Malaysia, SA call for UN reform

2005-06-24 10:55

Kuala Lumpur - Malaysia and South Africa on Friday called for sweeping reform in the United Nations (UN), saying efforts should not focus simply on redesigning the Security Council.

"We both believe the UN is to be reformed comprehensively, but what normally captures the imagination of the media is the Security Council," South African Foreign Minister Nkosazana Dlamini-Zuma said during a visit to Kuala Lumpur to boost bilateral ties.

In March, UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan introduced a wide-ranging overhaul plan he hopes world leaders will adopt at a summit set for this September.

Much of the debate over Annan's reform agenda has focused on expanding the Security Council, but many countries have said they do not want other issues — such as administrative change and reforms on human rights — to be ignored.

Malaysia, which currently chairs the 116-nation Non-Aligned Movement of mainly developing countries, shares many common positions with South Africa on international topics such as UN reform, said Malaysian foreign minister Syed Hamid Albar.

"We do not want the reform focused as if it is only the Security Council" when it involves other areas like removing poverty and the democratisation of the UN General Assembly, Syed Hamid said at a news conference with his South African counterpart.

Dlamini-Zuma said both nations hope to work more closely in areas such as trade and tourism, as well as to strengthen cooperation among developing countries to boost their economies.

"If you look at the history of our economies, they tend to be linked to our colonial past," she said. "We're all working very hard to break that stranglehold. We'll continue to cooperate with the North, but there are lots of things we can do among ourselves as countries of the South."

- AP