Prince of Asturias Awards 1981–2014. Speeches

4 O viedo | C ampoamor T heatre | 23 rd O ctober 1998 None of us are visionaries or saints. We work towards encouraging the International Community —and the States that belong to it— to practise the principles described in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, whose 50th anniversary we are celebrating this year. Towards the application of those very terms that were solemnly agreed and ratified. Is it really possible to talk of celebrations when, at the end of the present century, systematic violations of the most fundamental rights are still taking place? When 45 million human beings die every year of starvation and malnutrition? When there are over 23 million refugees and displaced people as a result of conflicts spanning from the Great Lakes to Kosovo or Afghanistan? When over one billion people live in utter poverty on the planet, while, at the same time, the most spectacular scientific and technological advances have taken place? I think not. On the contrary; I think humanity is returning to barbarism at the end of the current century. I have never been a feminist in the strict and militant sense of the word. I do not believe being a woman is enough to make one a better person. But that has not prevented me from struggling for people of the female sex. It is quite simply a matter of defending all people, whether men or women, who are denied their full fundamental rights. People whose dignity is despised or simply questioned. Emma Bonino — Prince of Asturias Award for International Cooperation 1998 In 1998, Emma Bonino was European Commissioner for Consumer Affairs, Fisheries and Humanitarian Aid (1995-1999). — Excerpt from the speech given on the occasion of receiving the Prince of Asturias Award for International Cooperation on 23/10/1998.