Kofi Annan＇s reform plan

  I am Bob Doughty with In the News in VOA Special English.

United Nations Secretary General Kofi Annan has presented a major plan to reform the UN. Mr. Annan presented his plan Monday in a speech to the UN General Assembly. His report is called "enlarge freedom towards development, security and human rights for all." It proposes expanding the Security Council and changing the commission on human rights. It also includes ideas for defining and fighting terrorism and establishing new rules on when to use military force. Mr. Annan said his plan gives equal importance to the three great purposes of the UN: development, security and human rights.

  The secretary general's report is based on 2 earlier studies. One was done by a committee he appointed last year to propose UN reforms. The second study was about how to meet goals set five years ago for reducing world poverty in half by 2015.

  Mr. Annan's plan has 4 main parts. The first 3 parts list the most important goals in development, security and human rights. The fourth part proposes changing the UN into what Mr. Annan calls "a more effective instrument for carrying out these goals."

  The secretary general said expanding and strengthening the security council was at the top of his list of reforms. He urged the UN to make the Security Council more representative of the international community. Two proposals under consideration would increase the Security Council from 15 to 24 members. He also proposed replacing the commission on human rights with a smaller council whose members would be chosen by the general assembly. Mr. Annan said that the present commission has members whose purpose is not to strengthen human rights.

  Mr. Annan urged rich countries to increase financial aid and debt forgiveness to poor countries that govern responsibly. The secretary general also urged the UN to approve the agreements against terrorism and to halt the spread of materials needed to make nuclear weapons. He said terrorism is not an acceptable or effective way to support chaos.

  Mr. Annan also urged the security council to guarantee that there would be no more disputes like the one that divided members over whether to go to war in Iraq. He said the council should establish rules for deciding whether to use force.

  Mr. Annan urged world leaders to accept all of his plan and not just some parts of it. However, reports said the United States and other countries have criticized parts of the proposal. UN officials say the proposal is a starting point for an international debate on how to make the organization more important in the 21st century. The proposal will be the subject of a gathering of government leaders at the UN in September.

  In the New in VOA Special English was written by Shelley Gollust. I'm Bob Doughty.