SECRETARY-GENERAL ASSESSES STEPS TO MEET GLOBAL FINANCIAL CRISIS, NOTING COMMITMENTS BY INTERNATIONAL INSTITUTIONS

3 November 1998

Press Release
SG/SM/6782

SECRETARY-GENERAL ASSESSES STEPS TO MEET GLOBAL FINANCIAL CRISIS, NOTING COMMITMENTS BY INTERNATIONAL INSTITUTIONS

19981103 Museum Speech in New York Reviews Problems on United Nations Agenda; Conflict Situations, Drugs, Terrorism, Environment, Toll of AIDS Are Cited

This is the text of a statement today by Secretary-General Kofi Annan to the International Council of the Museum of Modern Art in New York (after an introduction by former Under-Secretary-General Brian Urquhart):

Thank you, Brian, for that introduction. It is nice to know that some things never change. It is even nicer that the reassuring presence of Brian Urquhart is one of them.

We recently had another reason to thank you, Brian. Through the institutional connection that you provide, as Chairman of this Council and former Under-Secretary-General of the United Nations, Nane (Mrs. Annan) became a member of this Council a few months ago. As you can see, she is with us today. So I will avoid trying to say anything about art that might only get me in trouble later on.

What I can say without any hesitation is that the Museum of Modern Art and the United Nations have strong and solid links, and that these have grown ever stronger throughout the half century of the history of the United Nations. After all, what could be more solid than links to the Rockefeller family? The very land which the United Nations Headquarters occupies in Turtle Bay was paid for by a gift from John D. Rockefeller. Had it not been for the godsend of that former slaughterhouse site, the United Nations would not be based in New York City today. The way things looked at the time, we would probably have ended up in Flushing Meadows or Philadelphia.

Dag Hammarskjöld, whose "enlightened patronage" did so much to bring veritable treasures of art into the United Nations Headquarters, was inspired in his daily job by works borrowed from this museum. They adorned the same office I now occupy on the 38th floor.

- 2 - Press Release SG/SM/6782 3 November 1998

The Guernica tapestry that hangs on the wall outside the Security Council is a nearly full-size version of the painting that used to be in the Museum of Modern Art before it went to Madrid. The tapestry was, in turn, offered on indefinite loan to the United Nations by Mrs. Nelson Rockefeller when our then Secretary-General Javier Perez de Cuellar dined with her at the Executive Mansion in Albany.

The world has changed a great deal since Picasso painted that first political masterpiece, but it has not necessarily grown easier. We are near the end of a tumultuous century that has witnessed both the best and worst of human endeavour.

Peace spreads in one region as genocidal fury rages in another. Unprecedented wealth coexists with terrible deprivation, as a quarter of the world's people remain mired in poverty. Globalization knits us closer together while intolerance keeps us apart. All progress is fragile; the challenges we face grow ever more complex. Modern communications mean that, whether we like it or not, we are connected, inextricably and irrevocably.

And the United Nations -- which did not yet exist when Guernica was painted -- must as always learn on its feet. It must learn to address those new issues -- most of which fall under the one rubric of globalization -- as well as the more traditional challenges within its remit such as peace and security.

What does the world expect of us? It wants us to do something about the crisis. A year ago we called it an Asian financial crisis. Now many people talk of a global economic crisis. I believe it is not only economic, but social and political as well. When you consider the hair-raising statistics -- like the fact that more than half of Indonesia's children under the age of two are now at risk of brain damage due to malnutrition -- I think you will agree.

And we all know that as commodity prices fall and investors take flight, all parts of the developing world are affected, way beyond east Asia. And the same sort of grim news is now coming in from Russia.

Anyway, people expect us to do something about it. Our Member States are constantly reminding me of this. It is a formidable challenge.

So what can we do? Last week I met with the heads of the International Monetary Fund, the World Bank and all the other entities of the United Nations system. We committed ourselves to helping individual countries carry out structural and institutional reforms and to strengthening or building basic social services and safety nets for the least fortunate. And we agreed to work together; to build a comprehensive joint approach to global problems among all parts of the United Nations family.

- 3 - Press Release SG/SM/6782 3 November 1998

Globalization is bringing a number of other issues to the top of our agenda. Drugs, environmental degradation, terrorism, pandemics -- these are just a few of what we call problems without passports. They require us to think big -- to come up with blueprints without borders.

And they cannot wait. In my own continent of Africa, AIDS is taking a devastating toll with huge socio-economic implications. Of the world's 34 most severely affected countries in the world, 29 are in Africa. In the 10 worst-affected, life expectancy is 10 years less than it would otherwise have been.

The challenges facing us on the peace and security front are no less urgent -- and no less difficult. You have all read about the latest developments concerning our arms inspections in Iraq. The situation in Kosovo remains volatile. Angola and the Congo likewise. Afghanistan is still ravaged by fighting. Relations between Eritrea and Ethiopia could lead to resumed hostilities at any time. These are all formidable challenges. And there are many more.

But let me also say that every challenge is also an opportunity. An opportunity for us to show that we are capable of acting together. That the United Nations is more than a name.

I will now be happy to answer your questions. I hope you will question my answers. Thank you.

* *** *