Secretary-General Ban looks back on 2007

UNITED NATIONS, Dec. 20 (UPI) -- U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon, speaking in New York, says the United Nations must work to respond better to global issues and reform internally as well.

Reflecting on his first year as secretary-general, Ban said he pushed for progress in four areas -- United Nations internal reform, climate change, human rights and the Millennium Development Goals, and international security.

Ban called the recently concluded U.N. Climate Change Conference in Bali, Indonesia, "the year's key achievement."

In Bali delegates "took a vital first step" to reach an accord to replace the Kyoto Protocol, due to expire in 2012, he told a news release.

The year also marked the midpoint for eight targets to cut poverty and other societal ills by 2015. Despite progress, Ban said challenges remained.

"For the poorest of the world's poor, economic and social advancement should be considered an innate human right," he said, adding that he will work hard in 2008 to bolster the role of the United Nations.

He reiterated his call to "change the U.N. culture and re-engineer the United Nations for life in our fast-modern world," and to attain the highest standards in ethics, transparency and accountability.