United Nations, Oct 02: Stressing on the need for fundamental reform of the United Nations to meet new multiple challenges including terrorism, poverty, disease and climate change, Secretary General Kofi Annan has appealed to lawmakers around the world to press their governments to advance the interests of the entire planet.
"The time has long since arrived to look hard at the
institutions of the United Nations -- and, if necessary, to
make radical reforms," Annan told the 109th
inter-parliamentary union assembly in Geneva in a message
delivered by Sergei Ordzhonikidze, director-general of the UN
office there.
"A central challenge is to enhance their authority by
making them both open to more voices and more effective in
taking action."
The decisions for change rest with member states,
Annan said, pledging to do everything possible to help them
make the UN a better instrument in the service of the peoples
of the world. "Indeed, I appeal for your help. If the reform
agenda is to succeed, it will require states to promote their
national interest by advancing the global interest," he said.
"You as parliamentarians can do much to mobilise
public opinion and encourage governments to do just that. The
IPU itself, recently granted observer status in the General
Assembly, can also make vital contributions to deliberations
on these issues in the United Nations," he said.
Bureau Report
