Message by António Guterres, UN Secretary-General, on the occasion of Nelson Mandela International Day 2025.

 

Secretary-General giving the lecture for Nelson Mandela International Day 2020



Nelson Mandela’s extraordinary life showed how one person can transform oppression, struggle and subjugation into reconciliation, social justice and unity.

Just as Madiba’s life was a triumph of the human spirit, his legacy is a call to rekindle our global commitment to peace, justice and human dignity.

This year’s theme reminds us that the power to end poverty and inequality is in all our hands.

Mandela believed in the power of collective, grassroots action. He knew that ordinary people could bend the arc of history, and that lasting change started not in capitals and boardrooms, but in neighbourhoods and communities.

Mandela’s life of service and progress continues to inspire our own efforts at the United Nations, as we celebrate our 80th anniversary.

On this important day, and every day, let us all be guided by Madiba’s lifelong commitment to freedom, justice, equality and the rights that belong to every person on earth.

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