The United Nations at a 'fork in the road': the 58th general assembly high-level debate.

At the commencement of the fifty-eighth General Assembly session's high-level debate, Secretary-General Kofi Annan told representatives of the 191 Member States that the United Nations had come to a "fork in the road", stressing that when States "act unilaterally or in ad hoc coalitions", they fundamentally challenge "the principles on which, however imperfectly, world peace and stability have rested for the last fifty-eight years".

To better address the challenges facing the world, said Mr. Annan, the United Nations must not be afraid of "radical change" to improve the adequacy and effectiveness of the tools the institution had at its disposal. These challenges included not only "hard threats", such as new forms of terrorism and the proliferation of weapons of mass destruction, but also "soft threats", such as extreme poverty, income disparities, infectious diseases, climate change and environmental degradation.

The Secretary-General also said he intended to establish a "high-level panel of eminent personalities", whose tasks would be to: examine current challenges to peace and security; consider the possibility of collective action to address those challenges; review the functioning of major UN organs and the relationship between them; and recommend ways of strengthening the Organization through reforms of its institutions and processes.

President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo of the Philippines, like the majority of delegates who spoke during the debate, cast her country's vote for international law, multilateralism and consensus. She said: "We should instil the concept of strength and greatness not in terms of the ability to achieve or maintain dominance over others, but in terms of the ability of nations to work with others in the interest of the international community as a whole."

Joaquim Alberto Chissano, President of Mozambique, addressed the General Assembly as a "messenger of the peoples of Africa", referring to his country's chairmanship of the African Union. He expressed his support to the Secretary-General's "relentless efforts in turning the United Nations into an effective instrument for international cooperation", and offered his own recommendations for the expansion of the Security Council, i.e., permanent membership for Brazil and at least two African countries.

States called for increased United Nations participation in the rebuilding of Iraq. Vladimir V. Putin, President of the Russian Federation, said: "Only the direct participation of the United Nations in the reconstruction in Iraq will give its people an opportunity to independently decide their future.

And only active, practical assistance of the United Nations to its economic and civil transformation will enable Iraq to take a truly new and worthy place in the world community." Sheikh Hamad bin Jassim bin Jabr AI-Thani, Minister of Foreign Affairs of Qatar, like many leaders, called for elections in Iraq. He said coalition forces, together with international organizations, should "allow the Iraqi people, including all its factions and political currents, to exercise their legitimate right to choose their new political leadership through free, democratic elections, expressing its aspirations, hopes and wishes".

Delegates called for a lasting solution to the conflict in the Middle East, and many expressed their support for the "road map", a peace plan conceived by the "Quartet"--the United States, the Russian Federation, the European Union and the United Nations. President Alfred Moisiu of Albania said the road map was the way towards settlement of the conflict between Israel and Palestine. However, "violence and terrorist acts should be renounced definitely, while promoting dialogue and the spirit of agreement until an enforceable final solution", he said.

Speakers condemned terrorism and mourned the loss of UN personnel, including Brazilian international civil servant Sergio Vieira de Mello, in a terrorist attack at the United Nations compound in Baghdad on 19 August 2003. Prime Minister Jose Manuel Durao Barroso of Portugal said the United Nations should play a central role in defining a global strategy for fighting terrorism, because international peace and security depended on the outcome of that fight. "It is a fight that we must undertake without losing our souls, that is to say, the values on which the Organization is built", he said. Besides an increase in security, countries must continue to strive for more democracy, better environmental protection, and a drastic reduction in poverty. He said the fight against terrorism must be undertaken with respect for international law, and recommended a "global convention on international terrorism".

Many leaders expressed their support for the Secretary-General's high-level Panel on Threats, Challenges and Change. The Minister of Foreign Affairs of Poland, Wlodzimierz Cimoszewicz, said the "best way to create proper conditions for unconstrained debate on the future of the UN" is to engage the Panel, which should be independent and made up of outstanding public figures of international stature in excellent moral standing.

The General Assembly also debated global warming (page 6), the recent failure of trade talks (page 10), the global response to HIV/AIDS (page 63), and peacekeeping (page 78).