Although the United Nations remains heavily criticised for its complexity and bias towards the ‘big 5’ nations, it’s noble origins and ideals – embodied in the UN Charter and Universal Declaration of Human Rights – emphasises the need for a more democratic, powerful and ultimately more representative UN system that can act as a conduit for international cooperation and the securing of basic human needs.
The following is excerpted from Walden Bello's acceptance speech at the Outstanding Public Scholar Award Panel, International Studies Association, 49th Annual Convention, San Francisco, California, March 27, 2008. Bello was the second recipient of the award, the first being Dr. Susan George in 2007.
At the behest of its member governments, the United Nations keeps taking on new and increasingly complex peacekeeping challenges, including in conflict-ridden places like Darfur, Haiti, Lebanon, and East Timor. The projected budget for these efforts for the July 2007 to June 2008 period is running to $7 billion—the largest cost ever by far, and substantially higher than the record $5.6 billion spent in 2006–07. Yet U.N. peacekeeping operations remain a study in contradictions.
During its first session – from 4 October till late in the evening of 21 December 2007 - the Fifth Committee had the arduous task of reaching agreement on the UN’s programme budget for 2008/2009. There has been a clear understanding since 1986 among Member States, that the budget would be adopted by consensus. This time, however - at the request of the US - a recorded vote had to be taken on the budget by the General Assembly on Saturday 22 December.
The CEOs of three-quarters of the world's 100 largest companies have just completed an uncomfortable weekend at the tiny Swiss ski resort of Davos, while their companies' share prices nosedived on global stock markets, amid concern that the U.S. economy was staggering towards recession.
People around the world celebrate the new year with the mix of heady hope and unsettling uncertainty that contemplating the future inevitably inspires. One difference from years past, a difference that grows more marked as globalisation proceeds apace, is that the world's people have increasingly come to see that their destiny on this planet is shared; no man and no nation is an island.
The UN has lost its reputation as a truly neutral humanitarian organisation. In the eyes of much of the world, it is seen as either too weak to oppose major Western powers, or as an instrument of their agenda. The UN needs to reform to re-establish itself and its reputation as an inclusive and representative body.
