Deputy Secretary-General calls on UN to keep adapting to contemporary needs

The United Nations and other multilateral institutions must adapt to the global needs and problems of today if they are to maintain the support of their Member States and the wider public, Deputy Secretary-General Mark Malloch Brown said today.

Speaking in Bridgetown, Barbados, before the African-Caribbean-Pacific-European Union Joint Parliamentary Assembly, Mr. Malloch Brown said that continuing reforms will help the UN better tackle the challenges of development and poverty and deal more effectively with crises such as the conflict in the Sudanese region of Darfur.

Many UN institutions and mechanisms were built in the immediate aftermath of World War II, he said, adding that they reflected the reality then, but now needed updating to take account of changes in the world.

Mr. Malloch Brown said it was up to the incoming Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon, who begins his term on 1 January, to take forward the reform efforts led by the incumbent Kofi Annan, especially on questions such as Security Council membership and internal reforms.

The Deputy Secretary-General also attended several workshops during the gathering in Bridgetown on themes ranging from environmental vulnerability to the future of the local rum industry to the cost of treatment for people living with HIV/AIDS.