Many people think that we have no shared value system in the world today but we actually do.

We must encourage energy conservation and sustainable development. Young people are the ones who are most environmentally conscious in Ireland, so that to some extent they are educating their parents. They are tackling issues of waste disposal and so on. The schools help, because they put a lot of stress on environmental awareness.

The MDGs have been useful in moving human rights and development discourse together and in highlighting the need for greater accountability at all levels.

When a genocidal killing occurs, as happened in Rwanda, it is not just an internal domestic matter.

A lot of young people are very cynical about the political framework because they see the countries that preach democracy and human rights being countries largely responsible for the problems in their region.

Companies should increasingly see themselves as major corporate citizens with a wider responsibility to the community. Nothing less than their reputation - their image - is at stake.

Freedom from discrimination for women, ensuring that female children can learn to read, these are human needs for half the human race, not western values.