UN Secretary-General António Guterres, has reiterated his call for tolerance, respect for one another and the importance of recognizing diversity.
Guterres, who reiterated the call on Wednesday while briefing journalists at UN headquarters in New York, urged people across the world to speak out against hate speech and hate crimes.
“Racism, Xenophobia, anti-Semitism or Islamophobia are, as I mentioned yesterday, poisoning our societies.
“It is absolutely essential for us all to stand up against them everywhere and every time,” he added.
Commenting on the situation in the U.S., where a weekend protest and counter-protest over the removal of civil war statue in Charlottesville, Virginia, sparked discussions about race, Guterres said, “these demons are appearing a little bit everywhere.”
The UN chief said as a Portuguese national and a European, he was proud that Europe created the values of enlightenment, tolerance, respect for one another and the importance of recognition of diversity.
“To be able to stand for these values and at the same time, to condemn all forms of irrationality undermining those values is essential be it in the United States or everywhere else in the world,” the UN chief said. (NAN)
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