Monsignor GAILLOT started by reciting an inscription which states that « Renouncing other people is renouncing oneself ». Life should be for the welfare of others: a life given to others is a successful life.
Je me réjouis d’être avec vous aujourd’hui à Paris au siège de l’UNESCO à l’occasion de la conférence européenne des dirigeants . Cette conférence qui aborde le thème d’ UNE NOUVELLE VISION DE PAIX ET DU DÉVELOPPEMENT HUMAIN. Ce thème qui nous est cher en tant qu’ acteur des politiques de jeunesse et spécialistes du développement de la jeunesse et qu’est au cœur de nos préoccupations ainsi que celles de organisations de jeunesse qui aspirent à la paix, le vivre ensemble et à la participation :
The United Nations, having the goal of world peace, made development a priority and created the United Nations Development Program. The UNDP conducted development programs and research worldwide for several decades; its expertise commands respect and humility. Yet, the UNDP itself often revised drastically its own approach of development; its own literature contains much self-criticism. It will surely continue to do so. The Universal Peace Federation offers constructive insights in this ongoing debate.
Chacun voit bien que dans l’Occident prospère et à sa périphérie, les États sont en règle les uns avec les autres ; ils ne se menacent plus de guerres, de batailles ou de représailles militaires plus ou moins massives. Mais la fin de la guerre n’a pas été la paix.
The recent decades have been marked by a continued decrease in interstate conflicts and wars. Yet at the same time new challenges on our security agenda have emerged which are related to processes of intra-societal disintegration. These societal challenges and the related lack of security, rule of law and of a public sense of common purpose have, however, not yet been fully addressed in national and international policies and programmes of action.
We live in a world which is replete with challenges, that of nearly 1.4 billion people living in extreme poverty, almost 67 million children out of education and a number of conflicts from which livelihoods are shattered. Despite these challenges, the notion of a global citizen is one we all share because we live in an interconnected world that can no longer be ignored.
