Quote of the Day
“We the peoples. Not we the powerful. Not we the victorious. We the peoples – all of us – bound by a single conviction: that we are safer, stronger and more human when we stand together.”
— António Guterres, UN Secretary-General, June 26, 2026
That idea—“we the peoples”—is worth holding onto as another intense week of global diplomacy draws toward its close.
World leaders have spent days at the United Nations discussing wars, inequality, climate change, artificial intelligence, public health and the future of international cooperation. The UN Secretary-General framed the moment around four major tests of power: war and peace, inequality, climate change and artificial intelligence. He also renewed his call for Security Council reform, pointing again to the absence of permanent African representation.
But speeches matter most when people outside the conference hall can eventually see their consequences.
That is where communication, advocacy and accountability meet.
Africa: representation is also a question of power
Africa has 54 UN member states, yet no African country holds a permanent seat on the UN Security Council.
The issue returned prominently during this year’s General Assembly. Guterres described the lack of permanent African representation as “indefensible.”
This is not simply a diplomatic question.
Decisions taken by the Security Council can profoundly affect African countries—from sanctions and peace operations to responses to armed conflict. Advocacy for reform therefore raises a fundamental question about global governance:
Who gets to participate permanently in the institutions where the world’s most consequential security decisions are made?
Representation is not merely about being invited into the room. It is about having meaningful influence once there.
Global health: the next pandemic cannot be met with yesterday’s mistakes
At Friday’s UN high-level meeting on pandemic prevention, preparedness and response, General Assembly President Khalilur Rahman warned that another pandemic threat is a question of when, not simply whether.
He pointed to the continuing Ebola outbreak in the Democratic Republic of the Congo and stressed the importance of timely, transparent and actionable information, adequately supported frontline workers, and resilient health systems.
There is an important communication lesson here.
Public-health preparedness is not only about laboratories, vaccines and hospital beds. People also need information they can understand and trust.
COVID-19 demonstrated how quickly misinformation, uncertainty and distrust can complicate an emergency. Communication therefore belongs inside preparedness—not as an afterthought once a crisis has already begun.
Canada: a changing world order, and a renewed argument for multilateralism
Yesterday, Canada’s Foreign Affairs Minister Anita Anand delivered Canada’s national statement to the General Assembly.
She set out Canada’s foreign-policy priorities while reaffirming its commitment to international law, human rights, international cooperation and reform of the UN system.
Canada also says it will again lead the UN General Assembly resolution addressing the human-rights situation in Iran. Earlier this week, Ottawa sanctioned five Iranian individuals and five state-directed entities, citing alleged serious and systematic violations that include digital surveillance and censorship.
The latter deserves particular attention from communicators and advocates.
Human rights increasingly depend on what happens in digital spaces: who can speak, who can access information, who is monitored, and whether technology becomes a means of participation—or repression.
Tomorrow: racism moves to the centre of the UN agenda
Tomorrow, September 28, the General Assembly will mark the 25th anniversary of the Durban Declaration and Programme of Action, adopted after the 2001 World Conference Against Racism in South Africa.
The UN describes the Durban framework as its global blueprint against racism, racial discrimination, xenophobia and related intolerance. It specifically calls for concrete action affecting Africans and people of African descent, including access to education, health systems, housing, employment opportunities and technology.
Tomorrow’s meeting carries the theme:
“Mobilizing global public support for the full and effective implementation of the Durban Declaration and Programme of Action.”
There will also be an interactive discussion focused on youth leadership and embedding anti-racism into everyday decisions, policymaking, institutions and technologies.
That wording is significant.
Twenty-five years after Durban, the question is no longer simply whether governments condemn racism. The harder test is whether anti-racism changes how institutions actually make decisions.
Did You Know?
Tomorrow also begins an important human-rights meeting much closer to home.
On September 28–29, Canada, Ukraine and Norway will co-host the Pathways to Peace international conference in Toronto.
Its focus is unusually concrete: efforts to return Ukrainian children, detained civilians and prisoners of war, protect those who remain under Russian control, and ensure rehabilitation and reintegration for people who return.
It is a useful reminder that human-rights advocacy ultimately has to reach individual people.
Behind phrases such as international humanitarian law, forced transfer and prisoners of war are families waiting for someone to come home.
For discussion
International meetings produce declarations, resolutions and promises every year. What would make ordinary citizens more able to track those promises and hold governments accountable for what happens after the speeches end?
Published by Killian Tubuo Nkwain
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