Focus on UN reforms, including those related to environmental governance, has continued in the General Assembly.

The General Assembly’s outgoing president Jan Eliasson concluded his tenure by cautioning that greater efforts are needed to sustain the momentum on UN reforms during the upcoming 61st session of the Assembly. Eliasson also underscored the need to ensure cooperation between the United Nations and regional organizations, the private sector, civil society and non-governmental organizations (NGOs) to reach shared goals. His successor, Sheikha Haya Rashid Al Khalifa, opened the 61st session in mid-September highlighting the importance of UN Reform as a process. She specifically called attention to: disarmament and non-proliferation; Security Council reform; mandate review; improving the situation of women; and system-wide coherence in the areas of development, humanitarian affairs and the environment. Meanwhile, media reports suggest that US Ambassador Bolton has warned that the US may reduce its funding to the UN in the event of a negative evaluation of progress on UN reforms by the end of 2006.
Links to further information
UN press releases/news, September 2006:
11 September 2006
8 September 2006
Reuters/Washington Post, 11 September 2006