"Secretary-General Kofi Annan has announced the creation of a fund to promote democratric institutions and practices around the world - an idea first proposed by the United States.
The United Nations said Tuesday that since many members have offered to contribute, Annan wanted to set up the fund this summer so interested countries could make donations by September. That's when Annan has invited world leaders to a summit to tackle U.N. reform and agree on measures to meet U.N. development goals, including cutting extreme poverty by half by 2015." [More]
WP: "In today's world, no state can protect itself alone," said Mary Robinson, former U.N. high commissioner for human rights and president of Ireland, in a speech at Grace Cathedral. "A transparent and accountable United Nations is in the United States' interest. We know the U.N. needs reform, but it also needs resources."
Wall Street Journal Op-Ed
By UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan
"This Sunday marks the 60th anniversary of the signing of the United Nations Charter in 1945. Debate about "reform" of the U.N. has been raging almost from that moment on.
This is because -- especially but not only in the United States -- idealism and aspiration for the U.N. have always outstripped its actual performance. For 60 years Americans -- conservative and liberal alike -- have expected much from the U.N. Too often, we have failed to meet those expectations.
In Washington, the debate now centers on two documents which appeared last week: the report of the bipartisan Task Force led by former Speaker Newt Gingrich and former Senator George Mitchell, and the Henry J. Hyde United Nations Reform Act, adopted by the House of Representatives."
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"The archives at the UN hold a wide range of photographs from around the world. A UN Staff Photographer provides a personal anecdote to go along with each picture." [View more]