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New General Assembly President calls for strengthening of 192-member body

New General Assembly President calls for strengthening of 192-member body

General Assembly President Ali Treki
The new General Assembly President, Ali Treki of Libya, today reiterated his call for the revitalization of the 192-member body, saying its decisions should be respected. At present only the decisions of the 15-member Security Council are binding.

“The majority of countries are in favour asserting the authority of the General Assembly, which represents the world as a whole,” he told a news conference at UN Headquarters in New York.

Dr. Treki made a similar call for UN reform when he opened the Assembly’s 64th session on Tuesday, and he reiterated today the need to enlarge the Security Council to give it greater world representation.

Asked about his priorities, Dr. Treki cited a long list, beginning with the strengthening of international peace and security, disarmament, human rights, the environment, and climate change.

He also included combating extreme poverty; infectious diseases such as AIDS; achieving the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs), which aim to slash a host of social ills by 2015; the economic, financial, food and energy crises; and the question of Palestine.

In addition, Dr. Treki called for greater investment in Africa, which he described as “a very rich continent. It doesn’t need really money, men and help but it needs investment.”