NYTimes: Annan Says All Nations Must Cooperate to Solve Problems

["Steven G. Brant" <trimtab@sprynet.com>]

As Dr. Deming always said, "Cooperation is the key."

- Steve Brant
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Annan Says All Nations Must Cooperate to Solve Problems

September 6, 2000

By CHRISTOPHER S. WREN



UNITED NATIONS, Sept. 5 — Secretary General Kofi Annan warned today
that the perennial problems of war, disease, poverty and pollution
will never be resolved unless all countries cooperate, and he
stressed that neither they nor the United Nations can accomplish
the tasks unaided.

 "I do not believe that the United Nations should be seen as doing
everything, or that it should attempt to do everything by itself,"
Mr. Annan said. "The issues we are dealing with — from the
elimination of poverty to the fight against AIDS and the protection
of the environment — are issues that require all hands on deck."

 He called the gathering a "defining moment for the world's leaders
and for the United Nations."
 The secretary general spoke at a news conference before a
three-day meeting of about 150 heads of state and other leaders
here, which its United Nations organizers are calling the largest
gathering of political leaders in history.

 Mr. Annan first suggested the gathering three years ago, he said,
"to harness the symbolic power of the millennium to the real and
urgent needs of people everywhere."

 He said he had tried to encourage a partnership of governments,
international organizations, private businesses and foundations to
bring their "collective impact" the bear on the world's ills.

 "It is everyone's responsibility," Mr. Annan said. "We will play
our catalytic role. We will press. We will advocate the issues. We
will use the little money we have to help. But everyone has to do
their bit."

 The meeting of world leaders here will open on Wednesday and
conclude on Friday with a joint declaration, a draft of which began
circulating here on Monday.

 The draft commits nations that sign it to "spare no effort to free
our peoples from the scourge of war," and to promote democracy,
expand respect for human rights and ensure access to economic
development to every country.

 Other resolutions call for ridding the world of poverty, promoting
education and ending the spread of AIDS.

 "I think these are big issues," Mr. Annan said. "This is also why
I am challenging everyone to make a contribution. This is why I am
telling the world leaders not only to come here and approve a plan
of action, but that I would expect each and every one of them to go
back home and begin to do something about it."

 When a reporter pointed out that talk of ringing in peace and
ending cruelty dated back to biblical times, Mr. Annan said: "The
fact that the poor have always been with us does not mean we should
not try to improve their lot and their conditions. Yes, you may
think I am a dreamer, as some have called me, but without the dream
you do not get anything done."

 Closer to home, Mr. Annan was asked about prospects for expanding
the 15-member Security Council, which many nations are seeking. He
said he believed that an expansion was possible, though he doubted
it could be achieved this year.

 On Monday, Britain proposed increasing the overall size of the
council and the number of permanent members. The United States'
ambassador to the United Nations, Richard C. Holbrooke, also spoke
last spring of expanding its membership even beyond 20 or 21
nations, which the United States had previously considered a
maximum. Britain and the United States are now permanent members,
with veto power, as are China, France and Russia.

 Some Western critics of expansion argue that too many members
would weaken the council and make decisions harder. But Mr. Annan
said it ought to be possible to expand the council and make it more
democratic and representative of the United Nations.

 "I reject the idea that the expansion will necessarily lead to a
confused, ineffective Security Council, which fudges all issues,"
he said. "I do not think, if there is a problem of that kind, that
it is necessarily one of size."

 Mr. Annan also welcomed an offer by Britain to establish a
military staff college to train peacekeepers from around the world
to serve with United Nations missions, calling the idea "something
that I endorse wholeheartedly."

 He also said he supported a new report recommending an overhaul of
United Nations peacekeeping operations, which have stumbled in
Sierra Leone and Congo, among other troubled countries.

 "If we are going to conduct peacekeeping operations, we must do so
effectively," he said. "Otherwise, we just stand with our arms
crossed. But we cannot continue to work as we are doing now."

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