Secretary-General addresses UN staff (unofficial transcript)

May I ask you to observe a minute of silence in the memory of Maitre Beye and all our colleagues who made the ultimate sacrifice with their life in search of peace; as well as in the memory of all the Angolans who are not here with us today because of the war.

(pause)

Thank you very much.

It is really moving to be back here. The first visit Nane and I took when I became Secretary-General was to Angola, and even then, I felt one should do what one can to energize the peace process. Our trip also took us to Quito, Huambo and other parts of the country.

I remember an eventful flight when we were going to try and convince General Savimbi to send the Parliamentarians back here to Luanda, so that the Government of National Unity could be formed. We got caught in an incredible storm - it was during the rainy season. After two attempts by the pilot to land in Huambo, I had to tell him to abort landing. At that point, I had not realized how nervous everybody else was on the plane. But the BBC journalist traveling with us, Martin Bell, came to me and said: “Very good call, Sir. Very wise call," He said: “To lose one Secretary-General in Africa is tragic, but to lose a second one, smells a bit of carelessness."

Anyway, we all made the right call, and we are here to continue the fight. I think Angola is at a crucial and critical stage now. We are all happy and excited with the prospects for lasting and genuine peace in Angola. The international community and the UN and its agencies are prepared to work with the Angolans. But it has to be clear that the inspiration for viable and lasting peace has to spring from the leaders and the people of Angola.

I think the event of last April –the ceasefire agreement -which has held since then, is a completion of the demilitarization process, indicates the determination of the Angolan people to have peace and they deserve it. I think some of you who have traveled around the country, know how much suffering ordinary Angolans have gone through, men, women and children - particularly women and children.

Today we have the chance. It is a wonderful promise and we must not waste. But it is only a beginning we have a long way to go - first and foremost the Angolans, but also the international partners. There is urgent humanitarian work to be done and I thank all of you for what you are doing here.

We need your help for internally displaced people to eventually to get back home and pick up their lives again. There is need to rebuilt society in every aspect from health, health facilities to schools, infrastructure and all this is going to demand stamina and iron political will. I hope all concerned will be up to the task. In any case, we have a real opportunity to bring peace once again to this land.

When I attended the G-8 Summit in Kananaskis, Canada, and prior to that meeting in my contacts with world leaders and G-8 leaders, I shared with them my conviction that if we all worked together, we could resolve three key conflicts in Africa within the next twelve to eighteen months. The conflicts in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Sudan, and consolidation of peace in Angola. As part of the action plan, we decided these three areas, and their determination to work with us, not only to consolidate peace but also with reconstruction. I cite this to let the Angolan people know that there is a lot of international good will, and I hope we will really make the best we can of this second opportunity we have been offered.

Because I believe there is only one way to solve these conflicts, that the countries concerned can focus on economic and social development, which the people need desperately. Where we can apply resources, economic and social development instead of wars. And the benefits of peace cannot only be felt by only the countries directly affected by war, but by the whole African continent. Because this continent has been marked by conflicts. If you mention Africa to people outside the continent, most of them see a continent in crisis, and yet we keep saying that to develop we need not only to attract investment and trade and work with other partners. But who would invest in a bad neighborhood, unless we clean up the environment by ending these conflicts, we are going to perpetuate the misery of the people of this continent of Africa.

So the exercise we are engaging has much broader implications and it is a noble task you are involved in, and I want to thank you for the work that you do. You are my Angolan family. Nane and I are fortunate that wherever we go, we have a family. And for me as the Secretary-General of the UN, and someone who is also a colleague who has been one of you, I know from direct experience, that the UN is not a glass building in New York. The real UN is you, staff like you, and the work you do in the field. You are also the public face of the Organization, and what you do, regardless of your rank, is important. You may be a messenger, but your effort and contribution is as important as mine. If we all do our work collectively, we can make a giant contribution. So I want you to keep up that work, and I want to hear ordinary Angolans tell me when I meet them, how a UN staff member has helped or touched their lives. I think I have spoken enough, so my dear friends and colleagues, thank you very much for giving me part of your Sunday evening.