As 2010 comes to a close, I do not think we can look back on a year of progress. Peace and security demand more outspoken leadership and deeper solidarity. The economic crisis, with its severe impact on development, has continued throughout the year. The Millennium Development Goals are not yet within our grasp. Natural disasters seem to affect every corner of the globe on an ever increasing scale. Our youth deserve better consideration and children everywhere need our love and protection. For many in the world, democracy and respect for human rights are still unfulfilled promises.
I hope 2011 will bring real change: change that is founded on a political ethos of democracy, tolerance, respect and reconciliation. This is the only way to achieve lasting peace in so many conflicts in the Middle East, the Korean Peninsula, Africa and elsewhere. Only then will we attain the development goals we have chosen for ourselves. Only then will people be able to govern themselves in the interests of the common good, guided by compassion and sound ethics instead of selfishness and greed.
I look forward to a year in which the management of public affairs becomes the province of the majority and not the few; a year in which the more profound injustices behind the crises that afflict our world are faced with collective will; a year in which we make real progress in attaining gender equality and the reins of power begin to be held by more women in all countries; a year in which intransigence and violence give way to reason and dialogue. A year in which peaceful cooperation and sustainable development prevail.
I send you all my very best wishes for 2011.
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