Mbeki slams 'half-hearted' UN

2005-09-16 06:34

Johannesburg - President Thabo Mbeki on Thursday criticised the progress made by the United Nations in reform and the deployment of resources.

Speaking at the plenary meeting of the general assembly of the UN's Millennium Review Summit, Mbeki described the realisation of Millennium Development goals as "half-hearted, timid and tepid".

He said the reason progress had not been made was because of a lack of "security consensus".

"We have not achieved that 'security consensus' because of the widely disparate conditions of existence and interests among the member states of the UN as well as the gross imbalance of power that defines the relationship among these member states."

Mbeki said the actions of the "rich and powerful" perpetuated the power imbalance in the ordering of global affairs.

"As a consequence of this, we have not made the progress of the reform of the UN that we should have."

He said the result of this "poisonous mixture" was the "perpetuation of the disempowerment of the powerless".

- SAPA