The Secretary General's Report to the UN General Assembly

Our Interconnected Destiny

The upcoming UN General Assembly will face the historically important agenda of renewing and strengthening the UN. Kofi Annan's report entitled "In Larger Freedom," taken from the opening words of the UN charter, makes a strong case for three basic concepts: Firstly, many of our global problems are interconnected. No nation, no matter how large or how small, can be totally immune. Finally, to cope with these problems, cooperation between nations is absolutely essential.

Since the UN's founding, the world has greatly changed. Beginning in 1945 with 51 members, it has grown almost four times its original size, to 191. The threats and challenges facing the UN have also grown, including failed states, civil wars, nuclear proliferation, terrorism and
global warming. In the report Kofi Annan offers a framework to cope with these challenges: "We will not enjoy development without security. We will not enjoy security without development. We will not enjoy either without respect for human rights."

Three Freedoms

The report makes many specific recommendations. It is divided into four parts: Freedom From Want; Freedom From Fear;(shades of Franklin D Roosevelt) Freedom To Live In Dignity; and, finally, Strengthening The Procedures of the UN.

In the Freedom From Want section, he urges fasterprogress in achieving the Millennium Development Goals, to alleviate the massive suffering of so many trapped in absolute poverty and disease. The program is affordable, doable and requires only political will on all sides. In 2000, many states signed on for the requested increase in aid. There has been some improvement, but many have not met their obligations. Principal topics will be a five year update and strategies for progress.

Annan also pointed out that much can be accomplished by allowing poor countries better access to markets through a fairer trading system. Presently affluent countries use price supports to exclude poorer countries from exporting their goods, preventing these countries from developing their economies and defeating poverty. He also urged debt relief from the high cost of loans which prevent countries from maintaining food security and basic services such as health and education.

In the Freedom From Fear section, he outlined proposals relating to terrorism and methods for coping with the proliferation of nuclear, chemical and biological weapons. Recently the General Assembly has voted on a terrorism treaty needed for cooperation to keep lethal weapons and materials out of the possession of terrorists. To reduce the likelihood of civil wars and violent conflicts in failed states, he proposed an inter-governmental peace-building commission. It would give advance warning of increased tensions which lead to civil wars. In response to the scandal of sex abuse by peacekeepers, he has proposed a zero tolerance policy. (This requires cooperation from the countries who supply the peacekeepers. and have the final right to discipline their forces).

In the Freedom To Live In Dignity section, he proposed to strengthen the Office of High Commissioner for Human Rights, with more resources and staff. An astute and potentially effective innovation, in our opinion, would be to have the Commissioner attend and participate in the Security Council deliberations. He also urges strengthening cooperation with the International Criminal Court and other war crimes tribunals, creating world-wide recognition that atrocities would be punished.

Strengthening the UN

In the section on Strengthening the UN he proposes changes in the Human Rights Commission which at present has little credibility, since countries which are notorious violators are now included. His report calls for a smaller council, with members to be elected directly by the General Assembly, with a two-thirds vote, making it much less likely that violators would be included.

In addition to suggestions for streamlining the Secretariat, he also urges making the Security Council more representative of the international community and the geopolitical reality of today's world. Various proposals have been offered. Much politicking is taking place and issues will be hotly debated.

Finally. and perhaps most importantly, he urged clarity on guidelines when force can be used by the international community. After many years of endless discussion he has cleared the air by stating that terrorism against civilians for political purposes is never justified.

The proposed changes will make the UN more effective. For more information visit www.un.org/largerfreedom

Sylvain Ehrenfeld, IHEU, Representative to the UN at New York, and Phyllis Ehrenfeld IHEU Member Organisation American Ethical Union's National Service Conference Representative to the UN.