Fast Forward for the United Nations

Human Security Becomes a Unifying Force

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by Kofi Annan

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This message lies at the heart of the recent report, A More Secure World: Our Shared Responsibility. It is the work of the Panel of 16 men and women from around the world I appointed last year. The report contains a powerful vision of collective security. Whether the threat is terrorism or AIDS, a threat to one is a threat to all. Our defences are only as strong as their weakest link. We will be safest if we work together.

Tomorrow's United Nations would provide a more muscular framework to prevent a cascade of nuclear proliferation. We need tighter rules for inspections by the International Atomic Energy Agency.

The report puts forward a vision of a radically reformed United Nations. I share that vision. But what, exactly, would the United Nations of tomorrow look like?

Tomorrow's United Nations would unite States in preventing terrorism. The Security Council has already done a lot to curb the flow of arms, funds, and technology to terrorist cells. But we must go further.

The Panel has proposed a definition of terrorism. It makes clear that no cause whatsoever justifies the targeting of civilians and non-combatants. Member States should use it to enact a full anti-terrorism convention. The United Nations must make clear that it has zero tolerance of terrorism - of any kind, for any reason. We must also take strong multilateral action to keep deadly weapons out of dangerous hands.

Tomorrow's United Nations would provide a more muscular framework to prevent a cascade of nuclear proliferation. We need tighter rules for inspections by the International Atomic Energy Agency. We need incentives for States to forego domestic uranium enrichment and reprocessing facilities. And we need a verifiable fissile material cut-off treaty.

Tomorrow's United Nations would be an organisation through which all States get much more serious about promoting development.

All States must boost their support for achieving the UN Millennium Development Goals. This will save lives in poor countries. It will reduce violent conflict and the appeal of radicalism. It will help secure good governance and democracy. And it will help build capable States that can deal with threats in their own borders before they harm their own citizens and others.

Biological security also needs more attention. We must fight AIDS with far greater determination. We need a major initiative to build public health capacities in poor nations. And the Security Council and the World Health Organization should work more closely to prepare for any disease outbreaks, and improve our defences against bio-terrorism.

Tomorrow's United Nations would also provide a framework for the use of force in which all States should have confidence. Under Article 51 of the UN Charter, every State has the inherent right of self-defence. This includes the right to take pre-emptive action, if it faces an imminent threat. Beyond that, the report suggests a number of guidelines to make Security Council decisions on the use of force more consistent and more effective.

The Security Council must be proactive to prevent nightmare scenarios, such as a nuclear terrorist attack, from unfolding. The Council must stand ready to authorize the preventive use of force in appropriate circumstances.

The report also recognizes something I have long advocated: State sovereignty is not a license for mass murder. Governments must assume their responsibility to protect their citizens. Where they do not, the Security Council must assume its responsibility to protect. The Council may sometimes have to authorize the use of force to stop mass atrocities inside sovereign States. States must be prepared to back up the Council's decisions - not just with talk, but with troops.

Force should never be used lightly. It should always be a last resort. And if we act early, we are less likely to need it. Otherwise, we can find ourselves facing appalling situations.

We face such a situation today in Darfur. The international community must support the African Union's efforts to deploy troops and achieve a political solution. We must work to finalize the North-South negotiations. And we must build on that momentum, to secure peace throughout Sudan.

One of the most important contributions the United Nations makes to global security is its work in re-building war-torn countries. Our record in Namibia, Mozambique, Tajikistan, Cambodia, El Salvador, Guatemala, and East Timor speaks for itself. And our work continues today in Haiti, Kosovo, Liberia, Sierra Leone, and elsewhere - including Afghanistan and Iraq.

The United Nations achieves important results in peace-building around the world. But our efforts must be more strategic and better resourced. Tomorrow's United Nations must have the capacity to move fast, and see every job through. I warmly welcome the Panel's call for a Peace-building Commission, supported by greater Secretariat capacity.

And I also firmly believe that tomorrow's United Nations must have reformed and revitalized institutions:

That is the vision of the United Nations that I believe in. That is the vision I am working to achieve.

Next September, world leaders come together in New York to review progress since the Millennium Declaration. When they do, they must reach consensus on basic principles and clear priorities. And they must take decisions to build tomorrow's United Nations.

I established the Panel to open some windows and let in fresh air and new ideas. The period ahead will determine whether the winds of change will blow through the corridors of the United Nations.

Many of the important recommendations are directed at Member States. They will have to decide.

But I have no doubt that the United Nations must change.

Kofi Annan is Secretary-General of the United Nations. His article is drawn from his address to the Council on Foreign Relations in Washington, D.C., 16 December 2004. Email: mediainfo@un.org.

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