This World AIDS Day reminds us that we have the power to transform lives and futures, and end the AIDS epidemic once and for all. The progress we have made is undeniable. Since 2010, new infections have fallen by 40 percent. AIDS-related deaths have declined by more than half. And access to treatment is better than ever before.

But for many people around the world, the crisis continues. Millions still lack access to HIV prevention and treatment services because of who they are, where they live or the stigma they endure. Meanwhile, reduced resources and services are putting lives at risk and threatening hard-won gains.

Ending AIDS means empowering communities, investing in prevention and expanding access to treatment for all people. It means uniting innovation with action, and ensuring new tools like injectables reach more people in need.

At every step, it means grounding our work in human rights to ensure no one is left behind.

Ending AIDS as a public health threat by 2030 is within grasp.

Let’s get the job done.

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Anti-personnel landmines are among the cruelest and most indiscriminate weapons ever created. They kill and maim long after conflicts end. And four out of every five victims are civilians — often children.

But in 1997, world leaders met in Ottawa to sign the Anti-Personnel Mine Ban Convention. There they pledged to protect human life — and vowed that humanitarian norms must never yield to military objectives.

Yet today, as conflicts rage, some States waver in their commitment.

So let’s be clear:

Any weakening of the Ottawa Convention could spark a dangerous race to the bottom. And civilians would pay the highest price.

The Twenty-Second Meeting of States Parties must strengthen our resolve to curb these vicious weapons. It must rally new Parties and inspire the compliance of existing ones.

We must recommit to protecting lives, respecting international law and restoring hope to communities threatened by landmines.

Let us work together, with urgency and determination, to achieve our vision of a mine-free world.

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Today, we pay tribute to the victims of chemical warfare over the decades. We also remember the global efforts to end the use of these abhorrent tactics.

This year marks the 100th anniversary of the 1925 Geneva Protocol. A century ago, after witnessing the terrible impact of chemical weapons during World War I, the international community came together to ban their use in war.

The following decades saw remarkable success, including the entry into force of the Chemical Weapons Convention — which now has nearly universal adherence.

Yet our work is not finished. The appalling use of chemical weapons has continued, and rapid developments in science and technology threaten to make their acquisition and use even easier. We cannot allow this to continue.

In the name of all victims of chemical warfare, I urge States to reaffirm their commitment to a world free of these repugnant weapons.

(United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres’ message on World AIDS Day on 1 December 2025 in New York; video message to the Ceremonial Opening of the 22nd meeting of the States Parties to the Anti-Personnel Mine Ban Convention (Ottawa Convention) on 1 December 2025 in Geneva, Switzerland; and message on the Day of Remembrance for all Victims of Chemical Warfare on 30 November 2025 in New York.)