WORLD ACADEMY OF INFORMATICS AND MANAGEMENT SCIENCES
ISSN : 2278-1315
February 2005. Initiative staff and volunteers participated in
In March 2000, Annan appointed the Panel on United
Nations Peace Operations to assess the shortcomings of
the World Summit on the Information Society (WSIS) in
the then existing system and to make specific and realistic
Geneva in December 2003.
recommendations for change. The panel was composed of
individuals experienced in conflict prevention, peacekeeping
THE UNITED NATIONS GLOBAL COMPACT
and peacebuilding. The report it produced, which became
known as the Brahimi Report, after Chair of the Panel
In an address to The World Economic Forum on 31 January
Lakhdar Brahimi, called for:
1999, Secretary-General Annan argued that the "goals of the
1. Renewed political commitment on the part of
United Nations and those of business can, indeed, be mutually
Member States;
supportive" and proposed that the private sector and the
2. Significant institutional change;
United Nations initiate "a global compact of shared values and
3. Increased financial support.
principles, which will give a human face to the global
The Panel further noted that in order to be effective, UN
market". On 26 July 2000, the United Nations Global
peacekeeping operations must be properly resourced and
Compact was officially launched at UN headquarters in
equipped, and operate under clear, credible and achievable
New York. It is a principle-based framework for businesses
mandates. In a letter transmitting the report to the General
which aims to "Catalyse actions in support of broader UN
Assembly and Security Council, Annan stated that the
goals, such as the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs)".
Panel's recommendations were "essential to make the United
The Compact established ten core principles in the areas of
Nations truly credible as a force for peace". Later that same
human rights, labour, the environment and anti-corruption,
year, the Security Council adopted several provisions
and under the Compact, companies commit to the ten
relating to peacekeeping following the report, in Resolution
principles and are brought together with UN agencies, labour
1327.
groups and civil society to effectively implement them.
MILLENNIUM DEVELOPMENT GOALS
ESTABLISHMENT OF THE GLOBAL FUND
In 2000, Annan issued a report entitled "We the peoples: the
Towards the end of the 1990s, increased awareness of the
role of the United Nations in the 21st century". The report
destructive potential of epidemics such as HIV/AIDS pushed
called for member states to "put people at the centre of
public health issues to the top of the global development
everything we do. No calling is more noble, and no
agenda. In April 2001, Annan issued a five-point "Call to
responsibility greater, than that of enabling men, women and
Action" to address the HIV/AIDS pandemic. Stating it was a
children, in cities and villages around the world, to make
"personal priority", Annan proposed the establishment of a
their lives better".
Global AIDS and Health Fund, "dedicated to the battle against
In the final chapter of the report, Annan called to "free our
HIV/AIDS and other infectious diseases" to stimulate the
fellow men and women from the abject and dehumanizing
increased international spending needed to help developing
poverty in which more than 1 billion of them are currently
countries confront the HIV/AIDS crisis. In June of that year,
confined". At the Millennium Summit in September 2000,
the General Assembly of the United Nations committed to the
national leaders adopted the Millennium Declaration, which
creation of such a fund during a special session on AIDS, and
was subsequently implemented by the United Nations
the permanent secretariat of the Global Fund was
Secretariat as the Millennium Development Goals in 2001.
subsequently established in January 2002.
UNITED NATIONS INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY
RESPONSIBILITY TO PROTECT
SERVICE (UNITES)
Following the failure of Annan and the International
Within the "We the Peoples" document, Annan suggested
Community to intervene in the genocide in Rwanda and in
the establishment of a United Nations Information
Srebrenica, Annan asked whether the international community
Technology Service (UNITeS), a consortium of high-tech
had an obligation in such situations to intervene to protect
volunteer corps, including NetCorps Canada and Net Corps
civilian populations. In a speech to the General Assembly on
America, which United Nations Volunteers would co-
20 September 1999 "to address the prospects for human
ordinate. In the Report of the high-level panel of experts on
security and intervention in the next century", Annan argued
information and communication technology (22 May 2000)
that individual sovereignty - the protections afforded by the
suggesting a UN ICT Task Force, the panel welcomed the
Declaration of Human Rights and the Charter of the UN - was
establishment of UNITeS, and made suggestions on its
being strengthened, while the notion of state sovereignty was
configuration and implementation strategy, including that
being redefined by globalization and international co-
ICT4D volunteering opportunities make mobilizing
operation. As a result, the UN and its member states had to
"national human resources" (local ICT experts) within
consider a willingness to act to prevent conflict and civilian
developing countries a priority, for both men and women.
suffering, a dilemma between "two concepts of sovereignty"
The initiative was launched at the United Nations
that Annan also presented in a preceding article in The
Volunteers and was active from February 2001 to
Economist, on 16 September 1999.
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