ADDRESS BY

HIS EXCELLENCY MAJOR GENERAL MICHAEL JEFFERY AC CVO MC

GOVERNOR-GENERAL OF THE COMMONWEALTH OF AUSTRALIA

ON THE OCCASION OF

THE CLOSING OF THE 45TH ANNUAL CONFERENCE OF THE UNITED NATIONS

YOUTH ASSOCIATION OF AUSTRALIA

VIBE HOTEL, NORTH SYDNEY

14 JULY 2006

Â·      Mr Ravi Chandra, President, United Nations Youth Association of Australia  Â·      Ms Gillian Calvert, New South Wales Commissioner for Children and Young People  Â·      Mr Simon Sheikh, 2006 Conference Convenor  Â·      Delegates    Good afternoon. I am delighted to be here for the final phase of your important national conference.     I am a firm believer in the importance of the role of the United Nations.     Its family of agencies is engaged in a vast array of work that touches every aspect of people's lives  around the world: child survival and development; environmental protection; human rights; health and  medical research; alleviation of poverty and economic development; agricultural development and  fisheries; education; family planning; emergency and disaster relief; peaceful uses of atomic energy;  labour and workers' rights; the list goes on.     Delegates. Hubert Humphrey, 38th Vice-President of the United States, stated that, "the heroes of the  world community are not those who withdraw when difficulties ensue, not those who can envision  neither the prospect of success nor the consequence of failure - but those who stand the heat of battle - that is the fight for world peace through the UN."     And it is against this positive outlook that I applaud the theme of your conference; "Peace - it's in our  hands".     However, peace is not something that can be worked up or attained overnight. It is based on a multitude  of interconnecting, complex factors.     Your conference agenda highlights many of the important issues. For example, you have discussed  Australia's role in the international community, free trade, regional aid in the Pacific, proliferation of  chemical, biological and nuclear weapons, human rights, the environment and energy security. All of  these issues frame the quest for peace - for cohesive communities.     Yet I am sure you would recognise that much more needs to be done.     This afternoon I would like to touch on several of the challenges facing humankind that I see as  important as we move further into this century - these include Population, Poverty, Environment, Water  Resources, HIV/AIDS and Pandemics.     Nearly half the world's population still has to make do on less than $2 per day. Approximately 1.2  billion people - of whom 500 million are in South Asia and 300 million in Africa - struggle on less than  $1 a day. People living in Africa south of the Sahara are almost as poor today as they were twenty years  ago.

By 2050 the population is projected to at least triple in Afghanistan, Burkina Faso, Burundi, Chad,

Congo, the Democratic Republic of Congo, Timor-Leste, Guinea-Bissau, Liberia, Mali, Niger and  Uganda.     Across the world there is a demographic revolution occurring. According to the UN, one out of every  ten persons on earth is now 60 years of age or more; by 2050, it will be one in five, and by 2150, one in  three.     Striking differences exist between regions. One out of five Europeans is 60 years or older, but just one  out of twenty Africans.     And seventy to eighty per cent of the typical Arab country is under 30, and understandably those young  people are focussed on jobs availability and access to resources.      As the world population continues to grow geometrically, great pressure is being placed on arable land,  water, energy, and biological resources to provide an adequate supply of food, whilst maintaining the  integrity of our ecosystem.     The scramble for agricultural land in some countries has led to seemingly unstoppable practices such as  forest clear-cutting and road building which fragment and devastate forest ecosystems, cause severe  water pollution and destroy aquatic life, particularly where hillsides are steep.     According to the World Bank and the United Nations, between one and two billion humans are  malnourished, indicating a combination of insufficient food, low incomes, and interestingly, inadequate  storage, refrigeration and transport distribution arrangements. This is the largest number of hungry  humans ever recorded in history.     Further, the one billion people living in developed countries earn 60 per cent of the world's income,  while the 3.5 billion people in low-income countries earn less than 20 per cent. Understandably, these  imbalances help contribute to world and regional instability.     Is there a role for good Australian science? Can our scientists, linked where possible with overseas  scientific bodies, help better feed the world's starving? Agricultural biotechnology, including arid area  farming technologies, improved seed lines, superior water management, fertiliser development,  machinery innovation, and information technology are just some of the essential tools for improving  food yield and quality.     And in a nation such as India, where about 20 to 30 per cent of its agricultural food production rots  before reaching even its local market destinations, more effort must be made to improve refrigeration  and transport systems.     In a global sense, whilst the world's population has tripled in the last century, the use of scarce water  resources has grown sixfold.     Today's world water crisis is defined by insufficient access to safe drinking water for over one billion  people, and inadequate sanitation for half the world's population.     So we must ask the question.  What is the potential of biological controls to keep water supplies clean?  And in agriculture, can new drought-resistant plants make water use far more efficient? We know that  water means far more than simply the bonding of Hydrogen and Oxygen. Water holds cultural, political,  environmental and religious significance. The practical problem is this: as the world population  increases by another 40 to 50 per cent within the next 50 years, and industrialisation and urbanisation  expands, the increasing demand for water could intensify tensions amongst different users, especially  internationally.     Delegates. I am deeply concerned by the impact of HIV/AIDS, and with good reason. The sheer  magnitude of HIV/AIDS seems to have overshadowed the pathology of the disease. Consider Sub-

Saharan Africa, where more than 25 million people are living with HIV, where there were more than 3

million new infections in the last twelve months and where more than 2 million people died. In the same  region, around 2 million children under 15 are living with HIV and more than 12 million children have  been orphaned by the disease; a social disaster of epic proportions.     Such critical circumstances are not confined to Africa. In the Asia Pacific region, and unless checked,  this area could become a major epicentre of the virus.     Nowhere is this situation more serious than in Papua New Guinea which I visited late last year for the  30th anniversary of Independence and to commemorate the 60th anniversary of the end of World War  Two.     One study has predicted that if the disease spreads unchecked, a worse-case scenario could see 38 per  cent of the PNG work force infected by 2020.     In many countries, a failure of national will and leadership to even recognise the problem is complicated  by promiscuity and lack of contraceptive knowledge and practise. Indeed some existing social norms  impose a dangerous ignorance on girls and young women, as does the stubborn reluctance of men to use  readily available contraceptives.     Delegates. Other issues demand serious planning and problem solving, not the least of which are  pandemics such as avian flu.     More than 120 people in five Asian countries, in Egypt, Turkey, Azerbaijan and Iraq are known to have  died from the H5N1 strain of bird flu since late 2003. Indeed more than 200 people have contracted the  flu and the figures are showing a mortality rate of over 50 per cent. The World Health Organisation has  warned that a global pandemic of the virus may be virtually impossible to stop if it mutated into a form  which could easily jump between humans.      A cluster of deaths in Indonesia in May sparked fears that the virus might now be being transmitted  between humans, although the WHO has since declared there is no evidence of sustained spread from  person to person. However the virus has now hit three continents - reaching Nigeria in February 2006  and making major inroads into Europe in the same month.     The main concern is that each new human case increases the chances of the feared "human" mutation.     The problem now is time. All nations must ensure they develop coordinated research and pandemic  disaster planning - planning on a potentially vast scale. And this includes contingency arrangements that  are regularly tested and up to the mark.     Delegates. The challenges I have mentioned should not be interpreted as a pessimistic view of our  global situation; the world has always had its problems.   Indeed I am sure you will agree with me that  while we might not be able to influence the direction the wind takes, we can do much to adjust our  circumstances, that is, to reconfigure our sails and rigging, to ensure we arrive safely by making good,  effective plans.     And it is within this context of influencing change that I make a final comment.     What of the effectiveness of the UN in a Security Council sense? What solutions can you propose that  would enhance the UN's role as a peace maker; in particular giving it the flexibility to act swiftly in  preventing large scale tragedies such as genocide and starvation? The days of witnessing another  Rwanda must end.     Does the UN Secretary-General need sizeable  civil/military assets, under UN command, able to deploy  rapidly, perhaps even in a pre-emptive sense, if so agreed by member countries?     The UN's 2006 report, 'Investing in the UN: For A Stronger Organization Worldwide' deals with the

management of the Secretariat and confirms that the UN needs a significant investment in how it

recruits, develops and retains its people, how it procures goods and sources services, and how it  manages and accounts for the taxpayer funds of all Member States in its overall pursuit of efficiency  and results; clearly, an ongoing challenge for an organisation whose managed financial resources now  amount to $18 billion.     And what part can we play as Australians? How would we convince the rest of the world that a  relatively small group of 20 million people deserve to be the guardians of such a wonderful country,  blessed with so many resources.     I hope you would agree with me that it can be best demonstrated by the way we choose to conduct  ourselves, by making wise use of our assets and, in the context of the United Nations, by sharing our  knowledge, intellect, skills and values with others.     Thus I commend the United Nations Youth Association of Australia.      I see your conference as an effective means for expanding knowledge of international affairs and  practices, encouraging dialogue, learning to respect different views, and working together.     Indeed I hope this week of forums and workshops has been the catalyst to prompt in each of you;        Ã¢ÂÂ¢   a broader understanding of what Australia has to offer to the world;       Ã¢ÂÂ¢   a deeper appreciation of what Australia and its neighbours have to share with one another through  economic, cultural and social exchange; and       Ã¢ÂÂ¢   an even greater awareness of the role of the United Nations and its place in world affairs.

I hope your appreciation of the issues confronting the world community will inspire you to take up a life- long interest and involvement in those matters.     I congratulate you all on your participation in the Conference, and I wish you all good luck for the  future.     On your behalf I declare the 2006 Conference officially closed.     Thank you.

