Wednesday, February 23 2005 12:56 Hrs (IST) - World Time -

New York: The United Nations (UN) remains an organization indispensable to the international community's ability to deal with worldwide problems like poverty and security despite being plagued in recent months by allegations of mismanagement and corruption, Secretary General Kofi Annan said today (Feb 23, 2005).

The recent example of the UN-led tsunami relief efforts, as well as the world body's ongoing involvement in rebuilding Iraq, demonstrate the UN's central role in a wide range of matters as well as its continuing importance to humanity, the Secretary-General wrote in an opinion piece published in the 'Wall Street Journal' today.

Annan acknowledged the UN's imperfections and stressed the efforts he has made over the eight years of his term to improve and strengthen the organization. "I had already done a lot with the support of Member States, often led by the US, to make the UN more coherent and efficient. Now we need to make it more transparent and accountable (not only to diplomats representing member Governments), but also directly to the public."