Expectations from the UN Summit
By Kamala Sarup
60th General Assembly of the United Nations and the 2005 World Summit kicked off in New York on Wednesday.
The three-day UN World Summit-- in which more than
160 world leaders will be attending-- is expected to approve a draft resolution prepared after hectic negotiations among the member states.
In the run up to the summit, UN Secretary General Kofi Annan told reporters, "Obviously we didn't get everything we wanted, and
with 191 Member States it's not easy to get an agreement. The big item
missing is non-proliferation and disarmament. This is a real disgrace. We have
failed twice this year. We failed at the NPT and we failed now".
Annan further said, “The good news is that we do have an outcome document. Obviously we didn't get everything we wanted, and with 191 member states it's not easy to get an agreement. All of us would have wanted more, but we can
work with what we have been given, and I think it is an important step
forward".
Six decades after the founding of the United
Nations in 1945, it indeed was crucial for the international community
to examine, in depth, the state of our world. This is why the GA spent
hours discussing major problems of our times and in
seeking appropriate solutions to them.
The U.N. General Assembly approved a declaration on
development, human rights, terrorism and global security on Tuesday
for adoption at the world body's 60th anniversary summit. But
negotiators failed to agree on wording on nuclear proliferation as well as on definition of terrorism as sought by Western nations, and on commitments
to greater aid and tearing down the trade barriers that developing nations
wanted.
The summit is widely considered as a "make-or-break" moment for
reforms designed to prepare the multi-national organisation for the
challenges facing the 21st century. Secretary General Kofi Annan described it as "a once-in-a-generation opportunity to take bold
decisions in the areas of development, security, human rights and
reform of the United Nations".But many have been critical of Mr Annan's blueprint for reform, which
was subjected to a savaging by the US's controversial new ambassador
to the UN, John Bolton.
Security has been tightened, with streets around U.N. headquarters
closed to traffic, boats patrolling the adjacent East River, and no
airplanes allowed overhead.
Foreign Minister Ramesh Nath Pandey will be attending the high-level
plenary meeting on Friday. Nepal will raise the issue of challenges being
faced by small, least developed and land locked countries and insist
on the need to promote a shared vision to find solution to common
problems like poverty, inequality, terrorism and other pressing issues
that afflict the world.
After acquiring membership of the United Nations on 14th December,
1955, Nepal has been regularly participating in various peace-keeping
missions around the world. During this period, more than 30,000 RNA
personnel have served under the auspices of the United Nations. As a temporary member of the UN Security Council,
Nepal has served the world organization twice.
Actually, Nepal regards reforms of the UN as a continuous process
encompassing elements such as revitalisation of the General Assembly,
strengthening of the Economic and Social Council, reform of the
secretariat machinery and expansion of the Security Council and
reform of its working methods.
It is true, the UN has strayed very far from its original mission. The
UN badly needs reform. The problems are many, and solutions will
take years to implement. On any major issue facing international
political and business leaders, there are always at least two levels
of looking at things: The lofty perch of policy-makers and those who
advise them and the nitty-gritty perspective of those on the ground
who must actually get things done. From the viewpoint of an individual
or organization working on a hot spot or a difficult in-country
situation, the United Nations has always presented a paradox: Stated
good intentions combined with very poor actual performance.
As an organization, the United Nations has strayed so far from its
original charter that it is now being hotly debated now whether to
scrap the framework altogether and start all over or to engage in
wholesale reforms. Over the next 2-3 years, look for the latter. No
sane person would want to go for another League of Nations.
If there is a worldwide economic depression, however, another League
of Nations is a definite possibility. Fortunately, the international
financial markets are as strong, independent and powerful as they have
ever been, completing a process that started when former US President
Richard Nixon de-coupled the dollar from the gold standard in the early 1970s.
"With regard to developing nations, UN should be in favor of economic
growth as the best way to solve problems. And on the other side, the
most vicious conflicts in the last 40 years have been in the Middle
East and Northern Ireland. In the Middle East, several full blown wars
were fought before the UN was able to insert some peacekeepers in some
border situations with some success. In Northern Ireland, it took
several decades before any real progress was made, and you can see the
remnants of sectarian hatred even today." US journalist John G.
Scherb told this scribe recently.
"The UN has failed to a large extent in its function as the global
keeper of the collective security. Moreover, its delayed reaction to
major armed conflicts worldwide had caused the death of thousands
of human beings. It had been unsuccessful to prevent genocide from
Rwanda, to take bold actions in Bosnia, or more recently in Darfur. It
is at least shameful, that a decision making body that should promote
world-wide peace and humanitarian values was dragged in scandals like
the oil-for-food, in corruption allegations and employee harassment,"
a Romanian journalist Manuela Paraipan said.
She further added " The UN stands as a symbol of solidarity of the
world. It acts as a forum for all nations to openly
discuss their concerns and problems and find pertinent solutions to
those problems. May be it is time for the UN to lead the war on terror
and send a strong message to the global society. Therefore, any
country, which will coordinate, harbor, or tacitly allow acts of
terror will suffer powerful sanctions from the international
community."
Nepal is such a backwater that a full-blown communist insurgency which
has killed over 12,000 people fails to even register in today’s world. The situation further involves vast
number of Nepali women being sent across the Indian border for
prostitution and sexual slavery, drug dealing, arms trafficking, as
well as ordinary Nepalis being gang pressed into the insurgency, some
as child soldiers.
So what does the UN say? It is difficult to talk when the bullets are
flying and the bombs exploding, but nevertheless, a mantra must be invoked.
Insurgencies are like infections, and legitimate
grievances are like thorns, which cause the infection. So the
ultimate answer is a simple one for Nepal: peace. Reform, steady
but sure, is the only answer, and the UN and international community
can assist us with innovative programs and grants, which directly
benefit the Nepali people.
Thousands of Nepalis have served as peacekeepers for the
UN over the years. So, Nepal deserves some pay back from the UN.
(Kamala Sarup, a PhD scholar has been published in World Security
Network (WSN), World Press, Global Politician, Scoop Media,
Wizard.com, Crossfire, Nepal news.com and other publications. She has
also been invited as a speaker at a number of peace and women conferences. Please post your comments to kamalasarup@gmail.com or feedback@mos.com.np)
