PRESS CONFERENCE ON THIRD WORLDWIDE VIGIL FOR UNITED NATIONS
Press Briefing
PRESS CONFERENCE ON THIRD WORLDWIDE VIGIL FOR UNITED NATIONS
19981023
If every American citizen would pay just $7, an amount less than the cost of attending a movie, the United States would be able to pay its arrears to the United Nations, James Paul, Executive Director of the Global Policy Forum, said at a Headquarters press conference this morning.
Also speaking at the press conference on the Third Worldwide Vigil for the United Nations were William Pace, Executive Director of the World Federalist Movement, and Leslie Wright, World Association of Girl Guides and Girl Scouts.
"I represent an NGO, but as a United States citizen I'm terribly ashamed", Mr. Paul said. "Our goals are that governments pay their dues in full, on time and without conditions."
When the United States, a country that was experiencing a period of great prosperity refused to pay its dues, it sent a terrible message out to the other 184 Member States, Mr. Paul said. "It is an attempt by a country to economically blackmail the United Nations", he said. "This is a tragedy that is building itself up to a catastrophe."
Mr. Pace said that the Third Worldwide Vigil scheduled for today in 43 cities had been called to draw attention to the dire financial straits afflicting the United Nations system and other specialized agencies and bodies within the United Nations system. As of the end of September, the United States owed just over 80 per cent of the Organization's total arrears, amounting to $1.6 billion, or four times as much as all other Member States combined.
Mr. Pace said that the United States Congress had recently allocated $347 million to pay a portion of its arrears so that the General Assembly would not take away its vote in accordance with Article 19 of the United Nations Charter. (Under Article 19, Member States are stripped of the right to vote in the General Assembly when their total arrears exceed a certain point.) "It calculated down to the penny so as not to fall into Article 19, but this doesn't address the larger question of arrears", he said.
Ms. Wright said the message of her organization was not so much about facts as it was about moral obligations and the issue of world citizenship. "It is appalling that we do not have any world citizens in the United States Congress today", she said.
The United States must play on the world arena and be a part of the world body, she said. American citizens needed to become world citizens and pay their dues.
The candlelight vigil in New York City will be held today at 6:15 p.m. at Ralph Bunche Park across from the United Nations. The vigil in Washington, D.C., will be held in Lafayette Park across from the White House. Actor Michael Douglas and others are expected to speak. More information is
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Vigil Press Conference - 2 - 23 October 1998
available on the Internet at .
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