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Jewish People Have Been Victims Of Anti-semitism In Many Parts Of The World, And In Europe They Were The Target Of The Holocaust, The Ultimate Abomination. Yet, We Cannot Expect Palestinians To Accept This As A Reason Why The Wrongs Done To Them.

-Kofi Annan

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Jewish People Have Been

Kofi Annan

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Jewish People Have Been Victims Of Anti-semitism In Many Parts Of The World, And In Europe They Were The Target Of The Holocaust, The Ultimate Abomination. Yet, We Cannot Expect Palestinians To Accept This As A Reason Why The Wrongs Done To Them.

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Sometimes When You Take A Tough Action Against One Side In The Conflict, They See You As Part Of The Conflict And They Attack You.

I've Been Around Enough To Realise That There Are Two Things That Once People Have Them, They Don't Want To Give Up, And It's Extremely Difficult To Convince Them To Give Up: One Is Privileges, And The Other Is Subsidies.

Like Any Large Organisation, Public Or Private, The Un Is A Complex Machine.

Many African Leaders Refuse To Send Their Troops On Peace Keeping Missions Abroad Because They Probably Need Their Armies To Intimidate Their Own Populations.

The War On Drugs Has Failed In West Africa And Around The World

Once You Are Really Challenged, You Find Something In Yourself. Man Doesn't Know What He Is Capable Of Until He Is Asked.

Having Worked My Way From The Bottom Of The Ladder To The Top [of The Un] Certainly Helped Me Navigate That Complexity, Both Political And Bureaucratic.

You Have To Develop A Certain Healthy Distance To Allow You To Keep A Clear Head, To Be Able To Analyse The Situation, Lead Your Team, And Move Forward With Them, Because There Are Times If I'm Not Careful... If You Get Too Involved, It Will Consume You; It Will Consume You, And You Will Not Be Good To Your Team; The Issues You Are Dealing With.

Education Is The Great Equalizer Of Our Time. It Gives Hope To The Hopeless And Creates Chances For Those Without.

Un Is Made Even More Complex By The Constant Interplay Of Politics And Bureaucracy And Can Certainly Be Bewildering For A Novice.

Change Is A Process Which Has To Be Managed. If It's Managed And Managed Well In The Interest Of The Nation And The People, The Likelihood Is That It Will End Well.

I Was An Ordinary Boy At School, A Young Man. In Fact, What Did The Headmaster Once Say? "you're Constantly Challenging Those In Authority; Questioning And Challenging Those In Authority." Which Was Not Really The Way I Saw It. I Felt There Were Questions That Had To Be Answered, And Things That Weren't Quite Right.

In An Era Of Global Abundance, Our World Has The Resources To Reduce Dramatically The Massive Divides That Persist Between Rich And Poor, If Only Those Resources Can Be Unleashed In The Service Of All Peoples.

Nuclear Terrorism Is Still Often Treated As Science Fiction. I Wish It Were. But Unfortunately We Live In A World Of Excess Hazardous Materials And Abundant Technological Know-how, In Which Some Terrorists Clearly State Their Intention To Inflict Catastrophic Casualties. Were Such An Attack To Occur, It Would Not Only Cause Widespread Death And Destruction, But Would Stagger The World Economy... [creating] A Second Death Toll Throughout The Developing World.

Nuclear Terrorism

Elections With Integrity Are A Challenge Everywhere, Including In The West.

You Saw The Traumas That People Lived Through, And Wondered What It Will Take To Move Us As A Human Community, As Humanity, To Help In These Dangerous Situations.

Dangerous Situations

The Status Quo Cannot Work.

The Past Year's Natural Disasters Have Highlighted The Invaluable Contributions Of Volunteers In Our Communities. They Have Volunteered Their Time, Energy And Skills To Save Lives And To Rebuild Communities. In This They Joined Countless People Around The World Who Volunteer Every Day In Response To 'silent Crises'. These Often Unsung Heroes Understand All Too Well That Poverty, Disease And Famine Are Just As Deadly And Destructive As Earthquakes, Hurricanes And Tsunamis.

Like Any Large Organisation, Public Or Private, The Un Is A Complex Machine.

It Is Impossible To Realize Our Goals While Discriminating Against Half The Human Race. As Study After Study Has Taught Us, There Is No Tool For Development More Effective Than The Empowerment Of Women.

A Developed Country Is One That Allows All Its Citizens To Enjoy A Free And Healthy Life In A Safe Environment

Safe Environment

The Interesting Thing Is, Everybody Focuses On The Global Warming As An Environmental Issue, As Something Outside Our Daily Lives. But Actually The Impact Of Global Warming Is With Us Today. Communities Are Suffering. Communities In Poor Countries Are The Ones Paying The Price, They Are Not The Ones Who Are Polluting, And We Need To Help Them Adapt.

Human Rights Education Is Much More Than A Lesson In Schools Or A Theme For A Day; It Is A Process To Equip People With The Tools They Need To Live Lives Of Security And Dignity. On This International Human Rights Day, Let Us Continue To Work Together To Develop And Nurture In Future Generations A Culture Of Human Rights, To Promote Freedom, Security And Peace In All Nations.

I Think Over Time You Learn To Know A Bit More About Yourself - You Develop A Certain Amount Of Self-insight And Self-awareness, And You Know What You Can Absorb, And What You Cannot; What Gets To You And What Doesn't.

Most People Forget That Even In Iraq, By The Time The Air And No-fly Zone Was Established, The Air Defence System Had Been Removed Through The First Gulf War. All Of Them Had Been Neutralised.

For Everyone, Everywhere, Literacy Is, Along With Education In General, A Basic Human Right.

On This International Day Of Peace, Let Us All Honor Those Who Have Suffered From Violence. Let Us Hold In Our Hearts The Ideal Of Peace.

Fierce National Competition Over Water Resources Has Prompted Fears That Water Issues Contain The Seeds Of Violent Conflict.

Violence Against Women Is Perhaps The Most Shameful Human Rights Violation, And It Is Perhaps The Most Pervasive. It Knows No Boundaries Of Geography, Culture Or Wealth. As Long As It Continues, We Cannot Claim To Be Making Real Progress Towards Equality, Development And Peace

If Globalization Is To Succeed, It Must Succeed For Poor And Rich Alike. It Must Deliver Rights No Less Than Riches. It Must Provide Social Justice And Equity No Less Than Economic Prosperity And Enhanced Communication.

I Think That Peacekeeping Can Do Quite A Lot, If They Are Given The Right Mandate With The Commensurate Resources To Get The Job Done.

Change Is A Process Which Has To Be Managed. If It's Managed And Managed Well In The Interest Of The Nation And The People, The Likelihood Is That It Will End Well.

You Will Recall That For Months After 9/11, There Was Incredible Support And Sympathy For The Us. I Really Hoped And Wished They Had Played On That, And Kept All These Friends They Had Made, And Found A Way Of Dealing With The Terrorists Through Co-operation Of International Intelligence Services, Police Exchange Of Information.

Intelligence Services

It's Always A Difficult Time To Be Secretary General.

Difficult Times

Tolerance, Inter-cultural Dialogue And Respect For Diversity Are More Essential Than Ever In A World Where Peoples Are Becoming More And More Closely Interconnected.

Today, No Walls Can Separate Humanitarian Or Human Rights Crises In One Part Of The World From National Security Crises In Another. What Begins With The Failure To Uphold The Dignity Of One Life All Too Often Ends With A Calamity For Entire Nations.

If We Get Agriculture Right In Africa, Where Most Of The People Now Are Working In That Sector, Not Only Would It Help Boost Development But We Will Be Secure In Terms Of Food And Nutrition And Then Be Able To Move On To Other Areas.

Does Anyone Seriously Contend That Any Nation Can Fend For Itself?

The Drafters Of The [refugee Convention ] Had The Cold War In Mind And Mainly Sought To Protect A Few Thousand Dissidents From The Communist Bloc. They Did Not Envision The Mass Displacements Of People We Are Seeing Today.

We Often Hear A Lot About Subsidies, Because It's Often The Powerful Talking About The Poor; The Poor Don't Have Enough Voice To Question The Privileges.

Invite Politicians To Dinner And Let Them Tell The World How Delicious It Is. . . . They Will Proudly Go Around And Say, 'i Ate Crickets, I Ate Locusts, And They Were Delicious.'

As One Of My Predecessors Said, Our Objective Is Not To Take People To Heaven, But To Prevent Humanity From Going To Hell.

We Need To Ensure The Poorest In The Planet - Who Will Be Hardest Hit By The Financial Crisis - Are Not Forgotten.

All Our Efforts To Defeat Poverty And Pursue Sustainable Development Will Be In Vain If Environmental Degradation And Natural Resource Depletion Continue Unabated.

The Question Is The Morning After. What Sort Of Iraq Do We Wake Up To After The Bombing? What Happens In The Region? What Impact Could It Have? These Are Questions Leaders I Have Spoken To Have Posed.

Under International Law, The Responsibility For Protecting Civilians In Conflict Falls On The Belligerents. Under Military Occupation, Responsibility For The Welfare Of The Population Falls On The Occupiers.

Drugs Have Destroyed Many Lives, But Wrongheaded Governmental Policies Have Destroyed Many More. I Think It's Obvious That After 40 Years Of War On Drugs, It Has Not Worked. There Should Be Decriminalization Of Drugs.

Founded On The Principles Of Private Initiative, Entrepreneurship And Self-employment, Underpinned By The Values Of Democracy, Equality And Solidarity, The Co-operative Movement Can Help Pave The Way To A More Just And Inclusive Economic Order.

The Invasion And Occupation Of Iraq Is Illegal.

The United Nations Has Long Recognised That The Imagination, Ideals And Energies Of Young Men And Women Are Vital For The Continuing Development Of The Societies In Which They Live. And Since Its Inception In 1948, Aiesec Has Contributed To This Development By Serving As An Agent Of Positive Change Trough Education And Cultural Exchange.

I Used To Tell The Story About As A Young Man In High School One Of The Professors Came In And Put A Broad White Sheet On The Board With A Dot In The Right Hand Corner And Said, "boys, What Do You See?" And We All Shouted, A Black Dot. He Stood Back And Said, "not A Single One Of You Saw The Broad White Sheet, You All Saw The Black Dot." He Went On To Tell Us To Focus On The Broader Picture, Don't Focus On The Negative.

Access To A Secure, Safe And Sufficient Source Of Fresh Water Is A Fundamental Requirement For The Survival, Well-being And Socio-economic Development Of All Humanity. Yet, We Continue To Act As If Fresh Water Were A Perpetually Abundant Resource. It Is Not.

The Happiness Of Any Society Begins With The Well Being Of The Families That Live In It.

Jewish People Have Been Victims Of Anti-semitism In Many Parts Of The World, And In Europe They Were The Target Of The Holocaust, The Ultimate Abomination. Yet, We Cannot Expect Palestinians To Accept This As A Reason Why The Wrongs Done To Them.

... The Long-lasting Humanitarian Impact Of These Inhuman Weapons Continues To Deny Communities The Opportunity To Rebuild Long After The End Of The Conflicts.

The Young And Dynamic And Idealistic People In The Square Do Not Have The Chance To Organise Themselves Politically, To Be Able To Follow Through Their Dreams In Six Months Time, To Play An Effective Role In The Future.

Yehudi Menuhin Was A Citizen Of The World In The Fullest Sense - One Whose Vision And Culture Gave Him A Deep Empathy With Fellow Human Beings Of Every Creed And Color.

Iraq Has A New Opportunity To Comply With All These Relevant Resolutions Of The Security Council.

When You Have Difficult Issues On The Table For Discussion, Then Sometimes For Africa You May Have Burundi Or Gambia Representing Them On The Security Council; And Then For Latin America You May Have A Country Like Costa Rica, Which Is A Wonderful Country But They Don't Have The Same Weight As Others From The Other Regions. And Sometimes They Get Bullied. Sometimes Their Capitals Come Under Lots Of Pressure To Take A Position.

Jewish People Have Been Victims Of Anti-semitism In Many Parts Of The World, And In Europe They Were The Target Of The Holocaust, The Ultimate Abomination. Yet, We Cannot Expect Palestinians To Accept This As A Reason Why The Wrongs Done To Them.

The Millennium Development Goals Can Be Met By 2015, But Only If All Involved Break With Business As Usual And Dramatically Accelerate And Scale Up Action Now.

No One Is Born A Good Citizen Or A Good Democrat Or A Good Leader; It Takes Time And Education.

[professional Accountants ] Should Be Encouraging Companies To Enhance Their Green Credentials By Switching To Renewables, And To Respect Core Labor Standards And Human Rights.

Not Only Do These Abominable Weapons Lie Buried In Silence And In Their Millions Waiting To Kill Or Maim Innocent Women And Children; But The Presence Or Even The Fear Of The Presence Of A Single Landmine Can Prevent The Cultivation Of An Entire Field, Rob A Whole Village Of Its Livelihood, Place Yet Another Obstacle On A Country's Road To Reconstruction And Development

Literacy Is A Bridge From Misery To Hope... Especially For Girls And Women, It Is An Agent Of Family Health And Nutrition.

Poverty Devastates Families, Communities And Nations. It Causes Instability And Political Unrest And Fuels Conflict.

As We Move Forward, You Cannot Resolve The Potential Food Crisis Or Shortages Without Science Being Part Of The Solution. Science Has To Be Part Of The Solution But African Governments - And These Are Decisions For Governments, Whether They Embrace Or Do Not Embrace Genetically Modified Food - And For The Moment, Most African Companies Do Not Accept Genetically Modified Seeds.

I Think The World Has Moved On.

We Have To Choose Between A Global Market Driven Only By Calculations Of Short-term Profit, And One Which Has A Human Face.

Economic Globalization

The Report [by A Un Commission On Darfur] Demonstrates Beyond All Doubt That The Last Two Years Have Been Little Short Of Hell On Earth For Our Fellow Human Beings In Darfur.

To Live Is To Choose.

We're All Human. After 10, 15 Years You Get Tired, You Run Out Of Steam And Ideas, You Have To Give A Chance To Somebody Else. And Whether You Yourself Are Inclined To Stay On, All Those Around You Are Pushing You To Stay On For What They Will Gain.

Sadly, A Prize For Peace Is A Rarity In This World. Most Nations Have Monuments Or Memorials To War, Bronze Salutations To Heroic Battles, Archways Of Triumph. But Peace Has No Parade, No Pantheon Of Victory.

Over Time You Get To Understand The Nature Of Man And The Environments You Are Dealing With, And You Can't Always Allow Emotions And Temper To Flare Up Because You're Displeased With Something, Or You Want To Change It.

We Don’t Need Any More Promises. We Need To Start Keeping The Promises We Already Made.

If The United Nations Is Not As United As It Should Be, That Is Because It Is A Reflection Of The World We Live In.

Without A Dream You'll Not Get Anywhere.

We All Make Mistakes.

Making Mistakes

We All Make Mistakes

Poverty Devastates Families, Communities And Nations. It Causes Instability And Political Unrest And Fuels Conflict.

It Is Extreme Arrogance For One To Think He Is The Only One Who Can Govern His Country And Nobody Else Can Do It. We're All Human. After 10, 15 Years You Get Tired, You Run Out Of Steam And Ideas, You Have To Give A Chance To Somebody Else. And Whether You Yourself Are Inclined To Stay On, All Those Around You Are Pushing You To Stay On For What They Will Gain. One Has To Have The Strength Of Character To Say The Time Has Come To Move On...unless You Are A King.

Nuclear Terrorism Is Still Often Treated As Science Fiction. I Wish It Were. But Unfortunately We Live In A World Of Excess Hazardous Materials And Abundant Technological Know-how, In Which Some Terrorists Clearly State Their Intention To Inflict Catastrophic Casualties. Were Such An Attack To Occur, It Would Not Only Cause Widespread Death And Destruction, But Would Stagger The World Economy... [creating] A Second Death Toll Throughout The Developing World.

Nuclear Terrorism

The Past Year's Natural Disasters Have Highlighted The Invaluable Contributions Of Volunteers In Our Communities. They Have Volunteered Their Time, Energy And Skills To Save Lives And To Rebuild Communities. In This They Joined Countless People Around The World Who Volunteer Every Day In Response To 'silent Crises'. These Often Unsung Heroes Understand All Too Well That Poverty, Disease And Famine Are Just As Deadly And Destructive As Earthquakes, Hurricanes And Tsunamis.

We Have To Be Very Clear With The Population And The Countries We Enter What We Can Do And What We Cannot Do.

One Has To Learn From History. Quite Frankly, It Is Almost Impossible To Have A Sense Of Vision Without A Sense Of History. If History Is Learned, Then It Doesn't Have To Repeat Itself Over Generations.

Microfinance Recognizes That Poor People Are Remarkable Reservoirs Of Energy And Knowledge

Slavery Was, In A Very Real Sense, The First International Human Rights Issue To Come To The Fore. It Led To The Adoption Of The First Human Rights Laws And To The Creation Of The First Human Rights Non-governmenta L Organization. And Yet Despite The Efforts Of The International Community To Combat This Abhorrent Practice, It Is Still Widely Prevalent In All Its Insidious Forms, Old And New.

Young People - With Their Dynamism, Their Energy And Their Inherent Understanding Of Our Interconnected World - Have Much To Teach Us. Increased Educational Attainment, Advances In Technology And The Spread Of Information Have Made This Generation The Best Educated, Most Connected And Most Informed In History

Drugs Have Destroyed Many Lives, But Wrongheaded Governmental Policies Have Destroyed Many More. I Think It's Obvious That After 40 Years Of War On Drugs, It Has Not Worked. There Should Be Decriminalization Of Drugs.

It Is Not In The United Nations That The Millennium Development Goals Will Be Achieved. They Have To Be Achieved In Each Of Its Member States, By The Joint Efforts Of Their Governments And People.

In The Past We Could Afford A Long Gestation Period Before Undertaking Major Environmental Policy Initiatives. Today The Time For A Well-planned Transition To A Sustainable System Is Running Out. We May Be Moving In The Right Direction, But We Are Moving Too Slowly. We Are Failing In Our Responsibility To Future Generations And Even The Present One.

We Need To Think Of The Future And The Planet We Are Going To Leave To Our Children And Their Children.

There Is A Certain Tendency On The Part Of Some Americans To Treat The Un As A Multilateralism à La Carte Where You Pick And Choose Where It Suits You And When It Doesn't Suit You, You Pull Back.

A Hungry Mind Is Not Free, And I Felt If We Were Really Going To Make A Difference And Fight Poverty We Should At Least Start With The Ability To Feed Ourselves, And The Millions Of Africans Who Don't Have It.

Literacy Is A Bridge From Misery To Hope. It Is A Tool For Daily Life In Modern Society. It Is A Bulwark Against Poverty, And A Building Block Of Development... For Everyone, Everywhere, Literacy Is, Along With Education In General, A Basic Human Right.... Literacy Is, Finally, The Road To Human Progress And The Means Through Which Every Man, Woman And Child Can Realize His Or Her Full Potential.

I Have Always Believed That On Important Issues, The Leaders Must Lead. Where The Leaders Fail To Lead, And People Are Really Concerned About It, The People Will Take The Lead And Make The Leaders Follow.

There Is No Trust More Sacred Than The One The World Holds With Children.

We Tend To Look At Countries In Terms Of Failed States And Functioning States, Which Is Rather Simplistic.

If We Are To Make Poverty History, We Must Have The Active Participation Of States, Civil Society And The Private Sector, As Well As Individual Volunteers.

You Need To Be Careful Not To Over-reach And Also Assess The Capacity You Have To Work With.

When We Talk About The Un, What Are We Really Talking About? We Are Talking About My Country, Your Country, Other Countries And Their Collective Will To Stand Together And Apply Pressure Or Offer Incentives To Steer Things In The Right Direction. When The Nations Of The World Come Together, With Collective Will, On An Issue And They Speak With A United Voice, They Have A Much Greater Impact. When There Is Division, Then The Impact Is Much, Much Less.

We Don’t Need Any More Promises. We Need To Start Keeping The Promises We Already Made.

Not Only Do These Abominable Weapons Lie Buried In Silence And In Their Millions Waiting To Kill Or Maim Innocent Women And Children; But The Presence Or Even The Fear Of The Presence Of A Single Landmine Can Prevent The Cultivation Of An Entire Field, Rob A Whole Village Of Its Livelihood, Place Yet Another Obstacle On A Country's Road To Reconstruction And Development

To Look Into Some Aspects Of The Future, We Do Not Need Projections By Supercomputers. Much Of The Next Millennium Can Be Seen In How We Care For Our Children Today. Tomorrow's World May Be Influenced By Science And Technology, But More Than Anything, It Is Already Taking Shape In The Bodies And Minds Of Our Children.

There Was A Time, With The Berlin Wall Down, That [it Looked As If] The Un Finally Could Do What It Was Set Up To Do, The Rivalry Between The Two Camps Would Dissipate, And We Could All Co-operate. And Then, Of Course, Iraq Came And Blew It All Apart. These Upheavals Will Always Take Place In The World, And The Design And Construct Of The Un Ideally Should Be Such That It Can Deal With These Upheavals, And Possibly Influence Them, And Survive And Thrive, But It Doesn't Work Out That Way, Because As An Organisation We Are So Dependent On The Same Member States.

Un Peacekeeping Operations Are Now Increasingly Complex And Multi-dimensional, Going Beyond Monitoring A Ceasefire To Actually Bringing Failed States Back To Life, Often After Decades Of Conflict. The Blue Helmets And Their Civilian Colleagues Work Together To Organize Elections, Enact Police And Judicial Reform, Promote And Protect Human Rights, Conduct Mine-clearance, Advance Gender Equality, Achieve The Voluntary Disarmament Of Former Combatants, And Support The Return Of Refugees And Displaced People To Their Homes.

In Fact Un Is More Of A Galaxy Of Organisations And Agencies Than One Machine.

If There Is One Area Where Equity Is Crucial And Essential, I Think It Should Be The Issue Of Water.

Literacy Is A Bridge From Misery To Hope.

No One Is Born A Good Citizen; No Nation Is Born A Democracy. Rather, Both Are Processes That Continue To Evolve Over A Lifetime. Young People Must Be Included From Birth. A Society That Cuts Off From Its Youth Severs Its Lifeline.

Unless The Security Council Is Restored To Its Pre-eminent Position As The Sole Source Of Legitimacy On The Use Of Force, We Are On A Dangerous Path To Anarchy.

I Think The Us And Uk Thought If They Gave A Bit More Time To Israel, They Would Crush Hezbollah. But It Became Very Obvious That Was An Unwinnable War.

Can The State, Which Represents The Whole Of Society And Has The Duty Of Protecting Society, Fulfill That Duty By Lowering Itself To The Level Of The Murderer, And Treating Him As He Treated Others? The Forfeiture Of Life Is Too Absolute, Too Irreversible, For One Human Being To Inflict It On Another, Even When Backed By Legal Process.

You Are Never Too Young To Lead.

My Intimate Knowledge Of The [un] System Allowed Me To Get Things Done Despite The Many Obstacles.

The Us-led Invasion Of Iraq Was An Illegal Act That Contravened The Un Charter.

If We Do Not Get A Universal Acceptance Of The Constitution The Likelihood Of The Violence Continuing Is There. If It Had Been An Inclusive Exercise -- As When Everybody Had Embraced The Constitution And Everyone Saw His Interest Protected By The Constitution -- I Think It Would Have Been A Rallying Exercise. We Are Not There At This Stage

Let Us, Above All, Be Clear That, Without A Convincing Program Of Debt Relief To Start The New Millennium, Our Objective Of Halving World Poverty By 2015 Will Be Only A Pipe Dream.

Usually, When You Look Around The World, People Are Killing Each Other, Fighting Over Scarce Resources.

We Can Love What We Are, Without Hating What, And Who, We Are Not.

Human Rights Education Is Much More Than A Lesson In Schools Or A Theme For A Day; It Is A Process To Equip People With The Tools They Need To Live Lives Of Security And Dignity. On This International Human Rights Day, Let Us Continue To Work Together To Develop And Nurture In Future Generations A Culture Of Human Rights, To Promote Freedom, Security And Peace In All Nations.

If You Are Neutral In A Situation Where One Side Is Patently Being Mistreated, The Conclusion Is That You're Siding With This Wrong.

National Markets Are Held Together By Shared Values And Confidence In Certain Minimum Standards. But In The New Global Market, People Do Not Yet Have That Confidence.

To Go To War Without The Security Council Will Not Be In Conformity With The Council.

These Often Unsung Heroes Understand...that Poverty, Disease And Famine Are Just As Deadly And Destructive As Earthquakes, Hurricanes And Tsunamis. Individuals ...are Taking On These Challenges In Their Communities, Volunteering To Make A Difference. They Remain The True Champions Of Our Work Towards The Millennium Development Goals.

[refugees] Cannot Be Stopped, But They Can And Must Be Managed Better, More Humanely, Protecting Migrants' Human Rights Whilst Accepting States' Rights To Control Their Borders.

Extreme Poverty Anywhere Is A Threat To Human Security Everywhere.

A World Government Can Intervene Militarily In The Internal Affairs Of Any Nation When It Disapproves Of Their Activities.

World Government

It Is Within The Family That Children Learn The Values That Will Guide Them For The Rest Of Their Lives. It Is Within The Family That They Form Their Earliest Relationships, Learn To Communicate With Others And Interact With The World Around Them. It Is Within The Family That The Notion Of Human Rights Becomes A Reality Lived On A Daily Basis. If Tolerance, Respect And Equity Permeate Family Life, They Will Translate Into Values That Shape Societies, Nations And The World.

The Lord Had The Wonderful Advantage Of Being Able To Work Alone.

I Don't See A Situation Where One Side Will Win Militarily, Take Over Syria, And There Will Be Peace And Quiet, A Clean Victory.

The Millennium Development Goals Can Be Met By 2015, But Only If All Involved Break With Business As Usual And Dramatically Accelerate And Scale Up Action Now.

...there Is No Tool For Development More Effective Than The Empowerment Of Women.

There Are Lots Of Questions Which Have To Be Answered.

Knowledge Is Power. Information Is Liberating. Education Is The Premise Of Progress, In Every Society, In Every Family.

Information Is Power

Whether Our Task Is Fighting Poverty, Stemming The Spread Of Disease Or Saving Innocent Lives From Mass Murder, We Have Seen That We Cannot Succeed Without The Leadership Of The Strong And The Engagement Of All.

The Un Doesn't Work In A Vacuum.

We Need To Create A World That Is Equitable, That Is Stable And A World Where We Bear In Mind The Needs Of Others, And Not Only What We Need Immediately. We Are All In The Same Boat.

These Divisions In The International Community - The Syrians Bear Quite A Lot Of The Blame, But We Have Enabled It By The Divisions Between Us.

Normally When People Resign They Will Organise Their Champagne Farewell Parties... And Then They Resurface Somewhere.

The Future Belongs To You, But It Can Only Belong To You If You Participate And Take Charge

No One Is Born A Good Citizen Or A Good Democrat Or A Good Leader; It Takes Time And Education.

Neutrality Is A Tough Call For The Weaker Ones.

The Lord Had The Wonderful Advantage Of Being Able To Work Alone.

In A World Of Plenty, Continued Suffering Is A Terrible Stain On Our Conscience. It Is Inexcusable That We Not Strive, With Every Resource At Our Disposal, To Eliminate Suffering.

Obama Saying Gaddafi Must Go. Putting It Upfront Like That... It's Not Very Helpful.

Children Are Our Future And If We Use Them In Battle, We Are Destroying The Future. We Must Reclaim Them, Every One Of Them, One At A Time.

Have Confidence In The Young People, Give Them A Chance, And They Will Surprise You.

We Have Seen Recently, Almost Every Major Head Of State Goes To India And Says, We Believe India Should Be In The Council. They Go Back Home And Do Nothing About It. But This Cannot Be Sustained For Long. If They Want To Keep The Un As A Global Forum Where They Discuss Incidents And Take Some Meaningful Decisions, They Should [reform].

You Saw The Traumas That People Lived Through, And Wondered What It Will Take To Move Us As A Human Community, As Humanity, To Help In These Dangerous Situations.

Dangerous Situations

Microfinance Recognizes That Poor People Are Remarkable Reservoirs Of Energy And Knowledge

We Must Bring A Message Of Solidarity, Of Mutual Respect And, Above All, Of Hope. Business Cannot Afford To Be Seen As The Problem.

The Preservation Of Biodiversity Is Not Just A Job For Governments. International And Non-governmental Organisations, The Private Sector And Each And Every Individual Have A Role To Play In Changing Entrenched Outlooks And Ending Destructive Patterns Of Behaviour

My Own Advice To People Who Would Be In Office For Two Or Three Terms Is That They Must Accept Democratic Rotation. Ideally Not Put Themselves Up For Re-election And Allow The System To Work.

We Shall Not Defeat Any Of The Infectious Diseases That Plague The Developing World Until We Have Also Won The Battle For Safe Drinking Water, Sanitation, And Basic Health Care.

The Gap Between The Rich And The Poor Cannot Keep Growing Without Nothing Being Done About It.

I Was Devastated By The Atrocious Bombings That Struck London Today. These Vicious Acts Have Cut Us All To The Core, For They Are An Attack On Humanity Itself. [7th July 2005 - On London Bombings

Over Time You Learn To Know A Bit More About Yourself - You Develop A Certain Amount Of Self-insight And Self-awareness, And You Know What You Can Absorb, And What You Cannot; What Gets To You And What Doesn't. And I Observe A Lot. I See A Lot Around Me. And Over Time You Also Get To Understand The Nature Of Man And The Environments You Are Dealing With, And You Can't Always Allow Emotions And Temper To Flare Up Because You're Displeased With Something, Or You Want To Change It.

Sometimes I Walk Into A Situation And I Know Somebody Is Going To Provoke Me - Not Maybe, I Know He Will Provoke Me - I Know He Will Provoke Me! And There Are Times When I Simply Refuse To Be Provoked. And The Other Times You Have To Use That Superior Knowledge To Carry On At Work Without Distraction, And Don't Allow Yourself To Be Distracted.

To Live Is To Choose. But To Choose Well, You Must Know Who You Are And What You Stand For, Where You Want To Go And Why You Want To Get There.

There Is A Certain Tendency On The Part Of Some Americans To Treat The Un As A Multilateralism à La Carte Where You Pick And Choose Where It Suits You And When It Doesn't Suit You, You Pull Back.

If One Is Going To Err, One Should Err On The Side Of Liberty And Freedom.

If The United Nations Does Not Attempt To Chart A Course For The World's People In The First Decades Of The New Millennium, Who Will?

Professional Accountants Should Use That Influence To Encourage The Companies They Serve To Think Long Term And Integrate Sustainable Development Goals Into Their Accounting, Such As By Including A Natural Capital Account, Which I Have Heard Is Gaining Ground.

If We Are To Make Poverty History, We Must Have The Active Participation Of States, Civil Society And The Private Sector, As Well As Individual Volunteers.

The Future Of Peace And Prosperity That We Seek For All The World's Peoples Needs A Foundation Of Tolerance, Security, Equality And Justice. That Foundation Is The Family. It Is Only By Protecting Families, From Famine As Well As From Fragmentation, That They Can Prosper And Contribute To The Family Of Nations That Is The United Nations.

Business Cannot Prosper In Societies That Fail.

[professional Accountants ] Should Be Encouraging Companies To Enhance Their Green Credentials By Switching To Renewables, And To Respect Core Labor Standards And Human Rights.

Each Crisis Is Different, Has Its Own Specificities, And We Need To Look At It Critically; Look At Each One In Its Own Terms.

On This International Day Of Un Peacekeepers, Let Us Pay Tribute To The Men And Women From Countries Across The World Who Serve Selflessly, Tirelessly And Fearlessly In Un Peacekeeping Operations. Let Us Remember The Heroes Who Have Laid Down Their Lives In Lands Far From Their Own In The Service Of Peace. And Let Us Reaffirm Our Commitment To Building A World Free From The Scourge Of War.

If The United Nations Does Not Attempt To Chart A Course For The World's People In The First Decades Of The New Millennium, Who Will?

Both Parties Accept This Vision. But We Can Reach It Only If We Move Rapidly And In Parallel On All Fronts. The So-called 'sequential' Approach Has Failed.

Literacy Unlocks The Door To Learning Throughout Life, Is Essential To Development And Health, And Opens The Way For Democratic Participation And Active Citizenship.

We Need To Promote Greater Tolerance And Understanding Among The Peoples Of The World. Nothing Can Be More Dangerous To Our Efforts To Build Peace And Development Than A World Divided Along Religious, Ethnic Or Cultural Lines. In Each Nation, And Among All Nations, We Must Work To Promote Unity Based On Our Shared Humanity.

Let Us Work In Partnerships Between Rich And Poor To Improve The Opportunities Of All Human Beings To Build Better Lives.

To Go To War Without The Security Council Will Not Be In Conformity With The Council.

Generals Often Find A Way Of Dealing With Generals On The Officer-to-officer Level. In The Hierarchy Of The Military And With The Almost Similar Structure And Similar Language, They Find A Way Of Dealing With Each Other.

Yehudi Menuhin Was A Citizen Of The World In The Fullest Sense - One Whose Vision And Culture Gave Him A Deep Empathy With Fellow Human Beings Of Every Creed And Color.

Let Us Choose To Unite The Power Of Markets With The Authority Of Universal Ideals. Let Us Choose To Reconcile The Creative Forces Of Private Entrepreneurship With The Needs Of The Disadvantaged And The Requirements Of Future Generations.

My Own Advice To People Who Would Be In Office For Two Or Three Terms Is That They Must Accept Democratic Rotation. Ideally Not Put Themselves Up For Re-election And Allow The System To Work.

I Hope We Do Not See Another Iraq-type Operation For A Long Time - Without Un Approval And Much Broader Support From The International Community.

Founded On The Principles Of Private Initiative, Entrepreneurship And Self-employment, Underpinned By The Values Of Democracy, Equality And Solidarity, The Co-operative Movement Can Help Pave The Way To A More Just And Inclusive Economic Order.

I Often Quote An African Proverb That Says: "the World Is Not Ours, The Earth Is Not Ours, It's A Treasure We Hold In Trust For Future Generations." And I Often Hope We Will Be Worthy Of That Trust.

We Must Restore The Sacredness Of The Family As A Bedrock Of Humane Values Everywhere, In Peace As Well As In War.

The U.n. Power Comes From Concerted Action Of The Governments.

Globalization Is A Fact Of Life. But I Believe We Have Underestimated Its Fragility.

We Have To Choose Between A Global Market Driven Only By Calculations Of Short-term Profit, And One Which Has A Human Face.

Economic Globalization

Human Beings Are Not Property. On The International Day For The Abolition Of Slavery, Let Us Reaffirm The Inherent Dignity Of All Men, Women And Children. And Let Us Redouble Our Efforts So That The Words Of The Universal Declaration Of Human Rights - 'no One Shall Be Held In Slavery Or Servitude' - Ring True.

Most Governments Only Want To Deploy A Peacekeeping Force Where There Is A Peace Agreement And There Is Peace To Keep. They Are Very Hesitant About Putting Their Men And Women In Harm's Way. It Is Extremely Difficult To Get The Troops If You Do Not Have The Consent Of The Country Where You Are Deploying.

On This International Day Of Peace, Let Us Dare To Imagine A World Free Of Conflict And Violence

For Too Long The Development Debate Has Ignored The Fact That Poverty Tends To Be Characterized Not Only By Material Insufficiency But Also By Denial Of Rights. What Is Needed Is A Rights-based Approach To Development. Ensuring Essential Political, Economic And Social Entitlements And Human Dignity For All People Provides The Rationale For Policy. These Are Not A Luxury Affordable Only To The Rich And Powerful But An Indispensable Component Of National Development Efforts.

We Were All Children Once. And We All Share The Desire For The Well-being Of Our Children, Which Has Always Been And Will Continue To Be The Most Universally Cherished Aspiration Of Humankind.

Violence Against Women Is Perhaps The Most Shameful Human Rights Violation, And It Is Perhaps The Most Pervasive. It Knows No Boundaries Of Geography, Culture Or Wealth. As Long As It Continues, We Cannot Claim To Be Making Real Progress Towards Equality, Development And Peace

In Countries Where Democracy Is Either Non-existent Or In Development, On The Other Hand, Citizens Crave Those Freedoms. Maybe That Is One Lesson Western Citizens Can Learn From Those Countries: Treasure What You Have. Use Your Rights And Freedoms To Effect The Change You Want.

We Need To Promote Greater Tolerance And Understanding Among The Peoples Of The World. Nothing Can Be More Dangerous To Our Efforts To Build Peace And Development Than A World Divided Along Religious, Ethnic Or Cultural Lines. In Each Nation, And Among All Nations, We Must Work To Promote Unity Based On Our Shared Humanity.

There Are Lots Of Questions Which Have To Be Answered.

In Fact Un Is More Of A Galaxy Of Organisations And Agencies Than One Machine.

In An Era Of Globalisation, Aiesec's Programmes Have Helped Young People Around The World To Develop A Broader Understanding Of Cultural Socio-economic And Business Management Issues.

Depending On Where You Live, Your Threat Is Much Different From The Other Person. If You Ask A New Yorker Today, Because Of The Way The Press Plays It, He Will Say Terrorism Is His Biggest Fear. But For Somebody Living On A Small Island State, Then It Is Climate Change, The Rise Of The Sea Level, For His Whole Island May Be Washed Away. If I Go To Southern Africa, They Tell Me It Is Hiv/aids And Somewhere In Asia It Is Poverty. This Is Also Why You Will Find It Difficult To Find Agreements, Because If You Want Someone To Be Concerned About Your Threat, Then You Should Be Concerned About His.

Literacy Is A Bridge From Misery To Hope. It Is A Tool For Daily Life In Modern Society. It Is A Bulwark Against Poverty, And A Building Block Of Development, An Essential Complement To Investments In Roads, Dams, Clinics And Factories.

We Must Restore The Sacredness Of The Family As A Bedrock Of Humane Values Everywhere, In Peace As Well As In War.

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Alexander Payne

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