UNITED NATIONS, Dec. 21 (Xinhuanet) -- UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan said Wednesday that alongside efforts to promote peace and security, and combat poverty and disease in 2006, he was determined to follow through on his wide-ranging agenda of reform and renewal of the world body.

    "If there's one thing I would like to hand over to my successor when I leave office next year, is that it should be a UN that is fit for the many varied tasks and challenges we are asked to take on today," Annan told an end-of-year press conference at UN Headquarters in New York.

    Outlining his major priorities for the next year, Annan admitted that 2005 was both "a difficult year for the world and, obviously for me and the organization." However, he stressed that a strong program to fulfill the reform was already embraced by member states at the September's UN Summit.

    Meanwhile, he also appealed to member states to quickly agree at wo-year budget so as not to jeopardize the process of reform and crucial activities.

    "That program now hangs by a thread if the United Nations is stalled by lack of a budget," said. "I therefore appeal to all member states to resolve their differences promptly, and agree on the budget."

    He said the objectives for his last year fall in three priority areas: the fight against poverty and disease, peace and security, and reform of the United Nations.

    The secretary-general said he hopes to make concrete changes in those areas, following up on the Summit outcome, and the agreements from that meeting that have already come to fruition in the form of the Emergency Relief Fund and the Peacebuilding Commission. Enditem