Kofi Annan Presents Comprehensive Agenda for Reforming the UN

Following the huge row over the Iraq war and the embarrassing oil-for-food scandal, critics and supporters of the United Nations agree that the body is in dire need of reform. Without reform, both sides fear, the UN risks sliding into irrelevance. UN secretary-general Kofi Annan addressed those concerns today, introducing plans for the most sweeping reforms of the UN since its founding in 1945. In his speech to the 191 member General Assembly, Annan called for world leaders to adopt his entire package of reforms, warning against treating the list “as an à la carte menu.” Throughout the address, Annan urged member states to desist from making additional promises and instead focus on fulfilling existing ones, including the Millennium Development Goals and the Doha round of trade negotiations. Structurally, Annan called for an expansion of the Security Council to better reflect today’s global realities. The first task of the new, 24-member Security Council would be to clarify, by resolution, the circumstances in which military force is allowed to be used. He also proposed that the dictator-laden Commission on Human Rights, “whose capacity to perform its tasks has been undermined by its declining credibility and professionalism,” be replaced by a smaller Human Rights Council. Its members would be approved by a two-thirds majority in the General Assembly, preventing tyrannical regimes from obtaining seats on the council. Overall, the secretary-general’s recommendations represent an unprecedented consensus about the UN’s inadequacies and a bold vision to correct them. “My hope is that world leaders, when they arrive here in September, will be ready to take the decisions that are needed.” - YaleGlobal