We are pleased to have you present with us this evening, January 17, 2008, to help us launchthe Ira D. Wallach Fund for the Eradication of Genocide.
The late Ira Wallach was a longstanding champion ofefforts and activities to promote a strong, just system ofglobal governance. Supported by the Miriam and Ira Wallach Foundation,this new fund will provide a wide range of programmatic andcapacity support for affiliatedcenters in diverse global regions committed to development of aUnited Nations Emergency Peace Service (UNEPS), a standing, individually-recruited, gender integrated capacity that can respondrapidly and effectively to outbreaks of genocide, crimes againsthumanity and other humanitarian emergencies anywhere in the world.
The launch of this Fund not only provides us an opportunity to thank the Wallach family for their years of dedicated support for a just world order. It also gives us a chance to acknowledge and thank our many friends and colleagues in this work. We are grateful for the presence here this evening of some of our most cherished regional partners, including Sir Brian Urquhart, a long-time inspiration for standing, rapid-deployment capability within the United Nations; and Pera Wells, secretary-general of the World Federation of United Nations Associations whose initial idea for a Wallach memorial is in part reflected here tonight. Saul Mendlovitz, a longtime friend of the Wallach Family, will share some personal reflections on the Wallach legacy. A few of our core global partners have also shared their thoughts about the importance of UNEPS and the Wallach Fund and you can read those thoughts below.
We acknowledge and deeply appreciate all that you do to support our common work to end genocide and fulfill our ‘responsibility to protect’ civilian populations facing abuse. We look forward to working with all of you to bring the message and the promise of UNEPS and other strategies for eradicating genocide and crimes against humanity to diverse global regions.
The UNEPS Secretariat Team
Manuela Mesa, Spain
The UNEPS initiative, supported in part by the Wallach Fund for the Eradication of Genocide, is an important step as we move from words to action. UNEPS represents a sound, concrete proposal to prevent genocide, but we now need to build the political will to put this initiative into practice. The victims of the genocide cannot wait any longer for a solution. We must work together at national, regional and international level to stop existing genocides and prevent future ones. UNEPS provides a way forward and European societies must support this initiative.
Hussein Solomon, South Africa
Few continents have experienced periodic genocide in recentmemory as Africa has. While much of the world is mindful of Darfur, we need also to recall the Rwandan genocide of 1994, theongoing ethnic cleansing in the Congo, and attempts at ethniccleansing now in Kenya’s Rift Valley following the recentelection. In all this we need more effective preventivemeasures, both regionally and in the international system. It is for this reason that I support the UNEPS project and welcome the establishment of the Wallach Fund for the Eradication of Genocide. These are important steps towards ridding the worldof this scourge and ensuring that when we say “NeverAgain” we act on it.