Migrants rescued three days earlier stand at the aft of the Ocean Viking rescue vessel at sunset as it sails toward Marina di Carrara, Italy, Sept. 20, 2026. (Credit: Stephane Mahe/Reuters)
Volker Türk is an Austrian lawyer and United Nations official. He has been the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights since October 2022.War, climate chaos, division, greed: look at any news outlet, and you might believe this defines our world. The laws of war are flouted. Peace is elusive. Authoritarianism feeds on division. Power is concentrated in the hands of a select few.But this is not the whole picture. Behind the headlines is another reality: quieter, less visible, and far more positive.Around the world, the vast majority of people are appalled by brutality, hatred, and injustice. They do not want wealth and power to dictate whose rights matter and whose are trampled. They see that destruction and suffering are taking our world to a dead end.They want the rules that protect humanity to be respected, always. They want to protect...
Volker Türk is an Austrian lawyer and United Nations official. He has been the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights since October 2022.War, climate chaos, division, greed: look at any news outlet, and you might believe this defines our world. The laws of war are flouted. Peace is elusive. Authoritarianism feeds on division. Power is concentrated in the hands of a select few.But this is not the whole picture. Behind the headlines is another reality: quieter, less visible, and far more positive.Around the world, the vast majority of people are appalled by brutality, hatred, and injustice. They do not want wealth and power to dictate whose rights matter and whose are trampled. They see that destruction and suffering are taking our world to a dead end.They want the rules that protect humanity to be respected, always. They want to protect...