THE UNITED NATIONS REJIG

 
"The true measure of the success for the United Nations is not how much we promise,

 but how much we deliver for those who need us most."

-Ban Ki-Moon, United Nations Secretary-General,

Acceptance speech to the General Assembly of the Un

The formation of the United Nations was a historic necessity after the world found itself grappling with the existential threats amidst wars and disruptions. Every organisation must reform with time and an international body founded in 1945 must be focused on such changes as well. The debates on the United Nation's reforms are not new and each global threat adds value to the arguments held in the favour of institutional changes.

The major mission of the UN is 'Maintenance of International Peace and Security. It will not be wrong to state that the United Nations is one of the most important international representatives of human rights and peacekeeping. It is a forum open to all and for all, addressing issues such as justice, rights, peacekeeping etc. However, being mired in the debilitating inequality amongst the member nations and encapsulated within a warped bureaucratic system, the UN deserves many reforms at institutional, structural, and procedural levels.

On one hand, many developed countries call out on the UN for cases of corruption and lack of stealth in carrying out diplomatic processes, on the other hand, the developing world accuses it of unequal treatment with the countries as reflected in the lack of sufficient representation and powers. 

As India is all set to serve as the non-permanent member of the UNSC soon, the discussion on revamping UNSC has garnered media attention highlighting the urgency of the need for effective changes. Though the change needs to be urgent one also needs to tread pragmatically keeping the national interest in mind. There is a dire need of creating diplomatic lobbies to address the UN's ineffectiveness at various levels.

One of the famous attempts to push the UN for healthy reforms was seen in the year 2006 when a report called Delivering as One was published. The report addresses the grim reality of fragmentation within the UN systems. The persisting power imbalance and lack of equitable representation point towards the inaccessible nature of the UN.

One of the proposals was the conception of 'Four Ones', which are, One Leader, One Program, One Budget, and One Office, thus eliminating the unnecessary fragments that dot the international body. The body needs coherent policies and clarity in communication. The report underlined the need to strengthen country-level ties, encompass UN actions within a holistic framework, and carry out tasks with coherent understanding at humanitarian levels.

India has been a vocal party in asserting the need for foundational reforms to sustain the UN according to the contemporary world scenario. The need to revamp bien-pensant organisational structure lies even beyond the corrective measures required within the United Nations Security Council. The developing world has been facing gross victimization due to the veto system. The woes have witnessed gradual aggravation with the increase in border disputes, unwarranted lobbies amongst a few nations and irresponsible behaviour towards many human rights issues.

The rise in terrorist activities, dismissal of an important environmental treaty by the most powerful country in the world and mismanagement of migration across borders are only some of the many events that have garnered speculations around the proper functioning of the reputed international body.

Unfortunately, not all big banner projects initiated by the UN have led to changes for the greater good. In many parts of the world injustice, poverty and hunger have become permanent features while countries other than the handful of the powerful ones face constant neglect. Thus, there lies the immense scope for betterment at various levels, from the need to fine-tune diplomatic ties at international forums to the strengthening of ground-level projects carried in the remotest parts of the world.

UN must contain the strife between the major powers of the world such as The USA and China. No developing country should suffer because of the strains in ties amidst the countries of the developed world.

The ailing world order makes one sceptical to call it a global village. UN has failed to hold meaningful dialogues between countries because of which the world has had to face gross compromises. Allocating greater powers to the nations that qualify as major fund providers doesn't go well with the idea of cooperative world order. The organisation has failed to acknowledge diversity in opinions and culture time and again. Nevertheless, the UN has immense potential to undergo a holistic course correction.

It was the developed part of the world that played a major role in the inception of the UN but only a united, committed, and confident cohort of developing countries can sustain it in the 21st century. The need is not to foster a ‘Developed Vs Developing’ attitude but a 'Developed understanding and including the Developing world' approach.

A plethora of challenges such as cyber security, refugee crisis, climate change, public health, human rights, etc wait for clarity and commitment from the UN and the world leaders. As Virginia Woolf said, “A soul that goes on changing is a soul that goes on living”, it is high time that the UN welcomes reforms that would take the world and humanity forward. Only through timely reforms can we preserve the true essence of the UN, that is, prosperity and peace for all.

 

(I wrote this in 2020 or early 2021, however added a few lines and edited it recently. Thank you if you came this far! :) )

References:

Pant, Harsh V. (2020). A world order that is in shambles and an ultimatum on UN reforms. (Online). Available at:  https://www.orfonline.org/research/a-world-order-thats-in-shambles-and-an-ultimatum-on-un-reforms/

Delivering as One: Report of the Secretary General's High-Level Panel. (2006). Available at: file:///C:/Users/Pragya%20Mishra/Downloads/Delivering-as-One.pdf

 

Picture Source:

United Nations Collective