GENERAL ASSEMBLY VICE-PRESIDENT WELCOMES PARTICIPANTS TO SUMMIT OF RELIGIOUS, SPIRITUAL LEADERS

Press Release
GA/SM/187

GENERAL ASSEMBLY VICE-PRESIDENT WELCOMES PARTICIPANTS TO SUMMIT OF RELIGIOUS, SPIRITUAL LEADERS

Following is the statement by General Assembly Vice-President Arthur Mbanefo, Permanent Representative of Nigeria, to the Millennium World Peace Summit of Religious and Spiritual Leaders, delivered on 28 August:

Fifty-five years ago, the United Nations was founded with the Charter as its foundation. That document established the United Nations as a safeguard against history’s deplorable pattern of pitting nation against nation and people against people. The vision of the United Nations, where peace rather than conflict and strife prevails amongst all nations of the world, has in many respects been undermined by wayward exploitation of ethnic, religious and cultural differences for selfish ends.

The holding of this first ever Millennium World Peace Summit, which seeks to coordinate religious and spiritual leadership as a driving force for building tolerance, fostering peace and encouraging inter-religious dialogue among all regions of the world, is thus a timely response to a growing problem of intolerance.

Against this background, as Vice-President, representing His Excellency Theo-Ben Gurirab, President of the General Assembly, I seize this opportunity to welcome you, esteemed spiritual leaders, most heartily to the United Nations. Your presence here today is, indeed, a powerful testimony of your desire and commitment to see peace prevail in all corners of the world.

I would also like to thank Mr. Bawa Jain, Secretary-General of the Millennium World Peace Summit, and his colleagues as well as partners and sponsors of this important event. I would, in particular, like to recognize Mr. Ted Turner, Honourary Chairman of the Summit and an outstanding friend of the United Nations, for assisting in the convening of this Summit.

The convening of this Summit, especially at the United Nations and at this moment, is both timely and right. It is timely because it takes place at a moment in history where problems connected with religious, cultural and ethnic intolerance as well as racism, xenophobia and other forms of bigotry are rapidly increasing. It is

- 2 - Press Release GA/SM/187 29 August 2000

also timely because the Summit takes place at the beginning of a new era and coincides with the Millennium Summit of the United Nations. The holding of this Summit is appropriate in the sense that the international community at large involves itself in a serious dialogue among religions and civilizations with the view to building bridges across cultural, ethnic and religious divides.

We have seen, far too often, how a mere misunderstanding between two neighbours can quickly become a seed of hostility. If unattended, such misunderstandings are used by unscrupulous individuals to further their selfish aims. Such incidences have to be prevented and arrested before they develop into full-scale conflict. There is a role for religious leaders in this area and I trust that at the end of this Summit you would have carefully examined all the aspects of the problem and worked out practical solutions. The tremendous weight of religion and its positive impact must be brought to bear on the search for holistic solutions to peace, cooperation and development.

As you are all aware, the United Nations is charged with the maintenance of international peace and security, and to take effective collective measures for the prevention and removal of threats to peace, and for the suppression of acts of aggression or other breaches of peace. In this regard, the United Nations has been and is involved in numerous peacekeeping and peacemaking operations throughout the world, including in the Balkans, Sierra Leone, East Timor, south Lebanon, etc.

In this respect, the building of religious tolerance and the understanding of the diverse racial, cultural and linguistic differences have been at the forefront of the United Nations. The General Assembly, by its resolution 48/126, proclaimed 1995 as the United Nations Year of Tolerance. In its Declaration of Principles on Tolerance, Member States are of the same mind that tolerance, defined as “respect, acceptance and appreciation of the rich diversity of our world’s cultures, forms of expression and ways of being human”, is important for the achievement of international peace and security. Tolerance is an active principle that thrives on the recognition of human rights and cultural pluralism. It can help eliminate prejudgmental attitudes and effectively put an end to violence, extreme nationalism, exclusion and fanaticism.

It is in recognition thereof that the United Nations, through its Charter, calls on all people “to practice tolerance and to live in peace with one another as good neighbours”. Tolerance, therefore, constitutes an important basis for the maintenance of peace and harmony.

A cursory examination of your programme provides an insight into a rich tapestry of fundamental themes and core issues before the international community. These themes include forgiveness and reconciliation; the role of religion in conflict transformation; non-

- 3 - Press Release GA/SM/187 29 August 2000

violence; ending the violence of poverty and environmental degradation; and global responsibility. I am confident that over the next three days of the Summit, all issues will be discussed in all their aspects, and that specific recommendations will be made for follow-up purposes.

I should also like to welcome the proposed signing of a Declaration on World Peace by Religious and Spiritual Leaders gathered here today, and the establishment of an International Advisory Council of Religious and Spiritual Leaders which is designed to serve as an ongoing inter-faith ally to the United Nations, in its quest for peace, global understanding and international cooperation.

In concluding, I wish to quote the distinguished former Secretary- General, Dag Hammarskjold: “I see no hope for permanent world peace. We have tried hard and failed miserably. Unless there is a spiritual awakening on the worldwide scale, civilization is doomed.”

Let this Summit strengthen the spiritual awakening that Dag Hammarskjold was talking about and the partnership in which religious and political institutions can work together to renew human compassion and end the desperation of hunger and poverty and secure greater peace.

On this important subject of peace or eternal life, which he regarded as humankind’s highest good, an African spiritual leader, Saint Augustine, said, nearly 1,600 years ago: “But in that final peace to which all our righteousness has reference, and for the sake of which it is maintained, as our nature shall enjoy a sound immortality and incorruption, and shall have no more vices, and as we shall experience no resistance either from ourselves or from others, it will not be necessary that reason should rule vices which no longer exist, but God shall rule man, and the soul shall rule the body, with a sweetness and facility suitable to the felicity of a life which is done with bondage. This is why the peace of such blessedness or the blessedness of such peace is to our supreme good.”

Once again, welcome to the United Nations, and I wish you all success in your deliberations.

Thank you, and God bless you all.

* *** *