United Nations must find ways to deliver more fully on promises enshrined

in charter, says Secretary-General at Holy family church

Following are UN Secretary-GeneralBan Ki-moon’s remarks at the Holy Family Church in New York, 17 September:

Let me express my sincere gratitude to the parish of the Holy Family Church for organizing this service.  This is the first time I have been privileged to join you as Secretary-General.

But I know that every September, our United Nations community is able to draw solace from gathering here.  This house of worship, which has stood here for more than 40 years, provides us with a much-needed sense of strength and reassurance in the midst of the challenges and crises that constantly confront our Organization.

This year, we need that strength and reassurance more than ever.  We need that strength for the new President of the General Assembly as he leads the sixty-second session of the General Assembly.  We need that strength for the ambassadors gathered here as they go about their work.  The demands on the United Nations grow larger all the time.  The world turns to us, increasingly, to solve more and more problems.  And the problems seem to grow ever more complex -- from the conflict in Darfur to the impact of climate change on our planet.

It is good that the world looks to the United Nations for solutions.  But it also means we must find new ways of working.

We must find ways to deliver more fully on our promises, as enshrined in our Charter, one of the noblest documents in the history of humankind.

We must be open to new approaches and ideas, and have the courage to question our traditional way of doing things.

Whatever we have achieved in the past, we will be judged in the future on the actions we take today.

So together, let us open the windows of our United Nations, and let in fresh air.  Let us look in the mirror, honestly, and ask every day:  am I doing my best?  What can I do better, today, to advance our common cause?

On this eve of the opening of the General Assembly, I hope you will pray for our United Nations.  That whatever challenges and crises confront us the year ahead, we may make this indispensable instrument as effective as it can be, in the interests of the people it exists to serve.  That we may have the strength and courage to always do our best.

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For information media • not an official record