President Dr Mohamed Irfaan Ali has called on the international community to strengthen its capacity for peace and on the UN to take decisive diplomatic action to end suffering caused by conflicts, particularly the continuing crisis in the Middle East.
Addressing the 81st Session of the United Nations General Assembly on Thursday, President Ali said the international community must move beyond the instruments of war and strengthen its capacity for diplomacy and peace, as conflicts continue to consume lives and undermine global stability.
“In this regard, I reiterate Guyana’s call for a just and lasting solution to the crisis in the Middle East, one that brings an end to the suffering of innocent civilians and recognises the Palestinian people’s legitimate right to self-determination and to secure homeland of their own,” President Ali said.
President Dr Mohamed Irfaan Ali addressing the 81st Session of the United Nations General Assembly
He also reaffirmed Guyana’s support for a two-state solution, as he urged the international community to pursue diplomacy over destruction.
“The world does not need more sophisticated instruments of destruction. It needs a more sophisticated capacity for peace,” the president told the Assembly.
President Ali’s appeal extended beyond the Middle East, with Guyana calling for an end to the war between Russia and Ukraine, the conflict in Sudan, and other crises that continue to claim lives, displace families and undermine prospects for development.
“We call as well for an end to the Russian-Ukraine war and the war in Sudan and for peaceful resolution of all conflicts that continue to consume lives, uproot families, and extinguish the hopes of millions in other parts of our world,” President Ali declared.
The president also reiterated Guyana’s support for a peaceful, people-centred and development-focused solution for Cuba, noting that CARICOM remains prepared to play a meaningful role in advancing that objective.
On Haiti, President Ali stressed that sustained international support is necessary to address the country’s multidimensional challenges and advance democracy, stability, peace and prosperity.
However, he maintained that international assistance must support, rather than displace, Haitian leadership.
“Ultimately, the future of Haiti must be Haitian-led and Haitian-owned,” President Ali said.
The president’s call for peace formed part of a broader appeal for a stronger and more effective multilateral system capable of responding to the defining challenges facing humanity.
He pointed to the weakening of multilateralism alongside climate change, food insecurity, biodiversity loss, armed conflicts, geopolitical tensions, widening inequalities and the rising cost of living as challenges demanding collective action.
The head of state said history has demonstrated that even in periods of profound crisis, humanity possesses the capacity to overcome seemingly insurmountable challenges when nations choose cooperation over division.
Guyana’s intervention therefore placed diplomacy, peaceful conflict resolution and strengthened multilateral cooperation at the centre of its message to the international community, with President Ali urging nations to look beyond the crises of the present towards opportunities to build a more peaceful and secure future.
