Annan vows to improve UN
2004-10-26 10:45
New York - UN secretary general Kofi Annan promised on Monday to push ahead with reforms to the United Nations before the world body marks its 60th anniversary next year.
"I believe we can build a better UN. That's why I have appointed a high levelpPanel on threats, challenges and cange, which will very soon give me its report," Annan said on the first business day after United Nations Day, October 24.
"And that is why, only next year, I will be proposing measures to renew the organisation. I hope world leaders will respond with vision, courage and good will when they meet here next September, five years after they adopted the Millennium Declaration."
That declaration commits the member nations to cut extreme poverty and hunger by half, cut infant mortality by two thirds, slow HIV infection, and improve reproductive care.
UN is 50-years-old
"Fifty-nine years ago, the UN was founded as an instrument of peace, human rights and development.
"The world is a better place because of the UN, but too many people today are still victims of violence and oppression, poverty and hunger, illiteracy and disease," he said.
"We can and must do better. All people deserve to live free from fear and want. They must hope that tomorrow will be better than today.
"And we all need an effective UN, one that reflects the world we live in today, and can meet the challenges we will face tomorrow," Annan said.