UN chief promises sweeping changes at the world body

The United Nations Secretary- General Ban Ki-moon wrapped up his two-day visit to Kenya on Wednesday with a promise to introduce radical changes aimed at reforming the world body to ensure it respond to the present realities. Addressing UN staff in Nairobi at the world body's only headquarter in Africa that hosts UN Human Settlements Program (UN- HABITAT) and the UN Environment Program (UNEP), Ban said the changes at the departments of political affairs and peacekeeping operations are designed to ensure that the UN meets the new challenges.

"We intend to make changes at the two departments in the political affairs and peacekeeping operations. I am in the process of consultations with member states on these matters," Bank told UN staff that gathered at the UN complex in Nairobi.

"The UN has been accused of being inefficient and we should work harder to reverse this attitude. I need your efforts and strength to move the UN forward," the former South Korean foreign minister said.

Ban's pledge of additional reforms came after an indictment mid this month of former U.N. oil-for-food chief Benon Sevan, who was charged with taking a 160,000 U.S. dollar bribe to influence who could buy Iraqi oil under the scandal-tainted humanitarian program.

Ban who took the helm of the world body on Jan. 1, appealed to the international community to give him support as he tries to effect the changes.

"I need the international community's support and strength to help me move forward the UN within the next five years or even beyond. We need to live up to the people's expectations which are enormous with little resources," he told the staff.

Ban also described his tour of Africa as the world's top diplomat as an eye-opener that gave him a first-hand look at the problems and challenges facing the continent.

"My first visit to Africa has been very useful for me to learn all the development and progress as well as the challenges of African countries," he said.

The UN chief arrived in Kenya on Tuesday from Ethiopia, where he had attended the 8th African Union (AU) summit, and held bilateral meetings with African leaders on the sidelines of the summit.

He told reporters after the meetings that his presence in Addis in the first month of his tenure was "a strong sign of the growing partnership between the United Nations and the African Union" and of the high priority he attaches to Africa.

The UN chief also hailed progress in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), which hosts the UN's largest peacekeeping operation in the world, following the country's first democratic election in four decades and urged international community to see "what the UN has been able to do."

"While in the DRC, I was able to witness what the UN mission means to the people of the DRC. The DRC has been able to build democratic institutions with the help of the UN mission," he said.

The UN chief left Kenya for Amsterdam on Wednesday before heading to the Hague the following day for talks with Dutch leaders and a tour of the world court and the International Criminal Court.