Seeking to put behind a difficult 12 months of controversy surrounding the United Nations, Secretary-General Kofi Annan Tuesday looked ahead towards 2005 as a year of opportunity to bring peace to several hotspots around the world.
Speaking at his annual year-end press conference in New York, the Secretary-General said he saw “important openings” for peace in such troubled areas as Afghanistan, Iraq, the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) and Sudan.
He acknowledged that allegations of corruption and mismanagement within the UN Oil-for-Food programme had “cast a shadow” over an operation that brought relief to millions of Iraqis.
– We must find out the truth as quickly as possible, he stressed.
Mr. Annan said he intended to make public when it is released in January an interim report by former US Federal Reserve Chairman Paul Volcker, who is heading an independent probe into the multi-billion humanitarian operation which ceased operation in November 2003.
Replying to questions, he said he would not resign because of the alleged scandal despite calls for this from some members of the United States Congress.
– I have the confidence and the support of the Member States, he said, pledging to press ahead with the proposed reform measures as well as efforts to reach a series of targets to reduce extreme poverty and other global ills.
– The US needs the UN and the UN needs the US and we need to find a way of working together, he stressed. – The current criticisms and attacks have not been helpful for the relationship, regardless of which quarter it comes from, and we need to find a way of putting those kinds of acrimonious discussions behind us and move on.
Looking at the year ahead, the Secretary-General underscored the opportunity to build a framework for a more secure world based on the recommendations of a blue-ribbon commission that looked at emerging international threats and ways to deal with them.
He said he was heartened by the reaction in many capitals to the report of the High-level Panel on Threats, Challenges and Change, which he said “lays out a powerful vision of collective security and calls for sweeping changes of the United Nations.”
– In the period ahead, States must work together to build a shared global framework for collective security in the 21st century, and forge a truly global partnership for development, he declared, adding: – I will be working to help them do so, through a renewed United Nations.
Other hotspots addressed by the Secretary-General included:
AFGHANISTAN, where the UN is now assisting preparations for parliamentary elections in 2005 following the successful presidential balloting in October. – We will work with Member States and the Afghan people as they try to improve security and address the huge drug problem, Mr. Annan said.
PALESTINIAN elections early next year. Mr. Annan pledged the UNs support and emphasized the “important opportunity” for progress in the Middle East peace process. – I am very hopeful that they will have very successful elections and that it will cap the smooth transitional arrangements that the Palestinians have embarked on since the death of President Yasser Arafat.
The Democratic Republic of the CONGO (DRC), which requires a sustained effort to bring the whole country and the population together – particularly in eastern Congo, where conflict continues. Mr. Annan also underlined the importance of improving relations between the DRC and its neighbours.
– Peace in the DRC, as we all know, is crucial to stability in the entire continent, he said.
