The late Ira Wallach was a longstanding champion of efforts and activities to promote a strong, just system of global governance. Supported by the Miriam and Ira Wallach Foundation, this new fund will provide a wide range of programmatic and capacity support for affiliated centers in diverse global regions committed to development of a United Nations Emergency Peace Service (UNEPS), a standing, individually-recruited, gender integrated capacity that can respond rapidly and effectively to outbreaks of genocide, crimes against humanity and other humanitarian emergencies anywhere in the world.

The launch of this Fund not only provides us an opportunity to thank the Wallach family for their years of dedicated support for a just world order. It also gives us a chance to acknowledge and thank our many friends and colleagues in this work. We are grateful for the presence here this evening of some of our most cherished regional partners, including Sir Brian Urquhart, a long-time inspiration for standing, rapid-deployment capability within the United Nations; and Pera Wells, secretary-general of the World Federation of United Nations Associations whose initial idea for a Wallach memorial is in part reflected here tonight. Saul Mendlovitz, a longtime friend of the Wallach Family, will share some personal reflections on the Wallach legacy. A few of our core global partners have also shared their thoughts about the importance of UNEPS and the Wallach Fund and you can read those thoughts below.

We acknowledge and deeply appreciate all that you do to support our common work to end genocide and fulfill our ‘responsibility to protect' civilian populations facing abuse. We look forward to working with all of you to bring the message and the promise of UNEPS and other strategies for eradicating genocide and crimes against humanity to diverse global regions.

Manuela Mesa, Spain

The UNEPS initiative, supported in part by the Wallach Fund for the Eradication of Genocide, is an important step as we move from words to action. UNEPS represents a sound, concrete proposal to prevent genocide, but we now need to build the political will to put this initiative into practice. The victims of the genocide cannot wait any longer for a solution. We must work together at national, regional and international level to stop existing genocides and prevent future ones. UNEPS provides a way forward and European societies must support this initiative.

Hussein Solomon, South Africa

Few continents have experienced periodic genocide in recent memory as Africa has. While much of the world is mindful of Darfur, we need also to recall the Rwandan genocide of 1994, the ongoing ethnic cleansing in the Congo, and attempts at ethnic cleansing now in Kenya's Rift Valley following the recent election. In all this we need more effective preventive measures, both regionally and in the international system. It is for this reason that I support the UNEPS project and welcome the establishment of the Wallach Fund for the Eradication of Genocide. These are important steps towards ridding the world of this scourge and ensuring that when we say “Never Again” we act on it.

Christian Tanyi, Cameroon

Where do we go from here? This is a question many have asked and we will still hear it as we go about our education and advocacy work in bringing the noble UNEPS initiative to quick realization.  While I believe that we are moving towards a stable and safe world, relations between my country's 250 ethnic groups are not the best and government policies are not strong enough to deter the possibility of uprising and ethnic cleansing which will occur someday if something is not done now.   

UNEPS promises the capacity not only to intervene rapidly in areas of mounting tensions and conflicts, but also the ability to deter tribes, individuals and governments from engaging in such acts in the first place. With UNEPS fully assessed and promoted through regional advocacy, education centers and program initiatives, its presence will help improve governance, democracy and economic growth in developing countries like Cameroon.  And, just like the [International Criminal Court] shaped the thinking and behavior of war lords worldwide, UNEPS can change the thinking of ethnic groups and governments, reducing internal and cross border threats and thereby reducing the size and cost of our military. The Wallach Fund to Eradicate Genocide is therefore important and will do much to dismantle roadblocks on the highway towards a new world of hope and happiness, a world where incidences of genocidal violence will be found only in the history books.