United Nations Radio

Political and religious leaders from around the today gathered at UN headquarters in New York to discuss the culture of peace. The two-day meeting of the General Assembly has been requested by the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia to encourage dialogue, understanding and cooperation between religions and cultures. In his opening address, the President of the General Assembly, Miguel d'Escoto Brockamann noted that the world is experiencing the worst period since the founding of the United Nations. He said the future of humankind depends on the ability and willingness to learn from today's multiple crises.

Brockamann: It is a time of numerous bankruptcies, but the worst is the moral bankruptcy of humankind's self-proclaimed more advanced societies which has spread through the world. It is not only Wall Street that needs to be bailed out. We need to bail out all of humankind from its social insensitivity.

Mr. d'Escoto Brockamann warned of the accelerating destruction of the capacity of the Earth to sustain life and the real possibility of the disappearance of the human species.

Brockamann: Both are attributable to irresponsible human behavior and to the unbridled greed and irrational consumerism that characterize developed societies. We must choose between allowing these values to dominate our societies or taking the necessary steps to ensure that solidarity and social responsibility become the guiding principles of human activity, including in the economic and political spheres.

The President of the General Assembly called for action based on values that promote good among people. He stressed the need to tackle the challenges facing the international community, including poverty, climate change and the current financial crisis. In his address to the General Assembly, UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon noted that extremist ideologies are on the rise and societies more polarized.

Ban Ki-moon: Anti-Semitism remains a scourge. Islamophobia has emerged as a new term of an old and terrible form of prejudice. And other kinds of racism and discrimination show a dismaying presence. Sometimes it seems as if none of history's awful lessons have been learned. One of the greatest challenges of our time must now surely be to ensure that our rich cultural diversity makes us more secure, not less.

The Secretary-General said that for peace to endure, individuals, groups and nations must come to respect and understand each other. He noted that inter-faith initiatives are addressing this need with greater frequency and force. For its part, the United Nations is promoting tolerance and mutual respect in the work of initiatives such as the Alliance of Civilizations established by the governments of Spain and Turkey.

Ban Ki-moon: Over the past two years, the Alliance has been supporting grassroots civil society projects that seek to bridge cultural divides by addressing entrenched stereotypes and polarization among communities. These projects have involved exposing young people to other cultures, and having experts provide opinions and advice on issues that threaten to inflame identity-based conflicts.

King Abdullah bin Abdul-Aziz Al Saud of Saudi Arabia said that throughout history followers of different religions and cultures waged wars without any sound logical or ideological justification. He told the General Assembly that it is high time for people to learn from the harsh lessons of the past and concur on the ethics and ideals on which they all believe.

Producer: Derrick Mbatha

Narrator: Dianne Penn

(duration: 4'16")