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Call for a Second Worldwide Vigil for the United Nations Call for a Second Worldwide Vigil
for the United Nations
October 23, 1997Protesting the Financial Crisis -
Demanding a Stronger, More Effective and More Democratic UN
We call for a second worldwide citizen’s vigil for the United Nations, to be held on 23 October 1997 – the eve of United Nations Day. The vigil will express our deep concern about the UN’s serious financial crisis and it will show our support for a stronger, more effective and more democratic UN. It will protest the delinquency of the debtor states and urge governments to increase their commitment to the UN and to pay their UN dues in full, on time and without condition.Last year, the first worldwide vigil was held in thirty-two cities around the globe – including Tokyo, Penang, Bombay, Rome, Santo Domingo, Ottawa, New York and San Francisco. Thousands of citizens participated in candlelight gatherings, marches, informational leafleting, meetings, lobbying and other creative activities, organized locally by many dozens of cooperating groups.
That vigil was a great success. But today, the threat to the future of the UN continues. We must again express our support and concern, powerfully and visibly. So we now call for a Second Vigil. This year, let a hundred cities join in this great citizen endeavor!
We will not accept that the United Nations is owed over two billion dollars in dues assessments by member states. Or that its small budget has been reduced and its staff deeply cut. Or that many related funds and programs in the UN system have been cut, too. Or that the global conferences that have been the UN’s most democratic forums have been eliminated.
Especially we do not accept that the world’s richest government, the United States of America, owes two-thirds of the delinquent sums and has pushed the UN to the verge of bankruptcy. Or that the Congress has linked payments of current and past dues to dozens of crippling and illegal "conditions." Change at the UN must be done in accordance with international law and agreed-upon procedures. Governments must honor their commitments to the UN and meet their financial obligations without condition, in full and on time.
The vigil will express our determined opposition to government sabotage of the UN and to the failure to provide the organization with the mandate and resources it needs to address the urgent problems facing humanity. The vigil will raise awareness of the UN in local communities throughout the globe. It will give us the opportunity to demand a stronger and more effective UN, more open to citizens’ concerns and more closely attuned to the needs of the world’s people.
The vigil will make a forceful statement, that the media, politicians and the public cannot ignore.
Therefore,
We call for local committees to come together and organize local vigils at dusk on October 23rd. Many participants will want to carry candles or small lights and many will wear UN-blue ribbons. Music may be appropriate to set the tone of the event. Vigils can assume many forms and take place in many locations.
We urge citizens groups and persons of good will across the globe to join us.
If we work together, we can succeed beyond our dreams.
William Pace, Executive Director, World Federalist Movement
James Paul, Executive Director, Global Policy Forum
Horace Perera, Acting Secretary General, World Federation of United Nations AssociationsAugust 1, 1997
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