Maurice Strong, Under Secretary General, UN
Guest Speaker at the Grand Opening of the Church of Scientology New York (cont.)

Now, I also was/have to say you’ve heard a full and very, very inspiring set of examples, but I’m sure only a few of the many examples of the work that Scientology and its practitioners do throughout the world. But I have to say, that in my role at the United Nations, I do get an opportunity to appreciate this and as a part–time resident of New York, but one with a full–time commitment to New York, I am immensely impressed and share in the deep gratitude that all feel for the seminal work of this organization in dealing with–the 9-11 emergency. And the techniques and the mobilization and the commitment you have to helping others to deal with personal crises and national emergencies throughout the world. I learned also of your singular dedication to resurrecting and implementing the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, which, of course, is very near and dear to me.

This document, originally recognized by the United Nations in 1948, follows from the fact that failure to grant fundamental human rights to all people of the world is at the root of so many of the conflicts, which have divided people and threatened peace in every region of the world. Thus, it is important that a Universal Declaration of Human Rights be universally applied and adopted.

Now as your Founder so rightly observed, this document has not only been ignored by many governments you see evidence of it today: Sudan, Darfour and elsewhere. The vast majority of people to whom those rights belong are unaware even that their rights exist, let alone have the opportunity to actually experience them.

But through your programs of drug–rehabilitation, you’ve helped to restore broken lives, just as through your programs of conflict resolution, help to build peace and to restore peace after conflict. Just this year, your Youth for Human Rights International program completed a 35–day world tour, promoting the message to government leaders in 13 nations, and tens of millions of people all over the world.

And it was here at the United Nations, UNICEF headquarters, that you recently convened a youth summit, in which young human rights advocates from around the globe gathered to address injustice and bring these words from L. Ron Hubbard to life: "Human rights must be made a fact, not an idealistic dream."

And so all of us commend you for the work you have done to convert this dream into fact. Individuals are, after all, the building blocks of every society, as we have heard emphasized so eloquently this morning. When an individual can not care for himself or herself or their families, when they’re threatened or tortured for their religious beliefs, when they can not read or are trapped in drug addiction or simple ignorance of the facts of the larger world. This turbulence extends from that person on or to their families and from there, bleeds into society as a whole.