Annan criticizes any US withdrawal of funds under UN Reform Act News
Annan criticizes any US withdrawal of funds under UN Reform Act

[JURIST] UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan has spoken out [press release] against the United Nations Reform Act of 2005 [PDF text], passed by the US House of Representatives [JURIST report] on Friday, which will cut 50% of US dues to the organization if the UN does not meet certain reform goals. The UN's 60th General Assembly Summit [agenda] is scheduled to be held in New York this September to discuss changes proposed by the Secretary-General, and Annan said late Friday US withholding of dues would not be a "productive route to achieving reform and it could jeopardize the outcome of the September summit." The Reform bill suggests among other things that funds should be taken from the UN public information office and instead put toward areas such as investigating alleged internal wrongdoing like the Oil-for-Food scandal [JURIST news archive] that has plagued the UN in recent months. The US Mission to the UN [official website] also offers a factsheet on UN reforms supported by the United States [PDF]. AFP has more.