2005 is year for action on new global collective security – Annan

From keeping weapons of mass destruction out of the hands of terrorists to combating the proliferation of small arms, the world must seize the opportunity this year to adapt the global collective security system to the transformed global security environment, United Nations Secretary-General Kofi Annan said today.

"I hope that this year of all years, you are all coming equipped with a great deal of vision and bold thinking. For this year is a highly important one in the life of our Organization," he told his Advisory Board on Disarmament at UN Headquarters in New York, noting that it marked the 60th anniversary of the end of World War II and the founding of the UN.

For six decades disarmament has been a key item on the UN agenda but "this year is also one in which we must think ahead, and help plant the seeds of long-term global security," he said, adding that next month he will put before Member States the most far-reaching international security reform in the life of the UN, based on the proposals from the 16-member High-level Panel on Threats, Challenges and Change.

"The message is simple: our global security environment has been transformed, and our global collective security system, including the United Nations, must be transformed too," he declared.

"Like many of you, I am convinced that efforts to prevent nuclear proliferation must go hand in hand with progress in nuclear disarmament. And we all share serious concerns at the prospect of terrorist groups' developing, acquiring or using weapons of mass destruction, and their means of delivery," he added.

A major challenge is to prevent nuclear technology and materials from being diverted to covert and illegal weapons programmes while ensuring the legitimate rights of States parties to the 35-year-old Nuclear Non-proliferation Treaty (NPT) to peaceful uses of nuclear energy.

Mr. Annan added that it is crucial that the surge of initiatives aimed at curbing the proliferation of small arms lead to real progress on the ground. "That momentum must be sustained," he said. "We must work to conclude multilateral instruments on key issues such as marking, tracing, brokering and transfer of small arms as soon as possible."