In a reflective speech to an assembly whose members states have increased from 77 to 192 since her last visit, the Queen praised the UN for its work in reducing conflict, offering humanitarian assistance and tackling the effects of poverty. The “waging of peace” was “perhaps the hardest leadership of all”, she said. However, she warned that “so much remains to be done”, quoting Dag Hammarskjold, a former UN secretary-general, who “once said that 'constant attention by a good nurse may be just as important as a major operation by a surgeon’.” She added: “Good nurses get better with practice; sadly the supply of patients never ceases.”
The Queen also warned that “new challenges” such as terrorism and global warming had emerged that had “tested this organisation as much as its member states”. On climate change, “careful account must be taken of the risks facing smaller, more vulnerable nations, many of them from the Commonwealth”, she said. She said she hoped that, in another 53 years, “our sincerity, our willingness to take a lead, and our determination to do the right thing, will stand the test of time”.
The speech was timed to coincide with half-time of the World Cup match in South Africa between Uruguay and Holland. The New York Daily News offered its readers a quick etiquette guide in the unlikely event that any of them should bump into the monarch. They were advised not to mention the Duchess of York, to stick to small talk about dogs or horses, and reminded: "Don't offer a handshake, a fistbump or a high five." Quite.
"In tomorrow's world we must all work together as hard as ever
if we are truly to be united nations."
The Queen also warned that “new challenges” such as terrorism and global warming had emerged that had “tested this organisation as much as its member states”. On climate change, “careful account must be taken of the risks facing smaller, more vulnerable nations, many of them from the Commonwealth”, she said. She said she hoped that, in another 53 years, “our sincerity, our willingness to take a lead, and our determination to do the right thing, will stand the test of time”.
The speech was timed to coincide with half-time of the World Cup match in South Africa between Uruguay and Holland. The New York Daily News offered its readers a quick etiquette guide in the unlikely event that any of them should bump into the monarch. They were advised not to mention the Duchess of York, to stick to small talk about dogs or horses, and reminded: "Don't offer a handshake, a fistbump or a high five." Quite.
The Queen earlier in Canada: One is and one is not amused
