HSH Prince Albert II of Monaco travelled to Geneva on Wednesday 10 December 2008 to participate in the Conference organized for the 60th anniversary of the adoption of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights by the General Assembly in 1948.
The Conference opened with an inaugural speech by Sergei Ordzhonikidze, Director General of the United Nations Office at Geneva (UNOG).
His address was followed first by words from Shirin Ebadi, 2003 Nobel Peace Prize winner, and Whole Soyinka, winner of the 1986 Nobel Prize in Literature, then a debate with all the participants.
HSH the Sovereign Prince presented an conclusion, stating in particular that: ?···This sixtieth anniversary is, on a planetary scale, a time of doubt for Human Rights. After the euphoria of the 1990s, recent years have seen the upsurge of a new debate, a new enemy: relativism.? He added: ?···These doubts, Ladies and Gentlemen, must not stop us. Quite the contrary. Because it is our duty to test Human Rights that we have greater responsibility than ever before. Since our world of doubt is also a world of brotherhood reinvented, a world where the cries of the victims make themselves heard even louder. From one country or one continent to another, voices tell us that the problems are the same, as are the hazards arising from irresponsible management of Nature or the misfortunes caused by economies that have forgotten humankind.?
The day ended with the presence of HSH Prince Albert II at the ?Only Watch 2009' Soiree organized by Luc Pettavino, Chairman of the Association against Duchenne Muscular Dystrophy. He asserted that: ?···In four years, the success of what might have seemed from the start to be am ambitious wager is confirmed. (···) On as complex a subject as Duchenne myopathy, progress is conceivable only in the long term.?
Thanks to the work of the Monegasque Association against Duchenne Muscular Dystrophy and to its generous donors, genuine therapeutic prospects are emerging and clinical trials will now be able to begin.
