It was a gloomy UN chief who reflected on the year that had just begun when he held a speech to the UN General Assembly. He opened his ominous box in his figurative speech and highlighted four dreadful questions:
Derailled conflicts, rampant inequalities, ravaging climate crisis and a technology that (we) have lost control over, he said in the speech held on Wednesday, before the reports of ceasefire in Gaza.
Guterres took office as UN Secretary-General in 2017, after a career as Portugal's Prime Minister, leader of the Socialist International and UN High Commissioner for Refugees. Despite his constant contact with crises over the decades, Wednesday's speech was one of the darkest and gloomiest he had held.
Evil is raging
Our actions – or lack of action – have unleashed evil from the modern Pandora's box.
He stated that the UN Security Council is paralyzed, where great powers use their veto power for personal gain or to block necessary interventions.
The 75-year-old Guterres saw a few glimmers of hope, including how many countries are switching to sustainable energy sources, and about fragile ceasefires being concluded in the Middle East.
Few glimmers of hope
But he returned to Pandora – the earth's first woman created by the god Zeus according to Greek mythology. She was absolutely not allowed to open the box she had received from Zeus. But she could not resist – and all the world's misfortunes spread from the box across the earth.
Let us not have any illusions: We live in a world of chaos and uncertainty, said Guterres in his speech.
The only thing that remained in Pandora's box, when diseases and misfortunes had flown from it, was hope.
So also with Guterres:
In order to make hope a reality – so that it can spread – we must hold on to our fundamental values, we must speak the truth and never give up.
