Secretary General Kofi Annan proposes sweeping UN Reforms by UN News / International Herald Tribune 8:46pm 23rd Mar, 2005   21 March 2005    With call for action, not more words, Annan outlines plan for radical UN reform. (UN News)    Calling for action, not more words, to fulfil pledges already made, Secretary-General Kofi Annan today laid before the General Assembly his plan for United Nations reform, ranging from greater investment in developing countries to steps to fight catastrophic terrorism and collective action against genocide and ethnic cleansing.    “I make no apology for the detailed, matter-of-fact nature of this presentation. As far as detail goes, I assure you it is merely the tip of the iceberg,” he told the 191-member body, stressing that the proposals in his report – “In Larger Freedom: towards development, security and human rights for all” – were a package and not an a la carte menu from which nations could choose only those aspects they fancy.    “As for being matter-of-fact, I have deliberately spared you any flights of rhetoric. This hall has heard enough high-sounding declarations to last us for some decades to come. We know what the problems are, and we all know what we have promised to achieve. What is needed now is not more declarations, but action to fulfil the promises already made,” he added.    Mr. Annan described the report, released yesterday as a five-year update on the Millennium Declaration in which world leaders pledged to build a better and safer planet for the next century through collective security and a global partnership for development, as comprehensive strategy.    “It gives equal weight and attention to the three great purposes of this Organization: development, security and human rights all of which must be underpinned by the rule of law,” he declared.    “You may or many not find my argument convincing. But please remember, in any event, that if you need the help of other states to achieve your objectives, you must also be willing to help them achieve their objectives. That is why I urge you to treat my proposals as a single package,” he added.    Outlining the three pillars, he stressed that the first element – “Freedom from Want” – called on developing countries to improve their governance, combat corruption and adopt an inclusive approach to development to achieve the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs), which seek to halve extreme poverty and hunger, slash maternal and infant mortality and increase access to education and health care by 2015.    At the same time developed countries must increase the amount they spend on development and debt relief, give immediate duty-free and quota-free market access to all exports from least developed countries and commit themselves to spending 0.7 per cent of their gross domestic product on official development assistance by 2015.    The second part of the report, entitled “Freedom from Fear” calls on all states to agree on a new security consensus, “by which they commit themselves to treat any threat to one of them as a threat to all, and to work together to prevent catastrophic terrorism, stop proliferation of deadly weapons, end civil wars and build lasting peace in war-torn countries,” he said.    “Among my specific proposals in this area, I ask all states to complete, sign and implement the comprehensive convention on terrorism, based on a clear and agreed definition, as well as the convention on nuclear terrorism and the fissile material cut-off treaty,” he added.    The report backs the definition of terrorism – an issue so divisive agreement on it has long eluded the world community – as any action “intended to cause death or serious bodily harm to civilians or non-combatants with the purpose of intimidating a population or compelling a government or an international organization to do or abstain from doing any act.”    On the third pillar – “Freedom to Live in Dignity” – Mr. Annan stressed the need for the international community to embrace the principle of the “Responsibility to Protect” as “a basis for collective action against genocide, ethnic cleansing and crime against humanity – recognizing that this responsibility lies first and foremost with each individual state, but also that, if national authorities are unable or unwilling to protect their citizens, the responsibility then shift to the international community.”    In the last resort, the Security Council may take enforcement action according to the UN Charter, he added. Mr. Annan also noted his proposals for strengthening the UN system itself by revitalizing the General Assembly, expanding the membership of the Security Council to 24 members from the current 15, and establishing a new Human Rights Council, elected by a two-thirds majority of the General Assembly, to replace the current Commission on Human Rights, “whose capacity to perform its tasks has been undermined by its declining credibility and professionalism.”    21st March, 2005    UN Chief seeks Reforms of World Body. (International Herald Tribune)    Secretary General Kofi Annan of the United Nations proposed sweeping reforms Sunday, recommending the expansion of the Security Council to reflect modern realities of global power and need, the restructuring of the discredited Human Rights Commission to keep rights violators from becoming members, and the adoption of a definition of terror that would end justifying it as an act of national resistance..    His proposals, drawn from the conclusions of a high-level panel of independent outsiders in November, will be the subject of a special General Assembly gathering in September that hopes to reinvigorate the United Nations at a time when its worth and relevance are being so widely questioned.    The measures were outlined in a 63-page report from Annan entitled "In larger freedom: Toward development, security and human rights for all" released Sunday at the United Nations after details from drafts had emerged over the weekend in The Los Angeles Times and The Washington Post.    Annan said that the Human Rights Commission, which has included Cuba, Libya and Sudan, had been undermined by allowing participation by countries whose purpose was "not to strengthen human rights but to protect themselves against criticism or to criticize others." As a result, "a credibility deficit has developed, which casts a shadow on the reputation of the United Nations system as a whole."    He recommended replacing the 53-nation Human Rights Commission with a smaller Human Rights Council, whose members would not be chosen by regional groups as is now the case but by a two-thirds vote of the 191-nation General Assembly. "Those elected," he said, "should undertake to abide by the highest human rights standards."    Annan called for a definition of terrorism as any act "intended to cause death or serious bodily harm to civilians or noncombatants" aimed at intimidating governments, populations or international organizations.    He said that the United Nations should draw up a convention embodying that by the end of this year. "We must convince all those who may be tempted to support terrorism that it is neither an acceptable nor an effective way to advance their cause," he said.    On Security Council reform, Annan left it up to the General Assembly to decide between two proposals or refinements of them put forward by the high-level panel in November, but he urged the body to reach a decision before the September meeting and to not let failure to achieve consensus on the contentious issue become a reason for postponing action.    The Council now has 5 veto-bearing members - Britain, China, France, Russia and the United States - and 10 members elected to two-year terms.    One alternative would add six new permanent members - the likely candidates include Brazil, Germany, India, Japan, Egypt and either Nigeria or South Africa - as well as three new two-year term members. The other would create a new tier of 8 semipermanent members chosen for renewable four-year terms and one additional two-year term seat to the existing 10.    The right to cast vetoes is a power coveted by nations seeking permanent status and is likely to be one they will press for in the coming months despite the fact that under both recommendations, as now written, the veto would remain limited to the five original permanent members.    The report also establishes a policy of "zero tolerance" for sexual exploitation by peacekeepers, a development that Annan said "especially troubled" him. He urged the countries furnishing the troops to prosecute wrongdoers in the absence of any United Nations authority to do so.    Annan said that mandates and personnel had become outdated, and he asked the General Assembly to give him the authority to conduct a one-time buyout "so as to refresh and realign the staff to meet current needs."    Arguing that doubts about the United Nations should not jeopardize its core mission of furthering international security and development, Annan says, "There is a yearning in many quarters for a new consensus on which to base collective action. And a desire exists to make the most far-reaching reforms in the history of the United Nations, so as to equip and resource it to help it advance the 21st century agenda.."    The report recommended the creation of a peace-building body for societies recovering after conflicts, and reiterated the United Nations goal of seeing developed nations set aside 0.7 percent of their gross national income for development aid. Visit the related web page
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