UN Secretary-General says the world is heading for a “powder keg”

The head of the United Nations, Antonio Guterres, said that impunity, inequality and uncertainty are leading modern civilization to a “powder keg that risks engulfing the world.”

This was reported by RBC-Ukraine with reference to AP.

“We cannot go on like this,” the Secretary-General said, opening the annual high-level meeting of 193 UN member states.

He said the world is in “an era of epic transformation” and faces challenges never seen before, with deepening geopolitical divisions, a warming planet and wars raging in the Middle East, Ukraine, Sudan and elsewhere, and no end in sight.

“We are heading for the unthinkable - a powder keg that risks consuming the world,” Guterres said.

However, according to him, there is hope - “the problems we face can be solved.”

Guterres called the situation in Gaza “an ongoing nightmare that threatens to take the entire region with it.” In Ukraine, he said, there are no signs of an end to the war. In Sudan, “the brutal struggle for power has led to horrific violence,” including mass rape.

Guterres said that in order to overcome the challenges, it is necessary to confront the three driving forces of “unsustainability” - the uncertainty of unmanageable risks, the inequality that underlies injustice and grievances, and the impunity that undermines international law and the fundamental principles of the UN.

Author - Dmitriy Levchenko, 25/09/2024