From the Secretary-General.

• Position: UN head Kofi Annan

A broad set of measures that would move the United Nations firmly along the road to major and fundamental reform was proposed by Mr. Kofi Annan on 16 July. In this excerpt from his report, the Secretary-General acknowledges "a sizable gap between aspiration and accomplishment" and places his proposals in the context of setting the Organization on a course of revitalization on the threshold of a century of deep and rapid global change.

The United Nations is a noble experiment in human cooperation. In a world that remains divided by many and diverse interests and attributes, the United Nations strives to articulate an inclusive vision: community among nations, common humanity among peoples, the singularity of our only one Earth. Indeed, the historic mission of the United Nations is not merely to act upon, but also to expand the elements of common ground that exist among nations--across space to touch and improve more lives, and over time to convey to future generations the material and cultural heritage that we hold in trust for them. The Charter of the United Nations, drafted with the searing experience of history's two most destructive wars fresh in mind, embraced each of these aspirations and provided institutional instruments for their pursuit.

Fifty-two years after the signing of the Charter, the world can celebrate numerous progressive changes in which the United Nations has played a significant part. The United Nations role in decolonization began almost instantly and remains one of its grandest achievements. The Universal Declaration of Human Rights soon celebrates its own fiftieth anniversary. United Nations peace-keepers have helped to stabilize regional disputes and its humanitarian missions have alleviated suffering throughout the world. The challenges faced by developing countries have been at the forefront of United Nations economic activities.

The smooth flow of international transactions is made possible by rules of the road devised by the United Nations and its agencies. The world's people are healthier and lead longer and more productive lives, thanks to the eradication of diseases, the improvement of nutritional standards, the promotion of agricultural development, the campaigns for literacy and the advocacy of the rights of women and children in which United Nations organizations have featured prominently. And the United Nations has no peer among international organizations in identifying novel issues on the policy horizon and devising plans of action for dealing with them, including the environment, social development questions and such uncivil elements in global civil society as drug-trafficking, transnational criminal networks and terrorism.

At the same time, there remains a sizeable gap between aspiration and accomplishment. Despite the unprecedented prosperity that technological advances and the globalization of production and finance have brought to many countries, neither Governments, nor the United Nations, nor the private sector have found the key to eradicating the persistent poverty that grips the majority of humankind. Indeed, imbalances in the world economy today pose serious challenges to future international stability: imbalances in the distribution of wealth, between the forces driving economic integration and political fragmentation, between humanity's impact on, and the capacities of, planetary life-support systems.

Moreover, disintegrative forces, abetted by inequities and intolerance, continue to tear nations and peoples apart, while virulent conflicts, fuelled by prejudice, deprivation and sometimes outright anarchy, defy both national borders and international norms. Such instabilities have spurred an enormous proliferation of ever-more lethal weapons and growing humanitarian crisis. Massive violations of human rights continue to be committed and large numbers of people continue to be killed for no reason other than their identity or beliefs. The ranks of refugees and displaced people--largely innocent victims caught up in political upheavals of historic proportions--have swelled to over 25 million.

The fundamental objective of this reform effort is to narrow the gap between aspiration and accomplishment. It seeks to do so by establishing a new leadership culture and management structure at the United Nations that will lead to...