International Cooperation ‘Only Effective Approach’ to Tackling Security Threats,

Secretary-General Says in Remarks to Meeting of Senior Security Officials

 

Following is UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon’s message to the International Meeting of the High Representatives on Security Issues, delivered by Yury Fedotov, Executive Director, United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC), in Sochi, Russian Federation, today, 5 October:

It is a pleasure to send greetings to the distinguished officials attending this important meeting.  I applaud the Security Council of the Russian Federation for bringing you together to discuss some of the most urgent threats to security and sustainable development facing the world today.

Long-standing threats such as terrorism, drug-trafficking, organized crime and nuclear proliferation continue to exact a terrible cost.  We also face new challenges, such as cybercrime, or old ones, such as piracy, that have emerged in new forms.  Criminals are taking advantage of new technologies to advance their illicit activities, at times outpacing our ability to deter them or and deliver justice.

We have also broadened our understanding of what constitutes a security threat.  Hunger has led to food riots in many countries.  Pandemics and extreme poverty make families less resilient, and societies more fragile.  Climate change, at present trends, will give us more extreme weather and more natural disasters.  These may not strike with the concentrated force of an earthquake, yet they spill across borders, tear societies apart, and promote insecurity.

Because these threats are both interconnected and transnational, countries are not equipped to deal with them on their own.  They must be addressed comprehensively and in coordination.  International cooperation — bilateral, regional, transnational — is the only effective approach.

Although the dangers you will address include natural disasters, most of them are man-made.  That means that we, the international community, have the power to do something about them.  We at the United Nations, including the UN Office on Drugs and Crime, are determined to do our part, including through capacity-building, research and support for treaty compliance.

I applaud the Security Council of the Russian Federation for bringing you together.  Four years from now, the world will gather in Sochi for the Winter Olympic Games in a display of international goodwill and respect for the rules of fair play and teamwork.  You have come to Sochi to team up against those who have no respect for the rules, who violate international law, who seek to sow discord and undermine stability.  Please accept my best wishes for a successful conference that can help us move towards a more secure future for all.

* *** *

For information media • not an official record