NEW YORK, 21st September, 2026 (WAM) -- In a world facing rising conflicts, violence and divisions that are causing great suffering for millions of people, the UN chief on Monday called on world leaders and citizens to invest more in peace.
“Achieving peace is not something that just happens,” UN Secretary-General António Guterres said in a message for Monday’s International Day of Peace. “It is a shared and decisive choice to invest in a better future.”
Invest in peace is this year’s theme, echoing the founding principles of the UN, built amid the ashes of the Second World War.
As world leaders gather at UN Headquarters for the annual High-Level Week, Guterres called on them to strengthen diplomacy, dialogue, mediation and peacekeeping operations as essential means of preventing and resolving conflicts.
Indeed, peace – a vital resource for human development – remains elusive in many parts of the world as conflicts increase in scale and complexity, he said.
Under the theme Invest in Peace: For Everyone, Everywhere, Every Day, this year’s International Day of Peace on 21st September honours the 'everyday architects of peace'—people driving local action, laying the groundwork for stability, and building a lasting peace from the ground up.