UN General Assembly
2012

or ineffectual local institutions. Haiti has understood that only veritable democracy can bring stability: it is the indispensable precondition for any development policy. I wish to sincerely reiterate from this rostrum the urgent need we all must face to stop fighting and to work instead to protect the assets we share on this planet — to work together to reduce and manage the risks and disasters besetting the world, ruining our economies and hindering development. To my colleagues, the leaders of the world, I wish to recall that our respective peoples have chosen us and entrusted to us the mandate of building a better world where no one will be left alone, where our children will finally be able to grow up in peace. The words of Victor Hugo come to mind, pronounced at the Peace Congress in 1847: “The day will come when there will be no battlefields other than markets open to trade and minds open to ideas.” Those are my wishes for the assembly of nations. May the good Lord give us His blessings and enlighten