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UNITED NATIONS - / www.MaximsNews.com,
UN/ - 20 November 2006 --
Dr.
Hans Blix
was unanimously elected as the new president of
the World
Federation of United Nations Associations
(WFUNA) at its Plenary Assembly, held
earlier this month in Buenos Aires. The
World Federation informs and energizes a global
network of United Nations Associations in over
100 countries that support the UN’s programs
and principles and help shape its agenda. Ambassador
William vanden Heuvel, president of the Friends
of WFUNA,
said that United Nations associations from
around the world felt honored to have Dr. Blix as
their president. “They
greatly respect him as a man who has the courage
of his convictions and who has devoted himself
to freeing the world of nuclear, and other
weapons of mass destruction. The
World Federation will now develop
programs focused particularly on engaging
the interest of young people,“ continued
vanden Heuvel. “The
election of Dr.
Blix
is the chairman of the Weapons of Mass
Destruction Commission. He is the former Foreign
Minister of In
his acceptance, Dr Blix recalled that his
introduction to the United Nations was when he
won a world essay competition in 1950 that was
sponsored by WFUNA. In
commemoration of its sixtieth anniversary this
year, the World
Federation launched a global essay
competition in his honor, on the report of the
Commission of the Weapons of Mass Destruction.
Dr. Blix presented this year’s winner, Ms. Immaculate Motsi from Zimbabwe, with a certificate. He led a panel discussion on her essay, highlighting the points that she had made and emphasizing the importance of students taking their studies seriously. “Many students ask me how
they can become activists and I tell them that
while they are students they should study, so
that they are intellectually equipped with a
comprehensive understanding of the complexity of
issues,” he said. Delegates
to this year’s Assembly, representing the
United Nations Associations in 59 countries,
issued a statement, “The Buenos Aires
Declaration - We the Peoples supporting the
United Nations for a Fair and Peaceful World”
calling on the world to pursue less
confrontational paths in contemporary conflicts. U.N.
Secretary-General Kofi Annan issued a similar
message to the Assembly, “At
a time when, more than ever before, human beings
throughout the world form a single society, we
cannot afford divisions that threaten the very
notion of an international community. That
is why associations such as yours are more
important than ever.” Separate
resolutions were adopted, all by consensus, on
the Middle East, establishing a Weapons of Mass
Destruction free zone in the Middle East, Iraq,
an Arms Trade Treaty, lifting of the US embargo
on Cuba, an end to the building of the wall
between Mexico and the US, support for the
Alliance of Civilizations, and a call for
setting up a UN Parliamentary Assembly. In
support of dialogue among civilizations, the
UNA-Spain offered to host a meeting of UNAs from
the The
World Federation’s next Plenary Assembly will
be hosted by the UNA-Republic of Ms. Pera Wells, elected Secretary-General until the next Plenary, will be working to strengthen the capacity of all UNAs to participate actively in the programs and activities of the World Federation. “The
Plenary Assembly, with the election of Hans Blix
as our President and the adoption of
action-oriented resolutions, has given us all a
renewed sense of vitality and determination to
do what we can to strengthen public support for the
United Nations,” said Wells. Looking
to the future, the World Federation’s
Constitution was amended to integrate a new
youth movement into the organization’s
structure. A new program to facilitate
international networking among young
professionals was launched. The
young participants at the Plenary ran their own
parallel conference, actively debating issues,
drawing up a list of projects and electing a
coordinating committee of nine members from Other
elections resulted in Mr. Pang Sen of UNA-China
becoming the Chairman of the Executive
Committee, to which UNA delegates from Canada,
Democratic Republic of the Congo, India, Norway,
Republic of Korea, Russia, UK, USA, and
Venezuela were elected to join the eight existing
members. Messages to the Plenary Assembly from the UN Secretary-General and the President of the General Assembly, the Buenos Aires Declaration, all of the resolutions and the link to the video are available on the World Federation’s website: www.wfuna.org ~~~~~~ MaximsNews.com, An Independent Voice from the U.N., provides commentary and analysis from leading world figures: King Abdullah II (Jordan), HRH Prince Zeid Ra'ad Zeid Al-Hussein (Jordan), Sir Brian Urquhart, Hans Blix, Amb. Richard Holbrooke, Anwar Ibrahim, Bianca Jagger, Dr. Nafis Sadik, Shashi Tharoor, Thoraya Ahmed Obaid, Noeleen Heyzer, Kerry Kennedy, Ian Williams, Stephen Schlesinger, Sen. Timothy E. Wirth, Marc Morial, Amb. Jayantha Dhanapala (Sri Lanka), Amb. Pierre Schori (Sweden), Amb. William H. Luers, Mehri Madarshahi, J. Michael Adams, Gloria Feldt, Jeffrey Laurenti, Rodney D. Smith, Rory O'Connor, Genevieve Stamper, Max Stamper and others.
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