UN General Assembly
1994

short-lived. The path ahead is strewn with uncertainties and pitfalls. The end of the cold war has yet to reward us fully with its promise of global peace and security. It has instead unleashed the demons of parochial nationalism, tribalism, religious fanaticism — as witnessed in the “ethnic cleansing” in Bosnia — tribal warfare in Rwanda and religious dissension in some countries. The North-South divide in wealth, power and control over resources is still too pronounced to be ignored, and the redistribution of global prosperity is far from being realized. The paramount challenge facing the global community today is to fulfil the promises made in recent years of systemic change in the global environment. This is to be achieved through sustained efforts in regard to economic development and through the strengthening of civil society and multilateral institutions. Development is the only secure foundation for global peace and security, for the origins of conflicts are often very deeply rooted in socio-economic deprivation and disparities. As for civil society, its growth into maturity requires the establishment of institutions for a stable and