UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan yesterday urged Asian and African leaders to back his push to reform the UN, saying the developing world could benefit from plans to increase development aid and boost the world body's role in protecting human rights.
"The time has come for action -- for concrete, measurable steps, leading to a quantum leap in resources for development," Annan told more than 40 heads of state at the opening of the summit of Asian and African nations.
"The developing world also stands to benefit enormously from major steps on security and human rights," he said. "Your peoples pay the highest price for inaction in the face of massive violations of human rights and for the strains placed on the UN's peacekeeping, peace-building and human rights machinery."
The two-day summit draws together presidents, prime ministers and kings. In all, 80 nations were represented at the 50th anniversary of the first Asia-Africa conference that gave birth to the Non-aligned Movement, which tried to steer a neutral course during the Cold War.
Indonesian President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono opened the summit by calling on Asia and Africa to cooperate more closely, and looked forward to a time when "our people would live in comfort and dignity, free from fear of violence and all be free from the clutches of poverty."
Yudhoyono, head of the world's most populous Muslim nation, said the two regions must do more to fight corruption, protect human rights and prepare themselves to compete in a global economy.
Leaders are today expected to endorse a document calling for more cooperation in fighting terrorism and poverty, and improved economic cooperation between the two diverse continents.
The declaration also calls endorses proposed UN reforms, including greater decision-making for developing countries.
Annan's plan also calls for developed countries to provide US$0.70 in development assistance to the Third World for every US$100 of gross national income.
Annan also has said that the UN needs a new, permanent human rights body with greater authority, possibly on a par with the powerful Security Council, to combat abuses around the world.
In a related development, South and North Korea held their highest-level meeting in five years yesterday to discuss regional problems on the sidelines of an Asia-Africa summit in Jakarta, South Korea's Yonhap news agency said.
LANDMARK CASE: ‘Every night we were dragged to US soldiers and sexually abused. Every week we were forced to undergo venereal disease tests,’ a victim said More than 100 South Korean women who were forced to work as prostitutes for US soldiers stationed in the country have filed a landmark lawsuit accusing Washington of abuse, their lawyers said yesterday. Historians and activists say tens of thousands of South Korean women worked for state-sanctioned brothels from the 1950s to 1980s, serving US troops stationed in country to protect the South from North Korea. In 2022, South Korea’s top court ruled that the government had illegally “established, managed and operated” such brothels for the US military, ordering it to pay about 120 plaintiffs compensation. Last week, 117 victims
China on Monday announced its first ever sanctions against an individual Japanese lawmaker, targeting China-born Hei Seki for “spreading fallacies” on issues such as Taiwan, Hong Kong and disputed islands, prompting a protest from Tokyo. Beijing has an ongoing spat with Tokyo over islands in the East China Sea claimed by both countries, and considers foreign criticism on sensitive political topics to be acts of interference. Seki, a naturalised Japanese citizen, “spread false information, colluded with Japanese anti-China forces, and wantonly attacked and smeared China”, foreign ministry spokesman Lin Jian told reporters on Monday. “For his own selfish interests, (Seki)
Argentine President Javier Milei on Sunday vowed to “accelerate” his libertarian reforms after a crushing defeat in Buenos Aires provincial elections. The 54-year-old economist has slashed public spending, dismissed tens of thousands of public employees and led a major deregulation drive since taking office in December 2023. He acknowledged his party’s “clear defeat” by the center-left Peronist movement in the elections to the legislature of Buenos Aires province, the country’s economic powerhouse. A deflated-sounding Milei admitted to unspecified “mistakes” which he vowed to “correct,” but said he would not be swayed “one millimeter” from his reform agenda. “We will deepen and accelerate it,” he
Japan yesterday heralded the coming-of-age of Japanese Prince Hisahito with an elaborate ceremony at the Imperial Palace, where a succession crisis is brewing. The nephew of Japanese Emperor Naruhito, Hisahito received a black silk-and-lacquer crown at the ceremony, which marks the beginning of his royal adult life. “Thank you very much for bestowing the crown today at the coming-of-age ceremony,” Hisahito said. “I will fulfill my duties, being aware of my responsibilities as an adult member of the imperial family.” Although the emperor has a daughter — Princess Aiko — the 23-year-old has been sidelined by the royal family’s male-only
RSS