UNITED NATIONS: Apart from a stronger commitment to prevent genocide, few of the original proposals for reforming the United Nations and the system of international peace and security were left in their original form as world leaders gathered for a summit meeting in New York today.
Human rights and development workers expressed grave disappointment at the lack of progress in many areas, although negotiations were continuing until the last minute.
There were even suggestions that the final text of the summit declaration would be put to a vote of the General Assembly rather than adopted by consensus, as originally intended. Such a move would be gravely embarrassing to many of the participating heads of state and government, as it would present a picture of division and strife rather than agreement and common purpose.
Much of the blame for the difficulties was being placed on the head of new US ambassador to the United Nations John Bolton, who submitted an unprecedented 750 proposed amendments and changes at a late stage, reflecting the suspicion and hostility of American neo-conservatives towards the world body.
This move hardened the opposition of developing countries, some of which are equally hostile, for their own reasons, to elements of the reform package.
The 59th session of the General Assembly was extended in order to facilitate agreement on the final document for the summit.
A special session on financing for development due to take place this morning, which was to be addressed by Minister for Foreign Affairs Dermot Ahern, was reportedly cancelled because of the problems in the negotiations, although this could not be officially confirmed.
"There is stalemate on a number of key issues," sources said. In the negotiations, an inner-core group of 10 countries put a proposal that a move to replace the much-criticised UN Human Rights Commission with a smaller Human Rights Council should be deferred.
Amnesty International and Human Rights Watch had already expressed concern that some 15 countries, led by Cuba and including Venezuela, Burma, Turkmenistan, Pakistan, Belarus, Vietnam and Syria, were blocking any movement to set up the Human Rights Council. But the move to have the issue deferred caused an outcry among other member states.
A proposal for a Peace-Building Commission to assist areas emerging from conflict looked like one of the few "good news" stories to emerge from the summit, but there was a sudden dispute at the last minute as to which UN body should have immediate authority over this new agency.
Mr Bolton had sought to delete a statement from the draft summit document, regretting the slow implementation of the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) for halving world poverty and tackling disease and lack of educational opportunity.
This move was said to have surprised even the White House, and the US has softened its position in recent days.
Sources close to the negotiations said a compromise text had been agreed, but that this amounted to little more than a reaffirmation of old commitments. In effect, the MDGs were being "watered down".
There were also the inevitable disagreements on the issue of climate change, and infighting "as to what reference, if any" should be made to the controversial Kyoto Protocol in the final text. Trade issues were also at a stalemate.
Mr Ahern, who was appointed as one of a number of special envoys of the secretary general last April to promote UN reform, took a somewhat optimistic view of the negotiations.
"They are pretty tortuous, but there is a huge amount of work going on as we speak . . . I would be reasonably hopeful that we would get agreement on a number of issues - if not full agreement, then agreement in principle," he said.