Annan enlists Ahern to gain support for UN reform

FOREIGN Affairs Minister Dermot Ahern has been asked by UN secretary general Kofi Annan to drum up European support for his ambitious effort to reform the much-criticised organisation.

Mr Ahern has been appointed as one of four special envoys for the reform package, the boldest proposals for change in the UN’s 60-year history, ahead of a summit of all 191 members in September.

Mr Annan envisages expanding the size of the UN Security Council and strengthening protections for human rights, among other proposals, and wants the entire package to be adopted at the summit.