UN secretary-general António Guterres has expressed sadness over the death of Jesse Jackson.

Mr Jackson, a giant of the civil rights movement in the United States and a longtime champion of human rights, equality, and justice around the world, passed away on Tuesday at the age of 84.

“Reverend Jackson lent his powerful voice to the UN’s work against racism, against apartheid and for human rights”, said Stéphane Dujarric, the spokesman for the UN chief.

Mr Guterres extended his condolences to his family, loved ones, and friends, as well as to the Government and the people of the U.S.

In a visit to the United Nations in March 2018, Jackson spoke at an event marking the contributions of people of African Descent worldwide and said racial idolatry “manifests itself in so many ways, even in our politics”.

Speaking to UN News, the civil rights leader said that “it must be a massive global coalition of conscience” to eliminate racial discrimination.

“We’ve globalised capital, we’ve globalised technology,” he said. “We must now globalise human rights: workers’ rights; women’s rights; children’s rights; and environmental security. We must globalise all the values that make life ‘life’, for everybody.”

(NAN)