News of Norway, November 4, 2003
UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan announced the formation of the panel during his speech to the General Assembly in September, but the 16 people that will form this panel were not announced until November 4. Among the other panelists are former Russian Prime Minister Yevgeny Primakov and former US National Security Advisor Brent Snowcroft. The group will be headed by former Thai Foreign Minister Anand Panyarachun.
Reforms needed
Norwegian Foreign Minister Jan Petersen said he was happy about both the forming of the panel as well as the fact that Dr. Brundtland was among the distinguished panelists.
“The important thing now is for the panel to get going with its work. The UN needs reforms in order to continue its essential role in the international community,” he said.
Dr. Brundtland, who stepped down as head of the World Health Organization this summer, told Norwegian broadcaster NRK that among the issues the new panel would discuss was the nature and structure of the UN.
“We have been asked to assess the present and future threats to peace and security, and what we have to do in order to be prepared for these threats,” she said.
“Among the issues we’ll discuss is the nature, the function and the form of the Security Council,” she added.
Assessing security
In a statement, UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan said that the panel is “tasked with examining the major threats and challenges the world faces in the broad field of peace and security, including economic and social issues insofar as they relate to peace and security, and making recommendations for the elements of a collective response.”
He stressed that the panel will not be asked to formulate policies on specific issues, nor on the UN’s role in specific places.
“Rather, it is being asked to provide a new assessment of the challenges ahead, and to recommend the changes which will be required if these challenges are to be met effectively through collective action,” he said.