UN chief outlines five-year action plan

Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon Wednesday outlined a series of actions he believes the global community must take over the next five years to build “the future we want.” In a speech to the General Assembly last September Ban presented five imperatives – or generational opportunities – that must be addressed to ensure a better future for the world’s people, a press release issued by the UN Information Center (UNIC) said here on Thursday. These are sustainable development; preventing and mitigating conflicts, human rights abuses and the impacts of natural disasters; building a safer and more secure world; supporting countries in transition; and working to engage the talents of women and young people. “Today I want to share with you an action agenda for the coming five years,” he told the assembly at the UN Headquarters in New York as he returned to the rostrum to brief member states on his vision for his second term. A plan to help create a safer, more secure, more sustainable, more equitable future. A plan to build the future we want. “A plan to make the most of the opportunities before us. A plan to help create a safer, more secure, more sustainable, more equitable future. A plan to build the future we want,” he said. The “action agenda” presented Wedensday describes specific measures regarding each of the five imperatives, including an unprecedented campaign to wipe out five of the world’s major killers – malaria, polio, paediatric HIV infections, maternal and neonatal tetanus, and measles. Ban also announced that the UN will work with member states to make Antarctica a World Nature Preserve and that he will appoint a new special representative for youth. Among his other proposals is the convening of a first-of-its-kind World Humanitarian Summit to help share knowledge and establish common best practices, and the creation of a New UN Partnerships Facility to harness the full power of transformative partnerships across the world body. Speaking later to reporters, Ban said that in addition to the core business of the UN, he wanted his team to look deeply at the world and the UN’s work today. “I wanted to identify areas where opportunity and need come together like never before,” he said. “If we dedicate our energies and mobilize the UN system, we can move the needle for generations to come.” General Assembly President Nassir Abdulaziz Al-Nasser commended the secretary-general for his “bold, focused and forward-looking” action agenda, adding that the content, depth and breadth of his envisaged actions are truly relevant for the effectiveness, efficiency and smooth functioning of the UN. “As this universal global body is experiencing the unfolding of a world with all its complexities and challenges, prospects and potentials, I believe the secretary-general has courageously articulated a set of action points that addresses the way our organization, and in particular this assembly, needs to respond to an ever-evolving global scene,” he told the 193-member body.