Secretary-General's encounter following lecture at 35th National Conference of Trinity Institute (unofficial transcript)

SG: When we look at the news and read our newspapers, it doesn't seem evident. It's not obvious these days, but I don't think one should give up hope. I think we need to persevere. We need to reach out and work with our fellow human beings. We need to come together as an international community and pool our efforts to tackle these challenges that we face. And when I talk of challenges, I am not only talking about terrorism, weapons of mass destruction, war, but also poverty, the fight against HIV/AIDS and hunger in the world. When you look at it, it's a huge problem, and sometimes as individuals we ask ourselves 'what can I do in the face of all this?' But you would be amazed, if an individual tries to reach out and make a difference in one person's life and if each of us tries to do our little bit, what a major contribution, collectively we can make.

Q: Mr. Secretary-General, in your experience throughout the world in encountering so many different people, how do you conduct yourself in a way that you would not be tainted by that or to be influenced by it? As leaders and we prepare, as we continue to encounter evil in our own lives, what advice would you give us to experience and to overcome that and not be tainted by that from your experience?

SG: When you get into some of these situations, you need to be open, you need to observe, you need to listen, you need to try and reach out. You may be dealing with someone who has committed really evil acts and may wish to continue. And you try to reach them, and you try to appeal to that feeling of sensitivity that is within them. You try to get them to understand and think about the other person that they are either out to harm or to kill and that they're also human beings. You may not always succeed. You may walk away frustrated, wondering what more you could have done to stop this guy, what more you could have done to change their attitude. What other blessed inspiration you could have had to sort of get turn them away from evil acts. Even if you fail, I think you should not give up. We often go away, wondering, as I ask the question, 'what more could I have done? What did I do wrong? Could I have reached out to others and together made a difference? Could I have sounded the alarm?', and so you constantly keep searching and reaching out, but never to give up and turn your back and say 'It's hopeless. There's nothing I can do. I failed this time, why try again?' You have to keep at it.

Q: Mr. Secretary-General, you have been very strong in calling the world's attention to the evil that's taking place in Darfur in Sudan. What can we do to be supportive to things like that?

SG: Thank you for that question. I have sent two teams to Darfur - one a human rights team to check on the human rights violations and the abuses that are going on, and a humanitarian team led by Jim Morris, the head of the World Food Programme, to see how we can assist the people on the ground. It is difficult. It is deplorable, incredible human suffering and great need. When their reports come out and I will be seeing Mr. Morris who will come and report to me this week, we will try to pool together men and women of good will, other organizations, NGOs, governments and ourselves to mount assistance and raise money to go back and help.

In the meantime we are dealing with the government to ensure their talks with the rebels, with the other group continues. They have declared a ceasefire that would allow humanitarian assistance to go in, but we want that to be sustained and for them to work out a political agreement and for the killings to stop. So we are going to assist and we will need the help of everyone and I suspect in the not-too-distant future we will make an appeal for funds to be able to go there and help, so whatever you can do would be appreciated.

Q: You are an Anglican, a Christian. How does your faith inform what you do as Secretary-General of the United Nations?

SG: As a man of faith I must say that my faith helps me a lot. Not only at difficult moments but on a daily basis. You do pray, and ask the dear Lord to guide and to help me. It gives you strength. You have no idea the number of people as I travel around the world who come to me and say 'we pray for you, every day, and we are praying for you.' And knowing that many people are with you, wishing you well, and praying for you, also gives me strength. You know you are not alone, there are others who are supporting in prayer, and silently.

Q: Mr. Secretary-General, yours is an arduous task. And we know that sometimes your pronouncements may not be in the interest of some nations. However, I am here not to ask questions, just to encourage you wherever you [inaudible] the path of peace and justice. Just keep going. You are not alone.

SG: Thank you for the encouragement. [applause]

Q: Mr. Secretary-General, what role does the dynamic power of forgiveness play in your decision to entrust someone who is a known perpetrator of harms with positions of responsibility in the new nation or circumstance that is emerging?

SG: That is a difficult one. Let me say that after conflict there are several key things that need to be done. Often one seeks reconciliation and one seeks justice. Reconciliation sometimes means the warring factions coming together; people who may have been fighting together in the bush in guerilla warfare, and some who may have committed real atrocities, but as one negotiates with them over time you tend to discover those who are beginning to realise what they have done, those who have decided to give up their ways and team up with their fellow men and make their nation and their country a better place. And in fact, often those ones gravitate towards the reconciliation process and you encourage them to work with the others, to give up their weapons, join the political process. In some situations you convince guerilla leaders to form political parties and come in to the political process. And some are today loyal leaders of the opposition, giving up their ways. There are some that we lost that you couldn't really have brought in, and some who have had to be put on trial and to be made to account for the crimes that they have committed. So not all are redeemable.

Q: I was frequently a part of our Anglican delegation to the United Nation's Commission on the Status of Women, and did a lot of work around the question of women's voices in post-conflict peace building. I would like to hear from you about the role of women, and the voices of women, particularly in those conflict situations.

SG: I think the role of women and the voices of women are extremely important in post conflict situations. First of all, they are often the ones who stay behind and care for the children. They often also suffer a lot in modern day wars which are difficult wars where in some situations attacks on civilians are not accidents. They are deliberately targeted, and the women suffer a lot and they often have a lot to say. I think it is extremely important that they are integrated into the peace making processes. We ourselves are trying to increase women in our work in that field, including trying to appoint more women as Special Representatives of the Secretary-General in conflict areas. At the national level, if you are going to reconcile, if you are going to build peace, if you are going to get people to forget the past, you need to bring in the women who have not only been the caretakers, who have a different attitude to life than men. They don't have be macho, they don't have to show anything. They have families and children to care for. They want peace in their community and they want stability. And those kinds of influence and voices are extremely important around the negotiating table. I have watched the dynamics change if you have women, articulate and strong women at the table, in these situations. They bring a quality and a dimension to the discussions which are often missing if it is only men. So we value the role and voices of women.

Thank you.