August 3, 2000
World leaders at the Millennium Summit of the United Nations in September will call for speedy reform and enlargement of the U.N. Security Council in a declaration to be adopted at the summit, according to a working draft obtained by Kyodo News on Thursday.
The draft says U.N. leaders will call for 'the speedy reform and enlargement of the Security Council, making it more representative, effective and legitimate in the eyes of all the world's peoples.' If adopted, it will be the first time an official U.N. document has stipulated speedy reform and enlargement of the council.
Currently, there are five permanent Security Council members with veto powers -- Britain, China, France, Russia and the United States. Japan is pushing to be included in an expanded council. Reform of the council has been contemplated for the past several years by a special task force set up under the U.N. General Assembly. But no visible progress has been made due to sharp differences over such matters as the extent of increase and whether to grant new permanent members veto powers.
The statement on reform of the Security Council comes in the last of the draft's eight sections under the heading 'Strengthening the United Nations,' while other sections include 'Peace, Security and Disarmament' and 'Development and Poverty Eradication.' The draft has been compiled by Namibian Foreign Minister Theo-Ben Gurirab who is expected to chair the three-day summit which starts Sept. 6 at the U.N. headquarters in New York with leaders from most of the 188 member countries participating.
It calls for enhancing the effectiveness of the U.N. in the maintenance of security 'by strengthening the capacity of the Organization to conduct peace keeping operations.' It also resolves to 'minimize the adverse effects of economic sanctions on innocent populations' -- a likely reference to the people of Iraq who are suffering from 10 years of U.N. sanctions since the Persian Gulf war.
The draft also says the leaders resolve to 'adopt and ratify the Kyoto Protocol, so that it can enter into force no later than 2002.' It also highlights the necessity of meeting the special needs of Africa, noting 'Extreme poverty in Sub-Saharan Africa affects a higher proportion of the population than in any other region. It is compounded by a higher incidence of conflict, HIV/AIDS and many other hardships.'
It says the leaders will therefore resolve to 'take special measures to address these and other critical needs of Africa, including the need for debt cancellation, improved market access and enhanced ODA (official development assistance ) and FDI (foreign direct investment) flows and give our full support to Africans in their struggle for durable peace and sustainable development.'
More Information on the Millennium Summit
