Development, peace and democracy are no longer the exclusive responsibility of governments, global organizations or intergovernmental bodies. The great democratizing power of information has given us all the chance to effect change and alleviate poverty in ways we cannot even imagine today. Our task, your task, in the coming days, is to make that change real for those in need, wherever they may be. With information on our side, with knowledge a potential for all, the path to poverty can be reversed. Knowledge is power.
Information is liberating.
Education is the premise of progress, in every society, in every family. We at the United Nations are convinced that information has a great democratizing power waiting to be harnessed to our global struggle for peace and development. It is ignorance, not knowledge, that makes fighters of children. It is ignorance, not knowledge, that leads some to advocate tyranny over democracy. It is ignorance, not knowledge, that makes some think that human misery is inevitable.