Summit-UN-reform
JP/1/Cabinet
Annan to discuss UN reform at next week's Summit
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.