The commission is one of the few U.N. reforms recommended by a U.N. summit in September that has been adopted by the 191-member General Assembly.

Assembly President Jan Eliasson called the vote "historic" and "our best chance to reverse the trend, which in recent years, has seen around half the countries end their fighting only to lapse back into conflict within five years."

But the thorniest reform issues are still in dispute, such as a new human rights council and comprehensive management changes as well as a controversial two-year budget.
"We have a collective interest in ensuring that reforms required to reduce costs and waste across the board are successful," U.S. Ambassador John Bolton said.

The 15-nation Security Council passed an identical resolution to the one in the General Assembly and a second one selecting members for the commission. Argentina and Brazil abstained, arguing that the big powers on the council were given too much weight.

Nevertheless, Annan also called the commission "historic" because the U.N. system lacked a dedicated entity to keep the peace in volatile countries once U.N. troops leave.
"Too often, a fragile peace has been allowed to crumble into renewed conflict," Annan said."
The new commission, he said, would focus on reconstruction and the building of institutions.

Compared to other U.N. coordination bodies, the commission seeks to direct governmental bilateral aid as well as that from the United Nations and financial institutions.

For example, Danish Ambassador Ellen Margrethe Loj, a negotiator of the resolution, said aid was too often distributed in a haphazard manner.

"It doesn't help only to train the policemen if you are not simultaneously ensuring that they have a prison to put the criminals in and a judiciary to try them," she said.

TOO MUCH POWER FOR BIG POWERS

But many developing nations, including Pakistan, India, Venezuela, Costa Rica, Egypt and Mexico, voiced deep concerns that the Security Council had too much power over the membership of the commission.

Any future review would need council approval, which its permanent members could veto, although the commission is technically a subsidiary of the assembly.

The new group will include 31 members. Seven are from the Security Council, including the five permanent members -- the United States, Britain, France, Russia and China. Another seven are from the Economic and Social Council, five are the top financial contributors to the U.N. budget, seven are from the General Assembly and another five are from the main countries contributing peacekeepers.

The International Money Fund and World Bank are included as observers.

Somalia's deputy U.N. ambassador, Idd Beddel Mohamed, summed up the dispute by telling reporters that while the Security Council's five permanent members had too much power, Africa needed the new commission and he hoped his country would benefit. Haiti and Burundi also expressed interest.

British Ambassador Emyr Jones Parry as well as Bolton defended the strong role of the council because it was responsible for international peace and security and peacekeeping.

Source: Reuters AlertNet