UNITED NATIONS, March 21: Secretary General Kofi Annan asked member states on Monday that his proposals to expand the UN Security Council and his plan for reform, ranging from greater investment in developing countries to steps to fight terrorism and collective action against genocide and ethnic cleansing should be treated a single package and not an “a la carte menu” of choices. He also repeated his earlier recommendation to expand the Security Council from 15 to 24 seats but declined to take a position on two competing proposals before the UN General Assembly but said he wanted the body to decide before September.—AFP

Our correspondent in New York adds: The UN chief said at a press conference that a consensus for the reform of the Security Council was desirable but not essential, suggesting that a two-thirds majority should be enough to agree on its expansion.

As regards the position of many developing countries groups that the expansion would create new spheres of influence, Mr Annan noted if the reforms were agreed upon, more African, Asian and Latin American countries would get a permanent slot.

“I have deliberately spared you any flights of rhetoric. This hall has heard enough high-sounding declarations to last us for some decades to come. We know what the problems are, and we all know what we have promised to achieve. What is needed now is not more declarations, but action to fulfil the promises already made,” he added.

Outlining the three pillars, he stressed that the first element – “Freedom from Want” – demanded of developing countries to improve their governance, combat corruption and adopt an inclusive approach to development to achieve the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs), which seek to halve extreme poverty and hunger, slash maternal and infant mortality and increase access to education and healthcare by 2015.

At the same time, Mr Annan said, developed countries must increase the amount they spend on development and debt relief, give immediate duty-free and quota-free market access to all exports from least developed countries and commit themselves to spending 0.7 per cent of their gross domestic product on official development assistance by 2015.

The second part of the report _ “Freedom from Fear” _ calls on all states to agree on a new security consensus, “by which they commit themselves to treat any threat to one of them as a threat to all, and to work together to prevent catastrophic terrorism, stop proliferation of deadly weapons, end civil wars and build lasting peace in war-torn countries,” he said.

“Among my specific proposals in this area, I ask all states to complete, sign and implement the comprehensive convention on terrorism, based on a clear and agreed definition, as well as the convention on nuclear terrorism and the fissile material cutoff treaty,” he added.

The report backs the definition of terrorism as “any action intended to cause death or serious bodily harm to civilians or non-combatants with the purpose of intimidating a population or compelling a government or an international organization to do or abstain from doing any act.”

On the third pillar – “Freedom to Live in Dignity” – Mr Annan stressed the need for the international community to embrace the principle of the “Responsibility to Protect” as “a basis for collective action against genocide, ethnic cleansing and crime against humanity – recognizing that this responsibility lies first and foremost with each individual state, but also that, if national authorities are unable or unwilling to protect their citizens, the responsibility then shifts to the international community.”

In the last resort, the Security Council may take enforcement action according to the UN Charter, he added. Mr Annan also noted his proposals for strengthening the UN system itself by revitalizing the General Assembly, expanding the membership of the Security Council to 24 members from the current 15, and establishing a new “human rights council”, elected by a two-thirds majority of the General Assembly to replace the current Commission on Human Rights, “whose capacity to perform its tasks has been undermined by its declining credibility and professionalism.”