Interrelationship between major elements and other special topics. Mr. Chairman, permit me to begin by expressing my appreciation for being given the opportunity to address this panel and share with you some human rights perspectives on financing for development, especially as viewed in the counties of the developing world. In doing so, let me stress, at the outset, my view and understanding of human rights. Human rights inhere in the very nature of the human person and they define and enshrine one's humanity. Human rights exist to secure freedom from fear and freedom from want.
Human rights seek to prevent and redress inhuman wrongs.
But, on the other hand, the UN remains teetering on the financial brink and is having its credibility eroded by the unilateral actions of its more powerful Member States. A global revolution, in communications and information technologies, is providing unparalleled opportunities for global civil society to make invaluable contributions to international negotiations on land mines, on the multilateral agreement on investments and on the international criminal court. However, the internet has also become a vehicle for organized crime, global pornography and the global trafficking in women, children and human organs. There has been a veritable NGO explosion and the flowering of civil society, worldwide. Yet, we are also witnessing the perpetration of gross human rights abuses and violations by some civil society actors, resulting in genocide, racism, discrimination and hate crimes.