§ Mr. SpringTo ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what the Government's policy is on the establishment of a United Nations council for sustainable and human development. [157112]
§ Mr. RammellThe UK believes the UN has an important role to play in promoting sustainable and human development. We believe the key is to strengthen the effectiveness and co-ordination of existing organisations, rather than creating new ones.
The Millennium Declaration in 2000 and the World Summit for Sustainable Development in 2002 established concrete measures for judging performance on sustainable development through the Millennium Development Goals and the Johannesburg Plan of Implementation. The UK is now working at the national and international level to meet these commitments. The UK provides substantial support for those UN bodies dealing with sustainable and human development.
The UK believes the UN must change to better reflect current demands, and is taking part in the continuing discussion on reform of the UN system. As part of this process we are looking at the work of those UN bodies dealing with sustainable and human development.
§ Mr. SpringTo ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs if he will support the launch of an international convention for the reform of the United Nations in 2005. [157110]
§ Mr. RammellWe do not sec the need for new mechanisms to reform the United Nations, as we would prefer to work through existing processes. The UK is a strong advocate of reform at the United Nations. The effectiveness of the organisation must be enhanced to ensure that the UN is able to meet the challenges currently facing the international community. Our priorities are a Security Council that deals effectively with the full range of threats to international peace and security: we welcome the establishment by the Secretary-General of a High Level Panel to look at this issue. We are supporting efforts to revitalise the General Assembly and the Economic and Social Council, and moves to reform the development agencies. We have also strongly supported Kofi Annan's 2002 proposals to improve the UN Secretariat and its budgetary procedures. We believe that these existing processes will lead to an organisation better equipped to meet current challenges.