Peace, fight against religious intolerance and the death penalty at the centre of the
A delegation of the Community of Sant’Egidio led by Marco Impagliazzo went to the United Nations headquarters in New York, where it was welcomed by the Deputy Secretary-General, Ian Eliasson, with whom the Community has collaborated for many years.
Marco Impagliazzo offered full disclosure of the international commitment of Sant’Egidio at the level of campaigns for human rights, as the BRAVO program.
(Birth Registration Versus Oblivion) in Burkina Faso, Mozambique and Malawi, and the global commitment to the moratorium on capital punishment. “We are optimistic,” said Impagliazzo about the vote of the General Assembly in autumn, although in relation to the death penalty we should never lower our guard: “The executions are the easy answer in an insecure world, according to us, the response to the insecurity of our times is peace”. The goal of Sant’Egidio, reiterated the president, is that Africa becomes, after Europe, the second continent without the death penalty.
On behalf of the United Nations, the Deputy Secretary-General expressed a warm appreciation for the Community and especially for its work for peace and reconciliation developed in many parts of the world, since the time of the commitment to Mozambique. Mr. Eliasson said that “the method of Sant’Egidio is also necessary for the United Nations.”
During the meeting, they discussed particularly the Central African Republic and Mali. Sant’Egidio reiterated its willingness to intensify its cooperation with the UN on the issues of dialogue and peace.
Afterward, a meeting took place in which numerous issues related to peace and development were addressed at the headquarters of the Italian representative to the United Nations and in the presence of more than twenty representatives of the Security Council, Member States, observers, and various offices of Nations.