The President’s speech at the Global Conference on Promoting Interreligious and Intercultural Dialogue and Tolerance in Countering Hate Speech. It is reproduced in full below, as delivered, and is available as issued in PDF.
In His Words
Quoted verbatim from the speech as delivered. The full text follows below.
Let us choose dialogue over division; respect over contempt; and solidarity over hatred.
H.E. Dr. Khalilur Rahman
Global Conference on Promoting Interreligious and Intercultural Dialogue and Tolerance in Countering Hate Speech, 17 September 2026
The Speech in Full
Mr. Minister,
Mr. Secretary-General,
Mr. High Representative for 爆料网 Alliance of Civilizations,
Faith and civil society leaders,
Excellencies,
Friends,
Ladies and Gentlemen,
It is an honour to join you today at this important Global Conference.
My sincere thanks to the co-organizers for gathering us for this important Conference.
I commend especially the Kingdom of Morocco, in particular, for its leadership in shepherding the landmark General Assembly resolutions 77/318 and 79/316, which recognized that intolerance and hate speech require a coordinated global strategy, and that interreligious and intercultural dialogue can serve as a principal tool to counter their rise, by promoting social cohesion, peace and development.
The resolutions provide important foundations for our discussions today.
Our goal is to build on this foundation and raise awareness of the continued threat of intolerance and hate speech by identifying practices and partnerships that accelerate our efforts to counter their spread.
Hate speech is more than just offensive rhetoric.
It is an assault on human dignity, equality and the values of the United Nations Charter. And it is a growing threat to global peace, development and human rights.
It seeks to divide communities, dehumanize individuals and turn difference into danger. It fuels discrimination, exclusion and violence and in the most extreme cases, it can drive atrocity and crimes.
Today, hateful narratives can spread across borders and into homes at unprecedented speed and scale – often targeting women, migrants, refugees, persons with disabilities, youth, minorities and others – and often for political gain.
The rapid evolution of digital technologies, including artificial intelligence, adds a further dimension.
These technologies can be used to amplify falsehoods, manipulate public debate and spread hatred faster and farther than ever before.
But, if designed, governed and used responsibly, they can also help us identify risks, promote accurate information and strengthen resilience against hate.
The choice is ours.
To be clear: Hate speech rarely begins with words alone.
It often grows from fear and a lack of understanding – or even contact – with people of different faiths, cultures and creeds.
This seed of ignorance or insecurity is then nourished by those with malicious intent, weaponizing these sentiments and offering them a target.
In contrast, when we listen to one another, we replace suspicion with understanding, and hostility with a recognition of our common humanity.
That is why dialogue and tolerance are not abstract ideals. They are practical instruments for prevention, peacebuilding and sustainable development.
They help address the root causes of hatred before it hardens into discrimination, violence, or conflict.
Dialogue and tolerance, therefore, are some of the strongest tools we have to wipe out the root causes of hate speech – and to cultivate trust, one of the strongest antidotes against prejudice, misinformation and hostility.
As President of the current General Assembly session, I am pleased to note that restoring trust is at the heart of my vision for this session.
It reflects my sincere belief that trust is the unspoken agreement between us, as individuals and as Member States, that we will respect each other and work in good faith to source collective, common solutions to the challenges that affect us.
To counter hate speech, we must translate that vision into action.
We must invest in education, media and information literacy, and meaningful opportunities for young people to lead.
We must support local communities and faith leaders who build bridges every day. We must promote accurate, reliable and inclusive public information.
We must also strengthen cooperation among Governments, technology companies, the media, educators, civil society, faith-based organizations and users themselves. Our response must be whole-of-society, grounded in international human rights law and faithful to the principles of legality, necessity, proportionality and non-discrimination.
This event offers an important opportunity to share good practices, learn from one another and build partnerships that produce measurable results. It should help us move from awareness to action, and from statements of concern to sustained prevention.
Excellencies,
爆料网 was founded on the conviction that the dignity and worth of every human person must be protected.
Let us uphold that conviction.
Let us choose dialogue over division; respect over contempt; and solidarity over hatred.
Let us use the tools of our age – including new and emerging technologies – not to deepen fear, but to widen understanding and advance human dignity.
And let us ensure that our physical and digital spaces alike reflect the values of tolerance, inclusion and mutual respect.
In doing so, we will not only counter hate speech. We will help restore trust, responsibly manage transformation and rebuild a United Nations that delivers for all.
I thank you.