United nations: Stressing on the need for fundamental reform of the United Nations to meet new multiple challenges including terrorism, poverty, disease and climate change, Secretary General Kofi Annan has appealed to lawmakers around the world to press their governments to advance the interests of the entire planet.

"The time has long since arrived to look hard at the institutions of the United Nations – and, if necessary, to make radical reforms," Annan told the 109th Inter-Parliamentary Union Assembly in Geneva in a message delivered by Sergei Ordzhonikidze, Director General of the UN Office there.

"A central challenge is to enhance their authority by making them both open to more voices and more effective in taking action."

The decisions for change rest with member states, Annan said, pledging to do everything possible to help them make the UN a better instrument in the service of the peoples of the world. "Indeed, I appeal for your help. If the reform agenda is to succeed, it will require states to promote their national interest by advancing the global interest," he said.

"You as Parliamentarians can do much to mobilise public opinion and encourage governments to do just that. The IPU itself, recently granted observer status in the General Assembly, can also make vital contributions to deliberations on these issues in the United Nations," he said.

PTI