The new U.N. secretary-general urged the world organization and its 193 member states on Tuesday to stop focusing on responding to conflicts and do far more to prevent war and sustain peace.

Antonio Guterres said in his first speech to the Security Council since taking the reins of the U.N. on Jan. 1 that the multiplication of conflicts and the human and economic costs demand a new approach where a key is "translating early warning into early action."

But he said it has proved very difficult to persuade national and international decision-makers to make prevention a priority, perhaps because "the television cameras are not there when a crisis is avoided."

Guterres urged "a surge in diplomacy for peace," in partnership with regional organizations and mobilizing religious authorities, civil society and the business community.

He announced a new initiative to expand mediation at U.N. headquarters and in the field and called on the Security Council to make greater use of the measures in the U.N. Charter for the peaceful resolution of disputes. He pledged to support the council through his "good offices and my personal engagement."

"Too many prevention opportunities have been lost because member states mistrusted each other's motives, and because of concerns over national sovereignty," Guterres said.

While such concerns are understandable, he said, "preventive action is essential to avert mass atrocities or grave abuses of human rights. And we can achieve this only through reasoned discussion, based on facts and the pursuit of truth."

Sweden's Foreign Minister Margot Wallstrom, who chaired the meeting because her country holds the rotating council presidency, cited "the horror in Syria and Yemen," and situations such as the instability in Congo and asked, "Can we afford an ever-growing list of crises slipping into violent conflict and needless human misery?"

Wallstrom said the U.N. has appealed for $22.2 billion to help people in need while over 100,000 U.N. peacekeepers are deployed in hotspots around the world.

"Meanwhile, research shows that measures to peacefully prevent conflict cost, on average, just a tenth of post-conflict recovery efforts," she said.

"Investing in prevention is not only morally right. It is the smart, economically sound and sustainable thing to do," Wallstrom said.

The tools are there, she said. "What we need now is a new political consensus in support of prevention."

News from © The Associated Press, 2017