Secretary-General Statements

[scroll down for French version] Every year on 5 December, the world observes International Volunteer Day. This year, we are highlighting the important contributions of volunteers to the response to COVID-19. Around the world, volunteers have been assisting vulnerable groups, correcting misinformation, educating children, providing essential services to the elderly, and supporting front-line health workers. 

I send my warmest greetings to this eighteenth conference of the Heads of United Nations Military Components. I would like to thank you personally and, through you, the women and men who serve with honour in peacekeeping operations, for their personal sacrifices and for the contributions they make every day to international peace and security. Today, our peacekeeping operations face the challenging context of the COVID-19 pandemic. I send my deepest condolences to those of you who have lost loved ones and members of your contingents during this crisis. 

[scroll down for French version] Conflict and the environment are deeply interlinked. Around the world, at least 40 per cent of all intrastate conflicts have had an important natural resource dimension.  Rising temperatures due to climate change now threaten to further amplify environmental stresses and tensions.  And, all too often, the environment is among the casualties of war, through deliberate acts of destruction or collateral damage, or because, during conflicts, governments fail to control and manage natural resources.

“20 YEARS AFTER UN SECURITY COUNCIL RESOLUTION 1325: LEADERSHIP AND CONCRETE ACTION TO REALIZE THE WOMEN, PEACE AND SECURITY AGENDA” I send my warmest greetings to this High-Level Event. Over the two decades since Security Council Resolution 1325, there have been notable achievements on women, peace and security. But progress is too slow, too narrow, and too easy to reverse.