Annan to present on Monday new report on building better and safer world
Secretary-General Kofi Annan will address the United Nations General Assembly on Monday to introduce a report on actions needed to implement the Millennium Declaration in which world leaders pledged to build a better and safer planet for the next century through collective security and a global partnership for development.
Secretary-General Kofi Annan will address the United Nations General Assembly on Monday to introduce a report on actions needed to implement the Millennium Declaration in which world leaders pledged to build a better and safer planet for the next century through collective security and a global partnership for development.
Mr. Annan's report – "In Larger Freedom" after a phrase in the UN Charter – will contain his suggestions on elements from two other reports released over the past few months. His spokesman, Fred Eckhard, described it "as a kind of package deal with something to offer everyone" and said the Secretary-General would urge Member States to accept it as a package.
"It's his suggestion of an agenda for the Heads of State," Mr. Eckhard told the daily briefing, referring to the UN 60th anniversary summit that will take place in September and take stock of what has been achieved in the five years since the earlier Millennium Summit.
The first report Mr. Annan has drawn on was released in December by the 16-member High-level Panel on Threats, Challenges and Change. It was drafted by prominent politicians, diplomats and development experts he appointed in 2003 to assess threats facing the world and recommend policy and institutional changes to deal with them.
The Panel came out with 101 proposals for dealing with the six areas identified as being the greatest threats to worldwide security in the 21st century: continued poverty and environmental degradation, terrorism, civil war, conflict between states, the proliferation of weapons of mass destruction (WMDs), and organized crime. It also proposed formulas for enlarging the Security Council.
The second report Mr. Annan has drawn on is the UN Millennium Project, a 3,000-page document delivered by Special Adviser Jeffrey Sachs in January, containing recommendations on reaching the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) of combatting extreme poverty and other global ills.
Asked what the UN would do to follow up on the new report, Mr. Eckhard said the Secretary-General and his senior staff, notably Deputy Secretary-General Louise Fréchette and Chef de Cabinet Mark Malloch Brown, intended to meet with the five regional groups of UN Member States to explain what Mr. Annan feels "is in it for them."