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June
21, 2002
Annan
Urges Students to Be Global Citizens
UN
Secretary-General Kofi Annan urged Northwestern University graduates
to become "global citizens, for whom a long-term commitment
to global causes is a defining personal test."
Speaking
at Northwestern University’s 144th commencement June 21, Annan,
who received an honorary doctor of laws degree, told students "that
the way you and your generation think about poverty holds one of
the keys to a safe and prosperous 21st century for all people, in
rich and poor countries alike."
The
following is the text of UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan’s
address to students, parents and guests at the ceremony in Ryan
Field.
It
is a pleasure to join you, the class of 2002, at your renowned university
on the shores of beautiful Lake Michigan. Congratulations on reaching
this milestone. Let’s also pay tribute to the families, faculty
and friends who helped you get there.
The
world was very different when I graduated from Macalester College,
not far from here in St. Paul, Minnesota, more than 40 years ago.
I thoroughly enjoyed living in the United States. But for us Ghanaians
at the time, the overwhelming focus was on our own country’s
newly attained independence. We Ghanaians learned a powerful lesson
from that experience: peaceful change is possible. We were well
aware of the world at large – how could we not be, having just
endured colonial rule, and still watching our fellow Africans fight
for their freedoms, too. But most Ghanaians looked inward, and set
about the job of running their own nation.
Today,
in Ghana and even the most remote places on earth, forces press
in from every conceivable direction. We are all being influenced
by the same tides of political, social and technological change.
We are connected by travel, sport, communications and commerce.
Your actions here in Evanston can influence life in Eritrea; and
what happens in India has implications for Illinois.
In
such a world, issues that once seemed very far away are suddenly
very close to home, as if they were in your backyard. As someone
once said about water pollution, we all live downstream. And in
such a world, we need each and every individual to act as a global
citizen.
I’ve
been told quite a bit about the admirable things the Northwestern
community is doing to help others, less fortunate than you, to improve
their standards of living. I know that even before you arrived on
campus for freshman orientation four years ago, nearly one hundred
of you spent your last week of summer vacation in underprivileged
areas of Chicago, working on urban renewal projects and meeting
with community leaders to improve your understanding of urban poverty.
And I know that many of you have also traveled to various parts
of the United States to work in homeless shelters and AIDS clinics
as part of Alternative Spring Break.
It
is particularly heartening to know that you are not limiting this
work to Chicago. More and more Northwestern students are studying
abroad, and more courses about the developing world are being added
to the curriculum here. In a few days several newly minted Kellogg
School MBAs will fan out in the developing world for four to six
weeks to share their expertise -- in an effort that sounds very
much like the UN’s own corps of experts in information technology.
Your tradition of scholarly exchange, for example in the African
Studies program, demonstrates your commitment to spreading knowledge
throughout the world. And The Medical Supplies Mission -- founded
by two of this year’s graduates -- shows that one country’s
surplus equipment can be another’s life-saving intervention.
That
is just the kind of engagement we need in an interdependent world.
Each of you has more power than you probably realize. As consumers,
your decisions to buy or boycott a product or company can get companies
to practice corporate citizenship. As voters, you can shape the
national agenda and select leaders who understand the need to work
in concert with other nations. And as young people, you have a wealth
of energy and idealism that many of your elders may lack.
But
to what end should such power be used? Certainly there is no shortage
of global challenges. Let me suggest today that you focus on one:
the fight against global poverty.
Contrary
to popular belief, the world has made great strides in improving
the quality of human existence. Life expectancy and literacy have
risen. The infant mortality rate has dropped. Yet there is an immense
backlog of deprivation. Three billion people -- that is, half the
people in this world -- have to eke out their living on less than
$2 a day. In a world of great wealth, in a world of scientific and
technological wonders, in a world in which people are more aware
than ever before of how "the other half lives," that should
be unacceptable.
There
are powerful moral reasons to join this battle. Extreme poverty
is an affront to human dignity and human rights. It undermines universal
values of equality and freedom. Solidarity with the poor is a cardinal
tenet of all the world’s great religions.
But
there are also strong reasons of national security and enlightened
self-interest. Drug trafficking, AIDS, pollution, conflict: these
and many other problems are closely related to poverty. We see a
vicious cycle, in which poverty breeds other ills, which in turn
make it harder to escape from poverty.
Fighting
poverty is about far more than aid from one government to another,
although that is essential. Poor countries need debt relief. Even
more than that, they need a chance to compete fairly in the global
market. Were you aware that tariffs and farm subsidies cost rich
countries many times what they provide in aid? This was one of the
main points that my friend Bono of U2 was making on his recent tour
of Africa with Treasury Secretary O’Neill.
I
suppose poverty is not a subject you would usually associate with
a day of celebration such as this. But I would argue that the way
you and your generation think about poverty holds one of the keys
to a safe and prosperous 21st century for all people, in rich and
poor countries alike. I would even go so far as to say that wrestling
with the complexities of global poverty can help you answer other
vexing questions -- questions that might sneak up on you tomorrow
morning, once your heads clear and your relatives clear out.
Indeed,
there are few moments in life in which hope and fear are mixed so
powerfully as the day after graduation from college. No matter how
much you have pondered and planned what to do next, you may find
that you feel tomorrow, more intensely than ever before, the need
to reflect on age-old questions of purpose and place: What values
will animate your life? What kind of world do you want to live in?
And what kind of world will you leave behind, for your children
to live in?
Tomorrow
you may sense that the world is waiting for you to decide who you
are and what you stand for.
Tomorrow,
I hope, you will see yourselves as global citizens, for whom a long-term
commitment to global causes is a defining personal test. We will
not defeat poverty overnight, nor tackle the other issues of our
times without that commitment. And tomorrow is when you must make
your start -- for the world’s sake and for your own.
Dear
friends,
I
understand that there is a tradition here at Northwestern, dating
back to the 1920s, of using the "rock" as a message board.
I’m afraid my visit here is too short for me to take up my
paintbrush tonight, so maybe I could ask you to post a message for
me.
My
message has two parts. First: "We’re all in this together."
And second: "Class of 2002: we’re counting on you."
Congratulations
again on your big day. And thank you for the opportunity to share
it with you. Thank you very much.
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