High-level session to look at UN links with regional groups to meet today’s challenges

Twenty organizations from around the globe – including the African Union, Association of South East Asian Nations (ASEAN), European Commission and League of Arab States – are expected to attend a meeting convened by Secretary-General Kofi Annan to examine the links between the United Nations and regional groups in confronting new challenges to international peace and security.

The Fifth High-Level Meeting between the United Nations and Regional Organizations, to be held tomorrow and Wednesday at UN Headquarters in New York, is intended to build on the progress made during previous gatherings, hosted every two years by the Secretary-General. In addition to the regional organizations, UN agencies, funds and programmes are also expected to participate.

The first two meetings, held in 1994 and 1996, focused on general principles and modalities to guide cooperation between the United Nations and regional organizations in international peace and security. In 1998 and 2001, the meetings examined the potential for greater interaction and cooperation in conflict prevention and peace building.

In his invitation this year to the heads of regional organizations, the Secretary-General pointed out that “in the twenty-first century many of the challenges we face are global. The rise of international terrorism and the proliferation of small arms and weapons of mass destruction only reinforce the need to rethink our common challenges ahead and achieve greater unity of purpose and actions.”

The meeting will address the need for the United Nations and regional organizations to work together with redoubled vigour to face myriad threats of today, including civil wars and the disintegration of States; the scourge of international terrorism; the growing volume of organized crime throughout the world and gross violations of human rights. The spread of deadly viruses and environmental degradation are also challenges that must be met.