adapt.Collection: Future
United Nations Day marks the birthday of our founding Charter - the landmark document that embodies the hopes, dreams and aspirations of 'we the peoples.'Collection: Birthday
It's widely recognized that there is no peace without development and no development without peace; it is also true that there is no peace and sustainable development without respect for human rights.Collection: Peace
Humanitarian response, sustainable development, and sustaining peace are three sides of the same triangle.Collection: Peace
Gender equality has a transformative effect that is essential to fully functioning communities, societies, and economies.Collection: Equality
Climate change is moving faster than we are, but we don't give up because we know that climate action is the only path.Collection: Change
Perceptions are essential in politics.Collection: Politics
Clearly, the response to terrorism and violent extremism must respect human rights and comply with international law. That is not just a question of justice but of effectiveness.Collection: Respect
When you look at human rights, look at gender, and the rights of girls for education in the world - that are crucial issues - some are saying 'Oh, these are western values.' But these are really universal values.Collection: Education
We have to transcend our differences to transform our future.Collection: Future
Migratory birds connect people, ecosystems, and nations. They are symbols of peace and of an interconnected planet.Collection: Peace
Stateless people are hidden. During the 2011 refugee crises, it was obvious that people were fleeing Somalia and Libya - there was a lot of international attention. Statelessness goes undetected because stateless people are in legal limbo and are afraid to show up.Collection: Legal
Nagasaki and Hiroshima remind us to put peace first every day; to work on conflict prevention and resolution, reconciliation, and dialogue; and to tackle the roots of conflict and violence.Collection: Peace
The fact that societies are becoming increasingly multi-ethnic, multicultural, and multi-religious is good. Diversity is a strength, not a weakness.Collection: Strength
Our own objective is to make Africa overcome its difficulties, to make Africa a continent of hope, to make Africa a continent of the future, to make Africa a pillar of the world in which we live - not seen as a problem but seen as an opportunity.Collection: Hope
Migration powers economic growth, reduces inequalities, and connects diverse societies. Yet it is also a source of political tensions and human tragedies.
The United Nations must focus on delivery rather than process and on people rather than bureaucracy.
Facing dramatic global challenges, we need a global capacity to address them that reaffirms the importance of multilateralism and the importance of a rules-based set of international relations, based on the rule of law and in accordance with the U.N. Charter.
As a global community, we face a choice. Do we want migration to be a source of prosperity and international solidarity, or a byword for inhumanity and social friction?
I am a multilateralist. I am deeply convinced that there is no other way to deal with global challenges than with global responses, and organised in a multilateral way.
Human rights are being violated in so many places. But we don't give up because we know respect for human rights and human dignity is a basic condition for peace.
Plastic waste is now found in the most remote areas of the planet. It kills marine life and is doing major harm to communities that depend on fishing and tourism.
Global coherence demands a permanent strategic cooperation culture at all levels.
When I was growing up reading history books as a young student, it seemed all wars had a winner. Yet in today's wars, it is increasingly clear that no one wins. Everyone loses.
Too often, U.N. peacekeepers face an impossible task in countries that are still at war and where there is no real peace to keep.
Nowhere in the world has the use of force alone resolved a conflict.
It's true that globalization, with all its fantastic improvements in the world and the technological progress linked to it, has increased inequality at country level, especially inside countries. And there are people that were left behind - people, sectors, regions - that has created a sense of frustration in the rust belts of the world.
Terrorism is a persistent and evolving global menace. No country is immune.
One of the most frustrating things is to see a country in which you had elections, the elections were a success, but then you have to say to people nothing can be improved in the next few months, even in the next few years, in infrastructure, in water, in sanitation, in health, in education, in jobs.
I am totally committed to the cooperation between the African Union and the United Nations.
Migrants make huge contributions to both their host countries and countries of origin. They take jobs that local workforces cannot fill, boosting economic activity. Many are innovators and entrepreneurs.
We want the world our children inherit to be defined by the values enshrined in the U.N. Charter: peace, justice, respect, human rights, tolerance, and solidarity.
The United Nations needs to be nimble, efficient, and effective.
When we achieve human rights and human dignity for all people - they will build a peaceful, sustainable, and just world.
The 'responsibility to protect' is a very important concept.
We live in a... chaotic world.
There's corruption in many parts of the world.
When two people are together, they are not two but six: what each one is, what each one thinks he or she is, and what each one thinks the other is. And what is true for people is also true for countries and organisations.
The international community spends much more time and resources managing crises than preventing them. But TV cameras are seldom there when a conflict is avoided, so it is difficult for governments and international organizations to make prevention a priority.
I'll put everything I have in my capacity at the service of the noble cause and noble values of the U.N. and the U.N. Charter.
The twenty-first century will be characterized by the mass movement of people being pushed and pulled within and beyond their borders by conflict, calamity, or opportunity.
The world's problems transcend borders.
Torture remains unacceptable and unjustified at all times, including during states of emergency, political instability, or even in a war.
A refugee in the traditional vision is someone who flees from country to another because of persecution or conflict. But what we're witnessing now more and more is a certain number of mega-trends interacting with one another: population growth, urbanization, food insecurity, water scarcity, climate change, and conflict.
In a world where the latest app can sell for billions of dollars, there are plenty of ways to provide a minimum of humanity for those caught in conflict, who never had the opportunity to reach their potential in the first place.
As populations continue to increase, and the climate continues to deteriorate, and as people flock in ever increasing numbers to large, underdeveloped cities, the threat of multiple protracted mega-emergencies has become reality.
The humanitarian aid system is built on a concept that when disaster strikes, outside agencies provide a temporary helping hand until people can take back control of their own lives. But across the world, we see millions of people caught in semi-permanent crises. As each year goes by, they are less and less likely to break free.
As a global society, we have the technology, resources and the know-how to make a massive difference to living standards everywhere, including for refugees.