The United Nations at 60: Too old to reform? Based on UN Deputy Secretary General Madame Louise Frechette s Dovey Lecture, Toronto, Canada, 9 November 2005
Description of the UN: A caricature An intrinsically ineffective and static bureaucracy Impervious to the forces of the real world The General Assembly (GA) resolutions, the lowest common denominator with little or no teeth, perpetuating the status quo Opaque, secretive and resist public scrutiny Incapable of change
Questions Is UN Reform a hopeless pursuit? Is the UN so impervious to change?
UN Reform Means different things to different people People demand it because they believe in the following propositions All of them have some basis in truth Is and has to be about all of them
Propositions Current policies are inadequate to meet today s challenges Energies and resources are not spent on the right priorities Decision-making organs, especially the Security Council, do not adequate reflect today s realities Various UN entities are not as effective and well coordinated The Secretariat is poorly managed and not sufficiently judicious about expenditures Do not meet the highest standards of ethics and accountability
How and how much, the UN has changed in the course of its history, and particularly since the end of the cold war
History of the UN The creation in 1945 an extraordinary act of vision and statesmanship Established a common commitment to a system of collective security, based on freely accepted principles and rules The UN Charter contains the essential prerequisites of a peaceful and stable world peaceful settlement of disputes, economic and social advancement of people, and respect for human rights
Evolving UN In the first decades, international norms in all sectors of human activity were elaborated the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and the binding conventions, the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty and the Law of the Sea Convention Decolonization successfully concluded Peace-keeping (not included in the Charter) was a brilliant improvisation Humanitarian and development work become more important and conflicts caused widespread hardship and large refugees around the world
The Cold War Division of the world into two blocs severely circumscribed the potential of the Security Council to play its envisaged role The Soviet invasions of Hungary and Czechoslovakia and the wars in Viet Nam and Afghanistan were not included in the Security Council s agenda, because one or more of its permanent members were directly involved The paralysis of the Security Council led to the adoption of uniting for peace procedure for use during the Suez crisis in 1956 Strengthened the respect of national sovereignty which was considered to be the best protection against disorder
End of the 1980s The end of the cold war and globalization The end of the cold war enabled the Security Council to reach agreement on a much wider range of issues Globalization made the national boundaries more porous and multiplied the range of nonstate actors NGOs, multinational corporations, crime syndicates and terrorist groups
Peacekeeping In the first 45 years of the UN s history there were 13 peacekeeping operations In the 15 years since then twice the number have been deployed The change is both quantitative as well as qualitative
Peacekeeping during the Cold War A simple interposition of soldiers between the armed forces of warring States Monitoring the observance of a ceasefire Unintended effect of reducing pressure on the parties to make compromises Peacekeepers left in place much longer than originally planned Exceptions are the operations in the Congo in the 1960s and the deployment in Southern Lebanon from 1978 onwards
Today s Peacekeeping Operations Interventions essentially internal to a single Member State Over 70,000 soldiers deployed in missions Cote d Ivoire, Burundi, Liberia, Haiti Complex operations involved with restoring institutions, organizing elections, training the police, etc. after a civil war Lessons learned from the traumatic failures in Somalia and Bosnia Dangers involved in deploying peacekeeping troops where there is no peace to keep Armed factions in civil wars often have less discipline and unity of command Engaged in robust peacekeeping giving the UN peacekeepers under Chapter IV the enforcement section allowing the use of force not only for self-defence but in dealing with armed elements threatening civilians
Variations of the new model of peacekeeping used effectively in Mozambique, El Salvador, Sierra Leone and Burundi In Timor Leste and Kosovo, the UN not only kept or consolidated peace but actually took over the government
Sanctions A proliferation of economic sanctions, sometimes accompanied by armed force used during the 1990s The most famous and the draconian example was the regime imposed on Iraq from 1990 to 2003 Such comprehensive sanctions are more punitive for the civilian population than for the government This led to the oil-for-food programme designed to restore and maintain a minimum standard of living for most Iraqis More sophisticated and carefully targeted types of sanctions, such as travel bans and the freezing of bank accounts used
Tribunals Two ad-hoc tribunals set up to deal with the appalling crimes committed in the former Yugoslavia and Rwanda A major step forward against the impunity for the most heinous crimes Found to be very expensive and long drawn-out As the results of the lessons learned, mixed tribunals were set up in Sierra Leone and Cambodia This allows a war-torn country to take responsibility for judging its own war criminals with the international involvement to ensure global standard of justice The mixed model will be implemented in the future
International Criminal Court (ICC) Not an organ of the UN Jurisdiction recognized by well over half of the member States Relationship agreement between ICC and the UN came into force in 2004 The Rome Statute allows the UN Security Council to refer situation to ICC UN made its first referral relating to the situation in Darfur in March 2005
Human Rights Human rights monitoring missions a component part of all peacekeeping missions and deployed separately in Colombia and Nepal More central to UN actions than at any previous time in its history OHCHR embarked on an ambitious reform plan to reflect the shift from being simply an advocate and a support to the Commission on Human Rights to being a dynamic operational entity
Terrorism UN dealing with the growth of internal terrorism Before 9/11, Security Council imposed sanctions on Al-Qaida and set up a special committee to monitor its activities After 9/11, resolution 1373 imposed stringent obligations on countries, established a list of terrorist organizations and individuals, and created Counter- Terrorist Committee to monitor Member States compliance
UN over the decades and especially in the decade and a half Proved to be a surprising flexible instrument, to which Member States can and do turn for an incredible array of functions
Afghanistan UN shepherded Afghanistan transition to democracy The UN-mediated Bonn Process put together the Interim Government The UN-convened Loya Jirga set the basis for an Afghan constitution The UN-run elections freely elected the President and Parliament
Iraq In 2004, UN asked to choose the Interim Government In 2005, UN help organize the elections
Unparallel expertise in election matters UN supported democratic elections in half the world s nations
Withdrawal of Syria from Lebanon UN asked to verify Carry out a full criminal investigation into the assassination of the former prime minister
The world turns to the UN Because it had worldwide legitimacy and has the capacity to deliver Able to build or rebuild viable institutions in post-conflict environment UN does nation building better than anyone else RAND Corporation
UN s record in the last 10 years A lot better than what one thinks Can and does change Lessons are both learnt and applied The Brahimi Report on UN peace operations led to major reforms and strengthened its capacity to manage large peacekeeping operations UN peace keeping budget is US$5 billion a year, but a very cost effective way of bringing security and hope to hundred of millions of people UN DPKO s ratio of 130 personnel in the field for every one at HQ is much higher than any other organization
UN s Humanitarian Work Capacity during natural and man-made catastrophes improved significantly UNHCR, WFP and UNICEF central to any humanitarian response with impressive rapid-response capacity Carried out by courageous and highly experienced people that can be deployed anywhere in the world Most experienced coordinator of relief work in disaster zones 2004 Tsunami
Costs of many-faceted front line role UN casualties both military and civilian Reforming its staff security system Acquiring a more professional capacity to protect its people in the field
HIV/AIDS UN playing a leading role in the global fight In 2001, the Secretary General s initiative led to the creation of the global Fund to fight AIDS, TB and Malaria and other diseases resources increased from less than US$1 billion to more than US$8 billion in 5 years Number of people in Africa with access to antiretroviral treatment for AIDS rose from 25,000 in 2001 to 200,000 in 2005 (although covering only 1 percent of the number needing it)
Avian Flu A new challenge to the world WHO and FAO playing a leading role Secretary General appointed a Special Coordinator The whole UN system mobilize to ensure that countries are prepared to respond in case prevention fails
Engagement with non-state Actors: The Private Sector The Global Compact calls for the private sector to be engaged and meet their responsibilities as global citizens At the World Economic Forum in Davos in 1999, nearly 2,000 businesses and leaders of prominent civil society and labour organizations joined the Compact Spurred Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) promoting the public role of business in developing countries and improved the dialogue between civil society and the private sector Forged relationships with leading philanthropists such as Ted Turner and Bill Gates Co-opted leading pharmaceutical companies to find vaccines and provide antiretroviral drugs in developing countries With leading IT companies to bridge the digital divide
Engagement with non-state Actors: NGOs Unprecedented cooperation between the UN and the NGOs Partners for advocating for policy changes and to get high priority given to urgent global issues Delivering humanitarian relief and development assistance on the ground Defining the development and environmental agenda by playing a major role in policy formulation at both the national and intergovernmental levels
A great deal has changed in the last decade or so, the UN today would be unrecognizable to the founders of 1945
A fork in the road Secretary General told the Member States in 2003 that major reform was needed for the following reasons 1. Serious divisions among Member States on fundamental issues arising out of the Iraq War and the circumstances in which it is legitimate for States to resort to the use of force; 2. An appropriate policy framework and tools to met the new threats to international peace and security; 3. The UN decision-making processes to be overhauled, to better reflect the realities of the 21 st century, and 4. To address serious shortcomings in the UN management system, and to equip the Secretariat with the managerial tools to run effectively the big, complex missions
Two Expert Panels Established by Secretary General to examine security threats and development The report of the High-level Panel on Threats, Challenges and Change is the most comprehensive, coherent and realistic set of proposals for improving global security The report of the Millennium Project on Investing in Development sets out what needs to be done in developing countries as well as at the global level to achieve the MDGs by 2015
In Larger Freedom Secretary General s report outlining his agenda for change drawing on both reports Deliberately covered a broad canvas Development, security and human rights are not only vital ends in themselves, but also depends on each other Each Member State would be more likely to support the priorities of others if it saw its own priorities being given equal weight
2005 September World Summit Outcome: Development Not negligible For most Member States by far the most important stimulated important commitments from both donor and developing countries, to take action to advance the MDGs Focused on the importance of governance and economic growth, as well as an enabling world environment Important measures to improve coherence and coordination among different UN agencies Endorsement of the United States to the MDGs Doubling of aid to Africa Timetables from many donors for scaling up their ODA to 0.7% of GNI Doha Round that would eliminate tariffs on the goods from poor countries and end agricultural subsidies
2005 September World Summit Outcome: Security More disappointing Total absence of agreement on nuclear non-proliferation and disarmament Member States cannot reconcile their views on how the use of force should be interpreted They cannot agree on a definition of terrorism, although they produce a clear unqualified condemnation of terrorism in all its form and manifestation committed by whomever, wherever and for whatever purposes Left it to the GA to conclude a comprehensive global counterterrorist strategy An important agreement reached to establish the Peacebuilding Commission designed to fill the institutional void, allowing international players to come together to work out a common strategy for each country
2005 September World Summit Outcome: Human Rights Most important achievement All Members States accepted the responsibility to protect their on citizens from genocide, war crimes, ethnic cleansing and crimes against humanity Expressed their readiness to take collective action in timely and decisive manner through the Security Council A historic breakthrough Creating of a new Human Rights Council Plan of action to strengthen OHCHR and doubling the 1.8 percent of the UN budget for the Office New Democracy Fund, with initial contribution totalling US$42.5 million from 15 countries
Management Reforms Review of all mandates of UN agencies more than five years old, Review of all rules on the management of budgetary, financial and human resources, A one-time buy-out of staff, Independent external evaluation of the entire oversight system, Strengthen ethics, protect whistle-blowers, improve procurement and increase transparency, Conditions and measures to enable the Secretary General to carry out his managerial responsibilities effectively changes needed to radically overhaul a set of rules and systems designed for a different era Flexibility combined with transparency with genuine accountability
Change and Reform A must for any organization that wants to keep on top of its game The next frontier must include a major effort to review and rationalize the way the whole UN system is managed and financed All different agencies, funds and programmes be mobilized in a single, integrated international effort to support the developing countries Further strengthening of UN peacekeeping that goes beyond the Brahimi Report, including more steps to build a truly professional system of support for peacekeeping missions
2005 Summit Neither the beginning nor the end of UN Reform
UN Has always adapt to new circumstances and new tasks and will continue to do so Reform is inscribed in its DNA and permeates its entire being Can and will be up to the task Provided its Member States are willing to support it