SECRETARY-GENERAL, IN UN DAY MESSAGE, URGES TAKING STOCK OF PAST, THEN LOOKING FORWARD WITH IDEAS TO MAKE NEW ERA BETTER THAN OLD
Press Release
SG/SM/7181
OBV/115
SECRETARY-GENERAL, IN UN DAY MESSAGE, URGES TAKING STOCK OF PAST, THEN LOOKING FORWARD WITH IDEAS TO MAKE NEW ERA BETTER THAN OLD
19991015The following is the text of the message of Secretary-General Kofi Annans on United Nations Day, which is observed 24 October:
This years United Nations Day is a special one. The worlds population has just passed 6 billion, and we are about to enter a new millennium.
In one sense, both these things are simply numbers. Yet both give us something to celebrate, and something to think about. Together, they mark the opening of a new chapter in human history - a chapter in which, more than ever before, we shall all share the same destiny. It is a moment to take stock: to look back on what we have achieved, and where we have failed -- and then to look forward, and think how we can make the new era better than the old.
It is shocking to think that half of us - 3 billion out of the 6 billion - are entering the new era in abject poverty, with $3 a day, or less, to live on. That is one thing we really must change. It is also shocking that people in so many places today are exposed to violence and brutality. The twentieth century has been the most murderous in human history. We must make sure the twenty-first is more peaceful, and more humane. And it is worrying that the worlds climate seems to be changing, in a way which could destroy the homes and livelihoods of millions. Controlling and managing this process may yet prove to be the biggest challenge of all.
People all over the world look to the United Nations to protect them -- from hunger, disease, violence, and natural disasters -- whenever the task seems too big for nations, or regions, to handle alone. But we, at the United Nations, can do nothing alone, either. Our strength is the strength of our Member States, when they agree to act together for the common good.
- 2 - Press Release SG/SM/7181 OBV/115 15 October 1999
Next year, leaders from all over the world will come to New York for the Millennium Summit. They will consider the challenges ahead, and what the United Nations can do to face them. Those leaders will be representing you, the peoples of the United Nations. It is up to you to make sure they come here firmly resolved to take decisions which can lead to a better life for all of us, and for our children. I am counting on you all - and I thank you all.
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