U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton meets with Archbishop Desmond Tutu at the U.S. Department of State in Washington, D.C., October 10, 2012. [State Department photo/ Public Domain]

U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton delivers remarks at the World Food Program - USA Awards Ceremony at the U.S. Department of State in Washington, D.C. on October 3, 2012. A text transcript can be found at http://www.state.gov/secretary/rm/2012/10/198648.htm.

U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton delivers remarks with Foreign Minister of Kazakhstan Yerlan Idrissov at the U.S. Department of State in Washington, D.C. on October 3, 2012. A text transcript can be found at http://www.state.gov/secretary/rm/2012/10/198635.htm.

U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton delivers remarks at the U.S.-Afghanistan Bilateral Commission with Afghan Foreign Minister Zalmai Rassoul at the U.S. Department of State in Washington, D.C. on October 2, 2012. A text transcript can be found at http://www.state.gov/secretary/rm/2012/10/198601.htm.

U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton delivers remarks at the Global Business Conference on Travel and Tourism at the U.S. Department of State in Washington, D.C. on October 2, 2012. A text transcript can be found at http://www.state.gov/secretary/rm/2012/10/198561.htm.

U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton delivers remarks at the Forum on Small States Opening Session at the United Nations in New York, New York on October 1, 2012. [Go to http://video.state.gov for more video and text transcript.]

U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton meets with Indian Foreign Minister S.M. Krishna in New York, New York on October 1, 2012. [State Department photo/ Public Domain]

Remarks
Hillary Rodham Clinton
Secretary of State
United Nations
New York City October 1, 2012

SECRETARY CLINTON: Thank you very much, Foreign Minister, and thanks also to the Secretary General and the UN General Assembly President for their remarks and for their leadership. I’m delighted to have been invited by Singapore to join you at the Forum of Small States to mark the 20^th anniversary of its founding. I think organizing this event and the program that follows this opening provides a valuable opportunity to reflect on the issues that we face as a global community, and in particular, the roles and responsibilities that small states have.

In my time as Secretary, I’ve been honored to travel to over 100 countries and to meet with leaders in government, business, and civil society in every corner of the world. Now of course, this means frequent visits to larger nations and traditional centers of power, but for me, it has been equally important to visit many of your countries, to understand what you’re going through, to share ideas about how we can make progress together, to meet the Millennium Development Goals and then the initiative of the Secretary General, the Sustainable Development Goals.

Just last month, I attended the Pacific Islands Forum in the Cook Islands to talk with leaders of the region about how the United States can build stronger partnerships with their countries, and I’ve had similar conversations with small states from around the world. Now I believe this is absolutely essential because we have a lot of challenges that we are confronting, and I don’t think it’s unfair or inaccurate to say that smaller states often bear the burden of a lot of these challenges. These challenges don’t respect international orders, whether it’s a global financial crisis or climate change or transnational crime. And none of these problems can be solved by three or four big countries sitting around a table. We need partnerships from large and small nations alike. MORE

U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton delivers remarks at the Forum on Small States Opening Session at the United Nations in New York, New York on October 1, 2012. [State Department photo/ Public Domain]

Press Statement
Hillary Rodham Clinton
Secretary of State
Washington, DC
October 1, 2012

On Thursday, the UN Human Rights Council recognized the critical importance of the freedom of peaceful assembly and association. This U.S. sponsored resolution reaffirms a basic truth: civil society plays a central role in promoting and protecting the enjoyment of human rights, but civil society can only serve the common good when the rights to freedom of peaceful assembly and association are protected.

Progress in the 21st century depends on the ability of individuals and organizations to come together around shared goals; harness the power of their convictions; and make societies more productive, transparent and accountable. Over the last 18 months, however, we have seen governments constrict civil society activism and increase their attacks against civic-minded organizations and individuals. These crackdowns mark a disturbing trend that requires global leadership.

The United States was proud to work with fellow Core Group members – the Czech Republic, Indonesia, Lithuania, the Maldives, Mexico, and Nigeria – to advance this important and timely resolution, and we thank them for their leadership and unflagging effort.

In New York last week, the United States was also proud to stand with 15 countries and two foundations that have joined us in supporting Lifeline, a rapid-response assistance mechanism for embattled NGOs that puts the principles endorsed by the resolution into action.

This resolution, and the Lifeline fund, shows that we have many partners around the world alarmed by these recent trends who are willing to support peaceful assembly and association. This is a critical moment to redouble our efforts to stand with civil society in the pursuit of democratic progress.