2021

Global Call for Peace, Justice and Sustainability: UNOG and NGIC Bring World Leaders Together in Geneva

The United Nations Office at Geneva and the Nizami Ganjavi International Center jointly organized a High-Level Meeting on 4–5 October 2021 in Geneva to address global peace, justice, diversity and sustainability in the context of the Sustainable Development Goals.

More than 40 high-level UN officials and prominent world leaders participated, including 27 attending in person and 15 joining digitally. The two-day discussions focused on strengthening multilateralism amid rising nationalism, addressing divisions exposed by the pandemic and advancing sustainability in the post-COVID-19 era. The event also marked the 880th anniversary of Nizami Ganjavi, whose legacy champions peace, cultural diversity and equality.

The meeting was webcast live from the Palais des Nations and featured four thematic panels: “Peace and Security in a Changing World,” “Diversity in the Context of Our Common Humanity,” “Environment and Climate as All-Encompassing Issues,” and “Equality within the Sustainable Development Goals.”

The discussions echoed the priorities set out in UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres’ report “Our Common Agenda,” urging coordinated global action to counter nationalism, inequality and the climate crisis, while reaffirming the UN’s core values of peace, human rights, dignity, justice and solidarity.

On the following day, NGIC organized meetings with key international leaders, including Director-General of the World Trade Organization Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala, Director-General of the World Health Organization Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, and UNAIDS Executive Director Winnie Byanyima, exploring prospects for future collaboration.