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25.

Opportunities for Tomorrow’s Leaders To
Chart the Future Path of the United Nations

WELCOMING STATEMENT
BY MR. VLADIMIR PETROVSKY
UNITED NATIONS UNDER-SECRETARY-GENERAL
DIRECTOR-GENERAL OF TBE UNITED NATIONS OFFICE AT GENEVA
BEFORE THE UNITED NATIONS OF THE FUTURE CONFERENCE

Palais des Nations, Geneva, Friday, 17 March 1995

F irst of all, I would like to welcome you to the Palais des Nations -
the headquarters of the first intergovernmental organization, the
League of Nations, and which now serves as the central facility for
the United Nations Office at Geneva. I also wish to thank you for giving me an
opportunity to address you this afternoon. Undertakings such as this exemplify
what Secretary-General Dr. Boutros Boutros-Ghali believes is one of the most
important aspects of the United Nations Golden Anniversary: to educate and
empower citizens of the world. This important milestone provides a time to
reflect on the past. take stock of the present and prepare for the future.

Concerning the past, it is important to understand the political and
security environment of the past 50 years. The UN was conceived in the midst
of our planet's most devastating war and our century's second global conflict. It
was weaned and “took its first steps” during the emergence of the nuclear and
outer space age. It had a difficult adolescence during which time the process of
decolonization got under way. Suffice it to say, the Organization has had its
share of growing pains.

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