Spring Break
U.N. leader addresses global warming, genocide
By: Chris Hokanson
Issue date: 3/3/08 Section: News
The threat of global climate change and the crisis in Darfur, Sudan are the most important issues facing the United Nations, and the only way the organization can tackle them is with the help of the United States, said Ban Ki-Moon, UN Secretary General.
Ban spoke on Friday at the Bush Library Foundation's William Waldo Cameron Forum on Public Affairs.
Ban, who has held the office since December 2006, said he believes that a UN-U.S. partnership is vitally important to the success of the global initiatives.
"Working together is in the best interest of the United States, the best interest of the United Nations and the best interest of the whole world," he said.
The humanitarian crisis in Darfur has come to the forefront on public issues, Ban said. He said President George W. Bush is a leader in this arena, and that they are working together to solve such a complex issue.
"A few years ago, not many people had heard of this dusty corner of Africa, but today, many Americans are calling for action in the country that has claimed more than 200,000 lives and more than 2.2 million refugees," Ban said. "It's a case study in complexity. Peacekeeping is only part of the equation, a peace process is needed. We must bring all the factions to the table so the fighting will stop."
But Darfur isn't just about conflict, Ban said. It's about conflict over the diminishing resources of Africa, brought on in part by global climate change. Ban added that the conflict is "exacerbated by the long spell of drought," which causes farmers in Sudan to fight over scarce resources.
"If you don't deal with the issue of water in Darfur, if we don't deal with the issues of poverty, disease, development and the other issues at the root of conflict in the country, then there will be no solution at all," Ban said.
Ban addressed the issue of global climate change, one he says that can only be solved by the whole world's effort, through the United Nations, and not by any single nation. Ban pointed to examples of global warming that he witnessed - melting glaciers in the Andes, dried riverbeds of the Amazon and the shrinking Lake Chad in Africa. The lake, Ban said, which supports more than 30 million people, is a tenth of the size it was 30 years ago.
Ban spoke on Friday at the Bush Library Foundation's William Waldo Cameron Forum on Public Affairs.
Ban, who has held the office since December 2006, said he believes that a UN-U.S. partnership is vitally important to the success of the global initiatives.
"Working together is in the best interest of the United States, the best interest of the United Nations and the best interest of the whole world," he said.
The humanitarian crisis in Darfur has come to the forefront on public issues, Ban said. He said President George W. Bush is a leader in this arena, and that they are working together to solve such a complex issue.
"A few years ago, not many people had heard of this dusty corner of Africa, but today, many Americans are calling for action in the country that has claimed more than 200,000 lives and more than 2.2 million refugees," Ban said. "It's a case study in complexity. Peacekeeping is only part of the equation, a peace process is needed. We must bring all the factions to the table so the fighting will stop."
But Darfur isn't just about conflict, Ban said. It's about conflict over the diminishing resources of Africa, brought on in part by global climate change. Ban added that the conflict is "exacerbated by the long spell of drought," which causes farmers in Sudan to fight over scarce resources.
"If you don't deal with the issue of water in Darfur, if we don't deal with the issues of poverty, disease, development and the other issues at the root of conflict in the country, then there will be no solution at all," Ban said.
Ban addressed the issue of global climate change, one he says that can only be solved by the whole world's effort, through the United Nations, and not by any single nation. Ban pointed to examples of global warming that he witnessed - melting glaciers in the Andes, dried riverbeds of the Amazon and the shrinking Lake Chad in Africa. The lake, Ban said, which supports more than 30 million people, is a tenth of the size it was 30 years ago.
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