After a year in which Iraq monopolized worldwide attention, the international community should concentrate in 2004 on priorities such as fighting poverty, bolstering the system of collective security and rebuilding trust among peoples, United Nations Secretary-General Kofi Annan said Wednesday during an official visit to Germany.
“I invite you to join me in dedicating this year this year to those three great tasks: to refocus the worlds attention and resources on the needs and fears of the poor; to strengthen our system of collective security, so that no State feels it has to face global threats on its own; and to overcome distrust and division between people of different faiths and cultures, so that we can all live together in harmony and mutual respect,” he said on accepting the German Media Award in Baden-Baden, Germany.
On helping the poor, the Secretary-General recalled the pledges world leaders made in 2000 at a UN summit to halve poverty and hunger, halt and begin to reverse the spread of HIV/AIDS and other major diseases, and improve the lives of 100 million slum-dwellers, all by 2015.
“Last year we let ourselves be distracted from these vital tasks,” he said. “We were concerned – and rightly so – with issues of peace and security.”
As for rebuilding trust and confidence between peoples of different faiths and cultures, Mr. Annan noted that many recent events – including the terrorist attacks of 11 September 2001, the war in Iraq and the continuing conflict between Israelis and Palestinians – have pushed the international community dangerously close to a “clash of civilizations.”
“We must resist this,” he said. “We must deal with all our fellow human beings fairly and objectively, judging them by their own individual words and actions, and not on the basis of generalizations or preconceptions about the group to which we think they belong.”
Earlier Wednesday, the Secretary-General told a press-encounter that he was in touch with parties in Iraq and was still considering how best the UN can help following the request Monday by the coalition and the Iraqi Governing Council that he send a team to Iraq to assess the transition process, including elections and the proposed caucus system, before the return of sovereignty at the end of June.
Kilde: FN
