Six months ago, United Nations
Secretary-General Kofi Annan
put forth an ambitious and
comprehensive agenda to make
the UN more effective and
accountable in meeting the
challenges of the 21st century.
After many hours of
negotiations, the summit declaration,
or ‘outcome
document,’ agreed
upon by the world leaders
at the 2005 World Summit is
a success.
The agreement makes important
strides in meeting many of
the initiatives in the Secretary–General’s
agenda such as: the establishment
of a UN Peace-building Commission;
the formation of a Democracy
Fund first proposed by President
Bush; the creation of a new
Human Rights Council; an advancement
toward meeting the Millennium
Development Goals; important
management reforms; a comprehensive
terrorism convention; and
a “Responsibility to
Protect” provision that
triggers UN action in cases
of war crimes and other atrocities.
It also sends a strong
message that the international
community embraces the modernization
of the organization, creating
momentum for further changes.
As Ambassador Bolton stated,
“Reform is a process,”
and the UN has taken a very
important step in this process.
Transcript:
On-The-Record
Briefing
on
the
UN
Summit
Declaration
R.Nicholas
Burns,
Under
Secretary
of
State
for
Political
Affairs;
Kristen
Silverberg,
Assistant
Secretary
for
International
Organization
Affairs
9.13.05
