'The strength and will of all people are required.' (statements of Javier Perez de Cuellar in observance of commemorative days & weeks in October & December) (transcript)

'The strength and will of all people are required'

On the occasion of United Nations Day, 24 October:

We face today major threats -- hunger, poverty, environmental degradation, illicit drugs, continuing infringement of human rights including the abhorrent system of apartheid, deadly conflicts and weapons a hundred times sufficient to destroy us all -- threats that by their nature can affect the safety and well-being of all peoples. Governments share a common interest in meeting them together and a responsibility to do so, transcending differences in ideology and economic orientation. It has over the past months been evident that as this is recognized new opportunities are opened to move ahead on critical global issues. For this purpose, the strength and will and the disparate capacities of all countries and peoples are required. The United Nations is the indispensable instrument through which these can be directed for the resolution of problems that no nation can solve alone.

In observance of World Habitat Day, 5 October:

Most of us take for granted an adequate roof over our heads, the provision of water, sanitation, drainage and waste removal and services such as education, health, transportation and recreation. But for nearly a quarter of our fellow inhabitants of this planet, all these necessities are yet only a dream. They live under conditions wholly incompatible with their human status. Worse still, at least 100 million people in this world have no shelter at all and the must improvise whatever protection they can find from the elements. It is ironic and intolerable that such conditions persist in an age which has brought great improvement in living standards and witnessed unprecedented advance in science, technology and culture.

In observance of World Food Day, 16 October:

Hunger co-exists with poverty. And the eradication of hunger is inseparably linked to the process of development in all its aspects. The solution to the hunger problem, therefore, does not lie solely, or even primarily, in increasing global food supplies or in providing emergency assistance. It lies first and foremost in the adoption of the necessary political decisions to put human well-being at the core of our development endeavours.

On the report of the World Commission on Environment and Development, 19 October:

In its travels, the Commission found that the world holds no sanctuaries; that neither the effects of waste nor of poverty can be quarantined. Too often decision-making on development and environment issues is determined by sectional interests and the traditional boundaries of geography, politics or ideology. The Commission confirmed that economic growth and preservation of the environment are imperatives -- not options to choose or reject; and that they are central and indivisibly linked elements in human well-being.

To the special plenary on acquired immune deficiency syndrome (AIDS), 20 October:

AIDS is one of those critical issues, like nuclear weapons, global development, and environmental pollution, which affects the future of all peoples in all countries. It is, in many senses, a global combat, and it threatens us with all the consequences of war -- not only of massive death tolls and even greater numbers of disabled, but of orphans, of mass displacements, of loss of productivity, of overwhelming and bankrupting demands on financial, administrative and human resources, of fear and anger and panic, and of social instability.

In observance of Disarmament Week, 26 October:

The international community has the task of seizing the momentum created by the various positive developments of the past year and carrying it forward. The absence of polemics and greater pragmatism which have been evident in arms control deliberations in the recent past must continue to inspire and guide our actions. Substantial disarmament agreements are needed in the interest of development, security and peace. There are opportunities for new ideas and innovative approaches to be applied. For our words and intentions to retain their credibility, the time to act is now.

In observance of International Volunteer Day, 5 December:

The United Nations Volunteers embody the objective of international co-operation for the resolution of economic, social and humanitarian problems defined in the Charter. They have dedicated themselves whole-heartedly to the admirable, and sometimes thankless, task of service to other, and have given generously and unselfishly of their talent and energies to lessening human misery.