Page 1 - ON BUILDING A HUMAN COMMUNITY WITH A SHARED FUTURE

SPEECH AT THE UNESCO HEADqUARTERS

March 27, 2014

Your Excellency Madam Irina Bokova, Director-General of UNESCO,
Ladies and Gentlemen,
Friends,

Good morning! I’m delighted to have the opportunity to come here
to the UNESCO headquarters. Let me begin by offering my heartfelt
congratulations to you, Madam Bokova, on your re-election as Director-
General and by paying sincere tribute to UNESCO for the extraordinary
contribution it makes in encouraging civilizations to communicate with
and learn from one another.
UNESCO was born 69 years ago, when the smoke of the world’s
war against fascism had barely dissipated. Faced with the war’s horrific
consequences, humankind was forced once more to reflect on the true
nature of war and peace. As centuries have come and gone, humans have
perpetually yearned for lasting peace. But war has always been there, like
a specter haunting human progress. As we speak, many of the world’s
children are living amidst the horrors of armed conflict. We must take
action to keep humanity out of war’s reach, to let all the world’s children
grow up happily in the sunshine of peace.
The stone wall at the entrance to the UNESCO headquarters bears
the inscription in multiple languages of this message: “Since wars begin
in the minds of men, it is in the minds of men that the defenses of
peace must be constructed.”
As long as the world’s people have the notion of peace etched deep
in their hearts, and the sails of peace aloft in their souls, they can give
shape to a powerful force to prevent and oppose war. It is people’s hope,
that through exchange between civilizations, through equal opportunities
in education, and through scientific literacy, misunderstandings, prejudice,
and hatred can be dispelled, and the seeds of the notion of peace can be

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