Weapons of Mass Destruction (WMD)

World Leaders Wrap Up UN Summit

United Nations, 17 September 2005 -- World leaders have ended a three-day United Nations summit by adopting a series of measures aimed at reforming the 60-year-old world body to better respond to global challenges.

The 2005 world summit final document includes an agreement setting out an international responsibility to intervene to protect civilians from genocide and ethnic cleansing.

The document also calls for the creation of a commission to help countries move from war to peace, for the establishment of a more effective human rights council, and for the achievement of UN development goals for poor countries.

The negotiations failed, however, to agree a common approach to preventing the proliferation of nuclear weapons, or to a comprehensive strategy to combat terrorism.

Representatives of Venezuela, Cuba, and Belarus all raised objections over how the final text was agreed.

The document was approved by consensus late last night at the close of the summit, which was attended by presidents, prime ministers, and other senior officials from more than 170 countries.

(AP/Reuters/AFP/DPA)

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