IN MESSAGE TO THE B’NAI B’RITH INTERNATIONAL, SECRETARY-GENERAL EXPRESSES ‘STRONG

COMMITMENT’ TO UNITED NATIONS WORK TO ENSURE HUMAN DIGNITY, END BIGOTRY

Following is UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon’s message to the B’nai B’rith International’s annual United Nations conference, delivered by B Lynn Pascoe, Under-Secretary-General for Political Affairs, today, 9 December, in New York:

It is a pleasure to send greetings to all the participants in B’nai B’rith International’s annual United Nations conference.  You are good partners of the Organization, and indeed have been with us since our very founding, and I welcome your active engagement in our work.

You gather as we mark two important anniversaries.

Sixty years ago today, the United Nations adopted the Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of Genocide.  The Convention was a direct outcome of the attempted extermination of the Jewish people during the Holocaust, and ever since has embodied the aspiration of the United Nations to prevent such a horror from occurring again.  Let me assure you of my strong commitment to this work, especially since the world has continued to witness appalling acts that violate human dignity, and all too often the international response has been inadequate.

And of course, sixty years ago tomorrow, the Universal Declaration of Human Rights was adopted.  This document, too, was drafted amid the utter destruction and destitution following the Holocaust and the Second World War.  And here, too, there is a great distance to travel if we are to bring this vision to life for everyone, everywhere.  We will continue to need your voice in our efforts to ensure human dignity and an end to bigotry, including anti-Semitism.

As we approach the end of the year, we must acknowledge with regret that the goal of reaching an Israeli-Palestinian peace treaty by this time, first articulated last year at Annapolis, appears unlikely to be achieved.  Still, recent months have been a crucial time in setting the stage for peace.  The parties have engaged in direct, intensive negotiations, and have succeeded in creating trust and a framework where none existed only two years ago.  We must not diminish that achievement.  I welcome the parties’ determination to continue uninterrupted negotiations during the current period of transition.

At the same time, recent developments underscore the large gap between the political tracks and the situation on the ground.  Continued rocket fire against southern Israel and other disruptions to the period of “calm” agreed in June, along with settlement activity and violent acts by settlers in the West Bank, a humanitarian emergency in the Gaza Strip and the ongoing split between Palestinian factions, pose considerable obstacles.  If people are to have faith in the political process, there is a need for tangible improvements in living conditions and security.

Finally, let me stress that you also gather at a crucial time for international cooperation.  We face a global financial crisis, a development emergency, food insecurity and accelerating climate change.  These issues are inextricably linked; solutions to each must be solutions to all.  States, too, are more interdependent than ever, and cannot protect their interests or advance the well-being of their people without the partnership of the rest.

This is the new global reality.  Your voices will be crucial in ensuring that world leaders act on it, and that citizens everywhere press them to do so.  Thank you again for your commitment to the United Nations.  Please accept my best wishes for a successful conference.

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For information media • not an official record