From the Washington Post: "[State Department spokesman Adam] Ereli said, the United States appreciates Annan's effort to change the institution and to tackle a range of politically sensitive development and security issues. He said Annan also provided a "positive emphasis on the importance of promoting freedom and respect for human rights."
Delegates from the developing world voiced concern that Annan's proposals -- particularly his call for an anti-terrorism convention before the end of next year -- go too far in accommodating the interests of the United States and other powerful countries.
Annan will travel Monday night to Algiers to try to generate support for his ideas at an Arab League summit. But Arab leaders are expected to object to his proposal that the treaty define terrorism as any act that is "intended to cause death or serious bodily harm to civilians or noncombatants" to intimidate a community, government or international organization."
United Nations Marks World Water Day
"The United Nations says more than 1.1 billion people around the world lack safe water and 2.4 billion have no access to sanitation, leading to over 3 million deaths every year.
"People who can turn on a tap and have safe and clean water to drink, to cook with and to bathe in often take it for granted, and yet more than 1 billion of our fellow human beings have little choice but to use potentially harmful sources of water," said Dr. Lee Jong-Wook, head of the World Health Organization." Read More
Statement by Senator Timothy E. Wirth, President of the United Nations Foundation, on the "In Larger Freedom" Report Issued by Secretary-General Kofi Annan
WASHINGTON-Former Senator Timothy E. Wirth, President of the United Nations Foundation, issued the following statement regarding the release of "In Larger Freedom: Towards Security, Development and Human Rights for All" - a report issued today by Secretary-General Kofi Annan:
"Secretary-General Kofi Annan has called on global leaders to strengthen their collective ability to tackle the most critical security and social challenges. Annan's report provides a unique opportunity for the United States to work with the UN and play a leadership role in addressing issues of terrorism, poverty, human rights and the environment. At the same time, the report identifies steps that will help make the UN itself a more effective and efficient organization. The serious challenges addressed by the Secretary-General's report cannot be met by any one nation acting alone. As a global leader, the U.S. is well positioned to help the UN and the world community to address these fundamental challenges and make the world body a stronger organization."
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THE SECRETARY-GENERAL
STATEMENT TO THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY
New York, 21 March 2005
Mr. President,
Excellencies,
Thank you for allowing me to present to you, in person, the five-year progress report that you requested from me, on the implementation of the Millennium Declaration.
The main message of that report is that the aims of the Declaration can be achieved, but only if you, the member states, are willing to adopt a package of specific, concrete decisions this year.
Some of those decisions are so important that they need to be taken at the level of heads of state and government. It is therefore very fortunate that your heads of state and government have agreed to come here for a summit meeting in September. I am giving you my report six months ahead of that meeting, so that your governments have ample time to consider it. My hope is that world leaders, when they arrive here in September, will be ready to take the decisions that are needed.
Washington Post: "Secretary General Kofi Annan on Monday will propose establishing new rules for the use of military force, adopting a tough anti-terrorism treaty that would punish suicide bombers, and overhauling the United Nation's discredited human rights commission, according to a confidential draft of a report on U.N. reform." Full Article
"Social determinants are the conditions in which people live and work. They are the "causes behind the causes" of ill-health. They include poverty, social exclusion, inappropriate housing, shortcomings in safeguarding early childhood development, unsafe employment conditions, and lack of quality health systems.
Social determinants are intrinsically linked to inequities in health. They help to explain why poor and marginalized people get sick and die sooner than people in better social positions. They are a significant reason behind the world's vast difference in average life expectancy, which ranges from 34 years in Sierra Leone (lowest in the world) to 81.9 in Japan (highest in the world)." More from the WHO...
From the Sydney Morning Herald: "The United Nations Secretary-General, Kofi Annan, expects Syria to withdraw its 20,000 troops and intelligence agents from Lebanon before the country holds parliamentary elections in the northern spring, his spokesman said.
This is the first time the UN has set a deadline for the complete withdrawal of Syrian security forces, who have held sway over Lebanon for 29 years. It follows confidential discussions between Mr Annan's top envoy, Terje Roed-Larsen, and Lebanese and Syrian political leaders."
ALERTNET: "Eastern Congo is suffering the world's worst current humanitarian crisis, with a death toll outstripping that in Sudan's strife-torn Darfur region, a top United Nations official said on Wednesday.
U.N. emergency relief coordinator Jan Egeland said that over the last six years the toll in the Democratic Republic of Congo's amounted to "one tsunami every six months" -- a reference to the December disaster which left about 300,000 people dead or missing in Asia.
"In terms of the human lives lost ... this is the greatest humanitarian crisis in the world today and it is beyond belief that the world is not paying more attention," he told a news conference."
"The United Nations hailed the convening of the new Iraqi Transitional National Assembly as a seminal moment with unlimited opportunities for the future of the war-torn country, pledging the world body's help in the tasks and challenges that lie ahead." Read more...