Fulbright AssociationArchbishop Tutu
 





Fulbright Association
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Phone: (202) 347-5543
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Kofi Annan Speaks to Fulbrighters

Thank you, thank you very much. I don’t know what I can add to all the wonderful things that have been said by the lady and the gentlemen on the podium with me, and also the very eloquent statement made by the Chairman of the Selection Committee, Lee Hamilton, and of course, by the President of the Fulbright Association.
But let me simply say that I am deeply honored to receive the 2001 Fulbright Prize for International Understanding. I am particularly pleased to receive an award named after J. William Fulbright, a visionary statesman and a founder and supporter of the United Nations. His belief in the values of the United Nations Charter and his commitment to securing peace through cooperation inspires us even today.
The Fulbright Exchange Program is a model for the kind of dialogue among cultures and civilizations that the United Nations has been promoting around the world. Today, perhaps more than ever, international understanding is essential to world peace – understanding between faiths, between nations, between cultures. Today we know that just as no nation is immune to conflict or suffering, no nation can defend itself alone. We need each other as friends, as allies, as partners, in our struggle to uphold our common values and to fulfill our common needs.
The United Nations at its best can be the true home of the dialogue among civilizations, the forum where such dialogue can flourish and promote genuine understanding. Without this dialogue taking place every day, among all nations, within and between civilizations, cultures, and groups, we will not be able to overcome the wounds of 11 September. That is a lesson in almost every part of the world but nowhere more so today than in Afghanistan , a country devastated by decades of war, drought, and political oppression driven by ethnic and other differences.
We have learned from painful experience that authoritarian and highly personalized governments, and of course, ethnic discrimination and human rights violations, have been at the root of that country’s conflicts. Conversely we have learned that only democratic governments, by protecting minorities, encouraging political pluralism, and upholding the rule of law, can channel internal dissent peacefully and thus help avert the kind of civil war that has taken such a heavy toll on the people of Afghanistan during the last quarter century.
My dear friends, the appalling terrorist attacks on this country on 11 September focused the world’s attention on the reality that a collapsed and destitute state such as Afghanistan provides fertile ground for armed groups to plan and prepare unspeakable acts of terror at home and abroad. It must bring home a second lesson and a second reality, too. The answer to such violence and to the sources of grievance, which provide an excuse for such acts, is more democracy, not less, more freedom, not less, more development aid, not less, and more solidarity for the poor and dispossessed of our world, not less. The United Nations is urgently engaged in helping Afghanistan embark on a new beginning. First and foremost, we must do all we can to help meet the humanitarian needs of the Afghan people. Winter has already set in, and we must feed and shelter as many of the 7.5 million Afghans who are vulnerable and suffering as possible.
Beyond this, and beyond this most urgent need, as we are all aware, my special representative Lakhdar Brahimi has been hosting talks in Bonn aimed at producing a basic agreement on the establishment of an interim administration that is acceptable to all Afghans and accountable to all Afghans. If all the Afghan parties as well as their neighbors and the wider international community give their full support, there is now a real opportunity to create the sort of broad-based, fully representative government that the United Nations has been trying to help the Afghan people achieve for a long, long time.
A stable Afghanistan, living at peace, protecting the rights of its people, carrying out its international obligations, denying terrorists a safe haven, and posing no threat to its neighbors and enjoying their respect and support must be our common objective. To achieve it, any arrangement arrived at must reflect the will and the needs and the interests of the Afghan people and enjoy their full support.
Afghanistan is but one of many conflicts in the world today that deserve our concern and our compassion and solidarity. We must remember, also, that the main challenges facing the international community before 10 September have not gone away. Indeed, they have become more urgent, whether it is the devastation wrought by AI D S, the continuing poverty that afflicts billions of our fellow men and women, or the environmental degradation that threatens all peoples and all nations.
I believe critical to addressing these obstacles in an effective and a lasting way is a far greater understanding of the bonds that exist across all boundaries. The Fulbright Association has made an immense contribution to the kind of knowledge and appreciation that is necessary to sustain and deepen that solidarity. I salute your contribution and wish you all success in the future.
Thank you very much.
Presented Dec. 3, 2001 at a ceremony at the Library of Congress, Washington, D.C.
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