United Nations marks 75th anniversary with largely online event and no Donald Trump speech
- US president unexpectedly did not address event, and was represented instead by acting deputy representative to the UN
- Anniversary comes at time when world body faces questions over whether it can muster consensus to face current challenges, including coronavirus pandemic
The United Nations on Monday marked its 75th anniversary with a largely online event, with US President Donald Trump failing to address the commemoration despite being expected to do so.
UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres called for more international cooperation in the face of global challenges in opening the event.
“Today we have a surplus of multilateral challenges and a deficit of multilateral solutions,” he said. “Climate calamity looms, biodiversity is collapsing, poverty is again rising, hatred is spreading, geopolitical tensions are escalating … the Covid-19 pandemic has laid bare the world's fragilities. We can only address them together.”
Speaking in person in the gilded General Assembly Hall in New York, the UN chief also praised the achievements of the world body, which was created in 1945 in the ashes of World War II.
“Never in modern history have we gone so many years without a military confrontation between the major powers,” Guterres said.