Chapter 5

1. Read the following text:

"For the United Nations, success in meeting the challenges of globalization ultimately comes down to meeting the needs of peoples. It is in their name that the Charter was written; realizing their aspirations remains our vision for the twenty-first century."

Secretary-General Kofi Annan

"Other than its membership, whom is the UN accountable to? Its membership is of state parties, many of which are authoritarian governments, who couldn't give a damn what their people think of it. There aren't checks and balances by public constituencies over what member states do at the UN, so it's undemocratic in that sense. It's also undemocratic in the sense that it is dominated by a few key members, particularly the P5, and the power of the veto".

Shepard Forman, New York University's Centre on International Cooperation

Call for reform. Renewing the United Nations

The pace of today's globalized world means that change is a constant. This is no different for the United Nations. Member states' demands of the UN and its Secretariat, agencies, funds and programmes have grown enormously. The UN is expected to deliver more services to more people in more places than ever before.

In the past nine years alone, the number of civilian and soldiers deployed on peacekeeping missions has increased from 20,000 to 80,000. Over the same period, the overall financial resources managed by the Secretariat have doubled to $18 billion. The number of humanitarian and human rights operations have also dramatically increased.

Such a volume of highly operational activity places a greater premium on the ability of the organization to discharge the increased and more complex mandates it is given, and to manage the funds entrusted to it, in an accountable and ethical manner. In the meantime, these demands and expectations have strained the Organization's existing structures and systems

In recent years the appeals for comprehensive reforms in the UN are heard more and more often. "Reform" is always a loaded word because its meaning is often so subjective and because any significant change will affect power relationships and the status of particular member-states. The idea to make all bodies of the UN more relevant to modern times echoes throughout the UN. Loud voices from many corners call for reforms, or at least improvements, in most of the bodies, agencies and activities that constitute the UN. The calls are fed partly by concern that the Secretariat, the agencies, and other parts of the UN system could be much more effective, efficient, and accountable than they are and partly by allegations that the bureaucracy has been a juicy career plum for a small group of administrators who put their interests ahead of those of the organization. They complain that the UN response to calls for reform has too often been knee-jerk and has not tried to address the significant problems that exist within the bureaucracy. One of the insiders of the UN has put as follows: "I do want to debunk the notion that the UN has nothing but dead wood. That is completely wrong. The UN has a number of very good people. But the UN is bound up in rules…The red tape at the UN is… completely dysfunctional²⁰". Another problem, according to analysts is the lack of accountability as the UN doesn't have an effective system of checks and balances.

The principles of the Charter of the United Nations are today as relevant they were in 1946. But the way we deliver on these aims and objectives has to move with the times. Since the Secretary-General took office²¹, reform has been a priority – from more effective peace operations to closer partnerships with civil society and the private sector, from improved management structures and systems to security for staff in the field.

"We must put people at the centre of everything we do . . . А more people-oriented United Nations must be а more results-based organization, both in its staffing and its allocation of resources." This quote from the Secretary-General's Millennium Report sums up the kind of renewal the organization is going through to serve both states and people better in the 21^st century.

It is а renewal of the means used to achieve the goals of the United Nations: peace, prosperity, social justice and а sustainable future. These goals are increasingly being pursued through collaboration with private corporations and non-governmental and public organi­zations and through the use of new information technologies, such as the Internet. There is also renewal from within the Organization in the form of streamlined and client-oriented programme delivery, designed to make the UN leaner and more effective.

The arrival of the new millennium and the events surrounding it present аn out­standing opportunity for the UN member-states to rededicate themselves to the mission of the UN and its core values: freedom, tolerance, equity, non-violence, respect for nature and shared responsibility. When it was created more than half а century ago in the aftermath of the Second World War, the UN reflected humanity's greatest hopes for а just and peaceful global community. And still the United Nations is the only global institution with universal membership.

Renewing the United Nations

Without а strong United Nations, it will be much harder to meet all these challenges. "The UN is flawed but indispensable institution that we have two choices with: weaken it by undermining it or trying to strengthen it by getting it to correct its flaws" (Richard Holbrooke). Strengthening the United Nations depends оn governments and especially оn their will­ingness to work with others - the private sector, non-governmental organizations and multilateral agencies - to find consensus solutions. The UN must act as а cat­alyst to stimulate action by others. And it must fully exploit the technologies, especially information technology. The Secretary-General recommends action in these four key areas:

• Identifying core strengths. The UN must continue to be the place where new standards of international conduct are hammered out and broad consensus on them is established.

• Networking for change. The UN must serve as а catalyst for collective action, both among its member-states and between them and the vibrant constellation of new non-state actors.

• Making digital connections. The UN must harness the power of technology to improve the fortunes of developing countries.

• Advancing the quiet revolution²². As an organization, the UN must become more effective, efficient and accessible to the world's peoples.

The Secretary-General has called on member-states to make the UN more of а results-based organization, both in its staffing and its allocation of resources. "When fully implemented, results-based budgeting will encourage greater efficiency and flexibil­ity, while at the same time enhancing transparency and the UN Secretariat's accountabil­ity to member-states," says the Millennium Report. The management of the Organization should focus on the impact of its work, rather than inputs and process. Placing people at the centre of the Organization means focusing on how аnу given programme benefits the people who are the intended target.

In 2005, the Secretary-General set out his vision in his report In Larger Freedom which mapped out organizational priorities including poverty alleviation, development, the prevention of conflict and human rights. He stated that "measures are intended to renew the confidence of member-states in the relevance and effectiveness of the Organization and revitalize the spirit and commitment of its staff".

The 2006 report, Investing in the UN: For A Stronger Organization Worldwide, deals with the management of the Secretariat and confirms that the UN needs a significant investment in how it recruits, develops and retains its people, how it procures goods and sources services, and how it manages and accounts for the taxpayer funds of all member-states in its overall pursuit of efficiency and results.

But though restructuring is under way and a lot has been done in order to improve its work and contribute to its effectiveness and efficiency, still some objectives haven't been achieved yet (e.g. the goal of holding the Secretariat accountable for "accomplishing missions" rather than merely "carrying out activities", coordination among agencies) and much remains to be done in this regard.