Chilean President Ricardo Lagos Escobar said here Tuesday that Chile believes the world today needs more and not less United Nations, more and not less multilateralism.

Addressing the 59th session of the UN General Assembly, Lagos said if the international community wishes to strengthen multilateralism, reform of the United Nations is becoming increasingly necessary. While its ideals and founding purposes remain valid, the power structure of the UN was built during its early years which was very different from today's world.

He called for comprehensive reform of the UN in addition to the expansion of the Security Council. He cited specialization of the world body, greater accountability and a more transparent system of recruitment. "The world needs more of the United Nations and a better United Nations," he added.

The Chilean president said he is convinced that the High-Level Panel on Threats, Challenges and Change will make recommendations to the Secretary-General for strengthening two key areas: obtain political commitment to reaffirm the values of the UN Charter and invigorate the system to face the challenges and opportunities of a global world.

He said the best way to guide the agenda of globalization is through multilateralism. It is the strengthening of multilateralism that each country has a stake and a national task to fulfill.

He said Chile is also convinced that globalization will be better off if civil society is recognized as one of its principal actors.

With this belief, Chile initiated the action against hunger andpoverty, together with Brazil, France and Spain. Some of the actions proposed depend on governments, but others are the responsibility of multilateral organizations, civil society and nongovernmental organizations and the business sector, he added.

Source: Xinhua