The Secretary-General: excerpts from statements by United Nations Secretary-General Boutros Boutros-Ghali.

• Position: Transcript

To the Rio Branco Institute, Brasilia, Brazil, 29 February:

The cause of democracy has found a home in the United Nations. A new international consensus has been created. Broad support has been mobilized. Advocates of democracy have used the high political visibility of the United Nations to gain commitments and win wider support. The impact has been felt on the ground, not just in theory.

In January 1992, shortly after I became Secretary-General, the United Nations Electoral Assistance Division was established. To date, the United Nations has provided electoral assistance to over 60 countries worldwide. Starting with education about elections, the United Nations role has also included logistics, observations and verification of elections. In some countries the entire organization and operation of the elections has been a United Nations responsibility.

But holding elections is often only the beginning of democratization. In the past, countries willing to support elections were reluctant to go further. But the United Nations has served as a forum for consensus on the need to create a culture of democracy. Today, the United Nations supports democratization through drafting constitutions, strengthening human rights laws, enhancing judicial structures, and helping armed opposition movements transform themselves into political parties.

To the French Institute of International Relations, Paris, 21 March

I know that it is not customary to speak about oneself in public. But I am none the less going to make a confession to you: it is not always easy to be Secretary-General of the United Nations. For the Charter of San Francisco has created a very singular post for its occupant.

If you are too cautious, the Member States begin to whisper and to ask each other whether they have made a wise choice. Conversely, if you engage in a diplomacy that is too active, they are quick to remind you that you are merely the humble servant of an organization consisting of sovereign States.

The States want you to be both self-effacing yet enterprising, quiet yet dynamic, disciplined yet to have imagination. As you see, that is quite a challenge for anyone to attempt to deal on a continuing basis with such contradictions. Particularly since there are, in addition, the contradictions of the present-day world and those of the world Organization.

Upon receiving a doctorate honoris causa from the University of Bordeaux, France, 22 March

States are today well aware that the...