In progress at UNHQ

SG/SM/6722

SECRETARY-GENERAL STRESSES NEED TO CULTIVATE BETTER PUBLIC AWARENESS ABOUT UNITED NATIONS IN UNITED STATES

29 September 1998


Press Release
SG/SM/6722


SECRETARY-GENERAL STRESSES NEED TO CULTIVATE BETTER PUBLIC AWARENESS ABOUT UNITED NATIONS IN UNITED STATES

19980929 At Business Council for UN Ambassadors Dinner, Kofi Annan Says Payment of United States Arrears Is Treaty Obligation and Moral Responsibility

Following is the text of remarks by Secretary-General Kofi Annan at the thirty-second annual United Nations Ambassadors Dinner hosted by the Business Council for the United Nations, in New York on 28 September:

Thank you for that very warm welcome. It is a real pleasure to join you tonight for this annual tradition as the fifty-third session of the General Assembly gets under way.

Let me say first of all how happy I am to know that two of the United Nations best friends and allies -- the Business Council for the United Nations and the United Nations Association of the United States of America -- may soon join forces.

I wish to congratulate and thank the leadership and Boards of Directors of both organizations for taking this important step, which will pool resources and combine strengths. Your merger holds great promise, combining support from the Business Council's business community with the United Nations Association's grassroots network and policy machine into one strong, more effective organization. I look forward to deepening what is already a very productive partnership as we face an array of challenges.

The biggest challenge of all is the United Nations agenda itself: urgent global problems that affect every one of us, no matter where we live or how fortunate we might be. We also need to cultivate better public awareness about the United Nations in the United States. And then of course there is the problem of United States arrears. Every man and woman -- decent and silent Americans, and some not so silent -- understands that this is a treaty obligation, a basic moral responsibility, a fundamental commitment.

- 2 - Press Release SG/SM/6722 29 September 1998

1 I said in the General Assembly that it is normal to seek value for one's money. But without money there can be no value. I ask you, as good friends of the United Nations, to help convey this message far and wide. It is time to end this crisis and enable us to focus on the real work at hand.

As you have no doubt heard from the speeches that world leaders have been delivering in the general debate, the catchword of the day is globalization. Globalization is knitting us ever more closely together, providing greater well-being for millions upon millions of people. But such progress is not felt by all. As we strive to bring people and nations in from the margins of the world economy, we face an array of political, economic, social and cultural issues. What these issues have in common is that they demand a global response. The United Nations, as the global institution, has a responsibility to insist on solutions based on rules that are fair to all.

The private sector has long experience with globalization. Production and finance have spanned the globe for years. But the private sector's involvement in the work of the United Nations is more recent. There is a growing awareness that the goals of the United Nations and the goals of business can and should be mutually supportive. I look forward to our continued partnership as we find solutions to global problems -- solutions that reduce risk and spread prosperity and peace.

Tonight, the Business Council for the United Nations bestows its medal on someone for whom globalization is familiar territory: Madeleine Albright, the United States Secretary of State. Madeleine is one of the world's leading voices for a strong United Nations and for a global outlook on the central issues of our times. I like to consider her one of the United Nations own, since for several years she lived and worked in our house, under the United Nations broad roof.

During that time she talked daily with representatives of nations large and small, and worked not only on crises that made the world's front pages but also on issues of importance to only a few nations, or even just one. I can think of no better preparation for the formidable task of managing United States foreign policy. I am pleased to be her colleague and friend, and to join you in saluting her many achievements in a long and distinguished career in international affairs. She richly deserves this award and recognition.

The commitment of those in this room to the ideals of the United Nations is clear. It is a source of great strength for me personally. Let us now, working together, redouble our efforts to bring those ideals to life where it counts most, in people's daily lives.

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For information media. Not an official record.