On 13 October 2006 the General Assembly appointed by acclamation Foreign Minister Ban Ki-moon of the Republic of Korea as the 8th UN Secretary-General. Mr Ban will succeed Kofi Annan when he steps down on 31 December 2006.

The Secretary-General designate pledged to carry out reforms, building on Mr Annan’s legacy. “My tenure will be marked by ceaseless efforts to build bridges and close divides," he said in an address to the General Assembly. "Leadership of harmony not division, by division not instruction, has served me well so far. I intend to stay the course as Secretary-General.”

Read more about this story here.

On 11 September 2006, John Bolton, United States Ambassador to the United Nations, hinted that the United States should consider cutting back on paying its dues to the United Nations if sufficient reform of the organization has not taken place by the end of the year.

During an address to a symposium on the future of the United Nations sponsored by the conservative Hudson Institute, Bolton said Washington had set a goal of "complete concentration on the reform process" through the end of 2006.

He then added: "So I think what we need to do is wait until we reach the end of the year and then make an evaluation. And I think our determination and our objectives are very clear to all of the other U.N. members, and I think they can calculate the stakes if reform does not succeed."

Conservative members of the US Congress have previously threatened to cut US contributions to the UN on a number of occasions, which currently stand at about a quarter of the total regular budget.

Quotes taken from an article in The Washington Post on 12 September 2006

In December 2005, UN member states adopted a budget for the 2006-2007 biennium but, under pressure from the US, limited spending authorisation to six months and $950 million, pending significant progress on UN management reforms.

After intensive negotiations, the General Assembly's budgetary committee decided on 28 June to lift the spending cap on the remainder of the United Nations' two-year fiscal period, authorising Secretary-General Kofi Annan to utilise the remaining funds in the budget for 2006-2007.

Thank you to those UNA-UK members who signed up via the UNA-UK website to Better World's 'Don't Shut down the UN' campaign. More than 11,500 people from 146 countries put their names on an online petition, which was delivered to world leaders to urge them to keep the United Nations fully funded and moving forward toward meaningful reform.

To read more about Better World's 'Don't Shut Down the UN' campaign, click here.

12 June 2006: Lord Hannay of Chiswick, Chair of UNA-UK and former UK Ambassador to the UN, has written to the editor of the Financial Times in the wake of John Bolton's reaction to comments made last week by UN Deputy Secretary-General Mark Malloch Brown. In the letter, Lord Hannay stresses that what is needed for Kofi Annan's package of reforms to the UN Secretariat to be adopted "is not spectacular displays of disunity, such as the present episode, but a persuasive presentation of the arguments for endorsing Mr Annan's proposals." Click here to read a copy of the letter (pdf format).

UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan also used the Financial Times to articulate his support of Mark Malloch Brown. In a article on 12 June, Kofi Annan said we are at "a moment of truth for the United Nations".

In an address on ‘Power and Superpower’ delivered in New York on 6 June, Mark Malloch Brown warned that “a moment of truth is coming” since the world’s challenges are growing but the UN’s ability to respond is being weakened without US leadership.

The United States Ambassador to the UN, John Bolton, reacted angrily to Mr Malloch Brown's address. Commenting to the press, the US Ambassador said the the remarks were "a very, very grave mistake".

Click here read more about this story, including a transcript of Mr Malloch Brown's speech and links to key news articles.

On Friday, 10 March 2006 at the Foreign Press Association, Ambassador Tahir-Kheli, senior advisor to US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice on UN Reform, gave a speech to an assembled audience of ambassadors, civil society and UNA-UK members.

Click here to read a short biography of Ambassador Tahir-Kheli, and here to read a transcript of her speech.