Page 144 - 100 Reflections that Crafted Geneva International_V-Petrovsky_private special edition

100 Reflections that Crafted Geneva International

their functionaries, and to share your gifts with them. Also, your ideas and
insights as to how to implement the necessary reforms within the UN are most
welcome. The public’s and media's interest in participating in, and covering
events surrounding the commemoration of the 50th Anniversary of the United
Nations gives you and your organization an excellent opportunity to make
yourselves known and to bе heard.

For great challenges exist today, tremendous resourcefulness and
determination are required to overcome obstacles and meet these challenges.
The UN has the experience, the personnel, and the forums, which together
make the UN uniquely qualified to promote реасе, security, stability and well-
being. Governments struggling to achieve the goals of worldwide development
and реасе should take fuller advantage of the Organization's human resources.

The United Nations cannot substitute for the commitment of individual
States. Deeds must follow words if we are to achieve our goals. The very fact,
however, that the United Nations is able to undertake peace-keeping and
humanitarian operations speaks well of the Organization and its Member
States. It exemplifies the international community's continuing transition from
what we may call а "culture of confrontation" to а "culture of реасе". Politics
ought not to bе viewed as а "zero-sum" game - we must create "win­win"
scenarios. Wе must become more tolerant and learn to embrace the
accumulated knowledge of various cultures. We have moved beyond а desire
for peaceful coexistence to а need for active teamwork. The United Nations
and its staff - both present and former - are in а unique position to hasten this
transition and affect the desired changes.

As the Secretary-General stated in his Supplement to an Agenda for Реасе,

"There is no reason for frustration or pessimism. More progress has been
made in the past few years towards using the United Nations as it was
designed to bе used than many could ever have predicted."

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