August 26, 2005
Bolton: U.S. Sets Sights on U.N. Reform
By THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
Filed at 6:47 a.m. ET
UNITED NATIONS (AP) -- U.S. Ambassador John Bolton said Thursday the United States wants a strong document on U.N. reform that all member states can adopt, but many developing countries oppose Washington's proposed changes.
Secretary-General Kofi Annan invited world leaders to U.N. headquarters on the 60th anniversary of the United Nations next month to take action to meet U.N. goals to reduce poverty and to reform the world body.
Last week, the United States made extensive comments and proposed hundreds of changes to the latest blueprint for world leaders to adopt which runs 39 pages and was put together by General Assembly President Jean Ping.
Bolton told reporters Thursday that the proposed changes ''are not that dissimilar to changes that we've been talking about here at the U.N. for months.''
But coming less than three weeks before the summit starts on Sept. 14, they have added to the anxiety about whether all countries will be able to agree on a final text that has substance rather than just flowery phrases.
''Our hope is to have a strong consensus document for the high-level event,'' Bolton said. ''We're working on that and we're making our views known as are other governments.''
Among other things, Washington's changes would eliminate references to the Millennium Development Goals adopted by world leaders at a summit in September 2000. The goals include cutting extreme poverty by half, ensuring universal primary education, and stemming the AIDS pandemic, all by 2015. They also delete a call for rich nations to increase development assistance, and eliminate a call for further action against climate change.
The United States wants several additions that include extensive management reforms, a Human Rights Council to replace the discredited U.N. Commission on Human Rights, and more action against terrorism.
By contrast, the priority of developing countries is action to tackle poverty and meet the U.N. development goals -- not management reforms that would take power away from U.N. member states to oversee the world body, as the U.S. advocates.
Egypt's U.N. Ambassador Maged Abdelaziz said many difference remain with the United States and others -- from the the development agenda to defining terrorism, deciding whether the United Nations should have the right to intervene in a country in cases of genocide, disarmament, and changing the human rights machinery.
Many developing countries, for example, object ''to the use of human rights for political considerations'' and want the United Nations to do more address the root causes of terrorism ''that would have somebody blow himself up in a bus,'' he said.
In a letter to other ambassadors on Tuesday, Bolton said ''time is short'' and there is a need for flexibility ''to maximize our chances of success.''
Ping is trying to put together ''a core group'' of 20 to 30 countries as soon as possible to negotiate key controversial issues.
Russia's U.N. Ambassador Andrey Denisov said every nations has its own position.
''So the number of amendments can be 400 or 500 -- any figure is appropriate,'' he said. ''My concern is that we need to produce something tangible before our leaders come here.''