in-and-out on the same mission

Just as a new year is about to begin and take us to who knows where it may lead to, I would like you to join me in taking this occasion to briefly give a warm fare-well to our outgoing UN Secretary General, Kofi Annan. And to thank him for his many great services over the years. I for one am deeply appreciative of his unrelenting efforts to yes, indeed: better the world we live in.
Equally, this post shall take the opportunity and hail his successor, UN Secretary General designate Ban Ki-moon from South Korea, and wish him all the best, naturally, for meeting the massive demands his new mandate will undoubtedly confront him with.

There are many tasks ahead for him to master, like fighting HIV/AIDS, poverty, human trafficking, corruption, terrorism, climate-change and all sorts of environmental looming disasters that need to be prevented or at least contained. Then there have to be ever renewed efforts to help and assist in all kinds of calamities, natural disaster and every horrid case of genocide, wherever on the globe they might befall their innocent victims. You name it, this list could go on forever...

And it is just as rightful, as it is necessary, to criticize the UN, in a constructive way i.e., for their shortcomings, for their at times frustratingly blatant ineffectiveness, no need for naive UN-euphoria in my view. Read Romeo Dallaire's eye-opening account “Shake Hands With the Devil” about the UN's tragically failed role in Rwanda in the mid-'90s if you should have any doubts in this respect.

Even so, to put it as frank as Kofi Annan recently did in the man's own words: “...to have a scapegoat is fine, but it won't solve the problem”!
To this day, the idealism incorporated in the UN Charta is standing strong as one of mankind's finest achievements. And it is vital that member states live up to their own, lofty pledges. It is us, the voice of the many, the peoples in their respective countries, who have to take our governments for their words, judge them by their deeds and hold those in power accountable for their actions or inaction.
All this is plain as day, of course – but this is not to say it isn't worth insisting upon, is it not?

Live up to it!

(pic©Bild key/nzz.ch)