BOARD OF TRUSTEES DINNER
WITH THE DISTINGUISHED PARTICIPATION OF
HIS EXCELLENCY
JOSÉ MANUEL ZELAYA ROSALES
PRESIDENT OF THE REPUBLIC OF HONDURAS

Centro Social Hondureño Árabe
San Pedro Sula, Honduras
Friday, April 27, 2006



Su Excelencia, Presidente de la Republica Honduras, Senor José Manuel Zelaya Rosales,
Members of the Head Table,
Distinguished Ministers,
Distinguished Members of the Diplomatic Corps,
Distinguished Mayors,
Distinguished Trastees, OAS and PADF Staff Members,
Ladies and Gentlemen:

It is a great pleasure to greet you this evening on behalf of the Organization of American States and as the Vice Chairman of the Pan American development Foundation.

Mr. President,
Distinguished Ladies and Gentlemen,

I come today to you with 3 simple but important messages.

First of all I want to congratulate the PADF for its important work for the peoples of the Americas in many areas, especially in the area of disaster management.

I am particularly pleased to have witnessed the signing of this important collaboration between FUPAD and the American Chamber of Commerce to carry out the Disaster Management Alliance and other corporate-sponsored development projects in Honduras.

Coming from the Caribbean, I understand clearly the vulnerability of the Central American region to natural disasters and what a devastating toll they take in human and economic terms.

I commend US-AID for its support to this project. I also congratulate the Association of American Chambers of Commerce in Latin America for its leadership role and other local businesses in this Disaster Management Alliance for having the foresight to participate in this effort and for demonstrating good corporate social responsibility.

I am especially proud of the Pan American Development Foundation, not only for its leadership role in the Alliance, but for its longstanding support to and collaboration with the OAS and its member states in the area of disaster management

The second message is that, while we discuss the challenges facing our countries, we have the responsibility to improve the lives of those many Americans who are struggling, those who have to fight from today to tomorrow to survive. We have our realities, but there is another reality in the hemisphere.

I am speaking about the stark reality of those 230 million brothers and sisters who did not have a decent meal yesterday, those children who have to make their life in an unsafe environment, those women who have little or no access to basic needs as water and therefore did not have a proper bath in days, those who will sleep tonight without a roof above their head, those who will get up tomorrow and start their day without breakfast with a routine they have experienced for years in search of surviving today so they can witness another tomorrow.

This is a reality we all cannot afford to ignore, nor accept and therefore it is high time that we collectively change course and start with public policies to strengthen the hands of these Americans, invest in education, create jobs and offer the basic facilities, in accordance with the Millennium Development Goals. In this regard, I wish to recognize the work of Juan Canahuati and his colleagues for the excellent initiative to provide education and opportunity for the youth of this community. We saw that commitment clearly on display on our visit this afternoon to the Fundacion Mhotivo.

Ladies and Gentlemen,

The third message is that democracy, rule of law and human rights are critical elements in building peaceful societies and sustainable economies, but they cannot be only an end in itself.

In the end, our goals should be to visibly improve the lives of the people of the Americas.

While the democratization process is being supported by the people of the Americas, many feel also somewhat disillusioned about the inability of Governments to translate economic growth into real benefits for all in society.

There is strong recognition now within our Organization that policies that focus only on the economic are by definition deficient. Growth without equity is not sustainable, and will ultimately undermine the quality of democracy and the ability to govern. This is not a direction we want to take, as many of us haven been there !

I believe that a new paradigm on development is required to change course, a development orientation that is more pragmatic, has the human being at its core, and one that is accepted as a shared responsibility of not only the elected Government, but also requires the support from the business community and civil society organizations.

I call for a strategic orientation towards developing the potential of our youth, which not only represents the majority of our population, but also the future of our nations. Youth is in my view one of the key, if not the most important, assets of a country and any investment in youth is a strategic investment in the future of that country.

Strong leadership, sound state institutions and political will, will be of critical importance in engineering such a transformation, in addition to old fashioned solidarity !

In closing, I believe that the 37th Regular General Assembly in the first week of June in Panama City provides a unique opportunity for government representatives, private sector and civil society leaders of the Western Hemisphere to reflect on these topics, especially in the context of the main theme of the General Assembly “Energy for Sustainable Development”.

I thank the Pan American Development Foundation for the invitation. It has indeed been an honor to address you tonight.

Muchas Gracias.