Ban Ki-moon urges global tolerance

Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon urged the world to deepen its commitment to the common values of social inclusion, acceptance and understanding, saying emigration was increasingly a global trend with minorities and migrants gravitating towards cities for economic opportunities.

Addressing the International Conference on the Inter-Ethnic City in the Italian capital, Rome, yesterday he stated: “We meet in what I call an age of mobility. This is an era where people are crossing borders in ever-increasing numbers in pursuit of opportunity and hope for a better life.

“Cities are the main centres of action – the hubs, the magnets, the places where people collide and coexist,” he told the conference, organized by the Italian Ministry of Foreign Affairs under the auspices of the United Nations Alliance of Civilizations, which was created to promote intercultural dialogue and understanding.

“In such a climate, there is a tendency to blame the ‘other’ or to see the ‘other’ as draining the local economy.

“Indeed, in every corner of the world, migration is often the subject of shrill debate – a wedge to provoke social tensions, drive political extremes, fan the flames of discrimination and hatred,” the Secretary-General said.

 “We should also remember that the profile of migrant workers is not always what we imagine. They are not always low-wage, poorly educated labourers. To the contrary, in many countries and cities they are the best and the brightest: doctors, nurses, engineers and other highly educated professionals. They are entrepreneurs who revitalise neighbourhoods and create jobs. These are a welcome addition to any society,” the Secretary-General added.

 “We live in a world where, too often, division sells. It wins votes. It gets ratings. It is much easier to blame others than to think for one’s self.

“And yet, wherever I go, I have found something else – a growing realisation that we are in this together. A sharper understanding that cities and communities do best when everyone has a chance to give their full potential – when all can play a part,” the Secretary-General added.

The Secretary-General acknowledged that cities face both economic and social challenges in creating an inclusive environment, especially in the prevailing global economic uncertainty and political transitions under way in many countries.

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Picture: Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon