Remarks by the Director-General of the United Nations Office at Geneva at the United Nations Day Observance (en anglais seulement)

Dear Colleagues and Friends:

It is a great pleasure to welcome you all and to celebrate United Nations Day with you. We will start by paying respect to our flag, which symbolizes both our quest for peace and the truly global character of our Organization.

Dear Friends:

I should like to start by reading to you the Secretary-General’s message for the Day:

“On this 63rd anniversary of our Organization, I join you in celebrating UN Day.

This is a crucial year in the life of our United Nations. We have just passed the midpoint in the struggle to reach the Millennium Development Goals -- our common vision for building a better world in the 21st century. We can see more clearly than ever that the threats of the 21st century spare no one. Climate change, the spread of disease and deadly weapons, and the scourge of terrorism all cross borders. If we want to advance the global common good, we must secure global public goods.

Many countries are still not on track to reach the Millennium Development Goals by the target date of 2015. I am also deeply concerned about the impact of the global financial crisis. Never has leadership and partnership been more important.

This makes our success at the high-level MDG event in September all the more remarkable. We brought together a broad coalition for change. Governments, CEOs and civil society. We generated unprecedented commitment in pledges and partnerships to help the world's poor.

The final tally is not in yet, but the total amount pledged at the MDG event may exceed 16 billion dollars.

Partnership is the way of the future. Just look at the advances on malaria. Our global malaria effort has brought us within range of containing a disease that kills a child every 30 seconds. It is doing so through focused country planning. Greater funding. Coordinated global management. Top-notch science and technology.

We need models like these to tackle other challenges, including climate change, as we approach the conferences on Poznan and Copenhagen. We need them to achieve all the other Millennium Development Goals.

Let us keep building on this as a way forward. There is no time to lose. The United Nations must deliver results for a safer, healthier, more prosperous world. On this UN Day, I call on all partners and leaders to do their part and keep the promise.”

That was the end of the Secretary-General’s message.

United Nations Day is an opportunity for us all to reaffirm our commitment to the values and principles encapsulated in the Charter. And one of the best ways to do that is to hear – again – the inspirational words of this remarkable document. Mr. Thuta Hlaing, who is one of our youngest staff members, will now read the preamble to the Charter – as an illustration of the continuing commitment of all generations to the enduring mission of the United Nations.

The words of the Charter are as compelling today as when they were penned by the Organization’s founding fathers. They are a clear reminder that across the world, people look to the United Nations to ensure that they may live in peace, prosperity and dignity. Today is our opportunity to tell them that we take that responsibility seriously and that we will continue to do our utmost to honour their trust.

The preamble also outlines the three fundamental pillars of our work: security, development and human rights. Throughout this afternoon, a number of events will take place here at the Palais, highlighting the Organization’s diverse activities across these three pillars.

Now, at 12:45 at the UNOG Library, there will be a guided visit to the exhibition on the drafting and adoption of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, together with a short film on the Declaration, and followed by a small reception.

Also at the Library, the UN Corner – which is a comprehensive collection of materials on the Organization – is open.

At 15:00, in Room XII, the NGO Liaison Office, together with the Geneva International Model United Nations, are organizing a conference that will reflect on the value of the Charter 63 years after its signing.

You are all most welcome at these events, and I hope that you will take this opportunity to pause and to consider how we can continue to strengthen our Organization.

I thank you all for coming here today. As staff of the United Nations, it is your commitment, your determination and your energy that enable this Organization to achieve its ultimate goal: to build a better future for all. United Nations Day is also an opportunity to salute you and to thank you. This day is very much your day.

Happy United Nations Day.