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Annan Calls for Global Support for United Nations
U.N. Secretary-General Kofi Annan Tuesday said that it is vital that the United Nations should act as the world's peoples expect of it, but he said that he does not mean the world body should be able to win all the battles by itself to fight for global development and world peace.
Opening the general debate of the 55th General Assembly session, Annan said, "I do not mean, of course, that this organization should be able to win all these battles by itself."
"It is vital that this organization, the United Nations itself, should be capable of playing the role that the world's peoples expect of it," he said.
"Clearly, there is broad consensus on what needs to be done -- broader than many people would have expected in so large and diverse an organization," he said. "What is vital now, however, is that we also agree on the means of doing it, and that we equip ourselves with the right tools."
The general debate came a week after the Millennium Summit, which attracted more than 150 heads of state and government, concluded Friday. They outlined the priorities to fight for development, to fight against injustice in all its forms, against violence, and against the degradation and destruction of environment.
"In other years this day, when you begin your general debate, marks the climax of the United Nations calendar. This year, coming the week after our historic Millennium Summit, it may seem something of an anticlimax," Annan said.
"Your heads of state and government have reaffirmed the central position of this assembly as the chief deliberative, policy-marking and representative organ of the United Nations, and have resolved to enable it to play the role effectively," he said.
"It is up to you to give effect to that resolution, by taking decisions which reflect the will of the great majority of member states, and taking them when they are needed," he said.
"It is up to you, likewise, to achieve the comprehensive reform of the Security Council that your heads of state and government have called off -- a reform that will make the council more
representative and legitimate, but also more effective," he said.
African conflicts, U.N. financial crisis, disarmament, international arms control, and U.N. peacekeeping operations are expected to be high on the agenda of the two-week general debate, which is scheduled to conclude on September 22.
"One of the role of the United Nations is to be the forum where international norms are agreed and promulgated, and where all voices can be heard -- especially those of the poor and vulnerable, whose views and interests are too often ignored elsewhere," he said.
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