BMJ  2005;331:525-526 (10 September), doi:10.1136/bmj.331.7516.525

Editorial

Is the UN broken, and can we fix it?

No—and aggressive fixes may make things worse

The first 150 words of the full text of this article appear below.

The world summit to be held at the United Nations' headquarters in New York next week is billed as the largest gathering of world leaders in history. More than 170 heads of state will attend to give statements, go to plenaries and interactive round-table meetings, and adopt a final document of decisions and recommendations. There will also be a special meeting on financing for development. All this in three days. If there is one thing the UN is good at, it is holding big meetings.

The UN also excels at setting big challenges. The summit is described as "a once in a lifetime opportunity to take bold decisions on the areas of development, security, human rights, and reform of the UN."¹ The thinking may be that tackling these four areas together is necessary in a globalising world—and taking advantage of the attendance of so many world leaders spurs such . . . [Full text of this article]

Centre on Global Change and Health, London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine, London WC1E 7HT (kelley.lee@lshtm.ac.uk)

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