António Guterres was addressing a High-Level Debate in the Security Council on Leadership for Peace, designed to bolster support for the principles of the UN Charter and build on the call for reform contained in the ground-breaking Pact for the Future, adopted on Sunday.

In the face of deepening divisions and growing mistrust between nations, impunity is spreading along with “repeated violations” of international law and the Charter, the Secretary-General told world leaders and senior ministers in the Council chamber in New York.

“Leadership for peace means ensuring that the UN Security Council acts in a meaningful way to ease global tensions and help address the conflicts that are inflicting so much suffering around the world.”

“A united Council can make a tremendous difference for peace”, Mr. Guterres continued: “A divided Council cannot.”

He said it was “imperative” that in the light of the failure to act – due often to divisions between permanent members who wield veto power – members need to “spare no effort to work together to find common ground.”

Peacekeeping success

He said despite inaction over wars in Gaza and Ukraine, there have been notable examples of effective unified action, from overseeing 11 UN peacekeeping operations involving some 70,000 personnel, to a landmark resolution which provides for African Union-led support operations.

These “prove that forging peace is possible”, including in Gaza, Ukraine and Sudan”, the UN chief added.

“Our only hope for progress on peace is active collaboration and unity among Council members”, Mr. Guterres continued. “Today, I call on all members to live up to this great responsibility and to the promise of the UN Charter. Contribute to this Council’s success – not its diminishment.”

Red Cross: Council must turn rhetoric into action

Mirjana Spoljaric, President of the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC), said the Security Council’s success is measured by how it overcomes global divisions and the base definition of politics as one of “you are either with us or against us”.

Bridging these differences requires leadership, but, unfortunately, the collective inertia and acceptance of the current situation of emboldened warring parties flouting their legal obligations is setting a new threshold for placing humanity on a scale, disregarding the fact that all human lives have equal value.

International law ‘is not transactional’

International humanitarian law was created to move beyond division, paving the way from polarisation to peace. These laws – treaties your States created and ratified – compel restraint, she added.

“Under the Geneva Conventions, even your enemy must be treated with humanity,” she said. “[International humanitarian law] is not transactional. Let your military commanders understand this: wars can be fought and won while adhering to the letter and spirit of the law.”

While commending all Council members for recalling systematically to the parties in conflict to comply with international humanitarian law, she implored that “we must go beyond that and make sure that the true meaning is adhered to.”

This means taking all feasible precautions to minimise civilian harm, not misrepresenting acceptable proportionality calculations and respecting the rules of war “even if your enemy does not”.

Inhumanity fuels violence while preserving humanity fosters de-escalation, she said, noting that States and militaries must fully integrate international humanitarian law into their defense strategies, not just for war, but to achieve victory that allows for long-term stability, she added.

Message to Council: ‘Pick up the phone’

She said the world must see the Council’s rhetorical support for international humanitarian law put into action.

“You determine whether the Geneva Conventions are a tool for peace that saves lives,” she said.

“When your ally targets civilians, pick up the phone and demand that they stop. When your ally refuses ICRC visits to detainees or prisoners of war, pick up the phone and demand compliance. When your ally bends the rules of war beyond recognition, use the means you have to stop them.”

International humanitarian law saves lives, including enabling the release of thousands of detainees in Yemen, the Chibok girls in Nigeria and the ICRC’s efforts to escort orphans to safety in Khartoum.

“It’s not the law that fails, but the will to enforce it,” she said. “Upholding the Geneva Conventions is in your own core interest. [International humanitarian law] offers a pathway to peace; declare it your political priority.”

Johnson Sirleaf: Leadership for peace is ‘sorely lacking’

Ellen Johnson Sirleaf, former President of Liberia, addressed the Council in her capacity as a member of the Group of Elders, established by former South African president Nelson Mandela.

“Preserving peace should be the primary responsibility of any leader, yet the leadership for peace that the world desperately needs is sorely lacking,” she said, calling for action on three issues.

Firstly, leaders must uphold international law consistently, she said, pointing to increasing numbers of instances of systematic violations in war zones, from Ukraine to Gaza and beyond, alongside impunity for those committing atrocities as well as influential States intervening in conflicts, transferring weapons to warring parties and inflaming aggressions.

“Powerful States, including some permanent members of this Council, are deliberately ignoring international norms,” she stressed, adding that the war of aggression on Ukraine is a flagrant violation of the UN Charter, with the Security Council paralysed and not responding.

Pointing to incidents whereby some Council members are undermining decisions of the International Court of Justice (ICJ) and threatening the International Criminal Court and its officials, she said “it is vital that our international judicial institutions are supported and their decisions upheld. International law must be applied consistently, regardless of who is being held accountable.”

Inclusive peacebuilding

Secondly, conflict resolution and peacebuilding must be truly inclusive, Ms. Johnson Sirleaf continued.

Next year will mark 25 years since this Council passed resolution 1325, which recognised the crucial role that women must play in peace and security, yet the decisions that most affect peace and security are still primarily, and in some contexts exclusively, made by men, often the same men who initiated the conflict.

As such, the Elders are calling for the mandatory participation of senior women in peacemaking and peacebuilding processes.

‘The world looks to you to act’

“Finally, you, as leaders, must restore the credibility of the international peace and security architecture,” she said, emphasising that the UN is known worldwide for its peacekeeping, including in Liberia, where after 14 years of civil war, peacekeeping operations played a crucial role in securing peace.

Sadly, peacekeeping is broken at a time when it is needed more than ever, she continued. When the world looks to the UN for leadership in the face of such threats as conflict or global pandemics, it looks first to the Security Council, Ms. Johnson Sirleaf said.

“But, this Council is widely seen to be ineffective. Reform is urgent and overdue. The Council must be fit for the world of 2025 and beyond, not a relic from 1945,” she said, adding that to build on the momentum of the recently adopted Pact for the Future, the Elders are calling for a coalition to launch a reform process and drive negotiations for a more representative and effective Security Council.

“The time for excuses is past, and your moment of leadership is now,” she said. “The world looks to you to act. Do not let us down.”

Presidential statement

At the outset of the meeting, the Council adopted a presidential statement on the meeting’s theme, read in its entirety by Prime Minister Robert Golob of Slovenia, which holds the Council presidency for September.

The Council, among other things, called on all parties to armed conflict to comply fully with their obligations under international humanitarian law in order to respect and protect civilians, including humanitarian personnel. It also reiterated its commitment towards accountability for violations.

Slovenia: ‘Global public wants to hear this commitment today’

Delivering a statement in his national capacity, Prime Minister Golob said national interests are too often being put ahead of common values and principles.

“If we all put stronger efforts into giving priority to common interests, the world would be a better place,” he said. “The global public wants to hear this commitment from us today.”

He recalled that during the Balkan wars, the Council was willing and capable of adopting a resolution establishing an accountability mechanism through an international tribunal, but today, similar atrocities are happening in many conflicts.

“Unfortunately, adoption of such a resolution by this Council seems unthinkable,” he said, adding that efforts must be made to invest in building an effective, relevant Council that fits the world today.

Council more crucial than ever: UK’s Starmer

As conflict deepens in the Middle East, Ukraine and Sudan, “the world looks to the Council more than ever to provide leadership for peace,” preserve collective security and protect vulnerable civilians, said UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer.

In his first major statement at the UN since his party won election in July, he pledged that the United Kingdom will “always play its full part” as one of the permanent members of the Council.

He urged members to seek political solutions that break the cycle of violence, noting there is no military solution to the Gaza conflict.

Singling out Russia’s continuing bombardment of civilians in Ukraine, he said: “I wonder how Russia can show its face in this building…The UN Charter which they sit here to uphold speaks of human dignity, not treating your own citizens as bits of meat, to fling into the grinder.”

China: UN carries a sacred mission

Wang Yi, China’s Foreign Affairs Minister, said peace has remained the deepest aspiration of humanity, however, there remains a long way to go in that regard amid conflicts and the re-emergence of the cold war mentality.

“The UN carries a sacred mission to beat swords into ploughshares,” he said, recalling China’s proposal for a peace plan that observes the UN Charter and territorial integrity.

The Security Council should rise to its responsibilities, including the ongoing war in Gaza, with a top priority being a ceasefire and the full implementation of relevant resolutions, he said, highlighting China’s role in working towards peace in current conflicts, including support for sustainable development and eradicating the root causes of wars.

US: UN must reform to ‘meet this moment’

US Ambassador Linda Thomas-Greenfield said the world can learn from Liberia’s path to peace, in which the UN played a critical role, as an example of how best to addressing current challenges in Israel, Gaza, Lebanon, Haiti and Sudan and elsewhere, but the international system is inadequate, and people have the right to be frustrated.

“The role of the UN in the world has never been more critical, but there is a catch: the UN can meet this moment only if it undergoes changes,” she said, recalling Washington’s recent proposals for Council reform.

Together, much more must also be done to address humanitarian crises, including those that affect women and girls, she said, suggesting that the private sector and other actors have a role to play in this regard.

West’s proxy war against Russia in Ukraine, ‘impossible’ to win

Suggesting the world has not been this close to all-out war since the Cuban Missile Crisis of 1962, Russia’s First Deputy Permanent Representative to UN Dmitry Polyansky blamed the US and NATO allies for the situation, who are “dragging themselves deeper into the war with Russia to keep afloat their anti-Russian project in Ukraine”.

He accused NATO of trying to get a foothold in the Asia-Pacific, with the aim to shattering the ASEAN regional alliance, through alternative alliances such as the AUKUS partnership with Australia.

To deter Russia and China, he said the West had undermined “the system of globalization that was created largely by its own designs.”

Warning of the danger to the whole world posed by the West’s “proxy war” against Russia in Ukraine, Mr. Polyansky said a military victory over a powerful and nuclear-armed Russia was “impossible in principle”.