Croatian President Kolinda Grabar-Kitarovic said in New York on Monday the legacy of Nelson Mandela could be a signpost for resolving current global problems, 100 years after the birth and five after the death of the South African leader.

Mandela, born 100 years ago, spent 27 years in prison for fighting against apartheid in South Africa. A peace summit dedicated to him was held at the UN a day ahead of a General Assembly meeting.

Grabar-Kitarovic called Mandela “a great African and a rare global moral authority”.

She warned about many children living without love, in extreme poverty, dying of hunger or in war, and said the migrant and refugee crisis combined all the key problems of the world of today – armed conflicts, poverty, hunger, climate change, and terrorism.

“Our duty is to join forces and tackle those issues through existing mechanisms as well as new, better solutions,” she said.

Quoting Mandela’s words, “We can change the world and make it a better place,” she said: Let us be the generation which has the courage to make that happen.

The Nelson Mandela peace summit, opened by UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres, is an opportunity for world leaders to state their commitment to global peace, promotion and protection of human rights, and conflict resolution.

“Today we honour a man of exceptional wisdom, quiet dignity, and enormous achievements, a man who tirelessly worked for peace and dignity of every individual,” Guterres said.

We must vow to continue where Nelson Mandela stopped so that all the people, in every part of the world, can enjoy peace, progress, and inclusive and sustainable development, he added.