SECRETARY-GENERAL KOFI ANNAN HAILS FRENCH-SPEAKING COMMUNITY'S COMMITMENT TO DIVERSITY AT TIME OF INCREASING GLOBALIZATION
Press Release
SG/SM/6395
SECRETARY-GENERAL KOFI ANNAN HAILS FRENCH-SPEAKING COMMUNITY'S COMMITMENT TO DIVERSITY AT TIME OF INCREASING GLOBALIZATION
19971121 The following is a message, translated from French, from Secretary- General Kofi Annan which was read out on 14 November by former United Nations Secretary-General Javier Pérez de Cuéllar, at the Francophone Summit in Hanoi:I should like to start by paying tribute to the vitality of the French- speaking community. With each year that passes, its goals become more clearly defined, its membership grows and its influence becomes more vibrant and productive. I also applaud your determination to bring together without imposing uniformity, to unite without sacrificing diversity. It is this same philosophy that guides the United Nations.
The relationship between the French-speaking community and the United Nations is not a new one. As early as 1978, the then Agency for Cultural and Technical Cooperation was granted observer status with the Organization. In recent years, this cooperation has intensified and diversified, as demonstrated by the links established between the Agency and organizations as diverse as the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO), United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF), World Health Organization (WHO), United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) and the Centre for Human Rights.
The United Nations is at the centre of a whole group of organizations devoted to international cooperation, in which the French-speaking community plays an influential and active role. I am, therefore, tempted to say that the partnership between the United Nations and the Agency is in the order of things, that they are, as it were, natural allies. Moreover, when we look at how their mandates interlock in such important areas as the promotion of international peace and security, the protection of human rights and the promotion of democracy and development, it should come as no surprise that their cooperation has proved so fruitful.
That is not all, however. The cooperation agreement which I signed on 25 June with the Agency's dynamic and creative Secretary-General, Jean-Louis Roy, confirms our two organizations' determination to strengthen their cooperation still further.
The Agency's new structure and the creation of a post of Secretary- General of the French-speaking community will, without question, enable us to coordinate our initiatives more closely and to make our financial and human
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resources work together in a way that will enhance the effectiveness of our action in a number of areas of mutual interest: preventive diplomacy, support for peace processes and democratization, electoral assistance, promotion of the rule of law and good governance, and national capacity-building, to name but a few.
Since their ultimate aim is to avoid the resurgence of conflicts, peacekeeping and, still more so, post-conflict peace-building are not just a matter of deploying troops. They involve restoring public confidence, repairing the social fabric, introducing radical reforms and re-establishing such vital institutions as the judiciary, health services and the education system -- or creating them where they do not exist.
That is why the Agency's many initiatives in the areas of training of judicial personnel and support for electoral processes are a model to which the United Nations attaches great importance.
Once conflicts have ended, action must be taken to stabilize the situation. This is certainly true of the French-speaking world, which has been sorely tried by ethnic conflicts and tensions.
I, therefore, call upon the political forums of the French-speaking community to play an even more active role in the processes of peace and reconciliation under way in Central Africa, especially in Burundi, the Republic of the Congo, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, the Central African Republic and Rwanda.
Sharing a common language often makes it easier to understand situations and the forces that underlie them and to communicate more directly with the parties involved.
In this particular area, the Agency enjoys undeniable comparative advantages, for this beautiful French language which you have in common is much more than a means of communication. It is also, traditionally, the language of diplomacy and the medium of the humanist ideal. It fashions a community of values, a convergence of ideas that far transcends the prickly defence of narrow interests.
As a firm believer in cultural pluralism and multilingualism, I cannot but support your commitment to a diversity of identities, cultures and languages. This determination to preserve diversity is particularly welcome at a time of increasing globalization which, while clearly offering new economic opportunities, also runs the risk of imposing uniformity on our world.
In conclusion, allow me to thank the Government and people of Viet Nam for hosting this Seventh Conference of Heads of State and Government of Countries Having French in Common and to wish you every success in your work.
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