The United Nations marked its 75th anniversary on Monday.

"National sovereignty – a pillar of the United Nations – goes hand-in-hand with enhanced international cooperation based on common values and shared responsibilities in pursuit of progress for all," the UN chief said at the UN General Assembly ceremony marking the 75th anniversary of the United Nations.

"No one wants a world government – but we must work together to improve world governance," he said.

Noting that "today we have a surplus of multilateral challenges and a deficit of multilateral solutions," the secretary-general said that "in an interconnected world, we need a networked multilateralism, in which the United Nations family, international financial institutions, regional organisations, trading blocs and others work together more closely and effectively.”

On the founding of the United Nations, Guterres said that "the ideals of the United Nations -- peace, justice, equality and dignity -- are beacons to a better world".

"The organisation we celebrate today emerged only after immense suffering," he said, reports Xinhua. "It took two world wars, millions of deaths and the horrors of the Holocaust for world leaders to commit to international cooperation and the rule of law."

Achievements of the UN

Speaking of the achievements of the United Nations, the UN chief said that commitment "produced results".

"A Third World War – which so many had feared – has been avoided. Never in modern history have we gone so many years without a military confrontation between the major powers," he said.

"This is a major achievement of which member states can be proud – and which we must all strive to preserve."

"Down the decades, there have been other historic accomplishments, including peace treaties and peacekeeping, decolonisation, human rights standards – and mechanisms to uphold them, the triumph over apartheid, life-saving humanitarian aid for millions of victims of conflict and disaster, the eradication of diseases, the steady reduction of hunger, the progressive development of international law, and landmark agreements to protect the environment and our planet," the UN chief elaborated.

"Most recently, unanimous agreement on the Sustainable Development Goals and the Paris Agreement on Climate Change provide an inspiring vision for the 21st century," he noted.

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Much to be done

However, Guterres underscored that there is still so much to be done.

"Of the 850 delegates to the San Francisco Conference, just eight were women. Twenty-five years since the Beijing Platform for Action, gender inequality remains the greatest single challenge to human rights around the world," he said.

As for the challenges ahead, the secretary-general said "we can only address them together."