UN General Assembly
2005

builders from over 50 countries to create the United Nations. We placed the enduring principles of human rights and fundamental freedoms at the foundation of the United Nations Charter. We built an institution that has helped to support a peaceful world order for six decades. Today, however, with the end of the cold war and the rise of globalization and the emergence of new threats, the very terrain of international politics has shifted beneath our feet. In this new world we must again embrace the challenge of building for the future. The time to reform the United Nations is now. We must seize this opportunity together. Chapter I, Article 1, of the Charter of the United Nations proclaims the four purposes of the United Nations, great aspirations that have stood the test of time. But consider what different forms they take today, in 2005, as opposed to 1945, when they were first declared. The first purpose of the United Nations is to help maintain international peace and security. In 1945 the most serious threats to peace and security emerged