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: