Secretary-General: excerpts from statements by UN Secretary-General Boutros Boutros-Ghali.

In introducing Pope John Paul II at the General Assembly, 5 October

The Holy Father's presence is a reminder of the spiritual dimension of the United Nations. The United Nations was created so that hope could conquer the horror of war. It was created so that compassion--the compassion which all religions share--could conquer the despair of poverty, disease and injustice.

Hope enables us to continue our mission, under the most adverse conditions. Faith enables us to continue the dialogue, to pursue negotiation, even when a situation seems desperate. Love enables us to continue development, to reach out to the less fortunate of our fellow human beings.

To the Conference of Goodwill and Development of Rotary International, New York, 12 October

The world's governments spent about $150 per human being on military expenditures in 1992. Total spending by the United Nations, by comparison, was less than $2 per human being. And now, even that very small amount cannot be maintained.

I ask you, community leaders and public-spirited citizens, to spread the word. The interests of each nation and of the United Nations are the same. The world Organization is your organization. The failure to support the League of Nations was a failure that haunted a generation. What happened to the League of Nations must not happen to the United Nations. As the philosopher Santayana said, those who do not learn from the mistakes of the past are doomed to repeat them.

One week ago today at the United Nations, Pope John Paul II addressed, as he said, "the whole family of peoples on the face of the earth". From the family as the smallest, most basic human unit to the immense family that is all humanity itself, the family and family values serve as an allegory for the vision of the United Nations.

For United Nations Day, New York, 24 October

Today, the peoples of the United Nations mark the fiftieth anniversary of the only truly universal organization in humanity's history.

Fifty years is a tiny drop in the stream of the centuries. But no other institution in history has gathered together so many political communities. No other has survived so many storms. No other has built such a promising foundation for the future as has the United Nations.

The peoples of the United Nations stand at a turning point in world affairs. On this anniversary we commemorate--and assess realistically--a half-century of United Nations existence. And on this day we are duty-bound to deliberate on the course to be taken by the world Organization in its second half-century.

Peace is an immediate concern. But the cause of development is essential to enduring success. It calls us to look beyond peace to recognize and take action in the fields of economy, the environment, social justice and democratization.

Let us learn from our setbacks. More importantly, let us build upon our successes, for there have been many: successes in situations too complex or undramatic to gain wide attention; successes in the slow and diligent efforts to achieve progress visible only over the long-term; and successes in major operations for peace, development and democracy which have not been given the recognition they merit.

To the Business Council for the United Nations, New York, 2 November

In Bosnia, the United Nations was sent as a peace-keeper into an ongoing wartime situation. This had never been done before. Paradoxically, now that a cease-fire and peace agreement may be in sight, it appears that the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) combat troops will be sent to replace the United Nations peace-keepers. The concepts are upside-down. The future of peace-keeping--and of our system of international security as a whole--depends upon the restoration of its logic. In war situations, the international community should authorize the combat forces needed to deal with it. Where a cease-fire is in place, and where the consent and cooperation of the parties are reliable, peace-keepers should be deployed.

And finally, the future of peace-keeping rests upon the correction of another distortion--the distortion between the demands placed upon the United Nations, and the resources provided to it. The United Nations is being instructed to act, but not being given the financial resources to do the job. There is not enough cash to pay for what we have been told to do.

Serious reform efforts are under way. The Organization has cut expenses. We have streamlined operations. We are working hard to reduce waste, duplication and overlap. But today, the impact of the financial crisis is being felt on the front lines of global problem-solving--in a diminished capacity for peace-keeping, in less assistance for development, in less effective support for democratization and human rights. It is a crisis that threatens the very existence of the United Nations.

I appeal to you as leaders of commerce, as persons of influence, as friends of the United Nations, to help me resolve this crisis. I ask you to speak out in support of settling arrears, and of paying future contributions on time and in full. Last week, I told world leaders that the financial crisis was a symptom of a deeper problem: that Member States simply did not regard the United Nations as a priority. But they attended in unprecedented numbers, and they spoke strong words of support for the United Nations. Perhaps, when they return home, they will make the United Nations a priority.

From a lecture at the University of Warsaw, Poland, 10 November

As the Nigerian author, Ben Okri, has written, "A nation that is not free cannot grow". Democracy supplies the only long-term and sustainable route to development. Without democracy, development can take place, but it cannot be expected to endure. Democracy, therefore, is essential for peace and development. It is a process essential for tangible human progress. We are living, therefore, in an era in which democracy is winning widespread acclaim. But this is also an era in which the State is being challenged as the mechanism for solving national problems, and as the basic element of the international system.

To a special meeting of the General Assembly, marking the end of the United Nations Year for Tolerance, New York, 20 November

The year which is drawing to a close ... does not mark the end of our effort in support of tolerance. Quite the contrary. On behalf of the noble objectives of the Charter, on behalf of the principles of the United Nations, and in memory of those who gave their lives for their ideal, we must now, more than ever, say: "No' to intolerance! `No' to fanaticism! `No' to all kinds of micro-nationalism!"

The United Nations must tirelessly continue to demonstrate to the men and women of this era that the prevailing openness in the world offers a formidable opportunity for the future, an unexpected chance to transcend our differences in order to attain what I once referred to as "the irreducible human element", that is, the quintessence of the values by which we define ourselves as a single human community.

From a lecture at the Ottawa Congress Center, Canada, 22 November

In the United Nations, Member States have a mechanism for sharing burdens and responsibilities. Preventing conflicts from erupting. Peacemaking between adversaries. Maintaining cease-fires. Clearing land-mines and peace-building among peoples. The United Nations is not a substitute or surrogate for individual action by Member States. But in many cases, it can provide a useful alternative to unilateral action. In other cases, it serves as a valuable supplement. And in some cases it provides an indispensable mechanism for success. In all cases, the United Nations offers a way for the entire international community to be involved.

However, the current situation of the United Nations is uncertain and precarious. The spirit of the founding fathers of the Charter combined generosity and good will. Fifty years later, this internationalism sometimes becomes eroded.

We note that, for some States, there is a wide gulf between the awareness that problems exist and the willingness to do something about them. Much is asked of the world Organization without providing it with the financial resources to act. As I speak, over half the Member States have not paid their assessed contributions to the regular budget in full. And the arrears total some $3 billion.

Things have reached the stage where I occasionally congratulate a State for paying an assessed contribution in full and on time, or I write a letter expressing my thanks to Heads of State who pay what they owe to the Organization.

At the dedication of busts of Franklin and Eleanor Roosevelt, United Nations Office at Geneva, 11 December

It was Franklin Roosevelt who, for the first time, used the words "the United Nations", not in a speech which he gave on 1 January 1942, but before in his exchange of letters with Churchill. Roosevelt died just before the Charter was signed, but he knew that his vision was soon to become a reality. The United Nations today is a reality. It is not only a reality, but it is also the only forum which will be able to promote peace and development and democracy.

It is most appropriate that we continue to honour the memory of Franklin and Eleanor Roosevelt--reformers, activists and tireless workers in the pursuit of peace and human rights and who showed compassion for the problems of the underdog all over the world.