In a report released in early April – “The role of the UN in the 21st Century” – Kofi Annan makes some challenging recommendations to the heads of state and government who are to meet in New York in September. The central challenge ahead, he says, “is to ensure that globalisation becomes a positive force for all the world’s people…” To do this, he outlines some specific goals:
In addition, he calls on developed countries “to adopt a policy of duty-free and quota-free access for essentially all exports from the least developed countries by next year”, and urges bringing into force the Kyoto Protocol on global warming by 2002. Most of these goals are not new, but government leaders will now find it more difficult to avoid a response when they meet in September. He also sets out a series of priorities for action on alleviating poverty, especially in Africa; on arms control (including a conference on “ways of eliminating nuclear dangers”); peacekeeping; reform of the Security Council; and strengthening relations with NGOs.
In general, the report is sensitive to global change, including the use of new technology (the Internet), the spread of democracy and human rights, relations with “civil society”, and the UN as “a centre for harmonizing the actions of nations…”. It will please those who look to the UN as a mechanism for global governance by setting standards and monitoring the record of governments, corporations and NGOs in meeting them. It will discomfort many of the same who are unable or unwilling to accept them. The report will no doubt be welcomed in Ottawa with one exception; it is critical of the significant reduction in development aid by the North. One hopes the government will take note.
