United Nations Radio

Our earth is fortunate to have been blessed with the presence of a host of great spiritual prophets, saints and sages who have offered their values to human society over the millennia.

According to the President of the UN General Assembly Miguel d'Escoto Brockmann of Nicaragua, these faith-based values are embodied in texts such as the Torah, the Bible, the Qu'ran and the Vedas, and in noble teachings of the Buddha, Lao Tzu and Confucius.

He told a high-level meeting of the General Assembly on the Culture of Peace that without inclusion of these spiritual assets, not even the best planned programmes for the eradication of hunger and poverty in the world and for the attainment of peace on Earth can succeed.

"We need the inner strength - the moral energy and inspiration that we can get from our ethical values- to overcome our selfishness and individualism. We have these powerful spiritual assets at our disposal. Unfortunately, we have opted to put them aside and decided instead to worship the golden calf.

Mr. d'Escoto Brockmann says there's an opportunity to integrate these values into the work of the United Nations which can instill moral strength and conviction needed to ensure success in eradicating poverty and guarantee genuine human security for all.

This is Donn Bobb reporting for United Nations Radio.

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