Page 439 - 100 Reflections that Crafted Geneva International_V-Petrovsky_private special edition

Bringing the Concept to Life

Greater openness and transparency between United Nations officials and
the world's media has been promoted to meet the challenges of the twenty-first
century. The Secretary-General, Mr. Kofi Annan recently emphasized this
concept which he termed “preventive journalism”. This means working in
complementary fashion to help facilitate understanding of the most urgent
matters to the ordinary people of each global community. This partnership is
an immeasurable asset to the UN.

Having just returned this afternoon from very constructive talks with the
Swiss President, Mr. Adolf Ogi, it is both noteworthy and timely that the
citizens of Switzerland will consider joining forces with the UN in the year
2002 through a referendum. It is our sincere hope that Switzerland will indeed
become a Member State which will in turn, closer links between the
international community and the Swiss and will strengthen the place of Geneva
International at the forefront of multilateralism.

The Canton of Valais and the city of Sion, tonight's guests of honour, have
already contributed to this endeavour. Their outstanding international com-
munication skills were demonstrated earlier this year at the “Sion 2000”
exhibition at which the United Nations was invited for the first time, as their
guest of honour. This event provided us with the opportunity to convey the
aspirations the UN hopes to achieve in the future to the people, including those
of Switzerland.

In this new millennium, Geneva International has set an outstanding
example of the openness which can exist between multilateral diplomacy and
media. I thank you for your hard work and commitment and look forward to
our continued collaboration in the future.

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