Guterres calls for improved UN amid 'more chaotic' world

United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres has said that the world was edging towards a "new abnormal," and called for changes within the international organization.

Guterres submitted a new report to the General Assembly on Friday, proposing creation of "an emergency platform bringing together governments, the UN system, international financial institutions, civil society, the private sector and others, that would be triggered automatically in large-scale crises."

Regular global summits 

In the report, called "Our Common Agenda," Guterres proposed to hold a global summit in two years to discuss how to safeguard global assets such as peace, global health and the environment.

"The summit would consider, too, a new agenda for peace that would include measures to reduce strategic risks from nuclear arms, cyberwarfare and lethal autonomous weapons," Guterres told reporters.

He also suggested that a "special envoy for future generations" should represent "the interests of people who will be born over the coming century."

Need for pragmatism on Afghanistan

When asked about Afghanistan, Guterres told reporters: "Independently of different strategies, of different forms of contact, all countries are able to convey the same message and to engage with the Taliban in an effective way.''

He said the UN was "permanently engaging with the Taliban," adding that a dialogue with Afghanistan's new rulers was "absolutely essential at the present moment.''

Guterres said Afghans should live in peace under an inclusive government that respects human rights, and that humanitarian aid must be delivered to prevent "an economic meltdown" in the country.

mvb/rc (dpa, AP)