This year 2025 marks the 80th anniversary of the United Nations. The UN 80th ordinary session opened on 9 September 2025 and will close on 8 September 2026; the General Assembly ran from 22 to 30 September under the theme “Better Together: 80 years and more for peace, development and human rights”. Germany’s Annalena Baerbock was President of the General Assembly’s 80th session.
As expressed so eloquently by the current UN Secretary-General António Guterres, “the UN was born 80 years ago… from the ashes of war, the world planted a seed of hope. One Charter, one vision, one promise: that peace is possible when humanity stands together.” Yet today, the promises of attaining peace, human rights, and equality have not materialised; the venerable institution has instead slipped into serving the interests of hegemonic powers, fomenting conflict, and casting human values to the wind. That much has been expressed by the addresses delivered at the 80th General Assembly of the UN.
Today, I introduce my readers to one such address delivered by Slovenia’s President Nataša Pirc Musar. President Musar reminded that “in 1954, the end of the Second World War was greeted with celebrations and hopes in a new era of peace and cooperation embodied by the creation of the United Nations. However, these hopes were dashed by the onset of the Cold War. When it ended in 1991 we once again dared to believe that this would pave the way to the vision of world peace, security, and cooperation enshrined in the UN Charter. Sadly, the vision never materialised… and here is why:
“First, the Security Council envisioned as the very pillar of peace is failing to meet the expectations of the world, if it ever has. The permanent five were supposed to be role models in the world working for peace. Some work for their own interests instead.
“Secondly, the promise of sustainable development goals is faltering… With cuts in development assistance, millions of the world’s poorest are pushed further away from access to even the most basic services.
“Thirdly, international law appears to stand at the precipice of irrelevance. The independence of elected international judges, the integrity of human rights institutions, personal security of human rights defenders, and the authority of this organisation are under siege.
“Fourthly, the genocide convention risks becoming a relic of the past. Some States have put the Criminal Court to its greatest challenge ever. It’s prosecutors.. and it’s judges.. now face sanctions and intimidation…
“Fifthly, the landmark opinion of the International Court of Justice affirming that international law obliged States to prevent harming the climate already feels obsolete.
“And finally, States are withdrawing from the Paris Agreement, from the Ottawa Treaty, and from UN agencies or simply cutting their finances.
“Each such act chips away at the support for multilateralism, a system designed not for the powerful few but for all of us.
“How are we to explain all this to our electorates, to our people, and above all to our children? Shall we tell them that might is right? That the strong may seize what they want because they can? That they can kill with impunity because they can? That they may pollute, wage wars, trample on international law just because they can? Are we prepared to look our children in the eyes and say that this is the world you will inherit and there is nothing we can do about it?
“I propose the creation of a global forum for the future. An inclusive movement of States committed to multilateralism, mutual respect, and defence of our shared vision…
“The first action would be reform of the Security Council, the principle organ entrusted with the maintenance of international peace and security.. it should never be a body that stands above international law to defend the interests of some at the expense of others.”
The Slovenian President went on to focus on issues that need to be tackled by the proposed global forum for the future. She spoke of hunger, inclusivity and diversity, gender representation, human dignity, and crimes against our civilisation and planet.
President Musar then proceeded to speak of genocide. “To fulfil our responsibility as human beings,” she said, “we must do the right thing. We did not stop the holocaust; we did not stop the genocide in Rwanda; we did not stop Srebrenica. We must stop the genocide in Gaza. There are no excuses any more. None.”
Watani International
12 October 2025
