paul polman, enlisted men and women of the united states, and his royal highness prince harry.his is a distinguished company indeed. [applause] general colin powell, doctor rajiv shah, maestro andre previn, honorable members of the congress, excellencies, members of the diplomatic quorum, distinguished participants, ladies and gentlemen, thank you as well for your warm welcome. thank you to the board of the atlantic council, chairman senator hagel and president frederick kempe, for their extraordinary honor. i take it as an eloquent symbol of partnership, united states and the united nations, and, therefore, all the staff and peacekeeping operations staff, and i humbly accept this honor. seldom, if ever, have our principles and shared been more relevant. seldom if ever has this partnership been more vital than at this moment. ladies and gentlemen, our world is rough place. as secretary-general of the united nations, my thoughts are n.th more than 120,000 u.s peacekeeping operations staff, from more than 120 countries, who are walking day and night on the very difficult and dang

it is this that setting that it's my distinct honor to introduce a friend of mine, paul polman. than 900 million people around our planet will go to bed hungry. and it's unfortunate that more than 500 million of them are young children, and many of them because of their chronic hunger will not have the strength to fight the next illness and will succumb when they should persevere. many will not have the strength for their brains to fully develop so they can learn, grow and contribute to making their world more productive and economically rewarding for their communities. and it's in that world where we're able to honor tonight a business leader, paul polman, who runs a massive consumer goods company, unilever, and has had a very impressive background at nestle and other firms. and he brings an absolute and unique commitment to ensuring that business leaders around our world commit themselves to literally ending hunger, ending preventable child death and making sure that the reach of modern capitalism touches even those families that sometimes are forgotten. and it's with his pros

world and after all, regardless of the service, the military service or the ngo service or what paul polman talked about tonight in the corporate leadership universe, it is about service. it is about making a better world. it is about leaving behind a better world. and it's about young people. we understand that and we know that. every parent in this room understands it very well. and so to recognize these quiet, unacclaimed he rows is the right thing to do. i think it balances very well the other honorees tonight. it recognizes yes, the sacrifices and services of these young men and women and their families and it makes a statement and who we are. any man or woman who was served his country in uniform know that those individuals are the ones who most hate and detest war, but they also understand that a strong defense, a strong security is tie vital to building a bridge to a better understanding. it is about that platform building that i referred to in my remarks earlier tonight. now, i am going to ask a very distingished individual, the senior enlisted adviser to the chairman of the joint

paul polman for distinguished business leadership rand anne sophie mutter for distinguished artistic leadership. >> and our awardees are awarded by a similarly high-level and global audience. we have nearly 800 guests from over 62 countries, including the former president of poland and the former prime ministers of pakistan and spain. 47 ambassadors to the united states, 22 chief executives of global companies and countless members of the u.s.ish european and local governments. welcome to you all. >> and also to your mom and dad. >> and my parents also are here. please point to my parents. you? please point to my parents. i'm going to find you. >> they're out there somewhere. >> and ian. >> it's now my great pleasure to introduce our distinguished co-dinner chairs we ask you to hold the. [ applause ] to the end. co-chairs we ask you to stand to ugh recognize your amazing contributions to the atlantic council. robert aber nath yi. victor chu. thomas cullgan. frank hawn. george lund, alexander -- [ applause ] >> now to begin this evening is our old friend, not old, but a good friend. >

and after all, regardless of the service, the military service or the ngo service, or what paul polman talked about tonight, in corporate leadership universe, it is about service. it is about making a better world. it is about leaving behind a better world. and it's about young people. we understand that. and we know that. every parent in this room understand it very well. and so to recognize these quiet and acclaimed heroes of our armed forces is the right thing to do. it, i think balances it very well, the other honorees tonight. it recognizes yes, the sacrifices of the surface of these men and women and their families, but it makes a statement about who we are. any man or woman who has served his or her country in uniform know that those individuals are the ones who most hate and detest war. but they also understand that a strong defense, a strong security is vital to building the bridge to a better understanding. it is about that platform building that i referred to in my remarks earlier tonight. now, i'm going to ask a very distinguished individual, the senior enlisted, the senior