SECRETARY GENERAL'S REMARKS TO THE OFFICE OF THE UNITED NATIONS HIGH COMMISSIONER FOR HUMAN RIGHTS

SG/SM/99/16
GENEVA, 25 January 1999
4.10 P.M.



It is a great pleasure to join you today in your new home and to spend time with you, dear colleagues and friends of the United Nations family.

I am particularly happy to be able to touch base with you so early in the new year. We have “hit the ground running”, as they say. With a fresh crisis in Kosovo, ongoing suffering in Iraq and parts of Africa, and continuing social fallout from the global financial crisis, the human rights challenges of 1999 are already shaping up to be every bit as numerous and complex as those of the year just past.

But let us pause for a moment to reflect on 1998. For in significant respects it was a remarkable year. We saw the adoption of the Rome Status for an International Criminal Court, the “missing link” in the international justice system. We commemorated the 50th anniversary of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, a true milestone in human affairs. Our slogan -- “all human rights for all” -- was seen and heard around the world: in textbooks, on protest banners and in the statements of students and politicians alike. People everywhere are getting the message about the centrality of human rights.

At the same time, of course, we must recognize that such achievements can seem remote or ephemeral, especially when seen against the daily assault of violations and atrocities. As the High Commissioner herself has stressed, if human rights are to have tangible meaning, we must implement that which we have agreed to on paper.

I know how hard you are working to close this gap. More and more of you than ever before are working in the field in difficult, often perilous situations. All of you face budgetary constraints, as well as political machinations that can disillusion even the most optimistic and idealistic among you. So I want to thank you for all that you are doing to meet the expectations of the world’s people. You represent many countries, but to the people of the world you carry a unified message of solidarity with their struggles for greater freedom and better standards of living.

Let me turn briefly from their lives to yours. It is my sincere hope that by now you are noticing, in a positive way, the effect of the process of UN reform. As you know, the subject of human rights has been given unique status as a cross-cutting theme in all our activities. You are the only ones to participate in the work of all four Executive Committees, the main bodies for improving coherence and coordination.

You yourselves are the leading edge of reform in many ways, in particular through your work with partners such as regional organizations, NGOs, other civil society representatives and the business community. The rest of us can learn from your experiences and I urge you to share what you have learned. We are also working very hard to increase the resources provided to human rights, so that the UN budget better reflects the importance of your work.

So let us keep our eyes on the prize, and let us keep working together as a team. We have seen what comes with neglect of human rights. We have seen what happens when the UN system itself works at cross purposes. Let us build on our successes, but let us also change where we must. You can count on me to support your work. Thank you. Now I would be glad to take your questions.