Introduction

Abstract

We are fond of legislating in Sweden, anxiously passing laws about anything to assure an orderly society, safety for citizens and guarantees of equality. We were recently on the verge of legislating on civil courage as well, thereby compelling citizens to act when someone else is robbed in the street, if someone is trapped in a burning house, and so on. Luckily and wisely, the one-man commission on the issue advised the government against passing a law. You can’t legislate about a good heart and about courage: that is a question of the ethics of the individual – and of his society. What you can do is encourage values of altruism, solidarity, integrity and steadfastness. Dag Hammarskjöld personifi ed all these characteristics – and gave his life in the service of humanity. We can’t all be like him and nobody can request of us to lay down our lives for a higher cause, although many of you can testify to great personal sacrifi ce. And yet it is a fact that the very idea of the United Nations, of human rights, stands upon ethical values, values of dignity and justice.