UN must take effective action on threats to security, says British official

For the UN to remain central to global politics, peace and security, it must take "effective action" to deal with threats to peace and security, the British Foreign Office minister for global issues, Bill Rammell, said on Thursday. The Foreign and Commonwealth Office reported that Rammel was speaking after a meeting in London with the UN Under-Secretary for Peacekeeping Operations, Jean-Marie Guehenno. Rammell said it was Britain's desire to see a resolution to the conflict in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), and that Britain was committed to helping achieve this objective. "We had a useful discussion about the current situation in the DRC, in particular about the multinational force deploying to Bunia," the Foreign Office quoted Rammell as saying. He said the international community's response to the crisis in the DRC had shown what could be done when "we have the courage to do so". On 30 May, the UN Security Council authorised the deployment of a 1,500-strong French-led multinational force in Bunia, where months of inter-militia fighting has led to hundreds of deaths and thousands of people displaced from their homes. about half of the multinational force is already in the eastern town. It is mandated to secure the town and to protect UN staff, humanitarian workers and displaced civilians. Guehenno was in London to attend a seminar on Thursday, hosted by the British Foreign, on modernising the UN. He gave a speech on the current and future Challenges of UN peacekeeping. The Foreign Office reported that Rammell told participants that the UN had to modernise its institutions and practices in order to face up to present day challenges. "I hope that during the course of today's seminar we can examine three key questions," he said. "First, how well is the UN meeting current concerns? Second, what is the UN already doing to modernise its operations? And third, what should the UN do to meet new challenges?" He said that without internal reform, the UN would be unable to meet the objectives that the international community set it in the Millennium Declaration. "Efficiencies are required to meet new priorities and new challenges," he said. He added: "Ultimately, if we are seriously to address the global challenges we face, it is imperative that we work together: the United Nations, member states and civil society in partnership."