UN asks G-4 states to withhold proposal till June 21
By Masood Haider
UNITED NATIONS, June 4: The President of UN General Assembly, Jean Ping, on Friday called on G-4, Japan, Germany, India, and Brazil, not to move forward any proposal for the expansion of the Security Council until June 21. He also unveiled the first draft of a plan for overhauling the United Nations, complete with demands to pay more attention to poverty and human rights.
Addressing a Press conference following a meeting with G-4 and Uniting For Consensus (UFC) leaders, Mr Ping conceded there were serious differences of opinion among member states over the expansion proposals. He asked the two groups to continue talks in an effort to reach a “broadest possible consensus.”
The G-4 countries who were poised to proceed with their resolution seeking expansion of the UN Security Council by six permanent and four non-permanent seats received a major setback when China reiterated clearly that it would veto any such resolution.
The UFC group has been consistently calling for a broadest possible consensus saying the G-4 proposal would divide the 191 UN General Assembly thus undermining the whole reforms package proposed by the UN Secretary General.
HUMAN RIGHTS COUNCIL: Speaking about other reforms, Mr Ping said that one of the contentious issue was the creation of Human Rights Council as a principal body of the United Nations. He said following consultations the member states had agreed to place the HRC as a subsidiary of the UN General Assembly. However, he observed that as time goes by “perhaps with agreement between member states” the Human Rights Council could be elevated to the principal organ of the world body.
Later on Friday evening, Mr Jean Ping issued the first draft of a plan for overhauling the United Nations, complete with demands to pay more attention to poverty and human rights.
General Assembly President Ping said he would give them a few weeks to study it before they begin consultations later this month. They face a tight deadline, as Secretary-General Kofi Annan has called a summit in September for the purpose of strengthening the world body.
UN officials said 174 leaders had accepted his invitation, which would make it the largest gathering of world leaders in history. “We are reaffirming unequivocally that all member states wish to strengthen the United Nations to make it an effective tool, one that will enable us to collectively meet the many challenges and threats that our world is confronting right now,” Ping said.
In March UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan asked world leaders to approve the most sweeping changes to the United Nations since it was founded 60 years ago, citing the need to tackle conflicts, terrorism, poverty and human rights abuses.
After a year of scandals over corruption in the UN oil-for-food programme in Iraq and sex abuse by UN peacekeepers in Congo and elsewhere, Annan also set out plans to make the world body more efficient, open and accountable, including strengthening the independence of the UN’s internal watchdog. Mr Ping’s proposal would reaffirm the commitment of UN members “to eradicate poverty and promote development and global prosperity for all.” It “invites” rich nations to set timetables to increase their spending on development assistance to 0.7 percent of gross national product by 2015 - softer language than in Annan’s report, which called on world leaders “to ensure” that developed countries reach the target. The United States, which has one of the lowest levels — around 0.17 per cent — opposes a timetable.
UN Chief called Ping’s draft “an important step toward decisive action for halving poverty by 2015, reducing the threat of war, terrorism, and proliferation, and promoting human dignity in every corner of the world.” “Much is at stake, and I am confident that when world leaders meet in New York ... they will agree on the most far-ranging and ambitious reforms of the United Nations in its 60-year history,” he said in a statement.
