Pope says respect for human rights key to solve problems

Pope Benedict XVI told diplomats at the United Nations on Friday that cooperation between nations and respect for human rights were the key to solving many of the world's problems, while widespread consensus was in crisis due to "the decisions of a few."

The pontiff warned against abuse and the uneven balance of power while addressing the UN General Assembly on his first papal trip to the US.

He said cooperation among nations "is all the more necessary in the current context when we are experiencing the obvious paradox of a multilateral consensus that continues to be in crisis because it is still subordinated to the decisions of a few".

The UN Security Council - where five nations have veto power - remains the principle decision-making body of the United Nations.

Benedict also said the respect for human rights "remains the most effective strategy for eliminating inequalities between countries and social groups, and increasing security."

Those whose rights are violated, "the victims of despair, whose human dignity is violated with impunity, become easy prey to the call to violence and they can then become violators of peace," he said.

Benedict also made it clear that the Vatican supports "humanitarian intervention" and other forms of multilateral intervention, when states are unable to protect their citizens.

"If states are unable to guarantee such protection, the international community must intervene with the juridical means provided in the United Nations Charter and other international instruments," Benedict said.

"The action of the international community and its institutions, provided that it respects the principles undergirding the international order, should never be interpreted as an unwarranted imposition or a limitation of sovereignty," he concluded.

UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon noted that the pontiff's visit to the UN was significant, even for those who may not be Catholic or even religious.

"Whether we worship one god, many, or none, we in the United Nations have to strengthen our faith every day. As the demands on our organisations multiply, we need more and more this precious commodity," Ban said.

Benedict, only the third pope to address the United Nations, made his speech after three dramatic days in which he repeatedly discussed the US Catholic clergy sexual abuse scandal.

The UN setting contrasted dramatically with the intimacy of a meeting Thursday, at which Benedict prayed with weeping victims of childhood sexual abuse by priests.