Page:United States Statutes at Large Volume 107 Part 3.djvu/630

 107 STAT. 2568 PROCLAMATION 6498—OCT. 24, 1992 I also encourage all Americans to support community substance abuse prevention programs and other lifesaving anti-drug efforts throughout the year. IN WITNESS WHEREOF, I have hereunto set my hand this twenty- third day of October, in the year of our Lord nineteen hundred and ninety-two, and of the Independence of the United States of America the two hundred and seventeenth. GEORGE BUSH Proclamation 6498 of October 24, 1992 United Nations Day, 1992 By the President of the United States of America A Proclamation As stated in its Charter, the purposes of the United Nations are "to maintain international peace and security... to develop friendly relations among nations based on respect for the principles of equal rights and self-determination of peoples... [and] to achieve international cooperation in solving international problems of an economic, social, cultural, or humanitarian character." Signatories to the U.N. Charter also agreed to work together "in promoting and encouraging respect for human rights and for fundamental freedoms for all without distinction as to race, sex, language, or religion." During the past year, the United Nations has taken strides in promoting all of these goals. In the post-Cold War era, former rivals are working together under the U.N. Charter toward a better future for all mankind. The U.N. Security Council has demonstrated increasing effectiveness in matters of peace and seciuity, and U.N. peacekeepers serve proudly in every part of the world to bring about transitions to peace. Following up on the report of U.N. Secretary General Boutros-Ghali, "An Agenda for Peace," the United States has proposed ways in which we and others can enhance U.N. peacekeeping and hiunanitarian relief capabilities, beginning with conflict prevention. While we celebrate recent democratic reforms around the world, we deplore the violent resurgence of ethnic hatred and aggressive nationalism in some regions. Through the U.N. Security Council and U.N. agencies such as the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees, the United States and other nations are working hard to bring desperately needed aid to victims of the tragic strife in Bosnia and the horrifying situation in Somalia. We salute the courageous U.N. personnel who have put themselves in harm's way in these and other troubled regions, and we honor the memory of those who have died in the line of duty. In addition to hiunanitarian and peacekeeping efforts, the United Nations will continue to play a vital role in stenuning the proliferation of weapons of mass destruction. Since the successful international ef- fort to liberate Kuwait, the U.N. Security Council has continued to promote stability in the Middle East by working to dismantle Iraq's weapons of mass destruction through the unprecedented work of the U.N. Special Commission (UNSCOM). The United States also notes the im-

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