SECRETARY-GENERAL TELLS GLOBAL YOUTH SUMMIT:  ‘WE ARE NOT FATED TO WATCH WORLD

 

DISINTEGRATE’; CHALLENGES CAN BE MET BY ‘YOUR GENERATION OF PROBLEM SOLVERS’

Following is UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon’s message to the World Federation of United Nations Associations Global Youth Summit, in Mumbai, India, on 7 November:

I send warm greetings to all those taking part in this Global Youth Summit.  Let me thank the World Federation of United Nations Associations for making this opportunity possible for so many talented young people from around the world.

You have gathered to explore a timely and pressing theme -- achieving the Millennium Development Goals by 2015.  Passing the midpoint to the deadline, we face a development emergency.

Many countries are not on track to reach the Goals.  That is why I convened a high-level event on the Millennium Development Goals during the General Assembly’s general debate in September.  Initial estimates suggest that we received new financial commitments totalling $17.5 billion.  This was all the more notable given that the world is also facing a global financial crisis.  We must sustain this momentum.  Never have global leadership and partnership been more important.

Partnership is the way of the future.  Just look at recent advances on malaria, which have brought us within range of containing a disease that kills a child every 30 seconds.  We are doing this through a strong coalition that is focusing on better planning, top-notch science and technology, and unified global management.  What we are doing with malaria we must do with the other Millennium Development Goals.

The challenges we face are increasingly those of collaboration rather than confrontation.  The United Nations is uniquely placed to mobilize the collective efforts that are needed for success.  You can count on me to do my part, and I will count on you to do yours.  We are not fated to watch our world disintegrate.  Each of these challenges is the product of human choices, of mistaken priorities, of inadequate institutions and laws.  Each can be resolved through the innovative ideas and fresh energies that will emanate from your generation of problem solvers.  Together, we can set the stage for a new era of global prosperity, more widely and equitably shared.  In that spirit, please accept my best wishes for a successful summit.

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For information media • not an official record