The World Summit: 'a moving force'.

The Outcome document of the 2005 World Summit was the moving force behind negotiations at the sixtieth session of the General Assembly. Representing a consensus agreement by all 191 Member States of the United Nations on all major issues on the agenda, the document outlined very clear goals for the Organization, including the establishment of a peacebuilding commission and a human rights council, as well as management and secretariat reform, and reiterated support for worldwide efforts on development and humanitarian relief.

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On 20 December 2005, the General Assembly and the Security Council jointly established the Peacebuilding Commission, designed to prevent post-conflict countries from slipping back into violence and conflict. "This resolution would, for the first time in the history of the United Nations, create a mechanism which ensures that for countries emerging from conflict, post-conflict does not mean post-engagement of the international community", said Assembly President Jan Eliasson. He pointed out that 50 per cent of conflicts of the past 20 years have recurred within five years of peace agreements. "When the cameras disappear, the attention also disappears, and five years later you pay an enormously heavy price. This is what we are trying to repair when we fill this institutional gap", he said.

Concerning the Human Rights Council, Ricardo A. Arias of Panama said that one of the goals was to create a body that would not just address situations where human rights violations were taking place, but establish a dialogue of cooperation between all Member States to prevent such violations from taking place at all. One key function of the Council, which would be a subsidiary body of the General Assembly, would be a periodic review, where each country's compliance to human rights obligations would be examined. This would encourage all countries to honour human rights, "no matter if they are big or small, rich or poor", he said.

Some developing countries feared that management and secretariat reform would strip powers from the Assembly. According to Allan Rock of Canada, "making the UN administration more effective and efficient is not in the interest of one country or group; it is in the interest of all Member States. We have a better chance of reaching our goals if we have a better working organization". Important elements of this reform included the establishment of an ethics and oversight office, where "whistleblowers" within the UN system could disclose breaches of ethics or financial misconduct without fear of reprisals, and an oversight committee, an independent body that would examine the management of the UN Secretariat and perform auditing functions.

Reform of the Economic and Social Council, a permanent UN body that assists the General Assembly in promoting international economic and social cooperation and development, was also included in the Summit Outcome document, as many Member States felt that the Council's functions and relevancy had diminished in recent years. Part of the reform is the institution of a global policy dialogue, which should be a high-level segment of the Council, with ministers of Member States, civil society and non-governmental organizations (NGOs), and other actors, such as the Bretton Woods Institutions", according to Johan C. Verbeke of Belgium. These annual ministerial meetings will review the progress made on major UN conferences and summits, as well as internationally agreed goals, including the Millennium Development Goals. They will also review the "efforts related to humanitarian disasters and emergencies, to see how to improve responses", he said.

On HIV/AIDS, Christopher F. Hackett of Barbados said that "the magnitude of the pandemic is still quite great" despite progress made in some countries. Luckily, he said, a large group of States was interested in the topic and the spirit of cooperation was high. He added that the Joint United Nations Programme on HIV/AIDS (UNAIDS), responsible for coordinating the efforts of all UN agencies on the pandemic, intended to produce country-driven reports on the fight against the disease. In addition to information from national governments, "this will give an opportunity for civil society and NGOs to include issues regarding HIV/AIDS in those reports", said Mr. Hackett.

An optional protocol that expanded the protection of United Nations and associated personnel in areas other than peacekeeping was also introduced to the General Assembly. "It expands the legal protection to all other United Nations operations, from emergency humanitarian assistance to peacebuilding and the delivery of humanitarian, political and development assistance", according to Secretary-General Kofi Annan.

"I know from my experience of humanitarian field operations how important it is to have the optional protocol in place", said Mr. Eliasson, who in 1992 was appointed as the first UN Under-Secretary-General for Humanitarian Affairs and during his tenure was involved in operations in Somalia, Sudan, Mozambique and the Balkans. "The protocol will effectively help to protect and boost the moral of those in the United Nations and associated personnel who risk their lives to serve the vulnerable and needy of the world", he said. The protocol would also provide protection for humanitarian organizations working alongside the United Nations as implementing partners, such as the International Rescue Committee, Oxfam and some national chapters of Doctors Without Borders, Manuel Bessler of the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs said. "It will also apply to a lot of our local partners like small NGOs working with the United Nations, for instance, in Afghanistan".

The General Assembly had approved in 2004 a text that graduated Cape Verde and Maldives from the list of least developed countries. However, it agreed in 2005 to defer Maldives' graduation until 2008, in light of the massive earthquake and tsunami that wrecked the homes and livelihoods of hundreds of thousands in that nation and across twelve countries. Mohamed Latheef of Maldives said the people of his country, which was in an economic crisis since its economy was paralyzed by the tsunami, were realistic about the massive obstacles they faced to rebuild their nation, while at the same time they were hoping to achieve "middle-income status" by 2020. He called on the international community to help close the funding gap for recovery-related programmes in Maldives, saying that only one third of the $470 million required had been pledged.

In adopting a draft resolution on improving global road safety, the Assembly designated the third Sunday of November as the annual day of remembrance for road traffic accident victims and their families. Fuad Al-Hinai of Oman, in introducing the text, said some 1.2 million people died and another 20 million to 50 million were injured each year in traffic accidents, increasing at a rate that the World Health Organization (WHO) predicted would outstrip HIV/AIDS-related deaths by 2020. Noting that the number of deaths and injuries rose as the number of cars on the road increased, Mr. Al-Hinai said he was alarmed that so few people recognized this "epidemic in the making". Roadway accidents and deaths are predictable and preventable, he added, and "we have the tools and the knowledge to prevent these deaths". He said that with the United Nations system's support, and WHO at the lead, 5 million lives could be saved over the next 15 years.

Ng Chun Pin of Singapore, pointing out that speed is the number one killer, said his country had improved road-way safety by enacting and enforcing tough new laws on "speed demons" or drivers exceeding the limit by more than 40 kilometres per hour. Enforcement of tough laws had caused anxiety at first, but with education the public had come to realize the objective was to save lives, particularly those of the vulnerable. Fahad Salem Al Kaabi of the United Arab Emirates said his country had reached a crisis point in the number of deaths due to traffic accidents. Seeking to reduce road accidents by 5.5 per cent annually, he said that laws had been enacted for safe driving, traffic awareness was taught and penalties for violations were strict. At the same time, steps were being taken to provide alternative means of transportation, including new forms of mass transit, to reduce the use of private cars and the traffic jams and accidents they produce, he said (see UN Chronicle, Issue 1, 2004).

The General Assembly adopted resolutions in support of efforts to provide relief from natural and man-made disasters, such as the 1986 Chernobyl nuclear disaster, the Indian Ocean tsunami of December 2004 and the South Asian earthquake of October 2005. Mr. Eliasson welcomed the resolutions, saying that behind the discussions of humanitarian emergencies were hundreds of thousands of human beings in grave need and mortal danger. He added: "Our solidarity with them must be unwavering".

The General Assembly section was coordinated by Namrita Talwar and Jonas Hagen with Sally Bolton, Arthur DeLong and Jane Lloyd.