Kofi Annan, the former Secretary-General of the United Nations, said today in Caux that a lot of the world’s environmental degradation would never have happened if governments had listened to the world’s indigenous peoples. He was speaking the day before the United Nations International Day of the World’s Indigenous People, at the Initiatives of Change conference centre. Asked by an Australian Aboriginal leader, Ray Minniecon, about the role of the world’s indigenous peoples, Kofi Annan replied, ‘Governments should listen. They have a lot tell us about living in harmony with nature. If we had listened to the indigenous people, a lot of the world’s environmental degradation would never have happened.’ ‘What does it mean to be a good global citizen?’ he asked, going on, ‘You don’t have to be Secretary-General of the UN.’ When something goes wrong in our societies, we should not just turn to governments, he suggested. ‘We should all ask ourselves what we can do. As individuals, we are not powerless. Sometimes it takes just one individual to say, “Enough is enough,” for others to rally,’ Annan continued. He saluted the young people he had heard speaking from the Caux platform on the theme of ‘the power of reconciliation’. They were good examples of this global citizenship, he said. In conflict situations, the former UN head stressed the importance of listening, ‘really listening, listening to what is said, and even more importantly, listening to what is not said. Put yourself in theshoes of the other.’ He ended his remarks with an African proverb: ‘The eyes see what they believe; the ears hear what others say; and the heart sees the truth.’ ‘We need all three,’ he concluded, ‘eyes, ears and heart.’ Kofi Annan, who was Secretary-General of the UN from 1997 to 2006, was welcomed into the packed Great Hall of the Initiatives of Change conference centre, by African drumming and ululating. Headdressed the ‘Tools For Change 2007’ conference, which has drawn some 380 participants from every continent and over 70 countries, including indigenous leaders taking part in a Global Indigenous Dialogue. The respected Ghanaian was welcomed to Caux by his friends Cornelio Sommaruga, honorary Chairman of Initiatives of Change - International, and Mohamed Sahnoun, Algerian international civil servant and peace-maker, who is Sommaruga’s successor as the President of Initiatives of Change International. Bernard de Riedmatten, the President of CAUX – Initiatives of Change, expressed admiration for Annan’s commitment, courage and vision. ‘You are the conscience of humanity. You have practised a human diplomacy,’ de Riedmatten said. ‘Tools for Change’, the fifth of this summer’s conference sessions, runs from 4 -11 August. It offers workshops in areas such as conflict transformation and trauma healing, dialogue, organizational development, communications, team building and spiritual practices. Initiatives of Change is a diverse network committed to building relationships of trust across the world's divides. Initiatives of Change International is an NGO in Special Consultative Status with the Economic and Social Council of the United Nations. The Swiss Foundation, CAUX – Initiatives of Change, member of IofC International, owns and runs the Caux conference centre, which celebrated its sixtieth anniversary last year.
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