Human rights advocate and Nobel Peace Prize laureate Tawakkol Karman delivered a powerful address at the World Meeting on Human Fraternity, held at the Vatican and organized by the Fratelli Tutti Foundation.

Karman said the gathering was an opportunity to raise the voice of human conscience in the face of ongoing global tragedies. At the heart of her remarks was a strong condemnation of what she described as the “genocidal war” being waged against the Palestinian people in Gaza, where thousands of civilians—including women and children—have been killed, entire cities reduced to rubble, and hospitals, universities, mosques, and churches destroyed. She criticized the international community for remaining “either powerless or complicit” in the face of such devastation.

“The principle of human fraternity cannot remain a mere slogan uttered here or there,” Karman declared. “It must be a living commitment to justice, freedom, and human dignity. It demands that we stand firmly against occupation, genocide, and discrimination, and that we reject the deafening silence of the world in the face of war crimes and massacres in Palestine, Sudan, Yemen, Ukraine, and beyond.”

Karman stressed that the most important message from the Vatican gathering should be that true human fraternity means standing with all oppressed peoples. She called for building a just global order—one that ends double standards and ensures that international law protects vulnerable populations rather than shielding “killers, perpetrators of genocide, and suppressors of freedom.”

“I have always believed that the future of humanity will be more just and peaceful when we work together for the freedom and dignity of every human being,” she concluded.