President John Mahama has reaffirmed the principle of equality among peoples and nations, insisting that no race is superior and no nation is inferior.

He said differences in race, nationality, language, faith and culture must not be used to justify discrimination, persecution, displacement or war.

President Mahama made the remarks on Thursday, September 24, 2026, when he addressed the 81st Session of the United Nations General Assembly in New York.

He said that while people naturally draw dignity and pride from their origins, identity can become dangerous when it is manipulated for political purposes.

“Everybody in this chamber today and every global citizen listening to my words possesses an origin. We carry inherited memories, values, rich cultures, and distinct identities of our homelands,” he said.

“Belonging anchors us, and it reminds us that we are part of a human story that is far larger than ourselves. It is a vital wellspring of dignity and pride, but belonging also has its dark side.”

According to the President, the weaponisation of identity can fuel forms of prejudice that threaten peaceful coexistence.

“When belonging is weaponized by political expediency, it transforms into nativism, chauvinism, xenophobia, and the dangerous prejudices that are extended to people who are deemed different from us,” he said.

“It becomes the pretext for discrimination, for displacement, for persecution, and war.”

President Mahama said the founding principles of the United Nations must remain firm in confronting such forms of discrimination.

“And yet, for this organization, the United Nations, the founding principles remain immutable. Every human being belongs to the human family. No race is superior. No nation is inferior,” he said.

He further stressed that a person’s worth must not be determined by their identity, beliefs or place of birth.

“No child’s life is worth less because of the language they speak or the faith they profess or the color of their skin or the land of their birth,” he said.

“This is the unyielding moral foundation upon which the United Nations must stand,” President Mahama added.