Annan ask A-A Summit to discuss UN reform

Annan ask A-A Summit to discuss UN reform

Muninggar Sri Saraswati and Tony Hotland, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta

United Nations Secretary-General Kofi Annan has asked the
organizers of the upcoming Asian-African Summit to hold a special
session to discuss reform within the world body.

Minister of Foreign Affairs Hassan Wirayuda told the press on
Thursday after a Cabinet meeting at the Presidential Palace that
the organizers had approved the request.

Hassan said that Annan had asked for a session to discuss
issues involving those attending the summit in so far as they
concerned the reform drive within the United Nations.

The organizers, Hassan said, had offered the secretary-general
the opportunity to meet with the foreign ministers of the
participating countries on April 23 during a breakfast meeting.

As of Thursday, 81 countries and UN bodies, and six
international organizations had confirmed their attendance at the
three-day summit, which is scheduled to commence on April 22.

Besides Annan, up to 52 heads of state and three vice
presidents have also confirmed that they will attend the event,
which is being held to commemorate the 50th anniversary of the
1955 Asia-Africa Conference in Bandung.

Annan, who has served as secretary-general of the UN for over
eight years, unveiled last month his proposals for reforming the
world body, which has become mired in scandals and plagued by
corruption.

He said that the UN was in desperate need of cleaning up its
cumbersome bureaucracy and of resolving its problems.

The urgent call for reform was launched following a series of
corruption allegations that have rocked the organization under his
leadership, including the US$20 billion UN-Iraq Oil for Food
Program and cases involving UN peacekeepers trading food for sex
with young girls in several missions around the world.

Meanwhile, a separate gathering called the Asia-Africa Forum
2005, which was launched by non-governmental organizations,
concluded on Thursday with a number of recommendations for those
attending the upcoming summit.

The gathering, which included over 60 participants from 14
countries, called on the UN as well as other international
organizations (NGOs) to listen to the voices of the people.

Participants said that the upcoming summit would provide the
perfect opportunity for Asian and African countries to revive the
notion of equality between developed and developing countries,
especially as regards what was termed "economic liberation".

The gathering formed part of a number of rival summit events.
The summit itself is seen by many NGOs as a mere celebration
without any concrete plans for bringing Asian and African nations
closer together.

Other recommendations included the strengthening of solidarity
between the people of the two continents and sustaining the
awareness of liberation from colonization through education, the
strengthening of people-centered development, and support for all
initiatives for peace and reconciliation in Asian and African
nations.