Secretary General replies to NGOs - 4 June 2009

by Rajiva Wijesinha

Mr President, having been summoned to Geneva last week to pay our ever increasing tribute to the Swiss hotel industry, I thought it appropriate to spread our largesse further, and therefore managed to see a performance of ‘The Meistersingers’ in another, much more beautiful and better hostelled, small town in Europe. I realise that Wagner, with his own peculiar view of European values, should be handled with care, given the views expressed in this Council on racism, but apart from his musical genius, he was certainly knowledgeable too about human nature.

Listening to the repetitive slogans today of several non-governmental organisations, though thankfully from just a few countries, I was reminded of the performance, and realised that perhaps what we have to deal with now is not megaphone diplomacy, but rather Beckmesser diplomacy. All the aged Sextus Beckmesser could do, convinced as he was that he was the repository of all values, was to insistently ring out the faults when faced with new talent. Conversely, when he had to perform himself, he was neither harmonious nor intelligible.

Mr President, we have dealt successfully with terrorism on our soil and though we know we have to continue to exercise care about this – and therefore beg you all not to encourage the rump of the Tigers, with their ill gotten millions secreted in your banks - we hope we can move forward to a bright future for all our citizens. We know that we have had problems and, as we have discussed with those Special Rapporteurs who have approached our problems without preconceptions, we believe we need to take measures to improve things. We will welcome assistance from those who are genuinely concerned about human rights, just as in Wagner’s opera those with less experience or capacity welcomed the support and advice of Hans Sachs.

We realise that some non-governmental organisations cannot take on such a positive role, because their bread and butter lies in the twice and thrice told tales we have to hear day after day, quarter after quarter, year after year. Nothing can be done for them, but I would suggest Mr President that, in view of how far behind we are in our schedule, we ask them to meet in a different room and talk at each other and, if any of them succeeds in saying something new, they be admitted to this august assembly to astonish us with their capacity to innovate.

Countries are however different, and we believe that all countries are redeemable. We are here because we believe that there are universal values we all have in common, and governments that are accountable to their citizens will we hope abandon the raucous Beckmesser approach. We have found more generous souls like Hans Sachs than we can count, but the whole world could do with more, so we would appeal to all of you to change your ways and absorb something of the spirit Wagner’s music exemplifies.