Volume 11, No 2.

THE SECRETARY-GENERAL

MESSAGE for UN AT 60 Issue of the Journal of International Communication

August 2005

Over 60 years, the United Nations has striven to redeem the pledges enshrined in its founding Charter.

Where we could, we have averted the scourge of war. Where we could not, we have sought to resolve conflict and build peace. We have codified fundamental human rights. We have enabled many women to assert their equal rights with men, and many small nations to take their place in the family of nations, on equal terms with their former colonial masters. We have sought to establish conditions under which justice and respect for law can be maintained. And we have done whatever we could to promote social progress, and better standards of life, in larger freedom.

We have had many successes. We have kept the peace in many places. We have helped banish smallpox and polio from almost every country. We have given millions of children an education that their parents could not dream of. We are helping with elections in countries from Afghanistan to Zambia. And we have brought relief to victims of disasters like the Indian Ocean tsunami.

We have also had failures. The worst, perhaps, was the collective failure to prevent the genocide in Rwanda.

Today, in a new century, we face new threats and challenges, but also new opportunities. We must now advance on three fronts simultaneously: development, security and human rights. Governments, civil society, business, scholars, citizens and others must work together as partners to put in place the changes -- in the international system and in the United Nations itself -- that are so urgently needed.

But change will not come simply because governments and others take decisions. We at the United Nations are convinced that information, knowledge and communication are critical parts of the changes that must take place if we are to build a better future for all. This special issue of the Journal of International Communication should spark wide discussion on some of the main questions involved in promoting a culture of international communication. I am grateful for that contribution and will continue to count on your support in the crucial period ahead.