Opening General Assembly debate, Ban urges leadership to move from ‘turbulence’ to peace --- 24 September 2014 – Warning that the world’s “fasten seat belt” light is illuminated, Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon today opened the 69th annual debate of the United Nations General Assembly with a call for decisive leadership at a time when the ghosts of the Cold War have returned and much of the Arab Spring has gone violently wrong. -- “This year, the horizon of hope is darkened. Our hearts are made heavy by unspeakable acts and the deaths of innocents,” he told the assembled leaders from 193 nations. “Not since the end of the Second World War have there been so many refugees, displaced people and asylum seekers. Never before has the United Nations been asked to reach so many people with emergency food assistance and other life-saving supplies,” he said. -- “It may seem as if the world is falling apart, as crises pile up and disease spreads. But leadership is precisely about finding the seeds of hope and nurturing them into something bigger. That is our duty. That is my call to you today.” -- Mr. Ban’s annual opening message, which draws from his yearly report on the work of the Organization, was not entirely bleak. “Hope may be hard to discern, but it is there,” he said. “In clinics, classrooms and other places far from the spotlight, the development agenda is making remarkable progress. -- "Global poverty, child mortality and maternal deaths have been cut in half. More remains to be done, but these and other gains show the power of the Millennium Development Goals and what we can do when we work together. Today an inspiring global conversation is taking place on an agenda for the next 15 years.” -- Read More, http://www.un.org/apps/news/story.asp?NewsID=48808