UN General Assembly
2001

Today, our greatest hope lies in people: in people of all races, of all genders, of all faiths; people of all continents and oceans; people of all ages; the “ordinary” people of the world and those who hold themselves to be of higher station. All the world’s people are affected by the calamities that loom; all must be involved in turning humanity away from gloom and in finding the light. The Charter does not set out the principal organs of the United Nations in a hierarchical order, but the General Assembly is the only principal organ under the Charter that embraces all the Members on a one member, one vote basis. It is the symbol of the United Nations as a universal organization in the best democratic tradition. And so, I believe that it is within the General Assembly that the true renaissance of the United Nations must begin. The special value of the General Assembly is its universality, its capacity to be a forum in which the voice of every Member State can