SECRETARY-GENERAL PRAISES GLOBAL CITIZENSHIP OF LIONS CLUBS INTERNATIONAL

Press Release
SG/SM/6916

SECRETARY-GENERAL PRAISES GLOBAL CITIZENSHIP OF LIONS CLUBS INTERNATIONAL

Following are remarks by Secretary-General Kofi Annan at the twenty- first Annual Lions Day with the United Nations, in New York on 5 March:

Thank you for those kind words. It is incredible to have so many Lions in one room. I am a tiger myself, in that I was born in the year of the tiger.

It is a pleasure to welcome the Lions from around the United States and other countries who have come to United Nations Headquarters for this special day. I should in fact say welcome back to the United Nations. This day has been a tradition for 21 years now, and we are really excited to have you back. Over that time, the Lions have become one of the United Nations most valuable friends and allies. With your commitment, and most importantly through deeds and good works, you are bringing positive changes into people's daily lives. You are giving tangible meaning to the idea of a caring, responsive international community.

I must admit I am quite struck by the many ways in which our two organizations are alike.

The similarities start with our Charters, in which our founders gave us our respective marching orders. Both the United Nations and the Lions Clubs were created to serve. We are both dedicated to promoting peace and tolerance among peoples. We are also comparable when it comes to the actual work we do. We both have a global presence. And most of all, we are involved in the same issues.

Take health, for example. Here I want to stress how much the United Nations appreciates and admires the Lions' world-renowned Sightfirst programme, in which you have worked well with United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF) and the World Health Organization (WHO) in the fight to rid the world of preventable and reversible blindness.

The United Nations has many reasons to applaud Sightfirst:

-- First, Sightfirst is being carried out at a time when official aid to developing nations has reached new lows. You are setting a good example for governments, particularly governments with a capacity to contribute;

-- Second, Sightfirst represents a long-term commitment. One of the major challenges the United Nations faces is to convince governments to think about issues in a long-term way rather than from year to year; and

-- Third, you are focusing on prevention. The old saying about "an ounce of prevention" is true, whether we are talking about personal health or peace and security. That is why, for example, the United Nations engages in "preventive diplomacy" to identify emerging crises stemming from human rights abuses or other problems.

For these reasons and more, you should be proud of Sightfirst. It is a model programme, and we applaud you for that.

The United Nations also works for drug-free schools and communities, just like your "Skills for Growing" and "Skills for Adolescence" programmes. Last year, the General Assembly held a special session on the question of drug control. The battle is now moving forward on three tracks:

-- We are working towards the goal, set by Member States, of eliminating illicit coca crops within 10 years, while, at the same time, focusing on reducing demand for drugs;

-- We are trying to get governments to address the issues of tax havens and bank secrecy, which are used for money laundering and are, thus, the handmaidens of drug trafficking; and

-- United Nations Member States are working towards the adoption, next year, of a legally binding international treaty on organized crime.

The United Nations also shares the Lions' concern for the care and well-being of the world's older people. As you may know, this year is the International Year of Older Persons. Over the last 50 years, 20 years have been added to the average life-span. This is good news, despite the doom and gloom myths that have dominated public thought about ageing. But we have to do more to deal with the demographic revolution, especially with respect to the situation of older women. Also, in something of a paradox, the new longevity requires wiser investments in the earlier phases of life: in childhood and youth.

Young people are another of the Lions' main interests. Here, too, the United Nations is with you in spirit and on the ground. The United Nations

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Children's Fund (UNICEF), of course, is devoted to the rights and welfare of the world's children and youth. The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) takes the lead in promoting literacy. And the Joint United Nations Programme on HIV/AIDS (UNAIDS) has just announced a major initiative aimed at educating youth through education and dialogue. I am sure you are all as startled as I was at new statistics, which show that six young people are infected with the AIDS virus every minute. I repeat, six young people are infected with the AIDS virus every minute.

More generally, the United Nations tries to raise awareness among young people not only about United Nations objectives such as peace and equality, but also about the Organization itself: its strengths and its weaknesses. Frankly, it is my hope that more young people will make the choice of public service. We need, more than ever, dedicated and talented individuals to help build global institutions for life in a global age. And, yet, many younger people these days are looking to industry and the private sector, which are more lucrative. But we need these bright young men and women for public service. I made a special appeal to young people last summer at the World Youth Forum in Portugal. I said that the reward of working in the service of humanity goes far beyond material gain. You yourselves would not be here today if you did not share that view, so I hope you will help in meeting this crucial leadership test for the future.

I could go on. The United Nations and the Lions have many more things in common: the food aid we bring to people hit by natural disasters such as Hurricane Mitch; the education we do about environmental degradation; the programmes we have for people with disabilities. From time to time, the United Nations even sponsors a poster contest like your own peace poster competition, giving young people a forum to express their hopes -- and their fears.

So we are close partners. As we move ahead together, what lies in store for us?

One of our main preoccupations can be summed up in one word: globalization. In short, we are trying to coax the best out of globalization while protecting against its fallout. Globalization has brought us many benefits. But as we have seen in the past year and a half, there is also a downside that tends to inflict its damage primarily on the poor and the vulnerable. It creates what has been called a human crisis.

At the same time, we still face a range of threats. Some are ancient, such as hunger, war and bigotry. Others are new, such as global warming. There are also insidious threats, such as corruption, the lack of good governance and the proliferation of arms.

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The arrival of a new millennium offers us a compelling, symbolic opportunity to join together to consider new ways of coping with these and other challenges. The General Assembly has decided that its session in the fall of the year 2000 will be a Millennium Assembly. A "Millennium Forum" of non-governmental organizations (NGOs) and civil society groups is to be held prior to that event.

I believe that we should seize this as an occasion to identify a select few of the world's most pressing problems, and set ourselves a precise, achievable programme for dealing with them. Like the San Francisco Conference at which the United Nations was founded, and like other conferences held at turning points in world history, this will be an opportunity to articulate a vision for the United Nations in a new era. I very much look forward to your contributions and your views.

The road ahead must include more partnerships such as the one that exists between the Lions and the United Nations. Our doors are open as never before to NGOs, trade unions, local authorities, youth and women's groups, academic institutions and private sector enterprises. In today's world, such partnerships of the like-minded are not an option, but a necessity. We are, after all, a community: an international community. And communities have to work together as we move ahead.

In closing, I cannot help but recall Helen Keller, who challenged you to be "Knights of the blind in the crusade against darkness". Those words are close to the heart of every Lion. But let me also recall another great American, Eleanor Roosevelt, and some words that were said about her which also apply to you. She said, "She would rather light a candle than curse the darkness".

My friends, you are carrying on in that noble tradition, displaying the essence of good global citizenship. Thank you for all that you are doing in support of the United Nations. I look forward to strengthening this close relationship and working with you for the common good.

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