"United Nations Peace Essay Contest for Students of Geneva Secondary Schools"

Dear Friends:
It is a great pleasure to welcome you today. I would first like to give my thanks to the young people in our local schools who have taken part in this competition. With your hard work, you have all shown a most important commitment to peace. This is because peace comes from within us - from our thoughts and from the way we translate those thoughts into action.

This year we celebrate the 30^th anniversary of the United Nations International Day of Peace. This International Day recognizes the importance of promoting a peaceful way of thinking and living – across the globe and across generations. By taking part in this competition, you have shown that you understand the need to promote peace.

As you no doubt know from your studies, there are many great figures from our past that have led us through difficult times. We can all learn from them to build a better future together. One of them was the second Secretary-General of our Organization, Dag Hammarskjöld, who died fifty years ago this year. He led the United Nations at a time when war was a fresh and painful memory for many nations. He showed by example how the world could heal its many divisions. Still today we continue to strive for the goals he set out so early in the life of the United Nations - to do more, to help more and to be there where we are needed.

I am sure that as a man of peace, Dag Hammarskjöld would be pleased with the work being done by our peacekeeping, peace-building and humanitarian operations across the world. Every part of the United Nations has a role to play in shaping, promoting and encouraging an environment where peace can prevail. This is what the United Nations stands for. In every corner of the world, we facilitate cooperation between peoples, We strive to make our world a safer place by helping countries to develop in a sustainable way, through social progress, promotion of human rights and above all, by enabling dialogue without prejudice.

This brings practical progress and it brings hope. Peace is more than the absence of war. It is when we can relate to each other in a meaningful way and with mutual respect, across divides. It is when our societies and economies are prosperous, work in our favour and can support our needs. It is when we are all truly equal in each other’s eyes. This is also captured in your essays.

I know you come from many places and speak many languages. By attending your schools, with children from all over the world, you know the importance of listening and sharing across cultures. You know the importance of accepting other people’s ideas and of learning the lessons of our past for the benefit of our future.

I appreciate that you are already interested in the United Nations. I hope we will see more of you in the future, for our doors are always open to those with a passion for peace.

Wherever you may go in life, or whatever you may do, always remember why peace is important for us all. Work hard to make your dreams become our shared reality.

That is how we build a better world – together.

Thank you.