We remember all those who died, to acknowledgeeach valuable life cut short, and the families who share,We are here in memory of Sergio Vieira deMello and the 21 other men and women, most of them UN workers, who died with him in thebombing of the UN Headquarters in Baghdad in August 2003.
even today, in their sacrifice.
We also remember them for the power of theexample they set: brave individuals from 11 different countries, working to help Iraqipeople, at the direction of the United Nations Security Council, and on behalf of us all.
This is something forgotten: that in servingunder the UN flag they died in our names, as our representatives.
At their head was Sergio Vieira de Mello,a man of extraordinary grace and ability, as so many who knew him testify. A man who gave 30 years to the United Nations,rising from a field officer to High Commissioner for Human Rights and Special Representativeto Iraq.
From Bangladesh and Bosnia to South Sudanto East Timor, he spent the majority of his career in the field, working alongside peopleforced from their homes by war, and assisting them with his skill as a diplomat and negotiator. Perhaps the greatest testament to his contribution,is how much his advice would be valued today.
As the Syrian conflict enters its seventhyear, as we live through the gravest refugee crisis since the founding of the United Nations,as 20 million people are on the brink of death from starvation in Yemen, Somalia, South Sudanand northeast Nigeria, I cannot imagine that there is anyone in the leadership of the UnitedNations who would not welcome the opportunity to consult Sergio, or send him into the fieldonce more.
He is truly missed, even today. It is humbling for me to speak tonight inthe presence of members of Sergio’s family and his former colleagues.
I never knew Sergio, but I have stood beforethe plaque in the place where he died. I felt profound sadness at the fact that theconflict in Iraq – the source of so much Iraqi suffering to this day - had claimedthe lives of men and women whose only intention was to try and improve a desperate situation. But I also saw clearly the value and nobilityof a life spent in service of others.
Sergio was a man who never turned down anassignment, no matter how difficult and dangerous - or as others have put it, was “handedone impossible task after another”. He was a man, to borrow the words of ThomasPaine, whose country was the world, and whose religion was to do good. He will always remain a hero and inspirationto all who follow in his footsteps.
As a citizen I find myself looking out ona global environment that seems more troubling and uncertain than at any time in my lifetime. I imagine many of you may feel the same. We are grappling with a level of conflictand insecurity that seems to exceed our will and capabilities: with more refugees thanever before, and new wars erupting on top of existing conflicts, some already lastingdecades.
We see a rising tide of nationalism, masqueradingas patriotism, and the re-emergence of policies encouraging fear and hatred of others. We see some politicians elected partly onthe basis of dismissing international institutions and agreements, as if our countries have notbenefited from cooperation, but actually been harmed by it.
We hear some leaders talking as if some ofour proudest achievements are in fact our biggest liabilities – whether it is thetradition of successfully integrating refugees into our societies, or the institutions andtreaties we have built rooted in laws and human rights.
We see nations that played a proud role inthe founding of the International Criminal Court withdrawing from it, on the one hand,and on the other, we see arrest warrants for alleged war crimes issued but not implemented,and other crimes ignored altogether.
We are see a country like South Sudan usheredby the international community into independence, then largely abandoned – not by the UN agenciesand NGOs – but effectively abandoned, without the massive support they needed to make asuccess of sovereignty. And we see resolutions and laws on the protectionof civilians and the use of chemical weapons, for instance, flouted repeatedly, in somecases under the cover of Security Council vetoes, as in Syria.
Many of these things are not new – but takentogether – and in the absence of strong international leadership, they are deeplyworrying. When we consider all this and more, as citizens,what is our answer? Do we, as some would encourage us to think,turn our backs on the world, and hope we can wait for storms to pass? Or do we strengthen our commitment to diplomacyand to the United Nations?
I strongly believe there is only one choice,demanded by reason as well as by conscience, which is the hard work of diplomacy and negotiationand reform of the UN.
This is not to say that that is any way an easy road. And there are reasons people feel insecure today. The level of conflict and lack of solutions combined with the fear of terrorism; the reality that globalisation has bought vast benefits to some but worsened the lot of others; the sense of a disconnect between citizens and governments, or in some countries the lack of governance; the overall feeling that for all our gains in technology and connectedness, we are less in control of forces shaping our lives – all these factors and more have contributed to a sense of a world out of balance,and there are no easy answers.
And the millions of people who havelifted themselves out of poverty in our lifetimes, the difference between the lives of thoseof us born in wealthy, democratic societies and those born into the slums and refugeecamps of the world is a profound injustice.
We see it and we know it to be wrong, at a simple human level. That inequality is contributing to instability,conflict and migration as well as to the sense that the international system serves the few at the expense of the many.
Do we withdraw from the world where beforewe felt a responsibility to be part of solutions? I am a proud American and I am an internationalist.
I believe anyone committed to human rightsis an internationalist. It means seeing the world with a sense offairness and humility, and recognizing our own humanity in the struggles of others.
It stems from love of one’s country, butnot at the expense of others - from patriotism, but not from narrow nationalism. It includes the view that success isn’tbeing better or greater than others, but finding your place in a world where others succeedtoo. And that a strong nation, like a strong person,helps others to rise up and be independent.
It is the spirit that made possible the creationof the UN, out of the rubble and ruin and 60 million dead of World War Two; so thateven before the task of defeating Nazism was complete, that generation of wartime leaderswas forging the United Nations.
If governments and leaders are not keepingthat flame of internationalism alive today, then we as citizens must. The challenge is how to restore that senseof balance and hopefulness in our countries, while not sacrificing all we have learnt aboutthe value and necessity of internationalism.
Because a world in which we turn our backon our global responsibilities will be a world that produces greater insecurity, violenceand danger for us and for our children. This is not a clash between idealism and realism.
It is the recognition that there is no shortcutto peace and security, and no substitute for the long, painstaking effort to end conflicts,expand human rights and strengthen the rule of law.
We have to challenge the idea that the strongestleaders are those most willing to dismiss human rights on the grounds of national interest. The strongest leaders are those who are capableof pursuing both. Having strong values and the will to act uponthem doesn’t weaken our borders or our militaries – it is their essential foundation.
None of this is to say that the UN is perfect. Of course, it is not. I have never met a field officer who has notrailed against its shortcomings, as I imagine Sergio did in his darkest moments. He, like all of us, wanted a UN that was moredecisive, less bureaucratic, and that lived up to its standards.
But he never said it was pointless. He never threw in the towel. The UN is an imperfect organization becausewe are imperfect. It is not separate from us. Our decisions, particularly those made bythe Security Council, have played a part in creating the landscape we are dealing withtoday.
We should always remember why the UN was formed,and what it is for, and take that responsibility seriously. We have to recognize the damage we do when we undermine the UN or use it selectively - or not at all - or when we rely on aid todo the job of diplomacy, or give the UN impossible tasks and then underfund it. For example today, there is not a single humanitarian appeal anywhere in the world that is funded by even half of what is required. In fact it is worse than that.
Appeals for countries on the brink of faminetoday are 17%, 7%, and 5% funded, for example. Of course, emergency aid is not the long-termanswer. No one prefers that kind of aid. Not citizens of donor countries. Not governments. Not refugees. They do not want to be dependent.
It would be far better to be able to investall our funds in infrastructure and schools and trade and enterprises. But let’s be clear, emergency aid has tocontinue because many states cannot or will not protect the rights of citizens aroundthe world.
It is what we spend in countries where wehave no diplomacy or our diplomacy is not working. Until we do better at preventing and reducingconflict, we are doomed to be in a cycle of having to help feed or shelter people whensocieties collapse.
As another legendary UN leader, who was alsokilled in the line of duty, Dag
Hammerskold, said “Everything will be all right – youknow when?
When people just people, stop thinking ofthe United Nations as a weird Picasso abstraction and see it as a drawing they made themselves”. The UN can only change if governments changetheir policies. And if we as citizens ask our governmentsto do that.
It is moving, if you think about it:
We are the future generations envisaged in the UN Charter. When our grandparents resolved to “spare future generations the scourge of war”, as written in the Charter, they were thinking of us. But as well as dreaming of our safety they also left us a responsibility.
President Roosevelt, addressing the US Congressin January 1945, six months before the end of Second World War, said this:
“In the field of foreign policy, we proposeto stand together with the United Nations not for the war alone but for the victoryfor which the war is fought”.
He went on: “The firm foundation can be built- and itwill be built. But the continuance and assurance of a livingpeace must, in the long run, be the work of the people themselves.”
Today,
we have to ask ourselves, are we livingup to that mission? They gave us that start. What have we done with it? It is clear to me that we have made huge strides. But our agreements and institutions are onlyas strong as our will to uphold them today.
And if we do not, for whatever reason, we bequeath a darker and more unstable world to all those who come after us. It is not for this that previous generations shed blood and worked so hard on behalf of all of us. The memory of those who came before us holds us true to our ideals.
Resting unchanging in time, they remind us of who we are and what we stand for. They give us hope to stay in the fight, as Sergio did, until his last breath.
14 years since his death, there is a stronger need than ever before for us to stay true to the ideals and purposes of the United Nations.
That is what I hope his memory holds us to today. We can’t all be Sergio's. But I hope all of us can determine that we shall be a generation that renews its commitment to
even today, in their sacrifice.
We also remember them for the power of theexample they set: brave individuals from 11 different countries, working to help Iraqipeople, at the direction of the United Nations Security Council, and on behalf of us all.
This is something forgotten: that in servingunder the UN flag they died in our names, as our representatives.
At their head was Sergio Vieira de Mello,a man of extraordinary grace and ability, as so many who knew him testify. A man who gave 30 years to the United Nations,rising from a field officer to High Commissioner for Human Rights and Special Representativeto Iraq.
From Bangladesh and Bosnia to South Sudanto East Timor, he spent the majority of his career in the field, working alongside peopleforced from their homes by war, and assisting them with his skill as a diplomat and negotiator. Perhaps the greatest testament to his contribution,is how much his advice would be valued today.
As the Syrian conflict enters its seventhyear, as we live through the gravest refugee crisis since the founding of the United Nations,as 20 million people are on the brink of death from starvation in Yemen, Somalia, South Sudanand northeast Nigeria, I cannot imagine that there is anyone in the leadership of the UnitedNations who would not welcome the opportunity to consult Sergio, or send him into the fieldonce more.
He is truly missed, even today. It is humbling for me to speak tonight inthe presence of members of Sergio’s family and his former colleagues.
I never knew Sergio, but I have stood beforethe plaque in the place where he died. I felt profound sadness at the fact that theconflict in Iraq – the source of so much Iraqi suffering to this day - had claimedthe lives of men and women whose only intention was to try and improve a desperate situation. But I also saw clearly the value and nobilityof a life spent in service of others.
Sergio was a man who never turned down anassignment, no matter how difficult and dangerous - or as others have put it, was “handedone impossible task after another”. He was a man, to borrow the words of ThomasPaine, whose country was the world, and whose religion was to do good. He will always remain a hero and inspirationto all who follow in his footsteps.
- The UN’s work did not end there, in therubble of the Canal Hotel, 14 years ago. Hundreds of UN staff have served, and continueto, serve in Iraq, as they do from Afghanistan to Somalia, because the task of building peaceand security can never be abandoned, no matter how bleak the situation.
- My Thoughts on Sergio’s life and legacyderive from my 16 years with UNHCR, the Agency he spent so much of his career serving andrepresenting.
But I also speak as a citizen of my country– the United States. I believe all of us who work with the UN preservethis duality. The United Nations is not a country, it isa place where we come together as nations and people to try to resolve our differencesand unite in common action.
As a citizen I find myself looking out ona global environment that seems more troubling and uncertain than at any time in my lifetime. I imagine many of you may feel the same. We are grappling with a level of conflictand insecurity that seems to exceed our will and capabilities: with more refugees thanever before, and new wars erupting on top of existing conflicts, some already lastingdecades.
We see a rising tide of nationalism, masqueradingas patriotism, and the re-emergence of policies encouraging fear and hatred of others. We see some politicians elected partly onthe basis of dismissing international institutions and agreements, as if our countries have notbenefited from cooperation, but actually been harmed by it.
We hear some leaders talking as if some ofour proudest achievements are in fact our biggest liabilities – whether it is thetradition of successfully integrating refugees into our societies, or the institutions andtreaties we have built rooted in laws and human rights.
We see nations that played a proud role inthe founding of the International Criminal Court withdrawing from it, on the one hand,and on the other, we see arrest warrants for alleged war crimes issued but not implemented,and other crimes ignored altogether.
We are see a country like South Sudan usheredby the international community into independence, then largely abandoned – not by the UN agenciesand NGOs – but effectively abandoned, without the massive support they needed to make asuccess of sovereignty. And we see resolutions and laws on the protectionof civilians and the use of chemical weapons, for instance, flouted repeatedly, in somecases under the cover of Security Council vetoes, as in Syria.
Many of these things are not new – but takentogether – and in the absence of strong international leadership, they are deeplyworrying. When we consider all this and more, as citizens,what is our answer? Do we, as some would encourage us to think,turn our backs on the world, and hope we can wait for storms to pass? Or do we strengthen our commitment to diplomacyand to the United Nations?
I strongly believe there is only one choice,demanded by reason as well as by conscience, which is the hard work of diplomacy and negotiationand reform of the UN.
This is not to say that that is any way an easy road. And there are reasons people feel insecure today. The level of conflict and lack of solutions combined with the fear of terrorism; the reality that globalisation has bought vast benefits to some but worsened the lot of others; the sense of a disconnect between citizens and governments, or in some countries the lack of governance; the overall feeling that for all our gains in technology and connectedness, we are less in control of forces shaping our lives – all these factors and more have contributed to a sense of a world out of balance,and there are no easy answers.
And the millions of people who havelifted themselves out of poverty in our lifetimes, the difference between the lives of thoseof us born in wealthy, democratic societies and those born into the slums and refugeecamps of the world is a profound injustice.
We see it and we know it to be wrong, at a simple human level. That inequality is contributing to instability,conflict and migration as well as to the sense that the international system serves the few at the expense of the many.
- But again, what is our answer, as citizens?
Do we withdraw from the world where beforewe felt a responsibility to be part of solutions? I am a proud American and I am an internationalist.
I believe anyone committed to human rightsis an internationalist. It means seeing the world with a sense offairness and humility, and recognizing our own humanity in the struggles of others.
It stems from love of one’s country, butnot at the expense of others - from patriotism, but not from narrow nationalism. It includes the view that success isn’tbeing better or greater than others, but finding your place in a world where others succeedtoo. And that a strong nation, like a strong person,helps others to rise up and be independent.
It is the spirit that made possible the creationof the UN, out of the rubble and ruin and 60 million dead of World War Two; so thateven before the task of defeating Nazism was complete, that generation of wartime leaderswas forging the United Nations.
If governments and leaders are not keepingthat flame of internationalism alive today, then we as citizens must. The challenge is how to restore that senseof balance and hopefulness in our countries, while not sacrificing all we have learnt aboutthe value and necessity of internationalism.
Because a world in which we turn our backon our global responsibilities will be a world that produces greater insecurity, violenceand danger for us and for our children. This is not a clash between idealism and realism.
It is the recognition that there is no shortcutto peace and security, and no substitute for the long, painstaking effort to end conflicts,expand human rights and strengthen the rule of law.
We have to challenge the idea that the strongestleaders are those most willing to dismiss human rights on the grounds of national interest. The strongest leaders are those who are capableof pursuing both. Having strong values and the will to act uponthem doesn’t weaken our borders or our militaries – it is their essential foundation.
None of this is to say that the UN is perfect. Of course, it is not. I have never met a field officer who has notrailed against its shortcomings, as I imagine Sergio did in his darkest moments. He, like all of us, wanted a UN that was moredecisive, less bureaucratic, and that lived up to its standards.
But he never said it was pointless. He never threw in the towel. The UN is an imperfect organization becausewe are imperfect. It is not separate from us. Our decisions, particularly those made bythe Security Council, have played a part in creating the landscape we are dealing withtoday.
We should always remember why the UN was formed,and what it is for, and take that responsibility seriously. We have to recognize the damage we do when we undermine the UN or use it selectively - or not at all - or when we rely on aid todo the job of diplomacy, or give the UN impossible tasks and then underfund it. For example today, there is not a single humanitarian appeal anywhere in the world that is funded by even half of what is required. In fact it is worse than that.
Appeals for countries on the brink of faminetoday are 17%, 7%, and 5% funded, for example. Of course, emergency aid is not the long-termanswer. No one prefers that kind of aid. Not citizens of donor countries. Not governments. Not refugees. They do not want to be dependent.
It would be far better to be able to investall our funds in infrastructure and schools and trade and enterprises. But let’s be clear, emergency aid has tocontinue because many states cannot or will not protect the rights of citizens aroundthe world.
It is what we spend in countries where wehave no diplomacy or our diplomacy is not working. Until we do better at preventing and reducingconflict, we are doomed to be in a cycle of having to help feed or shelter people whensocieties collapse.
As another legendary UN leader, who was alsokilled in the line of duty, Dag
Hammerskold, said “Everything will be all right – youknow when?
When people just people, stop thinking ofthe United Nations as a weird Picasso abstraction and see it as a drawing they made themselves”. The UN can only change if governments changetheir policies. And if we as citizens ask our governmentsto do that.
It is moving, if you think about it:
We are the future generations envisaged in the UN Charter. When our grandparents resolved to “spare future generations the scourge of war”, as written in the Charter, they were thinking of us. But as well as dreaming of our safety they also left us a responsibility.
President Roosevelt, addressing the US Congressin January 1945, six months before the end of Second World War, said this:
“In the field of foreign policy, we proposeto stand together with the United Nations not for the war alone but for the victoryfor which the war is fought”.
He went on: “The firm foundation can be built- and itwill be built. But the continuance and assurance of a livingpeace must, in the long run, be the work of the people themselves.”
Today,
we have to ask ourselves, are we livingup to that mission? They gave us that start. What have we done with it? It is clear to me that we have made huge strides. But our agreements and institutions are onlyas strong as our will to uphold them today.
And if we do not, for whatever reason, we bequeath a darker and more unstable world to all those who come after us. It is not for this that previous generations shed blood and worked so hard on behalf of all of us. The memory of those who came before us holds us true to our ideals.
Resting unchanging in time, they remind us of who we are and what we stand for. They give us hope to stay in the fight, as Sergio did, until his last breath.
14 years since his death, there is a stronger need than ever before for us to stay true to the ideals and purposes of the United Nations.
That is what I hope his memory holds us to today. We can’t all be Sergio's. But I hope all of us can determine that we shall be a generation that renews its commitment to
“unite our strength to maintain international peace and security”, and
“to promote social progress and better standards of life in larger freedom.”
But in the final analysis, even if we do not,even if that level of vision eludes us and we continue to simply manage rather than totry to overcome our generation’s challenges, we have to keep working determinedly and patiently.
And you can be certain, as you do, that youfollow the example of one of the UN’s finest sons: and that to do even a little of hisgood, to apply ourselves to the work he left unfinished, in whatever way we can, is a worthytask for any one of us. Thank you
