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R. A. Serrano: Address to World Summit 2022, Session 6
Written by H.E. Rosalia Arteaga Serrano, President (1997), Ecuador
Saturday, February 12, 2022
Address to World Summit
February 11-13, 2022
Note: World leaders were invited to World Summit 2022 but due to air travel restrictions, participated by submitting a video message. The following text is a transcription of the recording.
I am sending a message during this big event that you organized in Korea. I know for sure that one of the big efforts that we have to do is to build a world of peace and it’s not easy.
We have in the past had big confrontations like the First and Second World Wars and many wars that happened in different parts of the earth, like when some countries decided to have border disputes or even invaded another country.
Nowadays I think that we have more challenges than ever, for example, the challenge of climate change. What´s happening? How can we make a better environment? How can we contribute to make it better and to improve the possibilities of life?
The world population is growing. We have almost reached 8 billion inhabitants. We must create the conditions to have a good kind of life: we need food, we need clean water, we need education, we need health.
How can we do that if we are divided? It is necessary to act together.
On the other hand, when we see what is happening with the coronavirus pandemic, we are facing grave situations: we lost a lot of people, millions of people; we also lost jobs and possibilities of education and good health for people. But at the same time, we know that scientists are working, in many cases, collaborating, not only to produce vaccines but also medicines to control this pandemic and others that could come in the future. In addition, we have the big challenges of imbalance: people that are very wealthy, that have a lot of money, and people who don’t have enough to eat and have only a minimum style of life. What can we do? We have to work together too.
When I see what is happening in my country and in other countries in South America, not only with the pandemic situation but with the political and social problems in each country, we know that more than ever we have the problem of migration. A lot of Venezuelans, for example, are migrating to other countries and also to other continents. We also have people from Central America and also from Ecuador and other countries migrating to seek jobs and attain the possibility of a better quality of life.
What’s happening? Why can’t we build a good living environment with jobs and quality health and education in each of our countries? We have to act together. That’s a big challenge also, which we can see by what’s happening in different parts of the world, such as Ukraine, in Taiwan, and in Israel in the Palestine section. We know that there are conflicts and one of the oldest conflicts is one that you experienced: the Korean Peninsula.
We have two Koreas. In the past, [during] the Cold War between the United States and the Soviet Union, we thought at that time that it was impossible to achieve unification of Germany, but finally it was possible. An impossible dream came true. Then, to think about the reunification of Korea and the possibility of gaining a durable peace are not a crazy dream; it is real. I for sure think that we have to work together to achieve this.
We know that peace is not only between countries, inside countries. This is also true for our inner thoughts, how we feel about our own life. We also have to work on these personal issues.
Then, to work together is not a dream. We must do that. I strongly believe in world peace, as a big possibility now and in the future.
Thank you very much for your attention and for inviting me to this big event.
To go to the World Summit 2022 Schedule page, click here.