UNITAR Co-Hosts Diplomacy Day at the 78th Locarno Film Festival, Marking the Centenary of the Locarno Treaties

UN Assistant Secretary-General and Executive Director of UNITAR, Ms. Michelle Gyles-McDonnough, delivered opening remarks highlighting the enduring importance of dialogue, trust, and cultural diplomacy in advancing peace and strengthening multilateralism.

As we celebrate the centenary of the Locarno Treaties this year, we are reminded of the enduring power of dialogue, trust, and the shared aspiration for peace, values that animated those historic accords, the ‘Spirit of Locarno’, and that remain just as vital today

she stated. She further noted,

Culture, and cinema in particular, can build bridges where politics cannot. We see cultural diplomacy not as a peripheral undertaking, but as a central tool for promoting mutual understanding and inclusive dialogue in a time where multilateralism is under strain.