“Redeeming the United Nations”

The Heads of State and Government meet today in New York to discuss the reform of the institutions. Ambassadors work hard to give the finishing touches to the proposals for reforms.
In 27 years at the service of the UN, I’ve seen many transformations. When I joined the organization, no one would have believed that the UN would organize elections in sovereign countries, would conduct weapon inspections, would impose commercial sanctions to its member states and would set up international tribunals. This means that the UN is a very flexible organization which has been able to evolve in order to meet its challenges. The imperatives of the current reform are dictated by the war in Iraq. The UN prestige declined in the United States for it did not support the war and it also declined abroad because the UN could not prevent it. In view of the situation Kofi Annan decided to implement a large plan of reforms.
Annan appointed eminent people to examine peace and security issues whereas a parallel group of economists led by Jeffrey Sachs, analyzes the measures to be adopted in order to meet the commitments established by the Millennium Declaration. In March, Annan synthesized the proposals. That report will give the UN the opportunity of evolving and materializing the changes already orchestrated. Nowadays, the UN promotes human rights and strengthens democratic institutions and practices all over the world. The UN established the Fund for Democracy and our proposal is to establish a Commission for Peace in order to help countries to go from war to sustainable peace.
We should accept the challenges of our time but also those of the past, underdevelopment, HIV-AIDS or natural disasters. This Summit should reaffirm the Millennium Goals for Development and reaffirm the commitment of the international community with respect to the implementation of these objectives for the year 2015. This Summit will be the largest meeting of world political leaders ever in history. If these leaders meet their commitments it would be possible for the UN to be reborn and renovated.