The world is moving in favor of the United Nations, but the organization must strengthen its ability to produce results in the areas of peace and security, development, and human rights, Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon said Wednesday in his first message to mark U.N. Day. “More people and governments understand that multilateralism is the only path in our interdependent and globalizing world,” Ban said. “Global problems demand global solutions, and going it alone is not a viable option.” Noting that the demands on the United Nations “are growing every day,” the secretary-general pledged to ensure that the organization makes progress on the most pressing current issues. He cited conflict prevention and peacebuilding, disarmament and non-proliferation, climate change, human rights, and reaching the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs). “We will be judged in the future on the actions we take toady, on results. On this United Nations Day, let us rededicate ourselves to achieving them.” Ban, who became secretary-general on January 1, said he would work with member states and civil societies to ensure that the United Nations can play the fullest role possible in conflict prevention, peacemaking, peacekeeping, and peacebuilding. The secretary-general also pledged to mobilize political will on the key questions of aid, trade, and debt relief to help poor nations reach the MDGs-eight anti-poverty targets which world leaders have vowed to reach by 2015. “I will continue to do all I can to galvanize global and decisive action on climate change,” Ban said, adding that the United Nations was the natural forum for building international consensus among both rich and poor countries on how to respond to the phenomenon. Regarding human rights, the secretary-general said he would try to make certain that there is timely action whenever populations face the threat of genocide, ethnic cleansing, or crimes against humanity. To achieve all the goals listed, Ban stressed the need to “transform the U.N. itself. We must adapt to meet new needs, and ensure the highest standard of ethics, integrity, and accountability … to demonstrate that we are fully answerable to all member states and to people around the world.”
