NO CAUSE TOO DISTANT, NO TASK TOO DIFFICULT, WHEN CITIZENS TRULY COMMITTED, SAYS DEPUTY SECRETARY-GENERAL, IN OTTAWA ADDRESS
Press Release
DSG/SM/54
NO CAUSE TOO DISTANT, NO TASK TOO DIFFICULT, WHEN CITIZENS TRULY COMMITTED, SAYS DEPUTY SECRETARY-GENERAL, IN OTTAWA ADDRESS
19990604 Following is the text of the address by Deputy Secretary-General Louise Frechette to the University of Ottawa in Ottawa, Canada, on 5 June:Let me first thank you and the University Senate for having awarded me this honorary doctorate. This honour is a particular pleasure because my experience on the Board of Governors has given me a better knowledge of your University and an opportunity to appreciate not only its academic quality, but also its commitment to the fundamental values of bilingualism, cultural pluralism and openness to the world.
To you, my dear graduates, I offer my sincere congratulations. You have every reason to be proud of your accomplishments, and your families, professors and friends share your joy in that success. I congratulate you, and I envy you a little... You have your whole lives in front of you, a whole life in which to fulfil your dreams and help to build a better world. And that world, beyond the confines of your town, your province and your country, will have a growing influence on your lives. More than ever before, events taking place a world away have a direct impact on our future and our well-being.
Of course, this is a reality that is well known to you. In your daily lives, in your choice of music, in your travel and in your thoughts about what you will do next, you are deeply influenced by ideas and trends beyond our borders. Rather than dwell on the phenomenon of globalization -- we are all probably getting a bit tired of hearing about it -- I wish to ask a different set of questions:
-- Not why or how the world is becoming more integrated, but whether it can become more united in the pursuit of the universal values of human rights, democracy and the rule of law that are the foundation for peace;
-- Not why or how globalization has transformed our economic life but whether this transformation can help achieve greater equality and social justice around the world.
The United Nations was founded over 50 years ago to rid the world of the scourge of war. This goal has proved elusive and, in case after case, we have seen how difficult it has been for the world to find unity in the face of aggression. The conflict in Kosovo has revealed profound divisions within the international community over the proper course of action. Earlier this decade, the response to the conflicts in Somalia and Bosnia and Herzegovina and, even more so, to the genocide in Rwanda proved painfully inadequate.
Similarly, the struggle against poverty and underdevelopment can seem an impossible task. Since 1995, 300 million people have joined the ranks of the very poor. In a number of countries, particularly in Africa, over 90 per cent of the population is living in absolute poverty. More than 33 million Africans suffer from the scourge of AIDS and, in some African countries, over 25 per cent of the population is already infected.
Nevertheless, my message to you is one of hope, hope that will have an even greater chance of becoming reality if citizens of the world like you make their voices heard, if they are ready to commit even a small portion of their effort to defending the principles in which they believe.
My hope is not unrealistic. It is based on the progress achieved during the past few decades.
While it is true that the international community continues to tolerate all too many massive violations of human rights, it is also true that many walls have come down since the end of the cold war. It has become common practice for the Security Council to involve itself in internal conflicts, and very few countries today will allow States to use their sovereignty as a shield while abusing their own citizens.
The history of the struggle against poverty, too, is more encouraging than we might think. More progress has been made in this area during the past 50 years than in the 500 that preceded them. The infant mortality rate has been cut by half since 1960. At that time, 90 per cent of rural families had no access to safe drinking water; today, that percentage has fallen to about 25 per cent. The malnutrition rate has dropped by one third, and over three quarters of all children attend primary school, whereas less than half of them did so 40 years ago.
This progress has been made thanks, above all, to the courage and determination of the peoples and individuals who suffer from poverty and oppression. But it has also happened because people like you and me made it
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their business to see that it did. And what we call "civil society" has played an increasingly important role on the international scene.
When I attended my first General Assembly in New York, the United Nations was almost exclusively the domain of States. I cannot recall whether the term NGO had been invented yet, but such groups as may have existed then were certainly excluded from inter-governmental debates. One of the most significant developments to have occurred in the United Nations in recent years has been the growing influence of civil society groups. The policies and programmes of action that came out of the major United Nations conferences earlier this decade, on the environment, on human rights, on population, reflected the very active involvement of non-governmental actors in the debate.
The landmines convention signed right here in Ottawa showed us all that no cause is too distant, no task too difficult, when citizens from every part of the world are truly committed.
Yes, you can make a difference if you care enough to invest a little bit of yourself in the promotion of your ideals.
The values that we Canadians share are those to which millions of people throughout the world aspire. They are worth defending with passion, courage and conviction. I know that each of you, in your own way, will make your own contribution to this inspiring endeavour.
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