|

WIMUN 2014: Speech by Franco Frattini


Share/Bookmark


FAO – Opening Ceremony 30th June, 2014

High Excellencies, young delegates,
representatives of civil society organizations; distinguished ladies and gentlemen, I am particurarly glad to be able to contribute today to this important event.

Dear young delegates,
In these days you will have a unique opportunity to be part of the UN system, a body that is both the symbol and the embodiement of our common humanity. 

You can play a leading role in building beyond the horizon the revolutionary roadmap of a new changed world.

You will act as leaders and you must envision the future and passionately believe that you can make the difference.

You will be able to create an ideal and unique image of what it could become and believe that your dreams can come true, you must open eyes to your followers and lift their spirits.

I will be sharing with you some briefs points of the new post -2015 UN agenda, that is an agenda about people for a better life.


Eradicate poverty: Leave No One Behind 

Many decades after the World War II, despite so many declarations and some concrete efforts, the the fight against poverty is not won yet. 

Besides poverty, new threats nowadays affect our daily life to begin with climate change (whose effects are global in scope and damages), and with food scarcity and insecurity affecting large areas of our Planet.

For sure, natural resources are more accessible and exploitable due to significant developments in mining, research and exploitation techniques but, in the meantime, rich and industrialized Countries are tightly competing for buying them up to the detriment of poor and less-developed Countries who often retain only nominal sovereignty over them. 

By this time, even some basic goods, like land and water in poor Countries, are deemed as “resources” by powerful and rich States for the purpose of economically and exclusively exploiting them. Land and water are bought up at any price as if the whole African Continent were for sale.

The scourge of poverty is not sufficiently dealt with by the UN system. The voice of poor and less-developed Countries is not loud enough within a global system of political and economic governance tailored for and suited to rich Countries: the under-representation of the developing Countries within the Security Council and the only African seat within the G-20 are just two examples of this situation.

Global security: we must devote all our efforts to preserve peace. Let’s drive our world forward

Besides this worrying scenario, there is another risk, i.e. to undervalue the possibility of another world war.

History teaches us that Mankind is not always able to learn lessons from the Past so as to avoid repeating same wrongs and mistakes. At the end of World War II the United Nations were firmly commited to establish a long-lasting peace. Nowadays, however, there exist some very worrying factors that fuel and facilitate outbursts of regional and, maybe, global armed conflicts: among them, one should remember the illicit (and also licit) arms and explosive devices transfer and trafficking, the on-going menace coming from the weapons of mass destruction and, in general, the lack of a credible and effective control system on arms transfer and trafficking.

Peace is not necessarily forever if States are not continuously commited to its maintenance and to the eradication of all those (local, regional and global) roots causes creating economic, social and political insecurity and instability, that is to say the most fertile field for fostering violence, tensions and armed conflicts.

We need a new global Manifesto centered around people including those affected by poverty and exclusion, women, youth, the aged, disabled persons, and indigenous peoples:

Protecting the most vulnerable categories should be the top priority with particular regard to children (victims of trafficking and exploitation) and women (victims not only of armed conflicts and political tensions but also of gender inequality)

Many years ago, the UN Charter was a global Manifesto putting a halt to a tragic period of world wars, revolutions and totalitarianisms. Today, at the beginning of the new century, a new global Manifesto is needed in which the Human Being – with his/her fundamental needs and dignity – must be the real focus and goal of States’ actions and programmes. This is the pre-condition in order to achieve a real and ever-lasting peace and security at international level. 

The new global Manifesto should be based on a common understanding of our shared humanity, based on mutual respect and mutual benefit and include civil society organizations, multilateral institutions, local and national governments, the scientific and academic community, businesses, and private philanthropy.

We cannot continue to close our eyes. We are seeing time after time a rise in violent crimes particurarly against children and women as happened to Nigerian students not yet released.

Massive violence in Iraq from the Sunni terrorists occupying a number of cities and committing atrocities against ghias and the continuous violence against Christian communities in Middle East and Africa.

I firmly believe in leading by example thus I would ask you to repeat today aloud a strong message against the violence and for the centrality of each human being in the world. 



Ti piace questa storia..?

Ricevi gli aggiornamenti ogni giorno! Abbonati!

Seguici!

Pubblicato da Lucrezia Pagano il giorno 30.6.14. per la sezione , , , , . Puoi essere aggiornato sui post, i commenti degli utenti e le risposte utilizzando il servizio di RSS 2.0. Scrivi un commento e partecipa anche tu alla discussione su questo tema.

0 commenti per "WIMUN 2014: Speech by Franco Frattini"

Scrivi un commento

Aree del sito