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United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres addresses the opening of the United Nations Association of the United States of America (UNA-USA) 2019 Global Engagement Summit at the UN headquarters in New York, on Feb. 22, 2019. Antonio Guterres on Friday called for stronger political will in tackling some of the challenges that are becoming "more global" and "more integrated." (Xinhua/Li Muzi)

UNITED NATIONS, Feb. 22 (Xinhua) -- United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres on Friday called for stronger political will in tackling some of the challenges that are becoming "more global" and "more integrated."

To ensure success in the fight against some of the serious challenges like climate change, Guterres indicated that political will is important in addition to conducting reforms to make the UN more effective.

"From climate change to migration to terrorism to the downsides of globalization, our challenges are more and more global, and more and more integrated," the UN chief said at the opening of the UNA-USA 2019 Global Engagement Summit held at the UN headquarters in New York.

The summit was sponsored by the United Nations Association of the United States of America (UNA-USA), which is a movement of Americans who believe that the interests and values of human being can best be advanced by standing with the planet's only truly universal institution: The United Nations.

Noting that the threats become "more global," but human being's response becomes "more fragmented," Guterres said the world is facing enormous difficulties and problems.

Attributing the main reason behind the weak response to "a trust deficit out there in the world," he said that as inequality grows, people in all regions are questioning the effectiveness of international cooperation and organizations like the UN.

"The biggest challenge for governments and for institutions like ours is to be able to show that we care -- that we care especially for those people that feel like they are being left behind with the technological progress and globalization in the Rust Belts of this world -- to show that we are able to mobilize solutions that respond to people's fears and anxieties with answers, with concrete answers for the problems we view," the secretary-general said.

"But political will is still lagging behind," he noted.

"We need to demonstrate that the UN is standing up for people left behind and is connected to their needs, aspirations and everyday problems," said the UN chief.

After elaborating on the achievements that the UN has made over the past few months or so, Guterres noted that "to deliver more, we need to have a UN that is nimbler, more effective, more cost effective and is more able to overcome the bureaucratic problems and impediments that always exist in international organizations."

Highlighting climate change as a top priority for the world, he told the participants that there is good news that technological evolution contributes more to the green economy.