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Video: Taking peace-building to the world, our responsibilities and failures

Kapuscinski Development Lecture with H.E. José Ramos-Horta, former President of the Republic of Timor-Leste and Nobel Peace Prize Laureate.

"We are living in very dangerous times. Right here in the heart of Europe forces of good and of intolerance are on a collision course. Across the English Channel there are forces bent on wrecking a magnificent social, political and security architecture built over many decades pushing Europe towards the abyss of chaos and irrelevance. In  the  course  of  over 40  years,  starting  as  an  innocent  and  romantic  believer in  the  promises  and possibilities  of  the  United Nations,  I  have  seen  the  best  –  when the UN lived up  to  the  expectations  of the  people  it deployed  to  protect  –  but  also  I witnessed or heard heart wrenching stories of shocking  betrayals  on  other front  lines.  I  have engaged with UN  personnel  in my  own country  and in  remote  outposts  where  dedicated field staff  absorb  the  indifference  of  headquarters,  whose  envoys  descend  to  evaluate  the  mission, yet  things stayed  the  same.  The  UN  can do  better.  We are all the UN and we can and must do better."

Listen to a speech by H.E. José Ramos-Horta, former President of the Republic of Timor-Leste and a Nobel Peace Prize Laureate, and discussion with Inge Kaul, Adjunct at the Hertie School and the first director of the Human Development Report office of UNDP, on our podcast: