Annan Proposes Radical Un Shakeup

Kofi Annan will today propose a radical change to the workings of the United Nations after a period of scandals and controversy that has plagued the organisation and its secretary general.

The blueprint for reform is contained in a 63-page draft report to be presented to the general assembly and includes changing the controversial human rights commission, tightening oversight of UN contracts and sanctions programmes, and the creation of a new peace-building body to strengthen civil society in countries ravaged by conflict, the Los Angeles Times reported.

An ongoing investigation into the UN's role in the pre-war oil-for-food scandal in Iraq, and an inquiry into allegations of sexual abuse by UN officials in the Congo have put Mr Annan under increasing pressure.

The scandals have provided a focal point for conservative critics who believe the UN is a hindrance to US interests.

In the report, Mr Annan has sought to keep an increasingly critical US on board by tackling issues that concern them.

Entitled In Larger Freedom: Towards Development, Security, and Human Rights For All, the report's sharpest proposal is for the commission on human rights to be replaced by a smaller human rights council.

Mr Annan says the existing commission, which meets in Geneva every spring and is riven by charges and counter-charges has "been increasingly undermined by its declining credibility and professionalism".

Echoing Washington's criticism of countries such as Cuba and Libya, Mr Annan says some states have sought membership on the commission "not to strengthen human rights, but to protect themselves against criticism, or to criticise others".

In general, today's report is an effort to find common ground between north and south. It tries to meet the priorities of rich countries, which put most store by security against terrorism and nuclear proliferation, and poor countries, more concerned with poverty and disease.

The secretary general says a catastrophic terrorist act in a big western city could undermine the economies of poor countries while an outbreak of disease in a poor region could spread to the developed world.

"The rich are vulnerable to the threats that attack the poor, and the strong are vulnerable to the threats that accost the poor," he says.

Mr Annan's recommendations build on those of a panel on threats and security challenges, which he set up last year.

It called for international agreement on a new definition of terrorism which would outlaw all attacks on civilians, and proposed a change in the balance between state sovereignty and the right of other states to intervene.

But although Mr Annan endorses the need for change, he does not offer a concrete proposal. He calls on the security council to reach agreement on new principles to govern "when and how force is used".

Similarly, on reform of the security council, he does not come off the fence in favour of any of the various schemes on offer.

The council needs to be expanded so as "to make it more broadly representative of the international community as a whole", he says.