UN failing to tackle today's challenges

The United Nations and other global institutions aren't equipped to tackle today's global challenges ranging from massive violence in fragile states to runaway climate change and global economic shocks, a high-level commission said in a report released yesterday.

The commission on global security, justice and governance, issued a series of proposals aimed at reforming the UN, strengthening cooperation at all levels of society to deal with these challenges, and putting greater focus on preventing conflicts and restoring peace to countries emerging from violence.

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"World leaders must grapple with new ways to approach 21st century threats posed by climate change, conflict and cross-border economic shocks," said former US secretary of state Madeleine Albright, who co-chaired the commission. "A failure to adapt effectively risks prolonging and deepening these global crises."

The release of the 158-page report coincides with the 70th anniversary of the UN.

The report also taps into the latest, more adamant calls for UN reform, a much-debated topic that has repeatedly failed to gain traction among the five permanent Security Council members. It calls for expanding the Security Council, restricting veto use and creating new forum to address climate change, cybersecurity, the new development goals and peacebuilding.

Along with Albright, who also served as Washington's UN envoy, the commission is co-chaired by Ibrahim Gambari, a former foreign minister of Nigeria and ex-political affairs chief at the UN.

Six ex-foreign ministers from Brazil, Canada, India, Japan, the Netherlands and Tanzania are among the members of the panel that penned the report.