Around the world, people are making their voices heard.
In Europe and far beyond, many have taken to the streets out of frustration with the rising cost of living.
In much of the developing world, everyday people are being squeezed.
Everywhere, pressures are building over the price of food, fuel and other basics.
Interest rates are up – for people and countries.
And for young people, the promise of a better future is slipping further out of reach.
Let me be clear:
The violence and destruction we have seen on the streets is unacceptable – and those responsible for criminal activities must be held accountable.
At the same time, we cannot let intolerable violence obscure the legitimate and very real grievances of the many peaceful protestors.
We must connect the dots and better understand how deeply linked those very real and peacefully expressed grievances are to the wider turmoil in our world.
Today, conflicts are not only intensifying.
They are expanding.
In climate, we know El Niño as a disturbance in one part of the planet that disrupts weather patterns and upends lives thousands of kilometres away.
We are now witnessing an El Niño of war.
Conflict is feeding conflict.
And the consequences are travelling farther and faster.
From the Middle East to Ukraine to Sudan, we are seeing civilians and civilian infrastructure deliberately thrust into the line of fire.
Nothing seems to be off-limits.
Homes. Hospitals. Schools. Airports. Power stations. Energy facilities.
Attacks directed against civilians and civilian objects are prohibited under international law.
They must stop.
But the consequences do not stop in the battle zones.
War travels — through energy markets, shipping lanes, supply chains, and financial systems.
The distance from the Strait of Hormuz to a family home or village market is shorter than we think.
Earlier this year, I warned that disruption in the Middle East was threatening global energy and food security, intensifying cost-of-living pressures and hitting the most vulnerable hardest.
But we also need to recognize something deeper.
These shocks are landing on a world that is already profoundly unequal.
A world where some can absorb higher prices, while others must choose between food and heat.
Where some countries can borrow more cheaply to protect their people, while others must choose between servicing debt and investing in health, education and their future.
Where opportunity, wealth, and – increasingly – power is concentrated.
War does not create all these inequalities.
But it feeds and exploits them – and exposes the fundamental unfairness of an economic system that forces those with the least to absorb the greatest shocks.
The answer cannot be an ever-widening circle of confrontation, including in the Middle East.
Just look at Yemen.
We see escalating hostilities around the city of Ta’iz and elsewhere.
We see continued Houthi attacks against civilian targets in Saudi Arabia which are totally unacceptable.
All of this is inflicting immense suffering on civilians and adding to regional tensions.
Hundreds of thousands in Yemen have been forcibly displaced and humanitarian needs are mounting.
We need restraint – and Yemen needs a political horizon.
Earlier this week, I spoke with the head of the Presidential Leadership Council of Yemen – and my Special Envoy is actively engaging with all parties to preserve the path for dialogue.
Everywhere, the fighting must stop.
International law must be respected.
Civilians must be protected.
International navigational rights and freedoms must be upheld.
And diplomacy must be given the space to succeed.
At the same time, we must not lose sight of the Occupied Palestinian Territory.
In Gaza, essential aid is still being severely restricted by Israel ahead of the fast-approaching winter – together with the difficulties being created to implement the Comprehensive Plan to End the Gaza Conflict endorsed by the Security Council.
And in the occupied West Bank, Palestinians continue to suffer daily attacks by Israeli settlers. The clear goal is to drive communities off their land.
Journalists are being attacked.
Diplomats are being attacked.
The situation is simply out of control.
Meanwhile, funding is falling short.
The World Food Programme urgently needs $450 million to feed people in Gaza and the West Bank for the next six months.
That is the equivalent to what the world spends on its militaries in around 90 minutes.
I appeal to donors to step up.
And there must be a credible political path towards lasting peace, ending the occupation and realizing a two-State solution, with Israel and Palestine living side by side in peace and security.
It is in the context of all these issues that I will travel to Egypt tomorrow.
I will carry this same message with me:
We need to stop the widening of war, protect civilians and create the political space for diplomacy and peace.
People everywhere want security.
They want dignity.
They want governments and international institutions to deliver.
That means tackling the inequalities that divide societies – and stopping the conflicts that are multiplying human suffering, driving prices higher, draining resources from development, and pushing an already unequal world further apart.
Prominent Journalist Amritpal Singh
Significant Contributions to Journalism & Media
As a senior journalist and Director of Chardikala Time TV, he has played a vital role in strengthening Punjabi media at a global level.