'In Larger Freedom': Towards Development, Security and Human Rights For All.

The full report and supplemental information can be accessed at www.un.org/largerfreedom.

The following is the Report's Executive Summary.

Secretary-General Kofi Annan on 21 March 2005 released his report--"In Larger Freedom": Towards Development, Security and Human Rights For All--in which he put forward a comprehensive package of policy commitments and institutional reforms for tackling poverty, security threats and human rights abuses. Taking its name from a passage in the UN Charter, "In Larger Freedom" prepares the ground for realigning the United Nations, which marks its sixtieth anniversary, so that it can better respond to today's pressing challenges.

In September 2005, world leaders will come together at a summit in New York to review progress since the Millennium Declaration, adopted by all Member States in 2000. The Secretary-General's report proposes an agenda to be taken up and acted upon at the summit. These are policy decisions and reforms that are actionable if the necessary political will can be garnered.

A HISTORIC OPPORTUNITY IN 2005

Events since the Millennium Declaration demand that consensus be revitalized on key challenges and priorities and converted into collective action. The guiding light in doing so must be the needs and hopes of people everywhere. The world must advance the causes of security, development and human rights together, otherwise none will succeed. Humanity will not enjoy security without development, it will not enjoy development without security, and it will not enjoy either without respect for human rights.

In a world of interconnected threats and opportunities, it is in each country's self-interest that all of these challenges are addressed effectively. Hence, the cause of larger freedom can only be advanced by broad, deep and sustained global cooperation among States. The world needs strong and capable States, effective partnerships with civil society and the private sector, and agile and effective regional and global intergovernmental institutions to mobilize and coordinate collective action. The United Nations must be reshaped in ways not previously imagined, and with a boldness and speed not previously shown.

FREEDOM FROM WANT

The last 25 years have seen the most dramatic reduction in extreme poverty the world has ever experienced. Yet dozens of countries have become poorer. More than a billion people still live on less than a dollar a day. Each year, 3 million people die from HIV/AIDS and 11 million children die before reaching their fifth birthday. Today's is the first generation with the resources and technology to make the right to development a reality for everyone and to free the entire human race from want.

There is a shared vision of development. The Millennium Development Goals (MDGs), which range from halving extreme poverty to putting all children into primary school and stemming the spread of infectious diseases such as HIV/AIDS, all by 2015, have become globally accepted benchmarks of broader progress, embraced by donors, developing countries, civil society and major development institutions alike.

The MDGs can be met by 2015--but only if all involved break with business as usual and dramatically accelerate and scale up action now.

In 2005, a "global partnership for development"--one of the MDGs reaffirmed in 2002 at the International Conference on Financing for Development at Monterrey, Mexico, and the World Summit on Sustainable Development in Johannesburg, South Africa--needs to be fully implemented. That partnership is grounded in mutual responsibility and...