UNITED NATIONS, Sept 17: Secretary General Kofi Annan opened a UN General Assembly session on Saturday with a stirring call to member states to fully implement wide-ranging reforms endorsed by world leaders here this week.
“Let us each pledge to live up to what the summit outcome requires of us, and hold each other to account for doing so,” he told the 191-member assembly.
His comments came a day after world leaders ended a three-day summit by endorsing a watered-down document on UN reform that critics said failed to fully address the problems of terrorism and poverty.
“I intend to follow through on every action asked of me. I ask you, the member states, to tell me immediately if you think I am not doing so,” he said.
“I will also keep score on progress you make in implementing what has been agreed, and I will speak plainly if I believe you are falling behind.”
The agreed reform plan was a diluted version of UN Secretary General Kofi Annan’s ambitious plan to make the 60-year-old organization more representative and better able to meet 21st-century challenges.
The document denounced terrorism in all forms and promoted development, backed reform of UN management.—AFP
