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Lord Provost of Aberdeen gives speech
Nigel Dower, Chair of UNA Aberdeen, gives speech
In celebration of UN day on the 24th of October 2020, the Lord Provost of Aberdeen Barney Crockett gave the following speech:
I am honoured to support and to remind people of UN75.
The UN is marking its 75th anniversary at a time of great disruption for the world, compounded by an unprecedented global health crisis with severe economic and social impacts. Will we emerge stronger and better equipped to work together? Or will distrust and isolation grow further? 2020 must be a year of dialogue, when we come together to discuss our priorities as a human family, and how we can build a better future for all.
Covid-19 is a stark reminder of the need for cooperation across borders, sectors and generations. Our response will determine how fast the world recovers, whether we achieve the Sustainable Development Goals, and how well we handle pressing challenges: from the climate crisis to pandemics, inequalities, new forms of violence, and rapid changes in technology and in our population.
But just when we need collective action more than ever, support for global cooperation has been flagging. In many countries, public trust in traditional institutions is in decline and relations between countries have been under strain. Will this pandemic bring the world closer together? Or will it lead to greater mistrust? Global dialogue – and action – is now more urgent than ever."
You can find the video of his speech here: https://www.facebook.com/136201759830202/videos/347677606457248
Nigel Dower, the Chair of the UNA Aberdeen branch, gave his speech on the same day:
I'm pleased to have this opportunity, as chair of the United Nations Association Aberdeen Town Branch to congratulate the United Nations on its 75th birthday, as we remember that it was founded on the 24th of October 1945. And I would like to thank the Lord Provost Barney Crockett for his words of support for the UN and for arranging for the raising of the UN flag on the Town House. Antonio Guterres the UN secretary general recently said that the world needs to cooperate and collaborate far more now than ever to tackle not just COVID-19 but also climate change and many other issues we face. The UN in fact earlier this year launched an initiative called UN75 inviting us to take part in a global conversation about what kind of world we would like in the future - you can join in this conversation by doing its survey online right now. So far the overwhelming message is that we need to cooperate far more.
Remember that the United Nations is about ‘we the peoples’ as it says in the preamble to the UN Charter - it is not just about what governments do. If we the peoples can signal by what we do and what we say that we support the international approach and, albeit in a spirit of what I call critical loyalty, The UN itself, then it is more likely that our governments will indeed follow suit and act in a spirit of global solidarity. What better day to remind ourselves of this important point than on UN day?
You can find the video here: