UN Chief’s Message on Non-Violence day/ UN Chief urges world to choose dialogue as conflicts on rise

United Nations Secretary-General António Guterres has called on the international community to choose dialogue and human dignity as wars, displacement and military expenditure continue to rise across the world.

In his message marking the International Day of Non-Violence on October 2, Guterres said draw renewed inspiration from Mahatma Gandhi’s principles of non-violence.

The UN Chief said Gandhi demonstrated that lasting change could be achieved without replicating the cruelty of oppression.

“Gandhi showed that the best way to counter injustice is not to mirror the cruelty and violence of systemic discrimination and oppression—but to employ instead the tools of dialogue and non-violence to build bridges of understanding, deliver dignity and create lasting change,” he said.

The UN chief’s appeal comes as the world faces its most intense period of organised violence in decades.

The return of direct conflict between states has added to concerns over a wider breakdown of international security.

The Stockholm International Peace Research Institute said the number of interstate armed conflicts doubled from three in 2024 to six in 2025. The conflicts involved at least 13 states, including Russia, Ukraine, Iran, Israel, the United States, India, Pakistan, Afghanistan, Thailand, Cambodia, the Democratic Republic of the Congo and Rwanda.

UCDP separately reported that 2025 saw eight interstate conflicts, the highest number in the post-Second World War period. It said the current decade had already witnessed 22 interstate conflicts, compared with 12 during the entire 2010s.

The trend points to a growing internationalisation of civil wars and regional disputes. Conflicts that begin within national borders are increasingly shaped by foreign weapons, proxy forces, military alliances and direct intervention.