PRESS CORPS AND UNITED NATIONS OPERATE IN ATMOSPHERE OF REMARKABLE TRUST, SECRETARY-GENERAL SAYS

15 September 1998

Press Release
SG/SM/6699

PRESS CORPS AND UNITED NATIONS OPERATE IN ATMOSPHERE OF REMARKABLE TRUST, SECRETARY-GENERAL SAYS

19980915 Kofi Annan Addresses Dag Hammarskjöld Scholarship Luncheon, Commends Correspondents Grasp of Organization's Work

Following is the text of the statement given by Secretary-General Kofi Annan to the annual luncheon of the Dag Hammarskjöld Memorial Scholarship Fund in New York today:

Thank you, Sanaa and Ted, for those kind words. I am delighted to be here with you again this year. Let me start by welcoming the three new fellows of the Fund -- Severious Kale Levy from Ghana, Stella Lee from China and Vahid Reza Naimi from Iran. Well done. I know you've overcome considerable competition to get here. I know what that's like and I really do congratulate you for it.

I hope your colleagues will also make you feel welcome. I believe it is always good to have an infusion of fresh talent among the ranks -- particularly when it comes to making sense of our world of diplomacy and translating it into a language people at home can understand. I wish you the very best of luck with that and I promise that I will be as clear as I can in the coming weeks to do what I can to help you on that journey.

"Technological development has altered the basis for diplomatic action. The intricate web of relationships which now exist have as part of their basis the new means of communication which have overnight made our world so much smaller than it was in previous generations.

"We are very conscious of the fact that it is now but a question of hours for military forces to reach distant parts of the globe and that the old considerations of strategy based on geographic separation may no longer count for much.

"News also reaches us from all corners of the globe almost as quickly as if we were eyewitnesses. We are parties to an action practically at the very

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moment it is undertaken. The nerve signals from a wound are felt at once through the body of mankind."

What I have just said to you are not my words. They are the words of my predecessor, in honour of whom this commendable Fund is named, and he uttered them 45 years ago. If Dag Hammarskjöld could see us today, he would see that what he recognized as the power of the media in 1953 applies exponentially to the world of 1998. Would he turn over in his grave? I don't know, but I doubt it. He was clearly a man of exceptional foresight. What I do know is that the power wielded by the media presents you all with enormous opportunities, but also, I would venture to submit, with considerable responsibilities.

In this game of international comings and goings, many of us are tempted to become cynical. That applies in equal measure, I think, to those of us who have chosen a career in international public service and to those of you who have selected to work in international journalism.

We see so much; we meet so many; we sometimes think we've heard it all. It could even be that we are at our most cynical when we are diplomats talking about journalists, or journalists talking about diplomats. As one of your colleagues once remarked: "A diplomatic correspondent is someone who stands around in corridors waiting to be lied to."

But I would also venture that inside every one of us, there lurks an idealist or at least a believer. By that, I mean someone who believes that what he or she does has importance, and can make a difference.

Whether we are out there in the field, or back here at Headquarters -- we are therefore truly privileged.

For we have an opportunity every day to be involved in issues that affect people's lives. We should never take that privilege for granted. I believe that it is our responsibility to admit this to ourselves now and then -- and I believe that doing so actually enables us to do our job better.

I am happy to say that compared to most institutions, the United Nations press corps and the United Nations itself operate in an atmosphere of remarkable trust and transparency. Correspondents covering the world body have a commendable grasp of what it is that we do. This has been a source of immeasurable strength to us in the United Nations at a time when we have come under criticism from some quarters -- criticism that is sometimes warranted, but often largely based on misunderstanding or plain myth.

We live in complicated times. Our world is changing every day, and with it the conditions in which we work. The forces of globalization, driven

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by the constant onslaught of new technology, are affecting your organizations as much as ours. We have all felt the effects of this in equal measure, and we have to adapt to it at equal pace.

I am sure that the new session of the General Assembly will discuss the process of globalization extensively. I trust you will follow the deliberations closely. I will not attempt to predict or pre-empt the contents of those discussions. But I will say this: arguing against the fact of globalization would be as fruitless, frustrating -- and ultimately as destructive -- as waging a war against the weather. Rather than engage in such a quixotic pursuit, I would say that our duty is to build on what is good. Our duty is to harness the positive aspects of globalization to ensure they benefit those who need it the most.

We cannot reverse the track of a storm -- but we can provide shelter for the millions who suffer disproportionately from its effects. We cannot hide from a hurricane -- but we can seek to build solid foundations for the houses that risk being rattled by the hurricanes of the future.

Dag Hammarskjöld died in a plane crash 37 years ago on Friday. This year, the United Nations has lost many more colleagues in plane crashes. It has been a difficult time. I know that you are no strangers to such bereavements. All of you no doubt know at least one colleague who has died for the story. I would like to pay tribute to the courage of journalists everywhere who take risks every day in the cause of truth.

Therein lies perhaps what we have in common more than anything: the belief that what we do is worth taking risks for. Do not let cynicism overshadow that belief. It is a gift: it gives us our strength of purpose, our integrity of profession, our sense of mission. It gives us something to get up for every day of our lives. Treasure it. It may have nothing to do with our paymasters, but it speaks volumes for our character.

Thank you, and the very best of luck to you all.

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