Secy Gen Kofi Annan renews call for UN reform

Observing that it was time to adjust to the new realities of the world, he said the rich and developing countries must come together on a UN reform plan.

UN Chief Kofi Annan has renewed his call for restructuring the world body including the Security Council to meet the growing challenges across the globe.

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Observing that it was time to adjust to the new realities of the world, he said the rich and developing countries must come together on a UN reform plan so as to keep interests of all member states.

"It is not just the composition of the Security Council that is stuck in the mid-twentieth century. Both the management and the attitudes of many governments to the organisation are caught in the same time warp," Annan wrote in an article in the Financial Times.

We do not have the institutions that we need to confront this century's global challenges. It is vital that we escape from this bind, he said.

"The reform blueprint that I put forward last year reminded us all that the UN is founded on three legs -- development, collective security and human rights. And like any good chair they need a fourth: management reform," the UN Chief wrote.

"Surely governments can agree on how to make these reforms happen without bringing the whole organisation to a halt," Annan wrote.

It is time for those who really care about reform to come together and form a new coalition -- one that bridges the artificial, destructive divide between north and south and brings together all those who are willing to work together because they share the vision of a UN that really works, for the benefit of all the world's peoples, he said.