The United Nations has many achievements such as providing food to 90 million people in over 75 countries; assisting more than 34 million refugees; authorizing 71 international peacekeeping missions; working with 140 nations to minimize climate change and ; assisting about 50 countries per year with their elections.
by Dr. Ruwantissa Abeyratne
Writing from Montreal
The UN was not created to take mankind to heaven, but to save humanity from hell… Dag Hammarskjold
On 26 June 1945, the United Nations came into being with the signing of the Charter of the United Nations. When Fareed Zakaria interviewed Antonio Guterres, Secretary General of the UN on 28th June on CNN the latter mentioned that ideally the UN should be multipolar with more engagement by all member States and that the UN must itself reform at 75 yeas of age as much needed to be improved in the Organization. What he did not mention is what The Economist of 20 June said: “The UN is bureaucratic and infuriating. Its agencies fall prey to showboating and hypocrisy, as when despots on its Human Rights Council censure Israel yet again. The Security Council gives vetoes to Britain and France, much diminished powers since 1945, but no permanent membership to Japan, India, Brazil, Germany or any African country. Alas, it looks virtually unreformable. Nonetheless, the global order is worth saving”.
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| United Nations Headquarters, New York, USA |
The General Assembly is the plenary organ of the United Nations comprising all member States, each with one vote. The Assembly is a deliberative organ which depends on resorting to making recommendations rather than binding decisions. Therefore, it is far from legislative in nature although its recommendatory functions often result in the Assembly being considered political, moral and persuasive. This reputation has an overall effect of United Nations General Assembly Resolutions being regarded at least as morally binding on States. No international agencies, however, are authorized to enforce international law and to this extent the United Nations General Assembly stands bereft of legal enforcement powers stricto sensu.
The General Assembly usually adopts several measures to ensure that its resolutions are implemented. Firstly, it recommends the implementation of its resolutions to individual member States. Secondly, it may also enlist the support of other organs and agencies of the United Nations. Thirdly, it may even establish special machinery to perform specific functions towards implementing its resolutions. The objectives of the United Nations General Assembly in ensuring the implementation of its resolutions is to achieve ultimately its overall aim of attaining international peace and security and promoting general welfare and friendly relations among nations.
Some of the significant areas in which the United Nations has done creditable work are international terrorism, hostage taking, mercenaries, outer space, international civil aviation and law of the sea. All treaties that are introduced by the United Nations have the entrenched principle of international law that Contracting parties are always assumed to be acting honestly and in good faith. That is a legal principle which is recognized in private law and cannot be ignored in international law.
In September 2015, The United Nations took a step forward in introducing to the world its 17 Sustainable Development Goals which are, in the words of the UN: “the blueprint to achieve a better and more sustainable future for all. They address the global challenges we face, including those related to poverty, inequality, climate change, environmental degradation, peace and justice. The 17 Goals are all interconnected, and in order to leave no one behind, it is important that we achieve them all by 2030”. The development goals are:no poverty; zero hunger; good health and well-being; quality education; gender equality; clean water and sanitation; affordable and clean energy; decent work and economic growth; industry, innovation, and infrastructure; reducing inequality; sustainable cities and communities; responsible consumption and production; climate action; life below water; life on land; peace, justice, and strong institutions; partnerships for the goals.
These 17 Development Goals are comprehensive in their depth, scope and coverage of international issues. They are all equally important. However, what is close to the author is the goal of peace, justice and strong institutions. In this context, Secretary General Guterres himself was emphatic when he said at the CNN interview that the world must come together under one umbrella of peace and enforceable international action with the participation of all members of the UN, presumably meaning that a cohesive and global justice system that is enforceable and adhered to by all nations should established and brought into force.
Certain measures have still to be taken through this divided and confrontational world in the coming years if international law and consensual symbiosis of nations were to be fully effective. They are: a) Optional Clause 36(2) of the Statute of the International Court of Justice should be made more acceptable to more member States (optional clause declarations are defined as the text through which a State becomes part to the system instituted by Article 36 (2) of the ICJ Statute); ( b) International forums should be devoid as much as practicable of political polemics; c) Support as far as practicable from such important judicial bodies as the European Court of the European Community should be available for the collective effort of international law making in accordance with the Charter of the United Nations. d) Such organs of international law as the Commission of Jurists (Inter-American Conference) should be actively involved in the promotion and expansion of international law. e) More evolved programmes of world disarmament should be introduced and followed by those nations that are capable of arms proliferation and extended use to the detriment of humanity. f) More conciliatory or mediatory judicial tribunals should be established to ensure peaceful arbitration of international disputes. g) Disparities of the economic conditions of under privileged nations must be obviated or controlled by a duly established world order that is followed by consensus. h) A world wide basis for law and order must be established in unequivocal terms by consensual agreement within the United Nations.
The Charter of the United Nations cites the four main goals of the United Nations as: maintain international peace and security; develop friendly relations among nations; achieve international cooperation in solving international problems; and be a center for harmonizing the actions of nations in the attainment of these common ends. For this the 17th Sustainable Development Goal must kick in: a world-wide basis for law and order must be established in unequivocal terms by consensual agreement within the United Nations.
The United Nations has many achievements such as providing food to 90 million people in over 75 countries; assisting more than 34 million refugees; authorizing 71 international peacekeeping missions; working with 140 nations to minimize climate change and ; assisting about 50 countries per year with their elections. It has had a few blunders too like the failure to act in the genocide in Rwanda and the slaughter of Srebrenica. Additionally, there have been sex abuse charges against UN peacekeeping forces in some places of deployment.
At 75 years of age the United Nations has a balancing act to perform. On the one hand, getting back to the words of The Economist which describe the many shortcomings of the United Nations, it is time the UN got its act straight with its internal workings. However, it faces challenges externally as well. One concern of the UN has been “all talk and no action” by the member States. Secretary General Guterres has been particularly concerned over this challenge and has been quite vocal. For instance, when the United Nations Climate Action Summit was held in New York on 23 September 2019 the words of Secretary General Gutters to world leaders attending the Summit were: “ This is not a climate talk summit. We have had enough talk. This is not a climate negotiation summit. You don’t negotiate with nature. This is a climate action summit.”
It is clearly time for action. It’s now or never.
Dr. Abeyratne is a former senior official in the United Nations System
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