Sixty years ago, in San Francisco,
the representatives of 50 nations signed the
United Nations Charter.
In the name of the peoples of the United Nations, they pledged to save
succeeding generations from the scourge of war. Those words are engraved
on the collective memory of mankind.
They reaffirmed their faith in fundamental human rights; in the dignity
of the human person; in the equal rights of men and women, and of nations
large and small.
They pledged to establish conditions under which justice and respect
for law could be maintained.
They promised to promote social progress, and better standards of life,
in larger freedom.
Over sixty years, the United Nations has striven to redeem those pledges.
We have had many successes. We have kept the peace in many places. We
have helped banish smallpox and polio from almost every country. We
have given millions of children an education that their parents could
not dream of. We have helped organize elections, from Afghanistan to
Burundi. And we have brought relief to victims of disasters like the
Indian Ocean tsunami.
We have had failures. The worst, perhaps, was our collective failure
to prevent the genocide in Rwanda.
Today, in a new century, we face new threats and challenges, but also
new opportunities.
Those “better standards of life in larger freedom” are now
within our reach. To reach them, we must advance on all three fronts
at once: development, security and human rights.
Never in the history of the United Nations have bold decisions been
more necessary. And never have they been more possible.
This September, at the 2005 World Summit, leaders from 191 nations have
the chance to make those decisions. With support, and encouragement
from you, the peoples of the world, I believe they will.
Thank you very much.
