Secretary-General, at United Nations Association-New York Dinner, Stresses

 

Importance of Partnerships in Overcoming Obstacles Ahead

 

Following are UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon’s remarks, as prepared for delivery, at the United Nations Association-New York dinner on 21 October:

Thank you for that warm welcome.  I am delighted to join you.

The United Nations Association of New York is a good friend.  You believe deeply in our global mission.  You are out there, day in and day out, helping to raise awareness of what we do and why it matters.  Thank you for support.

Your theme tonight — partnerships to end poverty and world hunger — is especially timely.  One month ago we had a very successful Millennium Development Goals Summit.  We generated momentum.  We saw leaders ready to protect aid commitments, even as the budget axe falls elsewhere.

Partnerships have been a main reason for progress to date — on school enrolment, on clean water, on fighting the spread of malaria, tuberculosis and HIV.  Partnerships will be crucial in overcoming the obstacles ahead.  Foundations, universities, civil society, the private sector — all have a role to play.

I was very encouraged to see business so active at the Summit.  They came with real commitments: to spread education technology, to help small farmers in Pakistan, to strengthen health clinics in Africa and much else.  Business was there as we launched our new Global Strategy for Women’s and Children’s Health.  Empowering women is one of the keys to unlocking progress on all the Goals.  $40 billion in commitments gives us high hope of historic change.

The private sector is also among the main stakeholders on hunger and nutrition.  Nearly 1 billion people go hungry every day — an unprecedented number.  Business is a partner from emergency food aid to long-term agriculture, from our road map for nutrition to our Committee on World Food Security.

Tonight’s award winners have been a big part of this picture: Amir Dossal, the Head of the United Nations Office of Partnerships and a strong believer in opening the doors of the United Nations to new people, players and ideas; Feike Sijbesma, Chief Executive Officer of Royal DSM, a close partner of the World Food Programme (WFP) and a signatory of the United Nations Global Compact, our corporate sustainability initiative.

Congratulations to you both on tonight’s recognition.

We all know how much there is to do, and how serious the obstacles are.  But let us not be overwhelmed.  Our interconnected world has opened up vast new possibilities for common progress.  Too often, we lose sight of that fact.

But consider this: on the Millennium Development Goals, we have yet to scale up what we know works; on climate change, we have yet to really pursue the path of green growth.  There is momentum against the nuclear threat.  The world is strengthening its fight against impunity for human rights violations.

Despite our problems, there is so much we can do.  With friends and good humanitarians like all of you here at the United Nations Association of New York, we can do more, so much more.

As we mark the sixty-fifth anniversary of the United Nations, I thank all of you for so enthusiastically upholding our ideals and helping us in our work to build a better and safer world for all.

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For information media • not an official record