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Secretary-General\u00a0Ant\u00f3nio Guterres issued his plea for peace acknowledging that it is\u00a0\u201cdramatically lacking\u201d in many parts of the world<\/strong>, during an interview with UN News\u2019s Arabic service, ahead of what has now become an annual visit for him, to a Muslim country beset by challenges, during the holy month of Ramadan.<\/p>\n \u201cI think\u00a0this is the moment for us to be all united for peace. Peace is the most precious thing that we can have\u00a0<\/strong>in the world\u201d, Mr. Guterres said.<\/p>\n \u201cSo, this is the moment to come together and for\u00a0those that believe in God (in) different ways, with different expressions, to join their voices in a common prayer for peace<\/strong>.\u201d<\/p>\n The UN chief began his tradition of paying a solidarity visit during Ramadan, while he was High Commissioner for Refugees, running the refugee agency UNHCR \u2013 a job he held for ten years, before taking up the UN\u2019s top job in 2017.<\/p>\n \u201cThe\u00a0majority of the refugees were Muslim<\/strong>, and the majority of the communities hosting refugees with enormous generosity and solidarity, were Muslim\u201d, he told UN News\u2019s Reem Abaza, noting that the 1951 Refugee Convention on protection of refugees, is fully in line with the spiritual values of the Holy Quran.<\/p>\n Ruqia Mohamud, a mother of eight, sits inside the shelter she shares with her children at a displaced persons site in Galkayo, Somalia.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n He said his annual visit to refugee camps or settlements as UNHCR chief, where he fasted in solidarity, also provided an opportunity to highlight the generosity being shown by host communities.<\/p>\n \u201cWhen I became Secretary-General, I thought that this tradition should be maintained – now, not focused on refugee communities, but\u00a0focused on the Muslim communities that are suffering<\/strong>\u201d, he said.<\/p>\n Next week, he is heading to Somalia, which is still teetering on the brink of full-scale famine, according to UN humanitarians, with nearly half of the population \u2013 some 8.25 million \u2013 in need of lifesaving assistance or protection.<\/p>\n Around 1.8 million children are severely malnourished, and around eight million people there lack access to adequate water, sanitation and hygiene facilities.<\/p>\n Increasingly extreme weather has seen both prolonged drought and devasting flooding \u2013 a consequence of accelerating climate change, at a moment when extremist militants from Al Shabab continue to wage a deadly terror campaign, Mr. Guterres noted.<\/p>\n Asked what insight joining Muslims fasting during Ramadan has given him down the years, the UN chief said it showed to him, \u201cthe true face of Islam.\u201d<\/p>\nPrecious peace<\/strong><\/h2>\n
Fasting in solidarity<\/strong><\/h2>\n
Somalia bound<\/strong><\/h2>\n
Islam\u2019s true face<\/strong><\/h2>\n