UNIS/SGSM/1473
3 February 2025
On this International Day of Human Fraternity, we celebrate the values of equality, unity and mutual respect.
Yet today, all over the world, we see a surge of discrimination, xenophobia and intolerance driving people apart and tearing at the fabric of societies.
It is the duty of all of us, including religious leaders, to seek dialogue over division, and confront hatred wherever we find it, before it takes hold and spreads.
The Declaration “Human Fraternity for World Peace and Living Together” – co-authored by His Holiness Pope Francis and His Eminence the Grand Imam of Al-Azhar Sheikh Ahmed El-Teyeb – is a blueprint for interfaith harmony and peaceful coexistence. It is a powerful reminder that our shared commitment to human rights and dignity is the foundation of a better future for all.
Inspired by this Declaration, let us recognize that we are one human family — rich in diversity, equal in dignity and rights, and united in solidarity.
Together, we can pave the way for a more peaceful, inclusive and just world for all people.
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"On this International Day of Human Fraternity, we celebrate the values of equality, unity and mutual respect." — António Guterres
"Female genital mutilation is a horrific act of gender-based violence. More than 230 million girls and women alive today are survivors of this abhorrent practice." — António Guterres
"This year marks the eightieth anniversary of the Holocaust's end. We mourn the six million Jews murdered by the Nazis and their collaborators, as they sought to destroy an entire people. " — António Guterres
The new Permanent Representative of Peru to the United Nations (Vienna), María Eugenia Echeverría, presented her credentials today to the Director-General of the United Nations Office at Vienna (UNOV), Ghada Waly.