On Tuesday, Nov. 8, 2005, Gillian Sorensen addressed WCU students, faculty and members of the West Chester community. As a former senior advisor for the United Nations, Sorensen worked under Secretary General Kofi Annan from 1997-2003, where she had a direct role in communications and scheduling. Prior to 1997, she was a special advisor to the then Secretary General Boutros Boutros-Ghali. Sorensen also worked on the Council on Foreign Relations.Ms. Sorensen opened with a narrative of a recent visit to Hyde Park where she was reminded of Franklin Delano Roosevelt’s hope for peace and confidence in the world.
Sorensen has traveled the country, from Northern Maine to Southern California, giving lectures to answer critics and speak out about the good of the United Nations. “We do not have the option to say that this doesn’t matter,” she said.
Sorensen then spoke of the “good news that doesn’t make news,” citing that the United Nations is the only universal forum where global issues can be discussed. Its programs protect the lives and health of children (UNICEF), serve a national interest and “lift the misery of the poorest of poor.”
Speaking as a voice for the United Nations, Sorensen talked about the War in Iraq and the evidence that led to it. She said that the United Nations believed there to be a lapse in the evidence presented by the United States.
Additionally, she told listeners that in August 2003, the United Nations sent 30 of its top members to Baghdad and all 30 of them were killed in abombing. This, she said, solidified their argument against the war.
Sorensen said, in 1994, the United Nations became atarget for the political right and that misinformation from these anti-U.N. groups beganto dramatically change opinions of the organization in the United States. She said that as a result, the United Nations became labeled as “an organization of convenience”
that was “to be used only when needed.” In her travels throughout the world, Ms.Sorensen held that no other country had this much denigration of the United Nations.
Ms. Sorensen then addressed her wishes of our country. She said that during her long flights across the country and the world, she thought of what America would be if we wanted “the U.N. to be all it could be.”
Her first statement, “we’d pay our dues on time and without commission,” drew an overwhelming applause from the audience. She continued with her wishes, saying that we would cease United Nations bashing, recognize the integrity of Secretary General Annan, support the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) and pay the requested .7 percent dues for them. Sorensen also wished that we would recognize the legitimacy of the Security Council, send our best most qualified ambassadors to sign conventions and lead the world in global law by supporting the International Criminal Court (ICC). “We need to make certain that our words and deeds, principles and practices match,” she said.
Sorensen informed those in attendance that the United Nations was in the middle of a fundamental reform in which several new objectives would be installed. A peace building commission will be created to attend to the period directly succeeding a war. Furthermore, a new Human Rights Council would far exceed the work of the current Human Rights Commission.
Finally, the MDGs, which address eight global issues ranging from extreme poverty and hunger to universal primary education to combating HIV/AIDS and malaria are expected to be fulfilled by the year 2015. As one of her closing remarks, Sorensen quoted former U.S. Secretary of State Madeleine Albright, “even superpowers need friends.