Top 112 Quotes & Sayings by Antonio Guterres - Page 2

As we face the headwinds of our troubled and turbulent times, let us always be inspired by the legacy of Kofi Annan - and guided by the knowledge that he will continue speaking to us, urging us on toward the goals to which he dedicated his life and truly moved our world.

Terrorist groups share an agenda of authoritarianism, misogyny, and intolerance. They are an affront to the common values encapsulated in the U.N. Charter and the Universal Declaration of Human Rights.

Migratory birds connect people, ecosystems, and nations. They are symbols of peace and of an interconnected planet.

When we see so many conflicts multiplying, the only way to allow the international community to be able to address those conflicts, the only way to allow the international community to act boldly, is with unity of the countries of the region, able to serve together and in the same universal principles.

The facts are clear. Our oceans are a mess.

All Bangladeshi citizens, including minorities and women, must feel safe and confident in exercising their right to vote.

I do believe that the international community cannot act based on a rivalries or things of that sort.

Far too often, girls are not given the space and opportunities they need to achieve their full potential.

Women's rights are human rights.

Denying the rights of women and girls is not only wrong in itself; it has a serious social and economic impact that holds us all back.

Many countries do not allow women to convey their nationality to their children - if they are single mothers, the children become stateless.

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.

The governments of south Sudan must make sure that everybody will get a nationality - that nobody will become stateless because of this separation.

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.

There's corruption in many parts of the world.

Terrorism is a persistent and evolving global menace. No country is immune.

I think Australia is an extremely relevant partner and a key instrument for the stability, the progress, and the support of the East Timorese.

World Migratory Bird Day is an opportunity to celebrate the great natural wonder of bird migration - but also a reminder that those patterns, and ecosystems worldwide, are threatened by climate change.

Global terrorism threatens every region.

The people of the D.P.R.K. need our generosity and help.

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.

United Nations Day marks the birthday of our founding Charter - the landmark document that embodies the hopes, dreams and aspirations of 'we the peoples.'

The future is unpredictable.

There is an urgent need for disarmament of all kinds, but especially nuclear disarmament.

There is never a humanitarian solution for a humanitarian crisis. The solutions for the humanitarian crisis are always political ones.

In all circumstances in the world - even the most difficult circumstances - we need to push for dialogue.

The 'responsibility to protect' is a very important concept.

The only sure way to eliminate the threat posed by nuclear weapons is to eliminate the weapons themselves.

Violence against women is fundamentally about power.

China can be a guarantor to North Korea that if they give up their nuclear capacity, the United States will not be in a position to harm them. And for the United States, China can also be a guarantor that if there is an agreement, that the agreement is effectively implemented by the North Koreans.

We cannot leave the Central Africans abandoned. Everyone needs to be mobilized to help this country build a future that Central Africans deserve.

I must say I have a personal love affair with India, with its civilisation, its culture.

Torture remains unacceptable and unjustified at all times, including during states of emergency, political instability, or even in a war.

You see in Islam, you see in Christianity, you see in Africa, in different religions, in Buddhism and Hinduism, there is a strong commitment to refugee protection.

Our world needs to move from managing crises to preventing them in the first place. Too often, the world responds too late and too little.

We live in a... chaotic world.

To give to those in need is a central pillar of Islam.

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.

Let us recommit to supporting every girl to develop her skills, enter the workforce on equal terms, and reach her full potential.

I'm not a multilateralist against anybody. I'm a multilateralist because I believe in a multilateral order.

We need to be able to demonstrate that what we do in today's world, in humanitarian aid, the enormous effort to minimize the tragic situations that we see all over the world, I think, without the U.N., people would suffer much more, and the situation would be much more terrible.

What I think it's important to recognize in today's world is that all of our societies are multiethnic, multi-religious and multicultural. And that is a positive thing. That's a richness, and also strength. But we also have to recognize that, for those societies to be harmonious, there is a lot of the investment that needs to be made in social cohesion and inclusivity. But the important thing to recognize, and particularly Europe, most of the terrorist attacks are not done by people that came from the outside. They are homegrown.

I think that it's very important to have the United States' engagement in many situations we have around the world, be it in Syria, be it in the African context. The United States represents an important set of values, human rights, values related to freedom, to democracy. And so the foreign policy engagement of the United States is a very important guarantee that those values can be properly pursued.

While every refugee's story is different and their anguish personal, they all share a common thread of uncommon courage - the courage not only to survive, but to persevere and rebuild their shattered lives.

...in the midst of migrants in search of a better life there are people in need of protection: refugees and asylum-seekers, women and children victims of trafficking...Many move simply to avoid dying of hunger. When leaving is not an option but a necessity, this is more than poverty.

When food becomes scarce, refugees often turn to desperate measures to feed themselves and their families. We are particularly worried about the health of the refugee population, domestic violence and refugees resorting to illegal employment or even to prostitution, just to put enough food on the table.

Thus, on this World Refugee Day, let us take time to recognize and draw inspiration from these ordinary people who have shown such extraordinary courage - the world's millions of refugees and displaced.

We can't deter people fleeing for their lives. They will come. The choice we have is how well we manage their arrival, and how humanely.

Syria has become the great tragedy of this century - a disgraceful humanitarian calamity with suffering and displacement unparalleled in recent history.

The international community has to overcome its differences and find solutions to the conflicts of today in South Sudan, Syria, Central African Republic and elsewhere. Non-traditional donors need to step up alongside traditional donors. As many people are forcibly displaced today as the entire populations of medium-to-large countries such as Colombia or Spain, South Africa or South Korea.

It is, for me, clear that the world needs a United States that is engaged in security issues, in development issues, in human rights issues. The contribution of the United States for global affairs is absolutely crucial. And the cooperation with the U.N. is very important from our perspective.

Now, it's high time for all those that have an influence on the parties with the conflict to understand that it is in the interest of everybody to put an end to this conflict. But this kind of persuasion, this kind of intense pressure, I believe it's my duty to do, even if I recognize that the contradictions and the different perceptions of interest that exist are making it very difficult.