| October 26, 2008 | Keeping the World Safe Reverend Jane Bramadat |
Reading: By John Hopewell. This is part of former UN Secretary General Kofi Annan’s lecture when he accepted the Nobel Peace Prize in December 2001
The 20th century was perhaps the deadliest in human history, devastated by innumerable conflicts, untold suffering, and unimaginable crimes.
Time after time, a group or a nation inflicted extreme violence on another, often driven by irrational hatred and suspicion, or unbounded arrogance and thirst for power and resources.
In response to these cataclysms, the leaders of the world came together at mid-century to unite the nations as never before.
A forum was created – the United Nations – where all nations could join forces to affirm the dignity and worth of every person, and to secure peace and development for all peoples.
Here States could unite to strengthen the rule of law, recognize and address the needs of the poor, restrain man’s brutality and greed, conserve the resources and beauty of nature, sustain the equal rights of men and women, and provide for the safety of future generations.
We thus inherit from the 20th century the political, as well as the scientific and technological power, which – if only we have the will to use them – give us the chance to vanquish poverty, ignorance and disease.
In the 21st Century I believe the mission of the United Nations will be defined by a new, more profound, awareness of the sanctity and dignity of every human life, regardless of race or religion.
This will require us to look beyond the framework of States, and beneath the surface of nations or communities.
We must focus, as never before, on improving the conditions of the individual men and women who give the state or nation its richness and character.
We must recognise that saving that one life is to save humanity itself.
Over the past five years, I have often recalled that the United Nations' Charter begins with the words: "We the peoples."
What is not always recognized is that "we the peoples" are made up of individuals whose claims to the most fundamental rights have too often been sacrificed in the supposed interests of the state or the nation.
A genocide begins with the killing of one man – not for what he has done, but because of who he is.
A campaign of 'ethnic cleansing' begins with one neighbour turning on another.
Poverty begins when even one child is denied his or her fundamental right to education. What begins with the failure to uphold the dignity of one life, all too often ends with a calamity for entire nations.
In this new century, we must start from the understanding that peace belongs not only to states or peoples, but to each and every member of those communities.
The sovereignty of States must no longer be used as a shield for gross violations of human rights.
Peace must be made real and tangible in the daily existence of every individual in need.
Peace must be sought, above all, because it is the condition for every member of the human family to live a life of dignity and security.
The rights of the individual are of no less importance to immigrants and minorities in Europe and the Americas than to women in Afghanistan or children in Africa.
They are as fundamental to the poor as to the rich; they are as necessary to the security of the developed world as to that of the developing world.
From this vision of the role of the United Nations in the next century flow three key priorities for the future: eradicating poverty, preventing conflict, and promoting democracy.
Only in a world that is rid of poverty can all men and women make the most of their abilities.
Only where individual rights are respected can differences be channelled politically and resolved peacefully.
Only in a democratic environment, based on respect for diversity and dialogue, can individual self-expression and self-government be secured, and freedom of association be upheld.
The United Nations, whose membership comprises almost all the States in the world, is founded on the principle of the equal worth of every human being.
It is the nearest thing we have to a representative institution that can address the interests of all states, and all peoples.
Through this universal, indispensable instrument of human progress, States can serve the interests of their citizens by recognizing common interests and pursuing them in unity.
The United Nations was established on October 24, 1945. And every October around that date most Unitarian Universalist congregations celebrate UN Sunday. Sometimes when I look on Interfaith calendars, the only day that is marked off, as a Unitarian “religious” or “holy” day is UN Sunday. At the very least, we all agree that this is an essential day to celebrate!
The UN is an important global institution that allows governments and leaders from 192 Members States to work together toward a number of goals that are mind-boggling: • To keep peace throughout the world; • To develop friendly relations between nations; • To work together to help people live better lives, to eliminate poverty, disease and illiteracy in the world, to stop environmental destruction and to encourage respect for each other’s rights and freedoms; • To be a centre for helping nations achieve these aims.
It is an ideal.... it is part dream and part reality at present.
And then, just three years later on December 10th, 1948, the UN adopted and proclaimed the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, a powerful call for nations to protect human dignity and freedoms in the aftermath of World War II. This year marks the 60th anniversary of the Declaration, and although much progress has been made in human rights, there are still many human rights violations all over the world. Even in our own country.
All this information caused me to ask the question: is the United Nations keeping the world safe? It seems to depend upon where you look. The first glimpse showed a lot of problems:
The United Nations reports that the number of refugees fleeing war and repression in their homelands grew by more than a million worldwide last year, ...UN and the Congo - fighting going on (now) - not listening; UNAMID (United Nations African Mission in Darfur, Sudan) is working with displaced people. The UN Security Council has approved another year of peacekeeping in Sudan's Darfur region despite sharp divisions over genocide charges against the Sudanese president. United Nations, Oct 25 (PTI) there were comments expressing concern over growing violence against women, a UN sponsored Human rights expert has urged the member countries to make greater efforts to record and make awareness against the atrocities meted out to them. There are 9 different UN agencies working in Afghanistan on so many issues: the state of children, women, health, drugs, food to name just a few. Canada is one of the countries working under the UN mandate in Afghanistan and it’s hard to tell if much is improving. Canadian “Peace” soldiers are definitely being killed while trying to help. This is all very depressing and doesn’t make me feel safe at all.
But on the other hand the UN has had some successes as well. There are some optimistic signs.
Presently the United Nations refugee agency says it is helping thousands of Iraqi Christians seeking refuge in northern Iraq and Syria; And in East Timor United Nations stabilisation forces are withdrawing because local security has improved; And on a worldwide scale, some 8 years ago (in September of 2000) the United Nations convened a meeting of nations and established a Millennium Summit. It was the largest gathering of world leaders in history and they adopted the UN Millennium Declaration, committing their nations to a new global partnership to reduce extreme poverty and setting out a series of time-bound targets, with a deadline of 2015 that have become known as the Millennium Development Goals. (MDG)
These Goals are the world's time-bound and quantified targets for addressing extreme poverty in its many dimensions-income poverty, hunger, disease, lack of adequate shelter, and exclusion-while promoting gender equality, education, and environmental sustainability. They are also basic human rights-the rights of each person on the planet to health, education, shelter, and security. The goals are -
Goal 1: Eradicate Extreme Hunger and Poverty
Goal 2: Achieve Universal Primary Education
Goal 3: Promote Gender Equality and Empower Women
Goal 4: Reduce Child Mortality
Goal 5: Improve Maternal Health
Goal 6: Combat HIV/AIDS, Malaria and other diseases
Goal 7: Ensure Environmental Sustainability
Goal 8: Develop a Global Partnership for Development
The world has made significant progress in achieving many of the Goals. Between 1990 and 2002 average overall incomes increased by approximately 21 percent. The number of people in extreme poverty declined by an estimated 130 million Child mortality rates fell from 103 deaths per 1,000 live births a year to 88. Life expectancy rose from 63 years to nearly 65 years. An additional 8 percent of the developing world's people received access to water. And an additional 15 percent acquired access to improved sanitation services.
And there was a record-breaking 117 million people standing with the UN against poverty (October 17-19) during a “stand up and speak out” campaign (to make poverty history - the #1 goal of MDG) - 8,000 events happened around the world. Two years ago 23 million people stood up; last year it was 43 million and this year 117 million. It would appear that determination to fight poverty is spreading. Were any of you here part of a stand up and speak out-group? (Depending on the answer... Maybe next year....)
And maybe the question I asked originally: is the United Nations keeping the world safe, is the wrong question - because we are part of the United Nations and so perhaps the question ought to be are we helping to keep the world safe by helping the United Nations?
There are so many ways to do so besides sending troops to Afghanistan.
I know our SRC is considering endorsing a report that will be filed by “Lawyers Against the War with the UN Office of the High Commissioner of Human rights (UNHRC) - inquiring as to whether or not Canada has complied with this international human rights law obligations regarding the case of Omar Kadr. We need to make sure that our own country is living up to human rights laws, before we go further a field.
And it seems to me that we need to find ways to make the United Nations become flesh and blood to us - not just statistics and reports from far away.
What are some of the ways we might do this? Well, as well as having an adult envoy to the United Nations, we can also have a youth envoy...and further than that, it is possible for the envoy to go to the UU-UNO as an intern for a semester and take part in the activities that make up the day-to-day United Nations in New York. It is a life-changing experience. Usually the interns have come from Ottawa or Hamilton, but there’s no reason that a socially responsible congregation like this one couldn’t arrange for a youth (or two) to be a UN intern.
And when that youth returns home to Victoria, we become the recipients of his/her enthusiasm and passion.
Let me tell you about some other congregations on the continent that have come up with some lively ways to catch the UN spirit.
For example, First UU Church of San Diego takes a tasty and festive approach to celebrating UN Sunday. UU-UNO Envoy, Everardo Aguilar works with the Children’s Religious Education department to coordinate an International Food Fair held on UN Sunday. A few weeks in advance, RE classes choose a country that is a member of the United Nations and do research about that country and then prepare food and decorations to share with the rest of the congregation. The Fair is used as an opportunity to raise funds for UNICEF, the United Nations Children’s Fund. According to Aguilar, “both adults and children work together to purchase and prepare food items, and decorate tables—fun is had by all.” There’s no question that food brings us together.
A second and very different example can be found at St. John’s Unitarian Church in Cincinnati, Ohio. Several years ago (on November 9, 2006) St. John’s Unitarian Church in Cincinnati, Ohio engaged in a dialogue with a local Muslim mosque in an effort to learn about Islam.
Both the United Nations and our UU Principles affirm and promote this “goal of world community” as well as the “inherent worth and dignity of every person." One of our UU traditions honours "wisdom from the world's religions, which inspire us in our ethical and spiritual life."
Next year, John Hopewell will give the United Nations address to you and I believe he will bring his determination and creativity to the task of beginning to help us focus on becoming a place where awareness of the United Nations and its goals is palpable.
Let me end with sharing part of the UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon’s message for this United Nations Day. He said, in part:
“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.
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.
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.”
And may we here at First Unitarian help to keep the promise and keep the world safe.
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