UNITED NATIONS, Sept 14: The United Nations General Assembly unanimously approved a watered down version of broad ranging reforms which stipulate global action to eradicate poverty and broad ranging reforms of world body’s management.
The 35-page documents fell short of the lofty goals proposed by UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan who deplored the omission of non-proliferation and disarmament issues from the document.
“Obviously we didn’t get everything we wanted, and with 191 member states it’s not easy to get an agreement,” he told a press conference citing on the plus side items on development, a peace building commission, a new Human Rights Council, terrorism and the establishment of a democracy fund, while at the same time calling some states spoilers.
“The big item missing is non-proliferation and disarmament. This is a real disgrace,” he said, speaking just minutes after the General Assembly virtually unanimously approved a resolution sending the draft outcome document to the Summit, which is expected to be the largest ever gathering of global leaders.
“We have failed twice this year. We failed at the NPT and we failed now,” he added, referring to a review conference in May on the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty that ended without substantive agreement.
“And I hope the leaders will see this as a real signal for them to pick up the ashes and really show leadership on this important issue when we are all concerned about weapons of mass destruction and possibility that they may even get into the wrong hands.
“So I will appeal to the leaders who are coming here in the next few days to really step up to the plate and accept the challenge and show leadership on the issue,” he said.
Mr Annan was repeatedly asked if he saw the draft document as a failure after he had appealed to leaders for bold decisions, and not to ‘cherry pick’ among the proposals contained in his report in March, ‘In Larger Freedom: Towards Development, Security and Human Rights for All.’
