“Shared Lives, Shared Future”: Guterres Opens Exhibition Marking 80 Years of the United Nations

Описание: By Stefano Vaccara

Sometimes images speak more powerfully than speeches. At the United Nations Headquarters, where walls have witnessed wars, peace, and diplomacy, a new exhibition has opened: “Shared Lives, Shared Future – Uniti nella vita, uniti nel futuro.” It’s a photographic journey through faces and stories that reveal how the United Nations changes lives every day, in every corner of the world.
The evening, inaugurated by Secretary-General António Guterres, celebrated a double anniversary: 80 years since the founding of the United Nations and 70 years since Italy joined the Organization. The event was co-organized by the Permanent Missions of Italy, Switzerland, and Slovenia, in partnership with the UN Department of Global Communications.
Before an audience of diplomats and UN officials, Guterres thanked the three Missions “for helping to showcase the many ways the United Nations improves lives across the world.” He described Shared Lives, Shared Future as “a story of ambition and cooperation, of results and hope — a story that the women and men of the United Nations are still writing today, in communities around the globe, supporting development, humanitarian assistance, human rights, and peace.”
The Secretary-General urged those present to see in these images three key truths: “The first,” he said, “is that the UN remains deeply committed to supporting the most vulnerable, particularly in times of conflict or disaster. The second is that international norms and standards — often taken for granted — touch people’s lives every single day. And the third, perhaps most important, is that multilateralism makes our world a better place.”
Then came the warning: “Raging conflicts, deepening inequality, a burning planet, and runaway technologies — none of these problems will fix themselves, and no nation can fix them alone. We must work together, recognizing our shared humanity and building our shared future.”
Displayed along the curved wall of the General Assembly building, the exhibition gathers over 200 photographs from all 193 Member States, with 24 selected for large-format display. Each image tells a story: women rebuilding after war, children rescued from famine, farmers supported through development programs. One photograph, taken in Palermo, shows a Sicilian student named Luca standing before the city’s Cathedral — a tribute to UNESCO’s role in protecting cultural heritage, and to Italy’s world record for the number of UNESCO World Heritage Sites.
Swiss Ambassador Pascale Baeriswyl, representing one of the co-organizing countries, reminded the audience that “the UN is not an abstract institution — it’s part of our daily lives. It’s in the food delivered to children in war zones, the vaccines that reach remote communities, the treaties that keep the skies open and the oceans protected.” She concluded: “Multilateralism isn’t a concept. It’s a daily practice of solidarity.”
Italy’s Permanent Representative Maurizio Massari followed, linking the exhibition to Italy’s long-standing commitment within the UN system. “There is no better way to celebrate these two anniversaries,” he said, “than through the faces and stories of those who benefit every day from the work of the United Nations.”
Recalling President Sergio Mattarella’s remarks at the FAO’s 80th anniversary in Rome, Massari stressed that multilateralism “remains the only paradigm capable of responding to global needs.” He noted that “Italy hosts the third-largest UN hub in the world after New York and Geneva, ranks seventh among contributors to both the regular and peacekeeping budgets, and is the leading Western country in providing troops to UN peace operations.”
“The United Nations belongs to all of us,” Massari concluded, “but it doesn’t run on autopilot. We all share both the responsibility and the interest in defending the Charter, its fundamental principles, and this organization as a whole.”
Slovenian Ambassador Samuel Žbogar brought the focus back to the human dimension: “Behind every portrait lies a story — of an individual, a community, a neighbor, ourselves. At its core, the United Nations is about humanity and respect for human dignity.” He called for “dialogue over division and principles over might,” reminding that even with its imperfections, the UN can “look back with pride and forward with perseverance.”
As the speeches ended and the lights dimmed, the portraits along the curved wall seemed to come alive — faces of hope, resilience, and shared humanity. The air in the hall was charged with gratitude, but also with the awareness that the world’s challenges — wars, inequalities, climate crisis — remain immense.
And precisely for that reason, the exhibition inaugurated on Monday evening at UN Headquarters is more than a celebration. It is a reminder — and an appeal. “Shared Lives, Shared Future” is not just a title. It is a call to rediscover the promise made eighty years ago: to solve the world’s problems together.