There is another important reason why we see partnerships as so vital.

After all, credit also dried up during the 1991 global recession, and yet funds were flowing briskly within 18 months.

They will go home energized and talk about what they heard and saw in Dili and let me tell you, there are some driven people in this country and they aren t all foreigners.

The Institute has been actively engaged, also in the host country, in ensuring the inclusion of gender issues throughout the United Nations Development Assistance Framework (UNDAF) and the Common Country Assessment (CCA) process.

I would like to tell you how fascinated I was by the vitality of the General Assembly, the enthusiasm and determination of diplomats who at the highest level spent much time considering important issues.

And if we move from the realm of the spirit to the realm of the physical, to the sacred geography of Peru I've always been interested in the relationships of indigenous people that literally believe that the Earth is alive, responsive to all of their aspirations, all of their needs.

Brothers Jonny, Robbie and Tommy Mizzone are The Sleepy Man Banjo Boys, a trio of virtuoso bluegrass musicians who play with dazzling vivacity. Did we mention they're all under 16?

Now I remember that dinner I had with the Minister of Fisheries 10 years ago when we first brought this up and I got quite animated during the dinner and said, Well, I think that the conservation community might embrace this idea, Minister.

Credit will soon come to everyone else as easily as it has to the banks. After all, credit also dried up during the 1991 global recession, and yet funds were flowing briskly within 18 months.