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2005 CTAUN Conference A World Out of Balance: Searching for Answers Through Education and the United Nations Friday, February 4, 2005

Summary of Conference Proceedings

Welcome—Anne-Marie Carlson, Conference Chair. The program was opened with a welcome to those in attendance by Mrs. Anne-Marie Carlson, Conference Chair and Chair of CTAUN. She announced that 405 people had registered for the conference coming from 14 countries—the United States with 19 states and the District of Columbia represented, along with Canada, Mexico, France, Germany, Austria, Italy, Argentina, Morocco, Tunisia, Tanzania, Saudi Arabia, Uzbekistan, Turkey, and Indonesia. The last twelve countries were included this year because CTAUN has started to cooperate with the Institute of International Education (IIE), and seventeen of their Fulbright Foreign Language Teachers were in attendance.

Opening Address—Shashi Tharoor, UN Under-Secretary-General for Communications and Public Information

Dr. Tharoor opened his address by reminding those in attendance that "The U.N. is as much your organization as it is mine." Speaking from his own extensive governmental, administrative and field experience, he urged us to find out as much as we can about the U.N. in order to combat the ignorance and apathy against which that organization strives. He referred to the unfavorable publicity caused by the report of the Volker committee on the Oil for Food program, which greatly shocked the U.N. as well as the world in general, adding that "We all have the right to expect the highest standards and, of course, feel much let down when these are lacking." However, in the wake of negative publicity, the many good programs that do not make the headlines are often overlooked. The central focus of Dr. Tharoor's remarks was on the role of the United Nations as "the one indispensable global organization in our globalizing society." In response to questions sometimes raised in public life about "What is the U.N. good for?" he reviewed its many accomplishments in reducing or eliminating deaths due to malaria, diphtheria, and polio. The U.N. is the only global organization that is able to lay down common standards in such areas as international flight, mail delivery, copyrights, and the preservation of world heritage sites. Mr. Tharoor recalled his own experiences in Singapore as a young man working with the boat people and noted that the U.N. was the only organization that could negotiate the admission of refugees in such a situation precisely because it does not belong to any one nation but embodies the collective interest of all. It is currently spearheading the largest rescue operations ever seen in response to the recent tsunami. The U. N. is able to coordinate relief efforts because of its universality. During the question period at that followed, Dr. Tharoor commented that the greatest obstruction to action in the U.N. occurs when member states do not have the political will to act. Yet member states are also its greatest strength. In response to suggestions for expanding the Security Council beyond the configuration of the victors of World War II, he stated that it would be important to balance a broader representation with efficacy. He touched briefly on the importance to the U. N. of its location in New York and referred to the current need for renovation of the building after fifty years. Finally, he stressed the need for support from civil society, and noted that the body needs to be seen as broadly representative in order to "work for common objectives in the name of our common humanity."

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