WASHINGTON – Acknowledging that the job will be difficult, the co-chairs of the Task Force on the United Nations expressed confidence on Friday, April 15, that the United Nations can be reformed. Following a meeting with UN Secretary General Kofi Annan, former House Speaker Newt Gingrich and former Senate Majority Leader George Mitchell said that several factors, in addition to the commitment of the U.S. Congress, have combined to put the previously elusive task of reforming the United Nations within reach. "It's the United Nations itself, it's the Secretary General, it's many other member states that are saying the time is now for reform," said Mitchell. This could be "a remarkable moment to get some significant things done, and the Institution is too important not to get it right," added Gingrich, while also emphasizing that "there was no argument today about the fact that there are systems that just don't work, there are patterns that just aren't acceptable."

The two co-chairs and other members of the Congressionally-mandated Task Force met with the Secretary General at UN headquarters on Friday afternoon to discuss with him the several critical issues that are the focus of their mandated report. These include UN efforts to: avert and end war; prevent genocide; thwart terrorism; foster economic development; and increase the transparency and accountability of UN management. In remarks made after the meeting, they stressed that, at the request of Congress, the Task Force is looking at the United Nations from an American perspective. Mitchell added, however, that the group hopes to "make constructive recommendations that will serve the interests of the United Nations and the United States and, in so doing, serve the interests of others."

Gingrich and Mitchell commended UN officials for their candor and cooperation. "We could not have asked for more candid, more open private discussions or a more serious commitment to getting the UN to work better…" said Gingrich.

The Task Force on the United Nations was directed by Congress in December 2004 to assess UN efforts to meet the goals of its charter and offer an actionable agenda for the United States to strengthen the world body. The bipartisan task force, which includes ten other prominent Americans from business, academia and the military, will issue its findings and recommendations in a report to Congress in June 2005.

At the request of Congress, the U.S. Institute of Peace is coordinating the Task Force with the support and participation of leading public policy organizations, including the American Enterprise Institute, Brookings Institution, the Center for Strategic and International Studies, the Council on Foreign Relations, the Heritage Foundation, and the Hoover Institution.