In an age where community involvement and partnerships with civil society are increasingly being recognized as indispensable, there is clearly a growing potential for cooperative development and renewal worldwide.

The United Nations, whose membership comprises almost all the States in the world, is founded on the principle of the equal worth of every human being.

The death toll from small arms dwarfs that of all other weapons systems — and in most years greatly exceeds the toll of the atomic bombs that devastated Hiroshima and Nagasaki. In terms of the carnage they cause, small arms, indeed, could well be described as 'weapons of mass destruction'.

In a world of plenty, continued suffering is a terrible stain on our conscience. It is inexcusable that we not strive, with every resource at our disposal, to eliminate suffering.

The US-led invasion of Iraq was an illegal act that contravened the UN charter.

If you are neutral in a situation where one side is patently being mistreated, the conclusion is that you're siding with this wrong.

Like any large organisation, public or private, the UN is a complex machine.