Secretary-General Opens 61st Session of Human Rights Council

Secretary-General António Guterres addresses the opening session of the high-level segment of the 61st session of the Human Rights Council (23 February - 31 March 2026).

"When human rights fall, everything else tumbles. Peace. Development. Social cohesion. Trust. Solidarity," said the Secretary-General, and continued: "Human rights are not a slogan for good times. They are a duty at all times. And so we must stand up for them – and even when it is difficult, inconvenient, or costly. Especially then. [...] Do not let the erosion of human rights become the accepted price of political expediency or geopolitical competition. Do not let power write a new rulebook in which the vulnerable have no rights and the powerful have no limits. Let this Human Rights Council be the voice and shield for all those in need. Let this be the place that helps end the broad and brutal assault on human rights. Because a world that protects human rights protects itself."