Page 336 - 100 Reflections that Crafted Geneva International_V-Petrovsky_private special edition

100 Reflections that Crafted Geneva International

and implementable strategy for the protection of basic human rights. The court,
to be located at The Hague, in the Netherlands, represents what is at the heart
of the United Nations and an international community with a common vision.
As Secretary-General Kofi Annan put it: “There can be no global justice unless
the worst crimes - crimes against humanity - are subject to law. In this age more
than ever, we recognize that the crime of genocide against one people truly is
an assault on all of us - a crime against humanity. The establishment of an
international criminal court will ensure that humanity’s response will be swift
and just.”

The UN as a whole is becoming more proactive and forward-looking in its
work. We can no longer wait for a war to break out or a natural disaster to strike
before we rush in and pick up the pieces. Humanitarian response is necessary,
of course, but it should not be the predominant approach. The goal is to
prevent the need for large scale humanitarian intervention for conflicts and
natural disasters. Hurricane Mitch in Central America has, in a matter of days,
turned back the region's clock 30 years. Over 3 decades of development and
growth that have been washed away by that single event. But such devastation
is preventable and the UN is at the forefront of this effort. Many countries in
the region have stated that their priority in rebuilding will be a long term
strategy to prevent this type of impact from happening again. In natural disaster
prevention the enemy is not the natural hazard, the hurricane or the tornado,
but ourselves. Our vulnerability to these events is directly related to our
ability to understand the risks we face and to prepare for them. Natural hazards
will always be present. but we must learn to live with these risks. With regard to
conflicts, we find that there is rarely a clear-cut enemy, and so, all sides must be
weighed equally. Dialogue is the key to preventing wars from tearing up and
the most effective way to taper them down once they have erupted. The
Secretary-General has appropriately dubbed the 21st century the “Century of
Prevention.”

Another important activity of the UN offices in Geneva has been the work
of the Conference on Disarmament, the latest achievement of which was the
adoption of the Comprehensive Nuclear-Test-Ban Treaty. The adoption of
this document could not be more timely as an increasing number of countries
are acquiring the technology to build nuclear weapons. As you all are certainly
aware, the efforts to prohibit the testing of nuclear weapons has met with great
challenges this past year, but thanks to mediation and compromise, it is hoped
that this situation will improve. The Conference has taken the decision to start
negotiations to end the production of fissile materials which would be a

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