Annual Sergio Vieira de Mello Lecture “Leadership Challenges in a World in Turmoil”

Welcome to the United Nations.

My name is Michael Moller, and I am the Acting Director-General here at the United Nations Office at Geneva.

I was a friend of Sergio Vieira de Mello and many of the 21 colleagues who died with him on 19 August 2003 in Baghdad. They were some of the most committed and talented servants of the international community. So this is a particularly poignant moment for me, and for many in this room, who worked with and were close to our fallen comrades. My ties to them were strong then, as they are today, and I am particularly pleased to be able to host this commemorative event here at the Palais des Nations today. Thank you for joining us in paying tribute to all of them.

Sergio embodied the qualities of a great leader in a world in turmoil: compassionate and decisive, and with a deep understanding of the sense of injustice and of the inequalities that drive conflict and instability. In a world where the humanitarian needs have never been greater, we need those qualities more than ever.

Sergio’s career, his values and his deep-seated belief in the United Nations is a good starting point for this discussion. And nobody is better placed to lead the reflection than my colleagues here. Systemic abuses of human rights are all too often at the origins of the conflicts we witness across the world today - and the unacceptably high numbers of refugees and displaced persons are the consequence.

From their different vantage points, the two High Commissioners will give their views on how we can get better leadership to address this human suffering much more effectively. And it is a privilege that it will all be woven together by Christiane Amanpour who has reported from so many of these humanitarian emergencies, making sure that the women, men and children who are caught up in them are not forgotten.

Before we start, I will hand over to Mr. Anne Willem Bijleveld who is Chairman of the Board of the Sergio Vieira de Mello Foundation. Another friend and a tireless advocate for the causes that Sergio believed in.

Thank you very much.