HIGHLIGHTS OF THE PRESS CONFERENCE

BY SECRETARY-GENERAL BAN KI-MOON

WEDNESDAY, 14 DECEMBER 2011

OPENING REMARKS BY THE SECRETARY-GENERAL

 

Good morning, ladies and gentlemen. It is a great pleasure to meet you.  And I look forward to seeing you later this evening during the annual UNCA dinner.

 

We are nearing the end of my first term as Secretary-General, and this is also the day when I can discuss with you my last five year situation.  This has been an extraordinary and remarkable year.

 

The Arab Awakening or Arab Spring has transformed the geopolitical landscape. We spoke out - early and forcefully, calling on leaders to hear the voices of their people. And we acted, decisively, in concert with the international community.

 

We played an essential role in the liberation of
Libya.  We stand ready to continue to help Tunisia and
Egypt at their request.

 

The agreement mediated by our UN envoy in
Yemen sets the stage for an end to fighting - and the creation of a new government of national unity.

We welcomed our 193^rd
Member State - the
Republic of
South Sudan. The birth of this new nation followed a successful referendum in January this year, made possible by UN peacekeeping and diplomacy that included, four years ago, our deployment in
Darfur of peacekeepers.

 

And in
Myanmar we see a promising new opening - we will persist through our good offices and other efforts.

 

Elsewhere, events continue to test our resolve.

 

In
Syria, more than 5,000 people are dead. This cannot go on. In the name of humanity, it is time for the international community to act.

 

In
Afghanistan, we face continued insecurity.  Last week’s conference in
Bonn re-affirmed the international community’s commitment to our partnership through 2014 and beyond.

 

With the help of the Quartet, we must continue to push for peace between Israel and
Palestine.

 

In the Horn of Africa, people still face famine.

 

From the beginning of my time as Secretary-General, I have sought to advance a practical, action-oriented vision of the UN as the voice of the voiceless, and the defender of the defenceless.

 

That is why, together with the President of the General Assembly I went to
Somalia last week - the first visit of a Secretary-General in 18 years. And of course, the first time ever in the history of the UN that the Secretary-General and the President of the General Assembly travelled together to
Somalia.  And it is why I visited the Dadaab refugee camp in
Kenya, where we are helping to feed and shelter half a million Somali people.

 

From Somalia to Sudan, Yemen to Afghanistan, Haiti to the
Philippines - millions need our help.

 

Today in
Geneva, we asked for $7.7 billion to assist 51 million people in 16 countries next year.

 

Economic times are hard. But we cannot balance budgets with the lives of the world’s poorest and most vulnerable.

 

Ladies and gentlemen, dear friends,

 

2011 also delivered warnings about our common future.

 

The disaster at
Fukushima revived concerns about nuclear safety, and the UN mobilized a global response.

 

We saw record floods in Pakistan, Thailand, Colombia and
El Salvador - a vivid reminder of the increasing incidence of extreme weather.

 

I came to office speaking of climate change as the defining challenge of our era. I was determined to raise it to the top of the global agenda.

 

Five years later, we have made significant progress - from Bali to Copenhagen to Cancún and, now,
Durban.

 

At
Durban, we defied the sceptics. We showed clearly that UN multilateral negotiations can deliver: consensus on a clear target and timeline for reaching a legally binding agreement involving all countries; a re-commitment to the Kyoto Protocol and the institutions that have produced major reductions in green house gases; advances on technology and financing, including the Green Climate Fund.

 

Looking ahead, we will build on this
Durban spirit of cooperation to advance on climate change financing and, in particular, our new initiative on Sustainable Energy for All.

 

There is a broader lesson.

 

Whether the issue is climate change - peace, security and human rights - or humanitarian relief -  the United Nations has never been so needed.

 

I believe we are at an inflection point in history. All is changing. The old rules are breaking down.

 

We do not know what new order will emerge. Yet we can be confident: the United Nations will be at the fore.

 

That is why, at the General Assembly in September, I set out a vision for the next five years - a vision of solidarity for an era of upheaval and uncertainty.

 

I identified five global imperatives - five generational opportunities to create the future we want:

 

First, sustainable development,

Second, a safer and more secure world,

Third, the importance of prevention,

Fourth, helping countries in transition, and

Fifth, doing more for the world’s women and young people.

 

I will lay out our plan of action in January to the General Assembly.

 

For now, let me say that we will focus on the links among issues.  We must connect the dots – between climate change, energy, food, water, health and education, and oceans.

 

All these will be front-and-center at the
Rio + 20 Conference on Sustainable Development in June next year.

 

Meanwhile, we will build on the progress of the last five years.

 

Our new emphasis on preventive diplomacy and mediation has produced encouraging results - in Sierra Leone, Guinea, Kyrgyzstan, Cyprus and
Nepal.

 

We have advanced the Responsibility to Protect.

 

In
Côte d’Ivoire, Laurent Gbagbo sought to subvert the will of his people. We stood firm for democracy - and today he is in
The Hague. We stood, as well, against Muammar Qaddafi when he vowed to slaughter his people like “rats.”

 

These are important victories for justice and international law. During the last five years, we have stood repeatedly for accountability against impunity. We have strengthened the rule of law and the International Criminal Court, now ratified by 120 nations with more soon to come.

 

On disarmament and non-proliferation, we have seen growing support for the five-point plan introduced early in my first term.

 

We continue to champion the rights of women and children. The creation of UN Women culminated a long effort, grounded in our conviction that women are key to development and peace.

 

Our “Every Woman Every Child” initiative has the potential to prevent millions of needless deaths. Coupled with our success in fighting malaria, we have a powerful model for the future.

 

What we preach to others, we must practice ourselves.  Women hold more senior positions than ever in UN history. You will see many more during my second term, not only at the top.

 

Ladies and gentlemen,

 

We can accomplish little without a strong United Nations.

 

People are outpacing traditional institutions - in their desire for change - in their demands for democracy, justice, human rights and new social and economic opportunity. 

 

Our challenge is to keep up - to adapt - and to deliver.

 

As my Chef de Cabinet announced on December 1, I intend to build a new team for my second term, a team that is strong on substance and diverse in composition, a team that works as one.

 

Leading by example, I have placed priority on mobility - combining fresh perspective and institutional continuity and synergy.

 

With these criteria in mind, I am undertaking a thorough review of my entire team and its management structure. In the coming days, additional announcements will be made as appropriate.

 

Thank you, and I will be happy to answer your questions.

 

QUESTIONS AND ANSWERS

 

Q: Mr. Secretary-General, on behalf of the United Nations Correspondents Association, thank you for this press conference and for attending tonight’s dinner.  My question is this: the Human Rights Council presented a devastating report on
Syria.  Are you going to submit it to the Security Council soon -- this report, after 5,000 people [were] killed?

 

SG: I think I have transmitted the report of the International Commission of Inquiry a couple of days ago. Of course, it is for members of the Security Council.  It has also been transmitted to General Assembly.  So it is for Member States to review and take the necessary decision.  The situation is very worrisome and I have repeatedly expressed my deepest concerns.  I hope that the United Nations and the international community will be able to take concerted, coherent action.  In that regard, I highly commend the initiative and leadership of the League of Arab States nations and I have been very closely consulting with the Secretary-General of the League of Arab States how the United Nations and the League of Arab States and the other international community, in a broader sense, can work to resolve these issues.

 

Q: Mr. Secretary-General, when the Arab Spring first started in Tunisia and then spread to
Egypt, you spoke in favour of change.  Now that the results of the elections are out -- so far, you know the results -- are you concerned about the future of democracy and political stability in the region?

 

SG: That is why I reported to the General Assembly one of my five imperatives for next year, for a five-year second term, would be helping those countries in transition, particularly those countries who are able to attain their initial aspirations, like Tunisia, Egypt and Yemen.  It is very important that their success should be a sustainable one.  We have been trying to help to provide technical and logistical support to Egypt and
Tunisia in electoral processes, and we are also discussing with world leaders how we can provide the socio-economic support so that they can provide the good opportunities to particularly young people and women and marginalized groups of people.  This is going to be one of the top priorities.

 

Q: Mr. Secretary-General, when you look back on the whole of the Arab Spring, tens of thousands of people have been killed in these different countries, and the UN and the international community has reacted at a different pace in each case.  Has this been a victory overall, the past year for the international community, its reaction?  Has it been a success rather than a moral victory?

 

SG: As I said, this has been remarkable in terms of our commitment to help those people who have been oppressed, under oppression.  You have not seen such a dramatic situation where people were speaking out, where the international community was speaking out together with those people to help them.  Of course, more needs to be done, and it is quite sad and tragic that so many people have been killed, lost their lives and have been wounded in the course of these demonstrations and expressing their freedom of speech and their aspirations.  That is why I have been, and the United Nations and the international community have been continuously, consistently speaking out that the leaders should listen to the voices of their people and take up all the reform measures before it explodes, like this way.  So we will still have to see and [remain] continuously engaged with the countries.

 

Q: Mr. Secretary-General, as another follow-up on the Arab Spring, we have seen actually these protests from very developed countries, including the United States and also in
Russia and in some European countries which are not usually on the United Nations agenda.  Do you see that there is some kind of a real world trend that perhaps the United Nations and you as the Secretary-General should be looking at and addressing?

 

SG: We are living in an era of uncertainty and inequity.  And we need to look at this issue and address this issue from a broader perspective, even political and historical perspectives.  It is, as you said, not only those countries under oppression, but even in the developed world, we have seen so many people demonstrating out of frustration.  That’s why I have been saying that this is quite a generational opportunity for the United Nations to address these issues.  These generational opportunities do not come along often.

 

If I may say a little bit historically, in terms of the democratization process, we have seen such yearnings for democracy as early as in the 1950s, in Eastern European countries under communism.  Then you have seen some countries in Asia, like in the
Republic of
Korea.  Then in 80s, late 80s, you have seen the collapse of the Cold War era with the reunification of
Germany.  Then another 20 years or another generation later, we are seeing such yearnings, like a wildfire, spreading across the Middle East and
North Africa, because they have been oppressed by tradition, by culture, by authoritarian leaders.  It is only natural, only natural evolution of history; that, we have to look at from that perspective.  That is why I termed it as a generational opportunity.  This is the moment which we have to seize and help them.

 

The worst case in the developed countries like the
United States, where you have seen Occupy Wall Street and which had been spreading all throughout the developed world.  That is in the course of rapid industrialization and globalization; there has been some gap between the peoples.  They have been marginalized people, and there has been inequity between rich and poor and particularly we have not paid much attention to the women and youth groups.  That is why, again, one of my priorities.  This all comes from historical perspectives.  It is not coming out of just responding [in a] reactive way.  I have thought, with my senior advisers, very seriously how the United Nations can be relevant and can be helpful in addressing these issues.  So that’s why we have to do more for women and youth groups. 

 

Often, we have been saying that the young people will be the leaders of tomorrow.  But they have already taken leadership role today already.  These were the people who were shouting and demonstratin