Secretary General Kofi Annan today outlined his vision of theUnited Nations in the 21st century--a world body that would use"smart sanctions" to punish dictators while sparing innocentcivilians, enlist corporate help for disaster victims and bring theInternet to the Third World.
The proposals, contained in a 57-page "Millennium Report,"represent Annan's most ambitious effort yet to shape the future ofthe United Nations and put his personal imprint on it.
Annan said he hoped the report would stimulate debate among worldleaders who will gather in New York for a Sept. 6-8 summit to developa long-term agenda for the United Nations. It containsrecommendations on a dizzying array of issues, from curbing illegaltraffic in small arms to reversing global warming.
The report "attempts to present a comprehensive account of themain challenges facing humanity as we enter the 21st century,combined with a plan of action for dealing with them," Annan toldreporters. "That may sound absurdly ambitious, but if the UnitedNations does not attempt to chart a course for the world's people inthe first decades of the new millennium, who will?"
Annan directed his most severe criticism at the Security Council'suse of economic sanctions to try to change the behavior of suchstates as Iraq and Libya, saying that innocent civilians, not theruling elite, bear the brunt of the suffering. He said the councilshould give serious consideration to studies underway in Germany,Switzerland, Britain and Canada to find ways to target leaders ratherthan whole populations.
The United Nations also should work more closely with the privatesector to harness information technology to improve the lives of theworld's most disadvantaged people, Annan said. And he warned thatgovernments that restrict access to the Internet--as Malaysia, Cubaand Saudi Arabia have tried to do--"are going to fail."
"They are depriving their people, their nations, of greatopportunities by trying to limit access to these technologies," Annantold reporters, without singling out specific countries. "Theyshouldn't waste resources trying to block it."
Annan announced that the United Nations, the InternationalCommittee of the Red Cross and Ericsson, the Swedishtelecommunications company, are jointly designing a program toprovide round-the-clock mobile and satellite communications to reliefworkers. The United Nations is also developing a plan to provide10,000 Third World hospitals with access to up-to-date medicalinformation via the Internet, he said.
Annan urged rich countries to increase their development aidbudgets and provide debt relief and market access to poor countries,particularly in Africa. He asked the United Nation's 188 memberstates to set such ambitious goals as reducing HIV infection ratesamong 15- to 24-year-olds by 25 percent by 2010; cutting in half theproportion of people, currently 22 percent of the global population,who earn less than $1 a day; and guaranteeing by 2015 that allchildren will receive an elementary school education.
"Unless we redouble and concert our efforts, poverty andinequality will get worse," he told the U.N. General Assembly. "Someof us are worrying about whether the stock market will crash . . .while more than half our fellow men and women have much more basicworries, such as where their children's next meal is coming from."
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