Jan Eliasson Quotations

Multilateral discussions lead to compromises, ... We can only go as far as member states want to go.

I have decided to be in a listening mode on this issue (Security Council reform). It is an important part of the reform agenda, but it requires careful nurture.

I have a masochistic pleasure to put in 14-hour days.

We are facing an escalation that could end in armed conflict, with terrible suffering as a result. That's why the world should be very careful at the moment.

What we have been trying very energetically during these two days to convey to the Iraqi side is that for them to have a better hearing...for their grievances, they would be very wise in...coming back to the situation before October 29.

it is crucial that Palestinians and Israelis cooperate to the fullest extent possible.

We have worked through the families, the travel agencies. We've sent ... up to a hundred people to go through the hospitals.

While we will build on the positive achievements and best practices of the Commission, some of the elements we are considering will make the Human Rights Council a truly new and different body a fresh start.

Who is right? The answer, I believe, is up to us, ... The document should, as one speaker put it, be a beachhead of common ground from which we launch ourselves forward with urgency and common purpose.

The realities of the world are a constant reminder that global action and collective efforts are now needed more than ever,

We have problems ahead of us. I will not hide the fact that the management issues are very difficult and we face a polarization of the membership.

Without passion, nothing happens; without compassion, the wrong things happen.

We usually say there is always a ‘Plan B,’ but there is no ‘Planet B’.

Our work must remain open and transparent so that we hear the voices of all

Without peace there is no development, and without development there is no peace

I feel that Orphei Drängar are among Sweden's foremost ambassadors. It's always a delight to hear the drängar, both abroad and at home.

I don't have time. Come back after the election.

For all the civilians saved thanks to the presence of peacekeepers, there have been those who were lost - the United Nations personnel who sacrificed their lives for a noble cause. Even as we mourn our fallen colleagues, we are all uplifted by their unflinching commitment and are inspired to strive even harder for the collective cause so eloquently envisaged in the United Nations Charter: a world free from the scourge of war.

While no member state has got everything it argued for, the text before you is balanced, strong and workable. I also hope that, after reviewing the text as a whole and after assessing the larger issues at stake, you will be ready to move to a decision on this draft resolution as soon as possible, preferably before the end of next week.

I so much enjoyed doing the think-tank circuit once or twice a week. . . . I like the element of communicating and thinking aloud with like-minded and less-like-minded individuals,

This draft resolution represents a unique opportunity for a fresh start for human rights.

This is a major step toward preventing genocide in the future.

I hope the Iraqis understand that their isolation could be much worse than it is today.

The best birthday gift to our Organization is for all of us, the members of the global community, to translate our leaders' commitments at the 2005 World Summit into concrete action to the benefit of the peoples of the world,

Still I would claim that this very ambitious reform proposal represents a major step for reform of the United Nations.

not only to recall the grievous crimes committed in human history but also to reaffirm our unfaltering resolve to prevent the recurrence of such crimes.

International issues are national, and so many local issues - migration, communicable diseases, organized crime - end up touching everyone. At the same time there is such suspicion. It is quite a paradox.

I have seen the women in Somalia receive those water bottles where the alternative for them is to walk for two miles to get polluted water and even run the risk of being raped. These are the realities that we have to bring into the halls of the United Nations. So we may ask for a higher degree of ambition in the document. The realities are there, and I think we will have to deal with those realities.

A reopening of negotiations will mean new amendments and we would continue going in circles, getting nowhere.

The General Assembly, by a two-thirds majority of members present and voting, could suspend the rights of membership of a council member who commits gross and systematic violations of human rights.

We will not achieve our collective goals for development, peace and security and human rights if we do not take concrete action to enhance women's participation in decision-making in governments, parliaments, international organizations, academic life and the private sector.

This water I can drink right now is a luxury for 1.2 billion people in the world. Three-hundred million people south of Sahara don't have this,

The latest I hear is that the Thai authorities think it is a matter of mistaken identity.