Приветствие Генерального секретаря ООН Пан Ги Муна

UNITED NATIONS

NATIONS UNIES

THE SECRETARY-GENERAL

MESSAGE ON THE 60th ANNIVERSARY OF THE PEACE MOVEMENT AND THE ESTABLISHMENT OF THE SOVIET PEACE COMMITTEE-FEDERATION FOR PEACE AND CONCILIATION

Peace is the overwhelming desire of every human being and a core value of all states. The quest for that elusive goal has been the mission of the United Nations throughout its history. We need a world free from the disastrous impact of war, free from the threats posed by weapons of mass destruction, free from the perceived need to spend ever greater sums on armaments, often to the detriment of funding for the Millennium Development Goals.

Disarmament is one of the oldest and most venerable goals of the United Nations. It is found both in the Charter and in the General Assembly's first resolution, adopted in January 1946. Though it has offered enormous benefits to the world community, it remains one of the more difficult challenges on the UN agenda. Today, well over twenty thousand nuclear weapons remain in the world's arsenals, despite widespread recognition that such weapons are irrelevant to contemporary security challenges such as terrorism and intra-state warfare. Possession alone entails great risks.

Civil society has made a crucial contribution to our shared work for the elimination of weapons of mass destruction and the limitation or regulation of conventional armaments. Non-governmental organizations and peace-loving citizens have spoken out, eloquently and effectively. They have mobilized both policy-makers and the grass-roots behind efforts to build a safer, healthier, more prosperous world for all.

I salute the noble mission of the global peace movement and the contributions of the Soviet Peace Committee - Federation for Peace and Conciliation. Please accept my best wishes on your 60th anniversary. I look forward to seeing your Organization continue its importance work in defence of peace.

Ban Ki-moon