The 38th floor.

The need for

resources . . .

Three challenges are before us: peace, development and democracy. Without peace, there can be no development and there can be no democracy. Without development, the basis for democracy will be lacking and societies will tend to fall into conflict. And without democracy, no sustainable development can occur. Without sustainable development, peace cannot long be maintained . . .

It is our privilege, and our responsibility, to leave our children a better world than the one we inherited. We do not refuse the task. But we should be given the means to carry it out. So, first, we need resources. Without resources, the United Nations will be powerless to carry out its tasks.

On attacking hunger . . .

The world now produces enough food to feed its population. The problem is not simply technical. It is a political and social problem. It is a problem of access to food supplies, of distribution and of entitlement. Above all, it is a problem of political will . . .

Hunger is a global issue. Its existence violates that most basic of human rights - the right to survival. And it is our responsibility as an international community to guarantee that right. The United Nations is central to this task because the solutions must be comprehensive. Food security requires an across-the-board effort. Its political, social, economic and technological factors all must be involved and integrated. Above all, food security must be guided by a political consensus on the need for action, as well as its nature and scope . . .

To attack endemic hunger, we must address underlying causes. The real answer to hunger lies in measures to era poverty . . .

Today some 800 million people suffer from insufficient or poor nutrition. We have the experience and the resources to feed them all. We do not always have the political will to do so. I am most encouraged that the political will is emerging. I have just received a letter from President Carlos Menem of Argentina. He suggests the setting-up of an international volunteer corps for the fight against hunger. This is certainly an initiative which merits serious consideration.

Multilateralism, an indispensable asset . . .

A new, integrated view of the United Nations is in the making. It involves global human security in all its aspects.

Thus, the United Nations has been asked to do more than at any time in history. Having heaped immense new responsibilities on the Organization, the world is now asking: is the United Nations up to the job? The pendulum has swung from one extreme to the other. From utopian expectation to excessive disillusion.

Let us not deceive ourselves. We are the United Nations. The words which open the Charter are: "We the Peoples". Your Government, and other Governments of those peoples, drafted the Charter and agreed to create the United Nations. The decisions, the actions and the resources - all come from you the Member States . . .

There is no doubt that the leading nations of the world have the power, the resources, and the creativity needed to shape a new international system. Capability is not in question. What is in question is perseverance, commitment and will.

The challenge today is two-fold: to make the most of what history has provided, and to adapt it to the needs of our time . . .

It is the Governments which alone can make the United Nations work. If the moment is not seized, then history will be unforgiving . . .

To some people at present, multilateralism has become a dirty word. I submit that multilateralism is an indispensable asset. It is not the enemy of sovereignty, but its most intelligent expression. Legitimacy, democracy, and collective security all can be found within the proper definition of multilateralism.

An age of warfare . . .

It has often been pointed out that we live in an age of warfare. There have been more wars in this century than in the 18th and 19th centuries combined.

In the 40 years before the Second World War, 88 wars were recorded. Since the end of that world conflict, 127 wars have taken place. Most of the 127 have involved ethnic conflict. Most led to some form of cold war intervention.

Why have there been so many of these conflicts?

It is because, fundamentally, the international State system has not performed in a satisfactory way on three key issues: equity, legitimacy and identity.

The gap between the rich and poor parts of the world has not been effectively closed. As a result, populations migrate to escape poverty and oppression. When strange groups suddenly confront each other there is little time to build trust. The tensions created often lead to violence.

When a State fails to satisfy an ethnic group's need for political legitimacy, and respect for its human rights, violence often is regarded as the only way out . . .

The events of recent months impress upon us the need for a new realism. The range of problems is as wide as the globe itself. This means that there will be failures, as well as successes.

We must not be deterrred by failure. But neither should we accept it as permanent. Most important for the future, we must understand what we are. We must understand the values, the ideals and the institutions which have been passed down to us in trust.

Moral responsibility must be global . . .

I am not here to say that every troubled nation deserves international attention. The United Nations must use its influence and resources with great caution and care. But when Governments face the most dire circumstances of disaster, as in Cambodia, or when all semblance of a State simply vanishes, as in Somalia, then the international society of States and its United Nations instrument must be concerned to act.

We must not delude ourselves. Inaction will mean the spread of anarchy. But action will be long and difficult. It will cost money, but vastly less money than the alternative. it will take time, but the world at present still has time to act. It will take political commitment by the protagonists to a conflict, but such commitment usually responds to the depth of international resolve. And it will take international solidarity. That is what I call for tonight . . .

If the Member States of the United Nations can understand that moral responsibility in our time must be global; if they can intellectually accept that the best course lies between inaction and total intervention; and if they have the vision to regard multilateralism as sovereignty's most intelligent expression; then the future can be shaped to the betterment of all.

Poverty, an unacceptable scourge' . . .

More than ever before, it is a compelling task for all of us to put an end to the extreme poverty affecting hundreds of millions of women, men and children throughout the world. And all of us, at our various levels, must be involved in this work, which is a challenge to the whole international community. Extreme poverty is a universal tragedy. Far from being limited to a few regions of the globe, it endangers human life both in the poorest societies and in the richest ones. And the period of upheaval and crisis which we are experiencing may make their plight even worse.

Beginning a new chapter . . .

On this United Nations Day 1993, it is clear that the world Organization has begun a new chapter.

In sharp contrast to past decades, the vast potential of the United Nations has been recognized.

For international peace and security; for humanitarian assistance; for development in all aspects; for the protection of the planet; for the promotion of democracy and human rights, the United Nations is indispensable.