Group of prominent public figures stresses need to strengthen UN role, credibility

New and novel threats to world peace and security make it imperative to reinforce the role, authority and credibility of the United Nations, according to a group of prominent statesmen, public figures, diplomats, businessmen and scholars, known as the International Ethical, Political and Scientific Collegium.

Several members of the recently created group, including former heads of State and government Mary Robinson of Ireland, Milan Kucan of Slovenia and Michel Rocard of France, met earlier this week at UN Headquarters in New York with UN officials and experts to discuss the Collegium’s proposals aimed at improving global governance and focusing the attention and energies of the international community on solving problems of an increasingly interdependent world.

Earlier this year, the Collegium had presented Secretary General Kofi Annan with a “Declaration of Interdependence” containing a programme of Action, supplemented in September by a memorandum that outlines in greater detail eight points for urgent consideration. The Collegium aims to use the varied experience of its members to help crystallize an agenda deserving the attention of nations, individuals and institutions, so that all could work together to accomplish it.

Welcoming the Collegium’s initiative, Shashi Tharoor, UN Under-Secretary-General for Communications and Public Information, said it would help to promote a constructive dialogue on the role of the United Nations in grappling with new global challenges.

“The Collegium’s contribution to this debate is particularly important given its members’ deep knowledge of – and vast personal experience in – a broad array of political, ethical and social issues confronting the international community today,” Mr. Tharoor said. “There is a need to strengthen the ethical base of international cooperation and this eminent group can certainly help in the effort.”

He also noted that the ideas and concerns raised by the Collegium echoed many of the themes outlined by Secretary-General Kofi Annan in his recent address to the General Assembly. In that speech, Mr. Annan proposed, in part, the creation of a high-level panel of eminent personalities to examine the current challenges to international peace and security and assess the role of collective action in addressing those problems.

The creation of the 16-member High-Level Panel on Threats, Challenges and Change, headed by former Prime Minister Anand Panyarachun of Thailand, was announced on 4 November.

Commenting on the Collegium’s emphasis on the ethical dimension, Mr. Rocard, the group’s co-President, who is also President of the Commission for Cultural Affairs at the European Parliament, told the UN News Service that “limiting the reform of the United Nations to only change the composition of the Security Council or limit those who have the veto power would not be enough.”