‘Time is ripe’ to reform UN institutions, Annan tells world leaders

Calling for wide-ranging United Nations reform in order to win the respect of the peoples of the world, Secretary-General Kofi Annan today exhorted the leaders of the world to grapple resolutely with the issue after a decade of indecision, particularly in reshaping the Security Council.

“I believe the time is ripe for a hard look at fundamental policy issues, and at the structural changes that may be needed in order to strengthen them,” Mr. Annan said in an opening address to the General Assembly on the first day of its annual general debate attended by scores of Heads of State and Government.

“As for the composition of the Council, that has been on the agenda of this Assembly for over a decade,” he added of the 15-member body. “Virtually all States agree that the Council should be enlarged, but there is no agreement on the details.

“I would respectfully suggest to you, Excellencies, that in the eyes of your peoples the difficulty of reaching agreement does not excuse your failure to do so. If you want the Council’s decisions to command greater respect, particularly in the developing world, you need to address the issue of its composition with greater urgency,” he said.

Though he did not mention any specifics in his address, Mr. Annan earlier this month called for expanding Council membership to make it more democratic and more representative and thus give it greater legitimacy, especially in view of recent divisions over Iraq.

At a news conference on 8 September, he noted that UN membership had almost quadrupled to 191 since the world body was founded 58 years ago and yet the structure of the Council had not changed since its first day, with five veto-wielding permanent members – China, France, the Russian Federation, United Kingdom and United States – and 10 members elected for two-year terms from the various regions of the world.

While declining to be drawn into specifics of membership or veto machinery, he added then: “We started with 51 Member States and we are now 191 Member States…I think it is about time that we took the reform very seriously. It will entail expansion in membership."

Mr. Annan noted today that he had suggested in his latest report that the Assembly itself needs to be strengthened, and that the role of the Economic and Social Council – and the UN role as a whole in economic and social affairs, including its relationship to the Bretton Woods financial and monetary institutions – “needs to be re-thought and reinvigorated.”

He said even the Trusteeship Council, whose job was to guide former colonies to independence, could be reviewed, in the light of new kinds of responsibility that have accrued to the United Nations in recent years.