REMARKS BY SECRETARY-GENERAL AT ANTI-MALARIA CONCERT

REMARKS BY SECRETARY-GENERAL AT ANTI-MALARIA CONCERT

This is the text of remarks by UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan at the “United Against Malaria” concert, held in Geneva on Saturday, 8 October:

I should like to thank Youssou N’Dour and all the artists who have agreed to devote their energy and their talent to this cause.

I should also like to thank the Fondation pour Genève and all those who worked so hard to make this marvellous concert a reality.

Malaria can be beaten.  We have the means to do it.

Together, we can change the world, by building upon the magnificent expression of solidarity that this evening’s concert represents.

Your presence here is the reflection of an ambition and of a belief that I share:  the belief that we can build a better world for all its inhabitants.

Thank you, and I wish you all a very pleasant evening.

Allow me to say a few words in English:

This is not an event.  It’s a movement.  An event can be a one-day affair. Movement is a continuous effort.  And with you and the support you have shown, you can make a difference.  As individuals, you have power.  You have your voices. You have your votes.  You have your influence on your leaders.  Don’t think you are powerless.  Collectively you can make a huge difference.  Having joined this movement of solidarity to assist the poor and to ensure that we have a more equitable world, please stick with it.  Don’t go home and forget it.  It’s a long-term resolution.

We often talk of the United Nations, but you are the United Nations.  The Charter is written in the name of “We the Peoples”.  That is you out there, not the bureaucrats in the building.  You are the United Nations.

And so, on behalf of the poor, the sick and the needy, on behalf of the United Nations and myself, I say a big thank you and have a wonderful evening.

Thank you.

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*     Revised to include portion translated from French.

For information media • not an official record