Category: United Nations

Introduction: Effectiveness of the United Nations in dealing with international problems

The effectiveness of the UN in tackling international concerns can be evaluated by the growing demands that suggest and require collective intervention from the UN along with the hope and confidence that is declining day by day. This decline in confidence over international level is due to many reasons. On one hand on a global context, it has been established that UN financial support is keeping on diminishing for its activities are limited to lead by some industrialized countries, where it is propelled by the challenge of humanitarian intervention. On the other hand UN has remained unable to maintain a level of peacekeeping within and across country borders and boundaries (Thakur & Schnabel, 2001, p. 3).

This research would highlight upon the main issues for which UN is proving itself responsible for lacking credibility in solving international issues. Apart from the human rights and third world development problems, conflicts like Iraq war concerns, UN’s lack of interest in resolving the Iraq issue and the dearth of fulfilling global expectations in maintaining peacemaking are the present concerns from which UN is trouncing.

The Iraq Issue: Literature Review

Global peace and security have always remained among the UN’s core missions and that even in a manner that UN’s foundation in 1945 was laid upon the building blocks of high hopes and dedicated serving of the UN as a global high command to keep the peace in a post-colonial, post-fascist world. With the closing of the ideological gap between East and West many look to the peace-keeping apparatus of the United Nations as the best tool to deal with the lesser crises that emerged after the collapse of the Soviet Union (Alagappa & Inoguchi, 1999, p. 3).

Apart from the diplomacy that Iraq made since the end of the Gulf War, UN discerned the Gulf War has been replaced by a new kind of conflict, a ‘war of sanctions’. This conflict tended to be a struggle between Iraq and the United Nations (UN) in which Iraq struggled to break out of the controls and sanctions the UN established as part of the cease-fire in the Gulf War, while the UN attempts to enforce them. The war was more than a struggle between Iraq and the United States and Britain that already led to several limited UN strikes on Iraq and Operation Desert Fox, and which could escalate to far more serious strikes in the future (Cordesman, 1999, p. 1). What critics say is that, it was a struggle that shaped every aspect of Iraq’s conventional military power and efforts to proliferate while in a broader context, it was a strategic struggle in which Iraq attempt to reassert its status as a major Gulf and Arab power, while the UN seek to limit Iraq’s capability to threaten its neighbours and change the character of the Iraqi government.

On 31 January 1992, the United Nations Security Council met at the level of the heads of government for the first time after which was declared that the meeting was evidence of a new era for the Security Council, one in which the superpower rivalry that contributed to years of stalemate and Cold War politics was replaced by a Security Council in which permanent members could agree to work together on issues relating to international peace and security. These were euphoric times for the United Nations due to two reasons. First, the UN organization was able to get rid of the shadow of Cold War rivalry and secondly there was also a definite willingness, even determination, among member states to use the United Nations to its full potential.

Although in 1991 UN felt pressure under the issue of Iraq-Kuwait conflict, when in the wake of the successful military operation Iraq pushed out of Kuwait and along with the new optimism and commitment to using the United Nations evidenced at the Security Council heads of government meeting, came a new willingness to use the United Nations more forcefully than during the Cold War. The situation felt some betterment by the end of 1992 when the Security Council had authorized UN involvement in two difficult conflicts the collapsing Yugoslavia and the ongoing civil war in Somalia. These conflicts under the shelter of Security Council allowed a significant use of force beyond that utilized in traditional peacekeeping but short of the full scale use of force authorized in the UN-sponsored actions in response to Iraq’s invasion of Kuwait (Boulden, 2001, p. 1).

Although the UN confronted many challenges but the major challenge that was faced by the UN Council was the poor state of relations between the United States and the United Nations. The conflict started when in 1993 Clinton Administration was first seen to use UNSCOM (UN Special Commission) to charge with supervising and monitoring Iraq’s compliance with Security Council decisions on its weapons programmes. In order to analyze UN effectiveness, writers often criticize UNSCOM as its independence was key to its authority and effectiveness. The analysis of UNSCOM’s relationship with the other relevant UN bodies, Member States, and personalities clearly demonstrates the importance of maintaining that independence while how it had to be carefully managed.

The other key factor was the full backing of the Council. While UNSCOM had to be free to operate without the interference of other bodies, it clearly needed the support of the Council. Only the Council had the means to enforce the conditions of the cease-fire resolution 687 and the resolutions that followed. The only leverage UNSCOM had was the authority to call on the Security Council to apply the threat of sanctions or military action on the one hand, or incentives on the other. When both its independence and the backing of the full Council dissipated, UNSCOM’s ability to function, despite its remarkable accomplishments, was bound to dissipate as well (Krasno & Sutterlin, 2003, p. 36).

The proactive mandate intentionally gave UNSCOM the authority to act assertively in dealing with the Iraqi regime, which was required to cooperate ‘unconditionally’ in the disarmament process. The Council not only gave UNSCOM the authority to dispose of WMD but also all related subsystems and components and the authority to monitor Iraq so that it could not rebuild the systems once the disarmament process was complete. Unlike IAEA’s (International Atomic Energy Agency) weaker mandate prior to the Gulf War, which permitted it to enter only Iraqi-designated facilities with prior notice, UNSCOM was given the right to carry out surprise inspections at undeclared sites. UNSCOM’s intrusiveness would be both immediate and ongoing.

Cordesman (1999) visualizes the UN efficiency on the background of the Gulf War that liberated Kuwait, thereby scarcely ending up the struggle against Saddam Hussein. It was more than a war on weapons that resulted in sanctions that began almost immediately after the cease-fire after which the UN Security Council Resolution (UNSCR) 687 was passed in 1991, and set the terms for the cease-fire in the Gulf War (Cordesman, 1999, p. 3). The Resolution 687 was an effort initiated by the UN as a means for dismantling Iraq’s weapons of mass along with the means to produce them.

The UN resolution’s efficiency set up no time limit and established ambiguous conditions for terminating controls and sanctions. Therefore UN seek help from Article 22 of Resolution 687 that required UNSCOM and the IAEA to certify that Iraq does not retain any long-range missiles and weapons of mass destruction, or the capability to manufacture them, before Iraq can resume uncontrolled exports. The Resolution looked forward that Iraq must have fully disclosed all related information, and implies that it must have demonstrated that it has taken no steps to develop a future capability to proliferate. Since 1997, UN has been blamed for the growing debates over whether Article 22 was the only condition for lifting the economic sanctions or whether Iraq must have complied with all of the terms of the cease-fire. UNSCOM and the IAEA, both being responsible for reporting on the status of Iraq’s compliance presented reviews to the Security Council at least every six months.

Critical Analysis

It is more than enough for a critical analysis to view the current structure, roles, and functions of the UN that reflect the international system that emerged at the end of the Second World War on one hand while the prominence and support the international system provides to the United States on the other. The UN worked as one of the powers of the United States, which remained dominant in the immediate post-war period, and used the UN as its proxy to uphold economic development and freedom from aggression as the twin rights of states. The United Nations was seen as a fortification against fascism and protector of an ever-growing number of weak, post-colonial states.

Initially there was an optimistic opinion about the possibilities for the United Nations to play an ever-larger role in conflict prevention, internationally UN was seen an exceedingly broad concept which spans development assistance, counselling on the processes of democratization, political risk analysis to provide ‘early warning’ of hot spots, and other forms of institutional support. This view of the United Nations as peacemaker, however, assumes that the mass of NGOs, regional councils, and member country governments can cope with internal and external conflict in a selfless, objective and coherent manner. Today the UN’s reform agenda is openly criticized for the new roles it has performed in maintaining peace and security.

In March 2003, when the United States under the umbrella of the notion “Iraq’s diplomacy has failed” planned to rid Iraq from its weapons of mass destruction, UN Security Council came forward with some techniques. In 2006, Kofi Annan the Secretary General of the UN clearly stated the illegitimacy of the UN charter. What can be more critical than the sentence uttered by him that presented the political hypocrisy of the United States against Iraq? Even Russia condemned the war. Therefore UN was highly criticized by the rest of the world except the United States and UK which were ahead in making plans for Iraq invasion.

The UNSCOM compendium was initially supposed to be a part of that comprehensive review that Kofi Annan had proposed in a presentation to the Security Council on September 22, 1998, but which never formally took place after the December 1998 bombing and the termination of inspections. The purpose of the review (which Iraq had requested) was to assess the extent of Iraq’s compliance with resolution 687, reach agreement on what final steps needed to be taken, and wrap up the disarmament work of the Commission, taking into account that the monitoring aspect of the work would continue. The Secretary-General introduced the idea to the Council even though Iraq was at the time adhering to its decision of August 5, 1998, not to cooperate with UNSCOM (Krasno & Sutterlin, 2003, p. 159).

A complete report, which summarized all of UNSCOM’s work, had never been compiled prior to the request for a comprehensive review. Each regular monthly report had given a summary of the most recent work but had not tried to give an overall picture, therefore, UNSCOM staff members in New York began rapidly to pull together the data and analysis that they had accumulated over the years. The extensive report was completed but when it was realized, at the end of 1998, that the comprehensive review was not going to take place in the form anticipated, UNSCOM had to decide what to do with the documented results of their labor. One of the members who had tried to stop the circulation of the report was the Russian Federation, calling into question whether the Russian goal in supporting the comprehensive review was to find a negotiated political solution to the issue or real compliance with a set of objective criteria based on the data included in the report.

The agreed goal of the comprehensive review was to assess Iraqi compliance, as the Russians stated, to “confirm on the basis of evidence and verifiable information the validity of any allegations of non-compliance by Iraq,” and to “answer the question whether Iraq still constitutes a military threat for the region” (Krasno & Sutterlin, 2003, p. 161). UNSCOM act with diplomacy and tried to establish a ‘material balance’ of exactly which weapons of mass destruction (WMDs) had been destroyed or rendered harmless and what threats remained. This seemed clear enough, but that assessment was dependent on having a concrete baseline data set on which to construct a balance ratio of what weapons remained. That proved to be a very elusive and slippery task because of Iraq’s continued noncompliance and untrustworthy behavior. Determining a material balance was dependent on knowing what WMD were in Iraq’s possession at the beginning of 1991. UNSCOM developed it own methods of gathering information despite the ambiguous data emanating from Iraq. It was this combination of information gathered from Member States, companies that had sold material and equipment to Iraq, and UNSCOM’s own inspections combined with the capability to assess that information in its Information Analysis Unit, which provided the United Nations with its own data.

Starting from the post cold war condition, the United Nation always performed in a paradoxical context, in which it defended the US some times in the name of ‘war on terror’ and other times by blaming sanctions to demote WMD. At a time when the UN, freed from cold war ideologies and state rivalries, it took the lead and direct humankind toward peace and harmony, its basic (empty) formalism revealed even more blatantly (Debrix, 1999, p. 6). At a time when peacekeeping is given yet another chance to fulfill the promise of collective security, its exercise becomes less assured than ever, and peacekeeping missions, far from ‘empowering the UN’ leave the image of the international organization as an impotent peace and security enforcer.

Conclusion

Meeting all the challenges that spotted UN now require strengthening preventive diplomacy as well as the UN’s capacity to support increased numbers of international relations operations performing complex tasks in collaboration with member states and NGOs. The United Nations recognizes the problem. The Secretary General’s decision to appoint an international expert panel on UN peace operations clearly emphasizes this recognition. With sharply increased demand for UN peacekeeping in different forms and experiences of both success and failure, developments in the decade since the Cold War’s end have foreshadowed dilemma that will face UN peacekeeping in the new millennium. The dilemma is linked to changes in the types of conflicts that demand the organization’s attention, specifically to the shift from interstate to more intrastate or internal conflicts, and to the norm of nonintervention in a state’s internal affairs. The question that arises is that how the UN intervention would be able to justify itself?

Work Cited

Alagappa Muthiah & Inoguchi Takashi, (1999) International Security Management and the United Nations: United Nations University Press: New York.

Boulden Jane, (2001) Peace Enforcement: The United Nations Experience in Congo, Somalia, and Bosnia: Praeger: Westport, CT.

Cordesman H. Anthony, (1999) Iraq and the War of Sanctions: Conventional Threats and Weapons of Mass Destruction: Praeger Publishers: Westport, CT.

Debrix Francois, (1999) Re-Envisioning Peacekeeping: The United Nations and the Mobilization of Ideology: University of Minnesota Press: Minneapolis.

Krasno E. Jean & Sutterlin S. James, (2003) The United Nations and Iraq: Defanging the Viper: Praeger: Westport, CT.

Thakur Ramesh & Schnabel Albrecht, (2001) United Nations Peacekeeping Operations: Ad Hoc Missions, Permanent Engagement: United Nations University Press: New York.

Introduction

After the World War I, the focus of nations that were engaging in the war was to enhance international peace through the establishment of the League of Nations. Its primary goal was to prevent the emergence of another war by enhancing collective security through disarmament plans and/or settling probable international disagreements via arbitration and negotiations (Adsera & Boix 2002, p. 231).

The organisation was also handling other tasks such as steering labour conditions, addressing issues of human trafficking, trafficking of weaponry, enhancing international wellbeing, and protecting the civil liberties of the minorities. The League of Nations collapsed later in the mid 1940 when it failed to prevent the emergence of the Second World War. After the war, the United Nations replaced the League of Nations.

Later, several programmes and international organisations such as the WHO, the UN HABITAT, the UNHCR, the UNDP, and the UNICEF were developed (Taylor & Groom 2000, p. 3). These organisations together with the UN comprise the international system. These paper discuses how effective the United Nations has been in maintaining a functioning international system since its creation.

Before analysing this question, the paper first discusses the concept of international system followed by the functioning of the United Nations. This discussion will help in determining whether the United Nations plays any role in maintaining an effective international system.

The International System

An international system constitutes a collection of agencies, programmes, administrations, forums, and legal frameworks in which nations interact and work together. For instance, the World Bank and IMF form the apex of the world system of economic and financial politics and governance. An international system seeks to foster the existence of good international relations.

The term international relations means the collective interactions that exists between international communities. These communities include nations and individuals (Nau 2008, p.221). However, in the discussion of the role that the UN plays in international relations through the worldwide system, it is important to identify the differences between the international system and international society.

The notion of international society has its roots anchored in the perspectives of the international law and classical legal establishments. From this contextual basis, the international society involves communities that engage in the practice of the international law (Buzan 2004, p.328). A system constitutes several parts, which interact harmoniously.

Harmonious interaction implies that different components of the system depend on each other so that without strong covalent bonds, the different entities stand as lone entities. In contrast, besides being self-conscious, the society regulates itself (MacMillan & Hidemi 2006, p. 97). A system encompasses the fundamental idea of international relations since it can survive without necessarily the existence of an international society.

The converse is largely untrue. Cited by Buzan (2004, p.329), Bull (one of the English school authors) supports this assertion by adding that the rapid expansion of the 15^th century Europe led to the emergence of an international system prior to the birth of an international society.

The international system was born after bringing various isolated political communities and players close together to foster their regular interactions through the European power projections. In this sense, power is an important factor for binding the isolated components that constitute a system.

A system cannot exist without units, which international relations discourses refer to as states. The units provide opportunities for significant interactions to occur (Dunne, Kukri & Smith 2010, p. 8). Their arrangement and structure follow some common principles. The principle determines the order that is to be maintained between the units (independent political states or communities).

The integration between political communities, which operate independently, includes war, migration, state of diplomacy, trade, and even the movement of ideologies. The international society relates to the perceptions of the international order. In Bull’s context, order implies social life arrangements that are aimed at establishing and promoting specific values and goals.

The synonymy of international society and order introduces a vast number of possibilities of different stages of development in societies. In the extreme end, the society may constitute a collection of states that are meshed within a network of institutions and regimes that define their conducts.

In the lower end, societies may potentially comprise groups of people or political communities that are guided by common norms against key issues such as seizures or murdering emissaries.

Therefore, a discussion of the effectiveness of the United Nations in fostering the existence of an international system also involves consideration of the role of the UN in enhancing good international relations between international societies since an international system is a necessary premise for the existence of an international system.

The Functioning of the UN

The UN comprises 192 member states, which theoretically have equal voices in the organisation (Fasulo 2004, p. 45; Lowe 2008, p. 32). The organisation enacted the universal declaration of human rights in 1948. The pronouncement established the rights of all people in the world.

It formed the fundamentals of international human rights, which aim at enhancing the effectiveness of the international system in achieving its mandates (Brown 2009, p.48). Recently, it enacted the millennium development goals with the main intention of putting in place mechanisms of poverty eradication and enhancing equality by 2015.

How effective are the millennium development goals in the creation of an effective international system? Have they been realised through the UN system? The basic dimensions and institutional processes for the international system shape the activities and the functioning of the UN (Young 1998, p.902).

The UN constitutes an important player in the international system. It has the capability to influence its own operational environment. Indeed, as Young (1998, p.902) confirms, ‘throughout the history of the United Nations, the impact of the system’s environment on the organisation has far surpassed the impact of the organisation on the system’.

Instead of the environment, which constitutes the member states that influence the UN, it influences the conduct of the environment where some member states are greatly or less affected by it. This situation creates inequalities in the environment. This observation implies that it functions as a major player in the world of politics (Weiss, Forsythe & Coate 2004, p. 18).

This proposition forms a basis of confusion and criticism from different scholars. For example, political realists such as Roger and Zaidi (2008, p.47) and Weiss and Daws (2007, p. 56) maintain that the UN does not play any active role in the world politics, but only functions to reflect its composition of the member states.

However, the next section opposes this proposition. It maintains that the UN actively engages in the shaping of global economic and social politics.

Analysis: Effectiveness of the UN in maintaining a functioning International System since its Creation

Achievements of the UN are important in fostering international understanding as encapsulated in the international relations theoretical paradigms, which suggest its capacity in the creation of an effective international system. However, the organisation faces some criticisms akin to its mode of operations.

The main question that global political analysts pose is whether the operations of the UN are based on its influence from nations that possess a high command as manifested through their military capability such as the US and nations that belong to the EU (Ruggie 1998, p. 14).

Indeed, the organisation did nothing to curtail the occurrence of the Rwandan genocide in 1994. Gold (2004, p.103) asserts that one of the likely reasons for the failure of the UN to intervene in preventing the deaths of 800, 000 people is because the concern failed to align with the USA and France’s strategic interest. The two states are permanent players in the UN Security Council.

This claim is inappropriate in generalising the influence of powerful nations in the work of international organisations such as the UN in enhancing the existence of an effective international system. However, it sounds imperative to claim that power has effects on the operations of international organisations and their roles in enhancing the effectiveness of the international system in a bid to shape the current world order.

In terms of driving the global development agenda, international organisations such as the World Bank (WB) and the International Monetary Fund (IMF) exist. The two organisations were established in 1944 to shape the financial and economic order. However, Blake (2009, p.263) claims that their current functions and modalities serve the interest of parties that advocate neoliberalism.

This claim suggests that the UN fails to create an effective international system that favours the contribution of all member states in terms of driving the global agenda. The main goal of establishing the WB was to loan money to the western nations that were involved in war in the effort to aid them in rebuilding their post-war torn nations.

However, in subsequent years, the WB shifted its attention of lending money to nations in the developing world. Mansfield, Milner, and Rosendorff (2002, p. 479) confirm that the agenda of IMF is to ‘regulate currency exchange rates to facilitate orderly international trade as a lender of last resort when a member country experiences balance of payment difficulties and/or is unable to borrow money from other sources’.

Both the WB and the IMF were established in such a manner that their operations would be neutral so that all member states could equally gain. Unfortunately, their practices serve the stakes of the western nations.

For instance, in both institutions, the powers of voting for different nations are not determined by the population sizes of the member states, which subvert the principle of equality as explored by the English school theory. In this extent, the UN, through the WB and IMF, fails to maintain an effectively functioning international system.

In the WB and IMF, voting powers are functions of political powers that nations reflect on global platforms and the amount of capital contributions. The G7 nations play the most significant roles in policy development. While each of the US, Japan, France, the Great Britain, and Germany has one director, 19 other directors are elected from about 150 member states.

The tradition of the appointment of the MD for the WB is essentially to fix an American figure while that of the IMF is to fix a European figure. In case of IMF, the G7 voting power is 46 percent (Gretchen 2012, p. 18). An effective international system must advocate political, economic, and social equity.

With the dominance of the most powerful nations in the management and setting of policies in the international organisations, the question that emerges is whether indeed international society, as suggested by the English school, can precisely explain the interaction of states in the current world order.

Many nations regard the exploration of weapons of mass destruction as a disguised attempt to ignore the international peace treaty that is presumed to constitute the general rules that bind the international societies.

The need to protect the territorial integrity of a given nation from foreign superpowers in the endeavour to defend statutory individualistic ideologies, which are opposed to the collective interests of the international community, triggers this attempt (Gretchen 2012, p.852). Nationalistic interests incredibly hike the chances of the initiation of war between two or more nations.

Classical realism declares such a war a regrettable, but unfortunate outcome in the discourse of international relations (Ross & Feng 2008, p. 67).

This situation is perhaps exemplified by the war between Iraq and Iran in which the two nations fought over supremacy of their nations based on their nationalistic interest to control the Gulf Region. Such individualistic interests undermine the interdependence of nations as a fundamental principle on which the international system discourse rests.

In the development of the millennium development goals, the UN aims at ensuring that all states that form the international system effectively engage in resolving common problems. In 2000, the UN member states ratified the millennium development goals (MDGs). The deadline for achieving the eight MDGs was set as 2015.

The eight goals included the suppression of hunger and food shortage, attainment of worldwide primary learning, women empowerment and endorsement of gender fairness, reduction of newborn death, improving motherly physical condition, dealing with diseases such as HIV/AIDS and malaria, enhancement of environmental sustainability, and developing global partnerships to foster collective development of nations (The United Nations 2014, p. 4).

With only one year remaining to the 2015 deadline, the United Nations reports that many of the goals have been met. However, others such as maternal health still lag behind, especially in the developing and low-income nations such as Indonesia and many African nations.

In 1990, about half of people who live in the developing nations earned less than US $1.25 every day. However, the United Nations (2014, p.4) reports a significant reduction of extreme poverty. By 2010, the number of people earning less than US $ 1.25 reduced by 22%, which is equivalent to 700 million people.

The MDG target was to reduce extreme poverty by half. Between 2011 and 2013, 173 million lesser people suffered chronic hunger compared to the period of 1990 and 1992 (The United Nations 2014, p.9). Indeed, the goal number one for MDGs was met in 2010.

Goal number 2 of enhancing access and completion of primary schooling for all children faces challenges since some children live in war-torn areas. Indeed, not even one nation has reached a 100% mark, although North Africa recorded 99% enrolment by 2012 (The United Nations 2014, p.16).

From the above assertions, it is also possible that even though the UN has played a central role in championing for collective development of all nations across the globe in the effort to eradicate ignorance and/or foster the development of an effective international system, challenges still remain.

For instance, although the millennium development goal number three was to eliminate disparities in the access of secondary and primary education by 2005, and at all educational levels by 2015, the United Nations (2014) reports high disparities in institutions of higher learning. Women are generally underrepresented in the labour markets and political participation.

However, a significant progress continues to be achieved (The United Nations 2014, p. 14). Secondly, the target for a reduction of infant mortality by more than two-thirds has not yet been achieved. However, in 2012, infant mortality reduced by more than half of the 1990 levels (The United Nations 2014, p. 15).

Apart from environmental sustainability, the world has made incredible efforts towards the achievement of the other MDGs. However, success in achieving the goals is not homogenous across all nations. Some nations are still struggling with problems that have been targeted by MDGs. For example, maternal health is now an issue of national focus in Indonesia.

Although the UN aims at enhancing equality and equity in access to basic requirements such as quality maternal health, such access remains ineffectively homogenous among different nations.

For instance, as revealed before, in terms of promoting the effectiveness of the international system, one of the millennium development goals (MDGs) is to have lower than 102 maternal deaths for every 100,000 live births in every nation across the globe by 2015. In 1991, Indonesia recorded 390 maternal deaths in every 100,000 live births, 228 deaths in 2007, and 220 deaths in 2010 (Belton, Myers & Ngana 2014, p.1).

By 2012, Indonesia had a risk of one maternal death in every 150 women, being the highest in Southeast Asia compared to one risk in every 4000 women in developed countries (Webster, 2012, p.1981). This finding suggests that the UN still suffers from its ability to enhance the development of an international system that has equity and equality in terms of healthcare accessibility.

The UN aims at maintaining an effective international system by safeguarding the interest of all member states by putting in place mechanisms of enhancing good international relationships. However, it fails to ensure equal distribution of power. From the perspectives of classical realism, power is an important tool for maintaining peace within a unit of political community.

In the context of an international system, a political community entails all nations that come together to form the UN. These nations ensure that potential threats across their borders are mitigated. In fact, this outcome is the goal of international relations, a fundamental concept that is explored by the UN. The goal is realised by putting in place sanctions to nations, which pose threats to other nations.

In ensuring that nations, which pose threats to the international peace, become ineffective in their plans, international organisations, including the World Bank limit or even totally cancel funding programmes that are aimed at boosting their economic development. Through such a strategy, international organisations, which form the international system whilst acting as pillars of the UN, limit the power of nations.

However, through such limitations, rivalry may emerge between nations. Interpretation of the interplay between international relations and conduct of international organisations this way explains the influence of the US and the EU nations in terms of controlling the production of weapons of mass destruction such as the case of North Korea.

This observation suggests that for international peace to prevail, the primary conduct of the UN has been to ensure that power remains within certain nations.

This situation emphasises the need for interpretation of the current world order from the perspectives of the international system in which all nations have disparity levels of opinions and power to influence the UN policies. As such, the paper holds that the United Nations has not been effective in maintaining a functioning international system since its creation.

Conclusion

The UN and its affiliated organisations establish rules and regulations that ensure equality, international peace, and free and fair interaction in trade among other concerns.

While this deliverables encompass a major stride towards maintaining an effective international system, the rules and guidelines for international organisations that constitute the international system are developed through unequal participation of all players in the system.

For instance, the G7 nations have a significant power in terms of making the UN policies. This situation reflects the role of power inequality as advanced by the theory of classical realism in the development of hegemonies. Inequalities dominate international political and economic interactions.

Hence, power struggles between states, as developed through international systems perspective and advanced by the classical theory of international relations, reveal that the world order is created by the most powerful nations through the UN.

Hence, the UN has been ineffective in maintaining an efficient international system due to its failure to achieve certain collective commitments among member states such as some aspects of the millennium development goals and inequality in power among member states.

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Introduction

In the modern world, the global humanitarian crisis is becoming an issue of paramount importance, which continues to expand in its scale (Central Intelligence Agency, 2009). Since the problem grows in complexity, the system of rendering humanitarian aid to those who are in need must adapt to the changing environment to keep pace and stay relevant (OCHA, 2016). The number of people who now desperately need help because of different disasters that occurred to them is always on the rise during the last several decades (Central Intelligence Agency, 2009). To improve the effectiveness of the response to the ongoing humanitarian crisis, the UNOCHA was founded.

UNOCHA Concept and its Major Tasks

The United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (UNOCHA) is an organisation that was established under the resolution 46/182 by the United Nation general assembly in 1991 (WHS, 2016). Now, it is a part of the Secretariat and its primary objective is to unite the forces of all the actors to guarantee that the response provided to each separate emergency is as effective and immediate as possible (WHO, 2016).

The UNOCHA pursues the same goals as the Department of Humanitarian Affairs (DHA) and the Office of the United Nations Disaster Relief Coordinator (UNDRC) used to be responsible for before merging with the newly created agency (De Mul, 2002). Having been united, these organisations now carry out the common missions:

• to estimate the problems connected with the global humanitarian crises quickly and precisely (OCHA, 2016);
• to find solutions to each separate case and to render humanitarian aid with the assistance of both national and international actors (OCHA, 2016);
• to relieve by all means human sufferings from natural disasters (OCHA, 2016);
• to defend the rights of people who need help (OCHA, 2016);
• to promote quick and efficient prevention measures (OCHA, 2016);
• to look for partnership (OCHA, 2016)
• to find and implement the latest technologies and the most promising ideas (WHS, 2016).

UNOCHA has many offices located throughout the world. There are offices in Afghanistan, Colombia, Chad, Ethiopia, Sri Lanka, Sudan, Zimbabwe, Siria, Democratic Republic of Congo, and a lot of other developing countries (Morris, 2006).

The Range and Effectiveness of the “Clusters” which Resulted from the Humanitarian Reform of the Late 2000s

Almost fifteen years after the foundation of the present humanitarian coordination system, the Humanitarian Reform Agenda introduced a series of new elements into its structure (Dorn, 2009). The purpose of this novelty was to improve the predictability of emergencies, enhance their accountability, and ensure support and partnership. One of the main elements among the new ones was the so-called Cluster Approach (Dorn, 2009).

Clusters can be defined as groups of coordinated humanitarian organisations including those that are not operating within the UN. These agencies are designated by the Inter-Agency Standing Committee (IASC) and represent the main directions of humanitarian aid, i.e. water and food supply, logistics, and health care (Stumpenhorst, Stumpenhorst, & Razum, 2011).

Cluster Lead Agencies are focal points of all clusters, no matter whether they act at the international or national level. Major Cluster Leads are meant to enhance the readiness of the entire system. They also maintain their technical capacity, which is required to react to emergency cases in different regions. Local Cluster Leads are needed to ensure the implementation of the common policy and to contact the government in case of necessity (Stumpenhorst, Stumpenhorst, & Razum, 2011).

The number and the range of clusters for each country, as well as the organization that must control them, are identified following the particular needs of the region and the population (Hicks & Pappas, 2006). The division of labour should be clear-cut as all the sectors must know what exactly they are responsible for. This partially accounts for the success of the Cluster Approach (Stumpenhorst, Stumpenhorst, & Razum, 2011).

The effectiveness of clusters was proved for the first time after the earthquake in Pakistan in 2005. Following the disaster, nine clusters were created in a very short while, which provided the government with a clear picture of the events and the required actions. These clusters also maintained interaction and information sharing. Since then, the system has made progress and is now successfully implemented in thirty countries. However, according to regular evaluations, it still has a long way to go. The major recommendations include the necessity to establish long-lasting coordination systems and to pay more attention to the collaborative result (Hicks & Pappas, 2006).

Conclusion

Despite being criticized for its policy and leadership problems (mainly because of the high turnover rates of coordinators of agencies and the absence of the proper preparation), the UNOCHA continues proving its efficiency all over the world. Its main achievements are:

• strengthened partnerships that ensure a quick and effective response to emergencies;
• accountability of humanitarian aid;
• coordination of efforts among responders which helps find the best ways of working in a team;
• operational relevance for each separate region;
• successful alleviation of people’s sufferings.

To my mind, all the results obtained prove that the UNOCHA now meets the requirements of the global humanitarian agency with good prospects for further development.

References

Central Intelligence Agency. (2009). The CIA World Factbook 2010. Skyhorse Publishing Inc.

De Mul, E. (2002). Coordination of humanitarian aid—a UN perspective. The Lancet, 360(9329), 335-336.

Dorn, A. W. (2009). Intelligence-led peacekeeping: the United Nations stabilization mission in Haiti (MINUSTAH), 2006–07. Intelligence and National Security, 24(6), 805-835.

Hicks, E. K., & Pappas, G. (2006). Coordinating disaster relief after the South Asia earthquake. Society, 43(5), 42-50.

Morris, T. (2006). UNHCR, IDPs and clusters. Forced Migration Review, 25, 54-55.

OCHA. (2016). Global 2016 Humanitarian Overview.

OCHA. (2016). Who We Are.

Stumpenhorst, M., Stumpenhorst, R., & Razum, O. (2011). The UN OCHA cluster approach: gaps between theory and practice. J Public Health, 19(6), 587-592.

WHO. (2016). Complex Emergencies.

WHS. (2016). World Humanitarian Summit Participation.

Introduction

The post-colonial Africa faces massive challenges including desertification, extreme poverty, epidemics, and never-ending regional conflicts, which affect the continent’s economic development.

The UN, as the world’s premiere institution that promotes international collaboration, coordinates all manner of assistance to help African countries overcome these problems.

Its operations extend from arbitrating in regional conflict to achieving peace, promoting democratic governance, promotion, and protection of human rights, and supporting social and economic development in the African continent.

The UN was set up in 1945 following the Second World War with the aim of bringing to halt regional conflicts through peaceful resolution and mediation. It entails several auxiliary bodies to put through its undertakings.

There are presently 192 affiliate nations, with each being autonomous state in the world other than the Vatican City (United Nations Cyberschoolbus Country at a Glance).

From its administrative centers around the world, the UN and its specific outfits settle on essential and organizational matters in normal conventions held right through the year. The body has six major organs with the UN Security Council being the organ charged with the responsibility of promoting peace in the world.

After independence, several African nations plunged into civil unrest and the UN has been the international body mostly involved in exercises to ensure warring factions reach peaceful agreements.

In this regard, the UN serves as an important institution for promoting peace and protects human rights in conflict zones by working closely with Africa’s regional cooperation mechanisms.

Presently, there are six UN peacekeeping missions in various African countries including the Democratic Republic of Congo, Liberia, Sudan, and Mozambique. United Nations peace exercises have been positive and gainful alternatives for dealing with some conflicts and humanitarian predicaments (Anyidoho, 13). T

he greater part of the 35 mediation exercises carried out by the UN over the past five decades have been of great significance in ending regional conflicts, enhancing social equality, and protecting human rights.

United Nations Operations in Congo, UNUC

To carry out their mission effectively, peacekeepers in conflict torn areas must rely on intelligence information about the security situation of area prior to their mission, as was the case with the United Nations Operations in Congo dubbed UNUC.

This was a UN international relations military unit in Congo that was instituted following the United Nations Security Council Resolution 143 of July 14, 1963. From this period, the name was changed to Opération des Nations Unies au Congo (Washington CRS Report for Congress 12).

Within the UNUC, a Military Information Branch (MIB) was established with the responsibility of protecting the UN personnel, running specific security operations, and monitoring the security of the region.

Until 1960, Congo was a Belgian colony but in 1960, Belgian proclaimed that it was handing Congo her independence within a period of five months. However, Congo was unprepared for independence within the stipulated five months.

Nevertheless, Congo declared its independence on 30 June 1960 with Patrice Lumumba as the president and Joseph Kasavubu as the vice president. The Belgian commander-in-chief declined to Africanize the administrators’ units of the armed forces.

As a result, the army staged a mutiny against the Belgian officers who led the Congolese army and attacked the Europeans in general. The mutiny affected the new government’s authority resulting to a crisis.

In response to the crisis, the Belgian government deployed its army on July 10, 1960 to offer protection to Belgians, majority of who lived in the mineral rich Katanga province. However, this was an illegal act since Congo was an independent country and the new government had not allowed them into the country.

The Belgian administration was for the idea that Katanga Province, one of the most productive in the country, be independent. Two days later after the deployment, Congo’s President and the Prime Minister requested for aid of the UN in resolving the matter (Anon).

The UN Secretary-General asked the concerned organ, the UN Security Council, to act on the issue as a matter of urgency in a meeting held on July 13, 1960.

Consequently, the Security Council created an army unit, the UNUC, consisting of about 10,000 troops, to restore peace in Congo between 1960 and 1964.

The military unit’s responsibilities in Congo were fourfold viz. to restore law and order in the country and maintain peace, restore political stability, help in rebuilding the economy and prevent external interference into the crisis.

The force was not allowed to use force unless in self-defense and were to remain neutral in the crisis involving the government in Leopoldville and the self-proclaimed independent government in Katanga led by Tshombe (Washington CRS Report for Congress 10).

However, Lumumba wanted the UN to use force to repress the attempted secession of Katanga province to which the UN declined. He then accused the UN of siding with the Tshombe’s government in Katanga because of the regions rich mineral deposits and instead sought the help of USSR to invade Katanga.

By 1961, various breakaway factions controlled different parts of the Congo with Lumumba’s government getting armaments from Russia. All this time, the UN forces could do nothing as they were required to remain neutral in the crisis and could only use force in self-defense.

However, the eminent danger of a civil war forced the Security Council to allow the use of force to prevent a civil war occurring. The United Nations agreed to provide military support for the attack to reclaim Katanga province (Washington CRS Report for Congress 13).

Following this attack, Tshombe agreed to negotiate with the government over the status of the province. However, the talks achieved little progress forcing the UNUC in 1962 to attack Katanga again, which led to Tshombe fleeing Congo. Consequently, in 1963, Katanga became part of Congo again and in 1964, the UNUC withdrew from Congo.

The UN’s involvement in this crisis was a success with respect to the four objectives set out before the mission began. The Congo crisis did not degenerate into a civil war and by the end of 1963; Congo was politically stable.

In addition, Congo was kept intact with Katanga’s reunion with the rest of Congo and humanitarian crisis was avoided through the UN sponsored medical and food programs.

United Nations Operations in Mozambique

Following the devastation arising from a 14-year civil war, the president of the republic of Mozambique, Mr. Joaquim Chissano and leader of the opposition faction (RENAMO), Mr. Alfonso Dhlakama, signed a General Peace Agreement in October 1992.

The nation’s post-independence civil strife took place from 1976 to 1992 and led to the death of approximately 1 million people (Handicap International). The agreement outlined the modalities for the achievement of peace in the country.

Under the agreement, the United Nations was welcomed to participate in the implementation of the peace agreement by offering technical assistance for national elections and monitor these elections.

The implementation of this agreement was to be supervised by the United Nation’s Supervisory and Monitoring Commission.

On October 9 1992, the UN Security Council approved an interim Special Representative, Mr. Aldo Ajello, to monitor the UN’s activities in the country.

Meanwhile, both of the warring parties undertook specific actions to promote joint mechanism that would monitor the implementation of this agreement (United Nations Department of Humanitarian Affairs).

However, major violations of the agreement forced the Representative to recommend a detailed plan dubbed the United Nations Operation in Mozambique (ONUMOZ) in which Aldo outlined the obstacles in restraining the achievement of the General Peace Agreement.

By December 1992, ONUMOZ, composed of about 8000 military personnel, was instituted to help in the enactment of the harmony accord involving the administration of Mozambique and the opposition faction RENAMO.

The mandate of ONUMOZ was to offer support with regard to military, electoral, political, and humanitarian aspects of the Agreement.

To offer military support, ONUMOZ carried out extensive operations throughout the country to prevent violations of the cease-fire. The ONUMOZ’s military unit that was deployed on November 1993 offered medical assistance and helped in the various engineering projects in the country.

Through ONUMOZ’s assistance, Mozambican Defense Force training centers were established to help in the formation of a new unified army (United Nations Department of Humanitarian Affairs). Another mandate of the ONUMOZ was to promote the electoral process.

Following the lack of agreement on how the elections should be conducted, the Special Representative mediated the consultations between president Chissano and Mr. Dhlakama, which culminated in the establishment of the National Elections Commission on January1994.

With regard to the humanitarian program, UNOMOZ’s humanitarian assistance targeted the post-civil war Mozambican refugees resettling in their original lands (United Nations Department of Humanitarian Affairs).

It was estimated that about 6 million refugees and internally displaced persons resettled during the two years following the implementation of the Agreement. Following ONUMOZ assistance, successful parliamentary and national elections were held on 29 October 1994 and were Chissano inaugurated as the president.

United Nations Peace-building Support Office in Liberia

The United Nations Peace-building Support Office in Liberia abbreviated UNOL was instituted in November 1997 after the conclusion of UNOMIL’s command at the end of September of the same year. UNOMIL was the United Nations Observer Mission in Liberia that had been running since 1993.

UNOL was led by an envoy of the Secretary General and was basically the first UN post-war maintenance organization (UNOMIL). Since its inception, the UNOL focuses on supporting the government of Liberia to promote peace, democratic development and promote national reconciliation following the civil war.

The UNOL also facilitates post-conflict peace-building initiatives and coordinates international assistance for re-building of Liberia following the prolonged civil war.

Civil conflict in Liberia took away more than 250,000 lives and resulted in a full collapse of law and order (The United Nations Statistics Division). Many civilians were displaced, both inland and beyond the nation’s borders. There were about 850,000 expatriates in the next-door nations (Human Rights Watch Africa).

Warfare commenced towards the end of 1989, and by the beginning of 1990, quite a lot of hundred deaths had taken place in conflicts involving government troops and opposition rebels of the National Patriotic Front of Liberia, NPFL. A previous government officer, Mr. Charles Taylor, led NPFL.

As of the beginning of the war, a sub regional association, the Economic Community of West African States, embarked on a number of ideas directed at a diplomatic agreement. The UN shored up ECOWAS in its labors.

Some of the help that UN offered was instituting of an ECOWAS observer unit, enforcing an arms restriction on Liberia and providing a Special Envoy to help in negotiations involving ECOWAS and the groups in conflict (UNOML).

Following ECOWAS’s negotiation of a peace accord in Benin in 1993, the UN Security Council instituted UNOMIL. All parties tasked UNOMIL with shoring up the enactment of the Benin peace accord, particularly falling in line with and unbiased enactment of the accord.

UNOMIL became the initial UN international relations exercise carried out in collaboration with a peacekeeping exercise previously instituted by another association.

Holdups in the enactment of the tranquility accord and restarted warfare among Liberian splinter groups made it unworkable to conduct polls in early 1994, as pre-arranged.

In the upcoming months, some complimentary tranquility accords, adjusting and shedding light on the Benin accord was bargained (Johnson). With the truce in effect, the UN effectively monitored the July 1997 polls.

Mr. Charles Taylor emerged as the winner. He was sworn in, instituted as a new administration, and declared a course of action of ceasefire and national harmony.

In this respect, UNOMIL’s main aim was attained. UNOL came in after UNOMIL and by way of complete back up by the Security Council, it made possible the endorsement of national ceasefire and first-rate administration and assisted in drumming up global back up for the enactment of restoration and growth agendas.

The UNOL instituted an integration and rehabilitation program for the combatants deserting the rebel groups. The integration programs consist of vocational training, agricultural sector training, and formal education where the demobilized fighters would be rehabilitated.

The integration and rehabilitation programs are funded by the UNDP in partnership with the African Development Agency.

Conclusion

The United Nations, through its various programs, promotes peace in conflict areas and plays a crucial role in facilitating international assistance to countries experiencing conflicts.

In Africa, apart from promoting peace, the UN supports economic and social development and protects human rights through various humanitarian initiatives.

From the involvement of the UN in the ensuring regional stability in many African countries and the promotion of post-war reconciliation like in Liberia, it is evident that the UN is a crucial body that can help the post-colonial Africa overcome its challenges.

Works Cited

Anon. “Can Africans keep their own peace?” Web.

Anyidoho. “Political Control and Guidance of Peace Support Operations in Africa: A UN Commander’s View” Ghana Armed Forces.

Grey-Johnson. “Beyond Peacekeeping; The Challenge of Post-Conflict Reconstruction and Peace building in Africa” (2006) (1) UN Chronicle Online Edition. Web

Handicap International. 2010. Web.

Human Rights Watch Africa. Web.

The United Nations Statistics Division. “World Statistics Pocketbook and Statistical Yearbook, 2008.” Web.

United Nations Department of Humanitarian Affairs, Landmine Clearance Unit Report on Mozambique. Web.

United Nations Cyberschoolbus Country at a Glance. Web.

United Nations United Nations Observer Mission in Liberia UNOMIL (September 1993 To September 1997). Web.

Washington CRS Report for Congress. “Copson RW Democratic Republic of the Congo: Peace Process and Background”.

The Industry

The major objective of the law is to find consensus in society. Humanity has experienced a lot of challenges and changes during the last centuries. Before the First World War, the countries were separated from each other; and changes in one country affected other nationalities and countries less (Shaw, 2014). However, after the Second World War, the situation changed significantly. The technological progress, political systems, and every industry started to develop rapidly. Nowadays, the world faces an intense influence from society (Buergenthal, 2009). If a lawyer tries to find consensus in one country, it will be not very effective. The lawyers should unite in one international system. To prove it, I would like to draw attention to the creation of the Geneva Convention, the United Nations Charter, and other significant documents that regulate vital sides of human life and activity.

In the globalized world, the development of the countries and, humanity in general, depends on people who will not only protect and secure the laws that are represented in constitutions, international charters, and court practices but also create new rules and systems that will satisfy the needs of the modern and globalized society. From the above stated, realizing the significance of working in the sphere of international law not only for my country but for society in general, I would like to point out that my only desire is to work in this area. The fundamental contribution that the industry of international law makes to society is that it helps to solve the issues peacefully.

According to the definition given by the United Nations, international law reflects the “legal responsibilities that states have one to another” (Grenfell, 2013). It is worth highlighting that international law also covers the issues regarding migration and global conflicts. However, it should be stressed that international law does not aim to provide profits for a single country. That is, sometimes national law and international practice may conflict. The difference between domestic and international law is evident as domestic is centered on the regulation of the actions and behavior of citizens within the county. International law aims to create the general picture of the world, and the more states integrate into the area of international law, the easier it gets to cooperate with other countries.

Every person is a member of in international law industry and is protected by it. The main goal of international lawyers is to create documents that will be ratified by the vast majority of states. For example, the Declaration of Human Rights as every person in the world is protected by this declaration. The industry of international law requires certain professionals, namely academics, lawyers, legal assistants, and project officers (Smit & Waters, 2009). The area of international law has developed and improved significantly. The society has more problems, and there should be something that will regulate all the processes.

International law is represented by members of international organizations, International Law Associations, the United Nations, and the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (Burr & Bromberg, 2014). The broader public usually does not recognize the significance of the work of international lawyers; however, peace in the world is the primary contribution of international law provides.

Professional Skills

I would like to work as an international lawyer. To become an international lawyer, it is essential to graduate from Law School. To be able to work successfully in the sphere of international law, one should be competent in domestic law (Finch & Fafinski, 2014). Moreover, it is vital to understand the work of the law in other systems and countries, be able to compare and contrast these systems and improve the systems that are used nowadays (Slorach, Embley, Goodchild, & Shephard, 2015). Also, it is important to find those aspects that contradict or conflict the each other and do not allow finding the consensus. Due to personal knowledge and experience, the international lawyer should be able to search for the solution. It is worth highlighting that humaneness is an essential trait of the international lawyer as he should understand the significance of human life and that every action can have severe consequences for the peace of the world.

Personal Skills

The international lawyer should be flexible and tolerant. Moreover, it is significant to have well-developed analytical and attention skills, logical reasoning, and critical thinking (Hanson, 2015). I suppose that I have already developed the stated above skills to a certain level; however, they still should be improved. I find it important to note that everything that I have done in life was determined by my biggest desire to become an international lawyer. I have participated in the debate club to improve critical thinking, logical reasoning, and analytic skills. Flexibility and tolerance are my strongest traits as I communicate with people from different countries and try to expand my outlook. Knowing more about the peculiarities of people from different countries will beneficially affect my working experience. I strive for self-development as it is essential for international lawyers.

References

Buergenthal, T. (2009). The contemporary significance of international human rights law. Leiden Journal of International Law, 22(02), 217-223.

Burr, A., & Bromberg, H. (2014). U.S. legal practice skills for international law students. Durham, NC: Carolina Academic Press.

Finch, E., & Fafinski, S. (2014). Employability skills for law students. Oxford, UK: Oxford University Press.

Grenfell, K. (2013). Perspective on the applicability and application of international humanitarian law: The UN context. Red Cross International Review of the Red Cross, 95(891), 645-652.

Hanson, S. (2015). Learning legal skills and reasoning. New York, NY: Routledge.

Shaw, M. (2014). International law. Cambridge, UK: Cambridge University Press.

Slorach, J., Embley, J., Goodchild, P., & Shephard, C. (2015). Legal systems & skills (2nd ed.). Oxford, UK: Oxford University Press.

Smit, A., & Waters, C. (2009). A guide to international law careers. London, UK: British Institute of International and Comparative Law.

Introduction

The UN is variably rated as the world’s most powerful and prominent organization that has continued to play a significant role in shaping the world’s events. The United Nations is an international organization that traces its origins from the Second World War. The name United Nations was first used by the US President Franklin Roosevelt during the whole period of the Second World War to refer to their wartime alliances. The UN as an international organization emerged from the declarations that were signed at the war time alliance conference in Moscow and Tehran in 1943.

In 1944, representatives from China, France, UK, USSR and the US met for a conference in Washington, and the conference was directed for proposing the purpose of the organization, its membership, the organs and the plans for the organization to promote international peace, security as well as the international economic and social cooperation. The proposals gave the name of the new international body as the UN and stated that its purpose would be to maintain international peace and security. The organization was also to develop friendly relations amongst the nations and solve the economic, social and humanitarian problems. The UN was also to act as a centralized body where all the nations would direct their actions for the benefit of the whole world (Murphy, 2006).

Main body

The UN has various administrative bodies, including the General Assembly, the Security Council, the Economic and Social council, the Secretariat and the International Court of Justice. The UN has its basis on the General Assembly, which is its main deliberative body. The General Assembly is where representatives of all states sit together and address various pertinent issues affecting and shaping world events and pass resolutions. It holds several meetings annually under a leader, who is selected from all the member states. All the member states have the opportunity to address meetings during the first two weeks of the conference after the Secretary-General makes the first statement. Important issues, such as issues related to peace and security, admission/suspension/expulsion of members or budgetary matters, are discussed and voted. Votes require two-thirds majority for the election to the Security Council. The main role of the General Assembly is to coordinate a variety of developmental programs by other autonomous agencies (Goldstein & Pevehouse, 2008).

The UN Security Council is the body that is responsible for the maintenance of peace and security among states. It holds the absolute authority and has the power of making firm decisions that the member governments have agreed to perform under the UN Charter, Article 25. Its decisions are known as the United Nations Security Council resolutions (Thakur, 2006). There are five permanent members of the Council, the US, UK, France, Russia and China, and ten nonpermanent members that rotate every two years. Substantive Security Council resolutions require nine votes from the 15 member states. But a “no” vote by any permanent member defeats the resolution, and it is called “Veto” power (Goldstein & Pevehouse, 2008). In general, the most important role of the Security Council is to keep international peace and security and restore peace where there is none.

The secretariat organ of the UN is charged with the duty of providing the UN body with information, studies and the facilities that may be required to conduct meetings. It also carries out any tasks that may be directed by the UN Security Council, the UN General Assembly, the UN Economic and Social Council or other UN bodies. The Secretariat is headed by the Secretary General, who can be described as the “president of the world” (Goldstein & Pevehouse, 2008). The Secretary General helps to resolve international disputes, promote peacekeeping operations, organize international conferences, acquire information on implementations of the Security Council decisions, and consult the member governments on various other issues. The position of the Secretary General has always been viewed as one lacking traditional forms of power yet he has been called to provide the moral voice on the international matters. The moral authority of the office requires that the officials therein should hold the moral and religious value necessary to address issues and responsibilities that may come up with the position (Thakur, 2006).

Other than the General Assembly, the Security Council and the Secretariat, the Economic and Social Council (ECOSOC) also helps in promoting international economic and social cooperation and development. It has a total of 54 members that are elected by the General Assembly. It gathers information on the economic sectors and offers advice for the member states in addition to offering recommendations on related issues. On the other hand, the International Court of Justice is the primary judicial organ of the UN and came into being in 1945 through the UN Charter and commenced its functions in 1946. It is charged with the sole duties of sentencing those who have committed criminal offenses under the international law, including war crimes and genocide (Murphy, 2006). All these administrative bodies, the General Assembly, the Security Council, the Secretariat, the Economic and Social Council and the International Court of Justice, enhance the UN system by providing it with appropriate services for its effectiveness in worldly affairs.

One of the most important functions of the UN is to maintain peace and security. In cases where there is war, the UN sends its peacekeeping troops after the Security Council’s approval. The peacekeepers are expected to enforce peacekeeping agreements and evacuate civilians who would happen to be in danger. The UN’s major goal of helping nations solve conflicts was proved very difficult during the Cold War in 1947-1991, when the world was on the verge of a 3^rd World War (Thakur, 2006). At the end of the Cold War, the UN became the organization with the mandate to calm conflicts and strives for the world’s peace and cooperation. The peacekeeping forces are generally known as the “blue helmets,” and they received the Nobel Peace prize in 1988 for their dedicated missions in maintaining world peace (Murphy, 2006).

Although the theory suggests that the UN peacekeeping is recognized for its great importance and success, the UN, in fact, has received some criticisms in its role of maintaining peace, which has been referred as a failed agenda. This is because it is perceived to have failed in various instances that include; failed to prevent the Rwandan Genocide in 1994, failed to calm the Second Congo War and provide humanitarian aid, failed to stop the 1995 Srebrenica Massacre and also failed to deliver food to the starving people in Somalia.

In practice, the UN has been involved actively in supporting the World Security Forum that took place in the United Arab Emirates, a major international conference on the effects of the global catastrophes and disasters. The UN is also involved in the disarmament, which refers to the regulation of weapons that are held by nations, and it is also included in the UN charter of 1945. It is focused in reducing the use of human and economic resources in the creation of armaments. Discussions on the issue of armaments have been directed towards the banning on the testing of the nuclear weapons, outer space arms control, banning of chemical weapons, reduction of military budgets and the enactment of measures that would strengthen the international security (Jasper, 2001). In general, the UN’s role in providing security is faced with a lot of challenges, even though it is dedicated to meaningful missions and effective services.

The UN performs another important role of promoting the respect for all human rights. It has a legal framework that acts on the complaints of human rights violation. In this regard, it is actively involved in technical assistance as a measure to free and fair elections, improve the judicial structures, draft constitutions, train human rights officials and transform armed movements into political parties. It has offered tremendous support in elections in the countries with little democracy, such as Afghanistan and East Timor. It also supports the women’s rights in participating in political, economic and social life within their countries. In 2007, the General Assembly made a declaration of the protection of the rights of indigenous people around the world. This declaration indicates that the rights of the indigenous individuals, including the rights for culture, language, education, identity, employment and health, should be fully respected. The declaration also encourages the growth of the indigenous institutions, cultures and traditions. Moreover, it prohibits the discrimination of indigenous people and promotes their active participation in issues that are related to their past, present and future. The UN also provides humanitarian services to people whom may suffer during the periods of famine and war and in cases of natural disaster. The humanitarian activities include providing food, water and shelter (Seitz, 2000). These services and activities all help in promoting the respect for human rights in the whole world.

The UN also performs the role of providing support for social and economic development. For example, the UN formulated the eight conditions, called the Millennium Development Goals, which all the 192 member states have agreed and committed to strive to achieve by the year 2015. It promotes the development of developing nations through various agencies, such as the World Bank and the International Monetary Fund, which are autonomous agencies within the UN framework.

Despite the UN’s thorough and specialized policies and procedures, it has experienced a difference in the theory and practice. Several challenges have always hampered the achievement of the MDGs. This is studied by looking at the different organizations that are within the UN umbrella and how they perform their duties. One of the greatest challenges the body is facing is the lack of enough resources thus leading to a constricted budget (Seitz, 2001). The General Assembly is forced to reduce the costs on the overall resources and on the administrative and management tasks. The limited resources have led to a lack of proper execution of its duties in peacekeeping, human rights and development. The limited resources are therefore only used for the most urgent needs. Development, being one of the pillars of the UN, has recently not been well-reflected within the budget since the organization has to attend to more pressing issues other than improving on areas that need to be developed. This has called for the strengthening the UN with incorporation of comprehensive reforms and stronger development machinery (Jasper, 2001). Lack of development within the budget also affects the role of solving conflicts and providing security in international laid agendas. This is because the most appropriate way for the UN to address such conflicts is to pay attention to the rates of poverty and underdevelopment in most states that experience the conflicts. In reality, without adequate resources, the UN cannot be able to address the development-related program.

Meanwhile, the UN also has experienced other non-monetary challenges that leave large gaps between its theoretical policies and the actual execution of duties. Its policies are often politically influenced especially by developed nations that are not only the major fund donors but also the major role players. The countries, where the UN may direct its objectives, may also be politically challenged by the leaders of individual states. For example, the responsibilities of the UN in providing humanitarian services for poor countries have always remained politically challenged. Willingness to provide humanitarian interventions largely lies with the individual states, and if they are not willing to cooperate with the international body, it becomes a major challenge (Seitz, 2001).

In theory, repercussions of cases, such as humanitarian displacements are addressed by some UN agencies, such as the United Nations High Commissioners of Refugees, that take the responsibility of addressing the root courses of conflicts in various states. The UNHCR points out that there are various protection gaps that are within the framework of providing humanitarian services in international community. Conflicts within the nations do occur because of various factors, such as issues that are related to poverty and gaps between the rich and the poor nations, and some of the factors are largely state-controlled. The UN may face challenges in performing its duties since some countries are reluctant to have their indigenous problems exposed to the international community, and this makes it very difficult for the UN to make recommendations or suggestions on various solutions for those states (Jasper, 2001).

Another example of challenges faced by the UN can be found through its peacekeeping efforts. Peacekeeping in Somalia largely depended on the decisions of the government as directed by the former UN Secretary-General Koffi Annan. The UN representatives in Somalia addressed the needs of the finances that were required to expand the peace-building missions. It also offered the humanitarian services to the Somali community and appealed to the international community to offer more support and resources required for the peacekeeping mission in the lawless country (Thakur, 2006). The UN also assessed the bombing damages that occurred in Somalia and urged the state leaders to unite and bring stability in the country. Most of these appeals go unheeded especially after the US failed to bring stability in this war torn country.

The UN is greatly involved in the peacekeeping roles and tries to challenge the nations that do not adhere to the promotion and maintenance of peace. For example, the UN challenged Russia on its credibility as a peacemaker in Georgia’s territorial disputes. This resulted from the bombing of the Georgian reconnaissance aircraft that was destroyed by an air-to-air missile fired from a Russian fighter jet. After investigations, the UN blamed Russia for the mishap, but the Russian government denied it. However, they did not give enough evidence to disapprove the report, and Georgia said that Russia was neutral and that the findings were only a way of removing the Russian troops from the peacekeeping mission in Georgia (Seitz, 2001). Thus it is evident that the UN peacekeeping motives and initiatives are highly challenged by respective governments in the affected states, thereby hampering its efforts.

On the other hand, the US has had a lot of influences on the reforms of the UN. In 1992 for example, Former US President Bill Clinton on his election withheld the US dues to the UN. The UN was constantly involved in the US interventions of peacekeeping operations in areas like Rwanda, Somalia, Haiti and Bosnia. The US and its allies declined to offer any financial and military support besides other strategic backing that was required for the success of the mandates. When the mission failed, the UN, rather than the superpowers like the US, was blamed. After the peacekeeping disasters that followed by the killing of the 18 US rangers, the White House dropped their support for the UN (Jasper, 2001). The focus of the UN shifted from practicing foreign policies to justifying failed US policies. Clinton reacted by saying that the UN had to learn to say “no” to the peacekeeping operations. Clinton then became devoted to block the re-election of the Secretary General at that time, Boutros Boutros-Ghali, by withholding all its dues, leading to arrears amounting to over $1.6 billion. On the other hand, Senator Jesse Helms, who was in control of the foreign relations, gave new attacks on the UN and called for unilateralism. At the end of that decade, there were crises in Kosovo, and the US bypassed the UN and appointed the NATO as the simultaneous legitimator and implementer of the war against Yugoslavia. The act of appointing the NATO and paying no attention to the UN Security Council was a big blow to the credibility of the UN. This whole situation led the UN to being distanced from the strategic activities of the superpower (Murphy, 2006).

The influence of the US on the UN remained tremendous, but it was difficult to force them to honor their dues which caused failure of the world body to carry out its responsibilities efficiently. Clinton stated that unless the UN decided to reform, the US would not pay the dues, which also dented the US body from the global perspective and portrayed its approach as having hostile interests towards reformations within the UN. The position of the US on the objection side of the re-election of Boutros-Ghali only made his supporters firm and made it more difficult to find an appropriate candidate for the position. The influence of the US on the General Assembly and the Security Council greatly undermined the efforts of the peacekeeping roles of the body. Some people believed that the US approach denied the UN its democratic rights and demonstrated unfair global power relationships (Elman, 1999).

At the time when the US and the UN were experiencing these difficulties in achieving beneficial relationship, Ted Turner’s United Nations Foundations emerged to help out not only the UN and the US, but also the relationship per se between the two. Initially, Turner’s UNF, a close associate of Bill Clinton, was seen as the act of using the UN as a pawn for tax-exemption. Turner’s announcement that he would give the UN a gift of $1 billion raised a lot of questions about the nature and the influence of the gift. In practice, the UN itself within its framework of policies is not allowed to receive any funding from any other source apart from its member states. Turner’s money was donated to the UN through a private foundation and nonprofit organization.

The close relationship of Turner and the Clinton administration raised legislative and constitutional concerns. It was portrayed as an extension of the interests of certain State Department officials (Jasper, 2001). It raised questions whether the foundation was due to help federal bureaucratic funding roadblocks erected by the congress. The other concern was of political nature and Turner’s funding was questioned to raise threats of undue influence over the policies of the UN and also international relations. From experience the activities that were funded by Turner Foundation were controversial and raised serious concerns on human rights. They were also known of ignoring the US official policies in order to achieve their own political agendas for the foundation. Turner’s gift in this case was to be in the form of Time-Warner stock in ten annual installments. The cost to turner was less than $1 billion since he was to take advantage of the tax write-offs, tax deductions and also avoid estate tax. This meant that he would end up $100 million richer just because of giving out one billion. The fund itself was not going to the UN directly but to the Turner’s private foundation and this was tax exemption under the US law and furthermore had no legal attachment to the UN (Murphy, 2006)

The United Nations foundation is one of the UN advocacy groups and the United Nation cannot be able to pursue all the global issues and challenges across the border on its own. Today the world is much interconnected which calls for the unity among the public and private sectors such as the non-governmental organizations, corporations and various other foundations. The United Nations foundation helps the UN to connect people, ideas and also resources that make it easier to solve the global challenges of the 21^st century. It provides fiscal services for the UN agencies and programs. Through its various funding program the UNF has proved to be a major pillar for advocating the extensive UN projects (Murphy, 2006).

The UNF has three major priorities for working with the UN; the first priority involves advocating for US funding for the UN. UNF has a leading strong voice in promoting a fully funded UN, which it does by requesting the US and other contributing governments that support the UN financially to pay their dues fully in time and without conditions. It works with various individuals in the US and also globally in ensuring that the UN has enough funds to face its challenges.

The UNF’s second priority is creating the public support for the UN and is actively involved in mobilizing the community in believing in the UN as a vital organ for solving Global issues. They look for support from all over the countries. They have successfully gained the support of the community for the UN through their online campaigns. The third priority of the UN is supporting the UN communications. This is a priority that involves the effective communication of the UN and other governments. Such communication educates the governments on the role of the UN and the value of its work in the world (Seitz, 2001). They also actively communicate the challenges of the UN to the world governments. They have worked to improve the communications through the creating of websites, creating the UN Radio service, engaging online media outlets and sharing the UN ideas through their multiple blogs. The UNF also holds campaigns to highlight the roles of the UN in peacekeeping, UN reform, climate change, HIV/AIDS and also women empowerment. Through these priorities, the UNF has supported the UN in solving its global challenges and also raising the standards of the UN public image (Childers, 1994).

UNF is involved in solving various global issues which include the attention to climate and energy. The organization recognizes the importance of climate and energy as an important element in human life. In the approach to energy the UNF brings out the cost of relying on the fossil fuels. It therefore works closely with the UN to ensure that the world gets a transition towards a friendlier us of energy for a better and safer climate. In advocating for the transition in climate and energy, the UNF has set the priorities of this agenda which include; securing a global climate agreement, improving energy efficiency and deploying clean energy technologies.

The UNF also deals with global issues that are related to children which are mainly focused on their health. Through the international health programs, UNF has mobilized a multitude of people in strengthening the UN health agencies towards savings children’s lives in many parts of the world (Seitz, 2001). The children health priorities include eradicating polio, reducing the number of deaths resulting from measles and also preventing the deaths that result from malaria.

The UNF is dedicated to promoting sustainable development, which refers to the ability of the individuals to meet their daily needs without compromising the ability of the future generations to meet the same needs. The sustainable development priorities of UNF include promoting tourism, promotion of the community based enterprises and also promoting the ability to access the markets. Sustainable development has also led the UNF promote technology as another global issue. Sustainable development cannot be easily achieved without the need to improve on technology, which comes as a big solution in solving major global issues. Technology priorities within the UN include the disaster relief communications, mobile health for development and the thought leadership and innovation program. (Thakur, 2006).

The UNF also advocates for the empowerment of women and girls in the international view point in bid to reduce the rate of poverty and improve the achievement of social justice. The empowerment of women and girls promotes the gender equality with particular focus on women rights and also the reproductive and sexual health of women. UNF priorities in this case include promoting reproductive health, investing in adolescent girls and strengthening the UN capacity in handling women issues. UNF helps to create a very strong UN in its efforts to address these global issues that promote peace, development, human rights and an environment that is favorable (Jasper, 2001).

UNF actively participates in the global solutions. The global solutions involve the innovative health campaigns, reduction of the carbon emissions, conservation and livelihoods, mobile technology, women’s health and rights and UN advocacy. The health innovative campaigns involve creating awareness, getting resources and also the delivering of vaccines. The main goal of these innovative campaigns is to eliminate malaria deaths, reduction of the measles mortality and the eradication of polio from the world’s map.

The change of climate that leads to carbon emissions has cost the world politically and economically through global warming. These emissions have lead to sever spells of drought and increased spreading of diseases. This leads the UNF to negotiate for a global climate change agreement that would mitigate these effects. It also seeks to improve the energy efficiency since this would enable the saving of money and other resources besides reducing the greenhouse gas emissions. It also advocates for clean energy technologies that would allow for climate change. UNF works closely with UN in order to support the clean energy enterprises and also the realization of clean affordable, renewable energy sources (Seitz, 2001).

Conservation and livelihood solution of the UNF involves the preservation and protection of the world’s cultural and natural heritage. This helps to build communities that can be able to preserve the world’s heritage which can be enjoyed by future generations. To achieve this objective, it promotes the conservation of sustainable tourism, promoting the community based enterprises and also promoting the market access for local and international producers. In bid to improve the health facilities, UNF is focusing its solutions toward the mobile technology. This helps to re-unite families and also improve on the emergency response mission during major crises (Jasper, 2001). The main mobile technologies the UNF focuses on include the disaster relief communication, mobile health for development and the thought and leadership & innovation program. Other global solution that UNF tries to achieve include the solutions related to the women’s health and rights such as promoting the reproductive and maternal health, investing in adolescent girls and strengthening the UN capacity in their approach. The final UNF solution involves advocating for the UN. This deals with the US funding for the UN, building of the public support for the UN and also supporting the UN communications. Through this global solutions, UNF has brought a major impact in decreasing child mortality, renewed future energy, preserving world heritage, health data & disaster relief and also empowering women & girls (Seitz, 2001).

The UNF has various impacts in the world. In a decade it has been able to establish more than 300 programmatic partnerships, worked with more than 100 governments in the world and also over 40 UN agencies. The efforts on the health program have helped save millions of children lives through the prevention and treatment measures advocated by the UNF (Thakur, 2006). They have also helped the developing countries in erecting sustainable energy enterprises. The new energy approaches will help to transform the economic and the environmental future as well as the quality of life for the individuals, local and international community. UNF sustainable development program have facilitated for the conservation and sustain the word’s natural heritage. The technological solutions have led to the improvement on the health care facilities in the world and also improving the disaster responses during emergency. UNF therefore has had a great impact in creating a stronger ad effective UN through its various support program.

The United Nations Association (UNA) is also a strong advocacy group that supports the UN. It is a non-profit organization that is dedicated to support the UN in its ideas and also its humanitarian services to the American people. It is involved in the educational and humanitarian campaigns such as education in urban schools, clearing mine fields and also supporting children living with HIV/AIDS. It stresses the importance of the leadership of the United States within the UN (Murphy, 2006). Its main mission is educating, inspiring and mobilizing the Americans to support the principals and vital work of the United Nations, strengthening the United Nations System, promoting constructive United States leadership in that system and also the achievement of the goals of the UN charter. Its main program in supporting the UN include the Adopt-A-Minefield, Global class rooms, global policy programs UNSA-USA campaigns, UNA-USA Alliance and the Washington Liaison and Advocacy Programs. It is through these UNA-USA programs that the US supports the UN in solving the challenges that may arise (Thakur, 2006).

The UN has been challenged on its implementation of the millennium development goals. The General Assembly has not been able to co-ordinate and integrated follow-ups on the achievement of this goals. One of the main problems that faces the UN in its effort to accomplishment, is the lack of commitment by the member states to honor their dues and also political influences on its funding by the super powers (Childers, 1994). It is quite realistic that most African countries cannot be able to achieve these goals due to lack of enough funds. It is tricky for the UN on the other hand to the influence of the major donors on its funding. The achievement of millennium development cannot be realized by most nations without the funds required for development

Conclusion

United Nations has all along had a very unstable relationship with the US due to the political pressure of conforming to their reforms within the UN. This has destroyed the foreign relations that should have been changed in order to enable the UN tackle its problems more significantly. However, with the election of Senator Barrack Obama it is expected that the existing foreign relations will improve and the US will be more supportive of the UN without any strings attached. The expected change within the foreign policies in the US might improve the relationship between UN and US

Works cited

1. Craig Murphy. History of the United Nations Development Program me. Cambridge university press, 2006
2. Erskine Childers. Challenges to the United Nations. China, Library of Congress, 1994
3. Jim Elman. The United States and the United Nations. United States department of State, Bureau of Public Affairs, 1999
4. John L Seitz. Global Issues: an introduction. Wiley Blackwell, 2001
5. Ramesh Thakur. The United Nations, peace and security: collective security to the responsibility to protect. Cambridge: University press, 2006
6. William F. Jasper. The United Nations Exposed. John Birch Society, 2001

After World War I, the League of Nations divided most of the Ottoman Empire into Mandated territories. The British were given provisional Mandate over Palestine under which one of the conditions was to help the Jews establish a national home. This was opposed by the Palestinian Arabs. The Jews on their part were also unhappy with the British for drastically limiting Jewish immigration and land purchases by them. During World War II the Palestinian Arabs and Jews ceased their resistance to British rule. Many of them joined the Allied forces. After the War the United Nations Special Commission on Palestine recommended that Palestine be divided into an Arab state and a Jewish state, with Jerusalem being put under international control. The UN General Assembly adopted this plan officially in November 1947. The Jews accepted the UN decision but the Palestinian Arabs were against it.

The First Arab Israeli War

When Israel declared independence on 14 May 1948, it sparked off the First Arab-Israeli War on 15 May 1948. The conflict heralded the end of the British mandate of Palestine. It resulted in the deaths of 6,373 Israelis and between 10,000 to 15,000 Arabs. The end of the war that took place on 20 July 1949 was marked by the signing of the last armistice agreement between the new State of Israel and Syria. The end of the war was also marked by the creation of a massive number of refugees – 10,000 of them Jewish and 711,000 of them Palestinian (Mahalo.com).

History & Establishment of UNRWA

As the First Arab-Israeli War was nearing its end, international organizations like the International Committee of the Red Cross , League of Red Cross Societies and the American Friends Service Committee began providing emergency aid to Palestinian refugees. In November 1948, the United Nations set up the United Nations Relief for Palestine Refugees . It had 2 objectives. The first was to provide assistance and relief to Palestinian refugees. The second was to organize and direct the aid and relief works of Non-Government Organizations as well as other UN agencies like the United Nations International Children’s Emergency Fund , World Health Organization , Food and Agriculture Organization and the International Relief Organization . However, when the war actually ended in July 1949, the creation of a huge number of refugees forced the UN into believing that creation of a separate UN agency wholly devoted to Palestinian refugees would be more appropriate (Un.org/qa). The UN General Assembly therefore passed Resolution 302 (IV) on 8 December 1949 to create the United Nations Relief and Works Agency as a temporary subsidiary organ of the UN (Aruri, 127).

The official Mandate of UNWRA which in basically to provide assistance to Palestinian refugees to meet their basic daily needs (Aruri, 168), is three pronged. Firstly, to execute direct relief works and action plans in cooperation with local host governments. Secondly, to discuss with governments in the Near East regarding steps to be adopted in anticipation of such time that international aid would cease. Thirdly, to develop its own plans to be ready for such a time when relief would not be further required any more. The UN decided that the UNRWA Mandate would be renewed after every 3 years until a morally correct solution to the Palestinian refugee problem is arrived at. After taking over the assets of UNRPR and the refugee registration data of ICRC, UNRWA officially started its field operations on 1 May, 1950 (Un.org/qa).

UNRWA Funding

After the UN decided that since UNRWA was a temporary organization it would be better served by mostly voluntary donations, UN member nations have traditionally donated funds to it, which forms the bulk of its finance that goes towards funding its biennium budgets (Un.org/qa). Since 1950, UNRWA has received contributions amounting to $ 6.9 billion from 116 donor nations. The biggest donor has been the European Union with $ 2.96 billion, ahead of the U.S with $ 2.45 billion, the Gulf Cooperation Council countries with $ 0.26 billion and Israel with $ 15 million (Badil.org) followed by the Scandinavian countries, Canada and Japan. A small part of UNRWA donor funds comes from NGOs and philanthropic individuals (Un.org/qa). In terms of single nation contributions, it is the U.S which has been the biggest donor to UNRWA, contributing around $ 100 million per year (Pilon).

The remaining part of UNRWA funds comes from the UN itself. The UN Secretariat provides funds for payment of remunerations of over 100 international staff employed by UNRWA, while other UN agencies such as United Nations Educational Scientific and Cultural Organization and WHO also help in staffing of the UNRWA education and health services. The current UNRWA budget for the financial year 2008/2009 is officially $ 1.1 billion, but UNRWA recently increased it by a further $ 262 million in order to carry out its functions and programs in a better and more effective manner (Un.org/qa).

UNRWA beneficiaries

The general beneficiary of UNRWA is the Palestinian refugee who UNRWA defines as one who normally resided in Palestine between 1 June 1946 and 15 May 1948, and who became bereft of home and means of earning a living due to the First Arab-Israeli War. This definition is meant to include persons who exactly fit the above requirements as well as descendants of fathers who exactly fit the above requirements. The specific beneficiaries of UNRWA who are eligible for its services, are Palestinian refugees registered in the 5 fields of UNRWA operations. Palestinian refugees who have either not registered with UNRWA, or who do not live in its 5 areas of operation are not eligible to avail of UNRWA services (Un.org/qa).

UNRWA started its mandated job with a list of 950,000 Palestinian refugees that was handed over by its predecessors in May 1950. By August that year, after thorough census and weeding out of fraudulent names, the number was cut down to 860,000 (Un.org/qa). On 30 June 2003 the total number was 4,082,300 (Dean, 1285). As of 30 June 2008, the official number is 4,618,141. The breakdown of this figure is as follows (Un.org/publications):

UNRWA services to Palestinian refugees

UNRWA officially started functioning on 1 May 1950. Its sole function involves supplying services to eligible Palestinian refugees living in its 5 fields of operations. In a departure from the path of other UN agencies that function through local authorities, UNRWA instead supplies its services directly to Palestinian refugees, makes its own plans and strategies, executes its own operations and constructs/runs installations like schools and health centers. UNRWA presently has 900 facilities which are run with the help of around 29,000 staff members in all the 5 fields of operations (Un.org/overview/index).

The primary UNRWA services include relief and social services, education and health for which nearly 82% of its budget is utilized (Dean, 1285). The secondary UNRWA services include emergency aid and special projects/programs. UNRWA services are provided to around 1.3 million refugees who reside in the 58 recognized camps in the 5 fields of operations. To aid the refugees and be most effective, UNRWA services are situated in close proximity to these camps (Un.org/overview/index).

Relief & Social Services

UNRWA provides direct assistance to the most destitute eligible families of Palestinian refugees who are enduring special hardships and are not able to provide for their own primary requirements in the form of materials and finance to relieve their current unfortunate condition. Such destitute eligible families are those not only lacking the presence of a male adult who is medically capable of earning an income, but also bereft of other visible means of financial assistance enough to meet their primary needs such as food and shelter. Through its Special Hardship Assistance Program under which such destitute eligible families are registered, UNRWA supplies support in the form of food rations and monetary gifts every 90 days. It is estimated that around 63,865 Palestinian refugee families totaling 249,992 individuals or 5.7% of all registered refugees in the 5 fields of operation avail of this aid. Apart from its basic assistance, SHAP evaluates the need of destitute eligible families before also providing selective cash and shelter rehabilitation. UNRWA continuously assesses updates and amends refugee registration records and ration cards to determine which families are eligible for SHAP aid (Un.org/overview/index).

Education

Provision of basic, free education constitutes the biggest part of UNRWA services, for which around 50% of its regular budget is spent and 67% of its staff members are employed (Un.org/index). During the 2002/2003 scholastic year there were 490,949 pupils enrolled in 656 UNRWA schools in which 17,572 staff was employed (Dean, 1285). During the 2005/2006 scholastic year there were 485,471 pupils in 663 schools . While the school curriculum conforms to that of the host nation, UNRWA also adds special education enhancement programs which are taught in all UNRWA schools. The UNRWA special education programs have drawn warm appreciation from many quarters including the Israeli delegation to the UN (Un.org/overview/index).

In addition to its schools, UNRWA also operates 8 vocational and training institutions with 5,431 seats as well as university level teacher training programs in Jordan, Lebanon and the West Bank that impart marketing skills as well as teacher training. The teacher training programs ensure that enough trained teachers are always available to teach in UNRWA schools (Un.org/overview/index).

The overall UNRWA education service has been impressively effective. The literary level among Palestinian refugees is estimated at 92.4% (Un.org/statements). Palestinian refugees educated in UNRWA schools are not only ranked among the best educated of all Arabs, but they also enjoy a reasonably good standard of living (Pilon).

Health

In what has been widely acclaimed as one of the most cost-effective health care systems, UNRWA operates 125 primary health care facilities in its 5 fields of operations in addition to a 63-bed hospital located in Qalqilia in the West Bank. UNRWA health care facilities supply high standard general health services, mother-and-child medical services, family planning services and health education aimed at heightening knowledge and understanding of the important need to prevent diseases. If patients require specialized hospital facilities , UNRWA pays back part of the costs incurred through contracts with certain designated hospitals. UNRWA health services also include safeguarding the Palestinian refugees in the 58 official camps in the 5 fields of operations from outbreak of diseases by adopting environment-friendly methods such as supplying safe drinking water, providing hygiene and sanitation, controlling insects and rodents, and providing proper sewage and solid waste management (Un.org/overview/index).

Emergency Aid

UNRWA has supplied emergency aid to Palestinian refugees as well as non-refugees on several occasions in times of crisis. The first occasion was during the protracted civil warfare in Lebanon followed by the 1982 Israeli invasion of that country. UNRWA supplied emergency aid in the form of food, medical care and housing to a huge number of homeless refugees. The second occasion was during the first intifadah in the West Bank and Gaza Strip. UNRWA supplied emergency aid in the form of food and medical care to the refugees as well as non-refugees (Un.org/overview/index). The third occasion was during the second intifadah in 2000 in the West Bank and Gaza Strip. UNRWA supplied food and medical aid to refugees as well as non-refugees (Un.org/qa).

Since 2000 UNRWA has been supplying emergency aid to a large number of refugees adversely influenced by the continuing warfare in the West Bank and Gaza Strip (Un.org/overview/index). In November 2000 UNRWA appealed for emergency humanitarian aid of $ 39.1 million to assist Palestinian refugees affected by the most recent escalation of violence in the region and the Israeli-imposed blockade on territory controlled by the Palestinian Authority. Responding to the gravity of the situation and the need to quickly supply emergency aid, UNRWA followed this up by 5 appeals for emergency humanitarian aid in quick succession: $ 37.2 million in April 2001, $ 77 million in June 2001, $ 117 million in January 2002, $ 70 million in May 2002 and $ 55.7 million in July 2002 (Dean, 1285).

Special Projects and Programs

UNRWA has taken up special projects as a way of expressing solidarity with identified needs or as a way of actively helping and encouraging a wider spectrum of political and socio-economic events. Financial backing for the 841 special projects to the tune of $ 387.4 million has come in the form of donations and pledges from UN member countries (Un.org/overview/index).

Examples of these projects are the Tel Es-Sultan housing project in Rafah where refugees from a camp in Canada were recently rehabilitated, the Neirab rehabilitation project in Syria, and a series of projects executed in the period between October 1993 and December 1999 under cover of the Peace Implementation Program that came into being after the Israeli-Palestinian Declaration of Principles was signed in 1993 (Un.org/overview/index). It included the building of 33 schools, rehabilitation of 4,700 shelters, upgrading of solid waste disposal facilities in the Gaza Strip and feasibility studies for 2 sewerage systems (Dean, 1285). The biggest project of UNRWA is arguably the European Gaza Hospital located near Khan Younis city in the Gaza Strip which was completed in 1996 in collaboration with the European Union. Meant as a contribution to the Palestinian health infrastructure, the 232-bed hospital (Un.org/overview/index) also has an affiliated nursing college. Both the hospital and nursing college were handed over to the Palestinian Authority in 1999 (Dean, 1285).

UNRWA supplies technical and financial assistance to a system of 104 community based organizations including women’s program organizations and community-based rehabilitation organizations run by local voluntary recruits. The CBOs enable disadvantaged refugees to have the means of entry to advantageous chances to deal with their socio-economic requirements and encourage them to become self-reliant (Un.org/overview/index).

UNRWA has created a special Microfinance and Microenterprise Department that has 8 objectives. The first is to reduce poverty, generate jobs and assist in economic development and income earning chances by supplying Palestinian business owners with working capital and investment finance. The second objective is to provide credit to businesses via 5 lending products in the territories of Jordan, Syria, West Bank and Gaza: micro enterprise credit product , solidarity group lending product , small scale enterprise product , consumer lending product and housing loan product . The third objective is to expand beyond just supplying micro credit to supplying a broader spectrum of financial facilities to those living in poverty. The fourth objective is to raise the amount of lending and extend the Department’s reach to such persons who are unable to obtain credit because they cannot provide the requisite collateral. The fifth objective is to urge women to play a bigger role by taking part in the economy. The sixth objective is to urge Palestinian youth to become business entrepreneurs. The seventh objective is to become self-sufficient with finance generated from its credit activities. The last objective is to become operationally and financially self-sustaining (Un.org/overview/index). Choosing Yarmouk as the location for its first office due to it being host to the biggest number of Palestinian refugees in Syria, UNRWA began practically implementing microfinance and microenterprise schemes in June 2003 that was meant to provide assistance to Palestinian refugees as well as Syrians by lending millions of dollars to owners of small businesses among them. It is anticipated that the program will provide around 1,500 loans during its initial year of operation, 3,320 loans in 2004 and thereafter around 3,360 loans each year of value nearly $ 4 million (Unwire.org).

In recent developments, UNRWA set up an income generation program in 1991 to supply capital loans to small businesses and micro enterprises with the aim of creating sustainable employment and eradicating poverty. By 30 June 2006, $ 72.7 million was given out in 60,146 loans to new and existing Palestinian-owned enterprises (Dean, 1285).

Expiration of UNRWA Mandate

Due to the continuing Palestinian refugee problem, the UN General Assembly has had no alternative but to go on renewing the UNWRA Mandate. While renewing the latest Mandate , the UN General Assembly declared it was in response to the continuing needs of the Palestinian refugees throughout the occupied Palestinian territory and in other fields of operation (Un.org/qa). Although it started off as a temporary agency, UNRWA has adapted its functions and services in response to the changing requirement of Palestinian refugees. Today, UNRWA continues to operate and provide its services to more than 4.6 million Palestinian refugees in the Middle East in anticipation of the time when a just solution is arrived at so that its own functions are no longer required (Un.org/overview/index).

Failings of UNRWA

UNRWA has been accused of grave misconduct on several occasions.

The first accusation was made in June 1982, charging that UNRWA facilities were utilized by the Palestine Liberation Organization to engage in activities such as recruitment to its cadres, training, storing weapons and sending radio messages. Proof of the accusation, provided by Israeli troops in Lebanon, was so strong and incapable of being disproved that the UN was forced to admit its authenticity. The UNRWA misconduct, coming on the back of accusations that the PLO was brazenly running several UNRWA refugee camps itself under cover of the Cairo Agreement, caused the U.S to hold back its yearly donation of $ 67 million in 1982 for many months until the UNRWA issued a pledge that it would exercise vigilance not to allow such infringements in future (Pilon).

The second accusation is very similar to the first. During the yearly convention of the UN Human Rights Commission in Geneva on 31 March 2003, the Centre Simon Wiesenthal charged UNRWA with encouraging terrorism as it ignores militant operations in its camps so obviously that many of the camps have turned into bomb-making factories; UNRWA has even enrolled the terrorist outfit Hamas’ members in its payroll, so much so that Hamas is widely seen as managing the UNRWA Area Staff Union (Un.org/allegations).

The third accusation was made by a UN Joint Inspection Unit in its 1983 report. It stated that since the majority of the Palestinian refugees did not need food aid, it would be more feasible to replace food aid with food coupons and divert more resources to encourage small self-help projects which have already been established as an important method of bettering the state of repair of shelters, school buildings, installations and sanitation facilities. The report went on to observe that surprisingly, UNRWA staff strongly deterred the adoption of self-help measures. The JIU observation prompted Harvey Feldman, member of a U.S delegation to the UN to call the UNRWA staff response the “most disquieting fact about UNRWA” which constitutes a directly opposite tactic as compared to other refugee agencies, and exposes the UNRWA “lack of willingness and expertise to generate self-help projects” (Pilon). This accusation was seconded by the Centre Simon Wiesenthal in 2003 that charged UNRWA with promoting a culture of dependency among Palestinian refugees (Un.org/allegations).

The fourth accusation is that information about the number of registered Palestinian refugees with UNRWA is wrong and misleading. A U.S State Department report found 2 aberrations. Out of 2,012,700 registered Palestinian refugees in May 1984, as many as 750,000 were Jordanian citizens. Secondly, only about 30% of those registered and stipulated to be residing in the camps actually live in the designated camps (Pilon) .

The fifth accusation is that while education comprises the bulk of UNRWA services and 67% of UNRWA staff comprises of teachers, a large part of its education has been greatly politicized to the advantage of the Arab countries’ assessment of the Middle East conflict and to the detriment of the State of Israel. Israel has often complained that UNRWA school classrooms are teeming with anti-Jewish and anti-Israeli propaganda (Pilon). The Centre Simon Wiesenthal charged in 2003 that UNRWA schools and textbooks teach hatred of Israel (Un.org/allegations). A Commission of the UNESCO also discovered that more than 50% of UNRWA school textbooks provided a lopsided version of history, blatantly encouraged violence, or used anti-Jewish language. Noted Middle East analyst and journalist Milton Viorst wrote that the Palestinian teachers in UNRWA schools are overwhelmingly militantly nationalistic (Pilon). This view was echoed by the Centre Simon Wiesenthal that charged UNRWA with not attempting to promote unbiased staff views and attitudes, and not attempting to advocate tolerance and understanding in its schools (Un.org/allegations). UNRWA has been charged with having developed into a fertile ground conducive for building Palestinian nationalist sentiments as well as into a political tool regularly utilized by the Arabs to portray that the formation of the State of Israel was a criminal plot hatched between the Israelis and the U.S, while the legitimate, displaced beneficiaries are enduring great difficulties and suffering. The Arab stance conveniently ignores the fact that Arab nations enjoy direct benefits from UNRWA. For example, in a single year UNRWA expenditure within Jordan and Syria was $ 52 million and $ 15 million respectively. Charles Lichtenstein, the previous U.S Ambassador to the UN for Special Political Affairs sums up this accusation well: “UNRWA today mirrors the rejectionist agenda of the radical irredentist Arabs and is an instrument of the implementation of that agenda just as the Palestinians are a weapon in the political struggle” (Pilon).

The sixth accusation is that due to the lack of legal power to operate in any country without the consent of its government, UNRWA is lawfully unprotected against actions of host governments. This obstructs its functions and operations. For example in October 1982 when Israel volunteered to supply bulldozers without any fee to assist Palestinian refugee camps located in South Lebanon to be better prepared for winter, and also volunteered to supply 500 free prefabricated houses to shelter refugees, its offer was summarily rejected by Dennis Brown, chief of the UNRWA office in Sidon on grounds that acceptance of the offer would arouse the hostility of the host Lebanese government. In this context, UNRWA compares unfavorably with other UN agencies like the UNHCR which possesses the right to offer security to refugees and to portray itself as their legal protector (Pilon).

The last accusation is that the number of UNRWA staff has increased disproportionately to its functions and services. Between 1950 and 1982, the number of UNRWA staff increased by a massive 300%, resulting in staff salaries accounting for nearly 67% of the UNRWA budget (Pilon).

Alternative proposals

In view of the many failings of UNRWA, several alternative proposals have been floated. They all have a common underlining: they firmly separate the humanitarian part from the political angle of refugee aid (Pilon).

The first proposal involves rectifying UNRWA. As the U.S possesses huge leverage over UNRWA because it is the largest contributor to its funds, it must start taking advantage of this leverage by making UNRWA abide by the strict standards of accountability as laid down by the United Nations High Commission for Refugees concerning utilization of funds, and also stringently monitor its collaboration with Palestinian organizations (Pilon).

The second proposal envisages a large role for NGOs in helping Palestinian refugees as this will ensure better quality of services and better delivery of such services as well. The U.S should deduct around 25% of its yearly contribution to UNRWA and divert that amount towards subcontracting NGOs (Pilon).

The third proposal involves deducting and diverting a percentage of U.S contribution to UNRWA to the United Nations Development Program for the purpose of undertaking studies of possible development programs for Palestinian refugees. The UNDP has an impressive track record of already taking up projects like providing equipment for agricultural display and training including highly developed latest personal education to agriculturists, provision of housing structures/equipment/training for career restoration of disabled people, and building of a big services center (Pilon). This proposal is similar to the recommendation of the Centre Simon Wiesenthal which urged the UN to replace UNRWA with UNHCR as the primary UN agency to handle the Palestinian refugee issue (Un.org/allegations).

Conclusion

While UNRWA continues functioning in the absence of any appropriate political organization to carry on this initiative (Aruri, 256), it is obvious that there is no way out in the face of continued Israeli intransigence and American support of it (Aruri, 113) while a large number of players in the region are not interested in solving the Palestinian refugee subject as they prefer to cater to their own selfish political aims and keep the problem festering as an open insult to the UN and a threat against Israel (Pilon). The so-called peace process remains frozen on subjects pertinent to non-refugee issues which themselves are being compromised (Aruri, 108). As a result, strong pessimism clouds the possibility of a negotiated settlement that will result in the formation of a practicable Palestinian State – a State under which title the refugee subject can be fairly and impartially resolved thereby enabling the Palestinian people to have their self-respect as a people restored to them (Un.org/statements).

Meanwhile, the Palestinian refugees continue to bear the brunt of insufficient and improper action from the international community that offers no solution to the problem other than lamely say that ‘international law recognizes the Palestinians’ right of return’ (Azuri, 125). The Palestinian refugees have earned the unenviable reputation of living in a postponed condition of exile as refugees for 6 decades – longer than any other individual collection of refugees. While a few of them who have survived the First Arab-Israeli War still exist, the majority comprises descendants of Palestinian refugees (Un.org/statements). The Palestinian refugees are being forced to wait in resignation for the international community to come up with a just and viable solution to their 60 year old ongoing problem.

References

1. “1948 Arab Israeli War.” Mahalo.com. 2008.
2. Aruri, Naseer. “Palestinian Refugees: The Right to Return.” London: Pluto Press. 2001.
3. “The Assistance Gap.” Badil.org. 2007.
4. Dean, Lucy. “The Middle East & North Africa 2004.” London: Europa Publications. 2003.
5. “Frequently Asked Questions.” Public Information Office, UNRWA Headquarters. 2008.
6. “Overview.” Public Information Office, UNRWA Headquarters. 2008.
7. “Palestinian Refugees: Area of UNRWA Operations.” Passia.org. (N.d). 2008.
8. Pilon, Juliana Geran. “How the UNRWA Has Failed the Palestinian People.” Heritage.org. 2008.
9. “Setting the Record Straight.” Public Information Office, UNRWA Headquarters. 2008.
10. “Statistics.” Public Information Office, UNRWA Headquarters. 2008.
11. “UNRWA Launches Microfinance Program for Palestinians, Syrians.” Unwire.org. 2003.
12. “What Next for Palestinian Refugees?” Public Information Office, UNRWA Headquarters. 2008.

Introduction

The United Nations Security Council (UNSC) is the main body of the United Nations (U.N.) that has powers to pass obligations about peace and security that are binding to the 193 member states. It is composed of ten elected members and five permanent members who meet regularly to evaluate the international security status and take appropriate measures that relate to matters that threaten peace and security.

The key issues it assesses include civil wars, terrorism, control of arms, and natural disasters. The five permanent member states have veto powers while the ten elected member states do not have the powers. On the other hand, the charter of the United Nations is a foundational treaty; it is a constituent treaty that binds all member states (Mahmood 117). Therefore, the following paper analyses obligations of the United Nations Security Council (UNSC) as per the terms of the charter of the United Nations.

Powers of Enforcement

The main responsibility of the UNSC under the charter is to maintain peace and security. The powers are provided in different articles of the charter. For example, in chapter V, the member states confer responsibility to UNSC to act on their behalf. In article 10, the UNSC is given the powers to discuss issues that concern international peace and security. The detailed powers of the UNSC are contained in articles 24, 25, and 26 of the U.N. charter (Liivoja 584).

Article 24 confers responsibility to the Council to maintain international peace and security. This is normally invoked during discussions that relate to the appropriateness of the Council’s mandate to include situations or a thematic idea concerning its competencies (United Nations par. 3). Concerning the powers provided in article 24, in the period between 2010 and 2011, the Security Council took actions as per provisions of Chapter VII of the charter.

This entailed imposing measures against Eretria, the Islamic Republic of Iran, and Libya. One of the resolutions was to end enforcement action against Libya. This was done under the obligations provided in article 41, which states that the Security Council has the powers to make decisions that do not involve the use of force to coerce states to abide by the council’s decisions. Article 41 of the U.N. charter gives it the power to impose sanctions. The provision gives the council the powers to call upon the U.N. members to apply the resolved measures which may involve interruptions of economic relations, rail, sea, postal, radio, air, and other communions and severance of diplomatic relations (Liivoja 589).

Article 25 gives the powers that ensure that the member states accept decisions made by the Security Council; this implies that the decisions made by the council are binding. Article 26 gives the council the powers of regulation of armaments. Based on this, UNSC formulates plans to establish systems to be used to regulate armaments. For example, it has the power to consider the general principles that relate to the disarmament, importation, and exportation of arms (Weib 47).

Also, it has the powers to discuss issues that pertain to international security that are brought to the council by members of the U.N. For example, on 25 March 2004, the council addressed the issue of instability in West Africa. It invited the Economic Community of West Africa (ECOWAS) and advised it on the need to control the manufacture, importation, and exportation of small and light arms in the region.

UNSC Enforcement Competency

Enforcement entails the use of coercive pressure to make deviant member states adhere to the resolutions of the Security Council (Roscini 331). Concerning the powers and functions conferred to the council, the primary focus is to ensure that international disputes are resolved peacefully as provided in chapter five of the U.N. charter. The chapter gives the council the authority to ensure that conflicts are solved through arbitration, negotiations, and any other peaceful means. The failure to adhere to the provisions of the chapter gives the council the power to take assertive actions such as the use of economic sanctions or authorize the application of force to restore international peace and security.

In many instances, the implementations of assertive measures have been hindered by the rivalry between the member states that have veto powers. For example between 1945 and 1989, the implementation of its functions was constrained by the rivalry between the U.S. and Soviets. Similarly, since 2014, the tensions between the U.S. and Russia have gripped the council, and there are concerns that it may be unable to take appropriate actions in case of a crisis where the two nations have different opinions (CFR Backgrounders par. 10). A good example relates to 2015 when Russia vetoed a resolution by the Security Council that required the creation of an international tribunal to prosecute Pro-Russian separatists believed to have shot down the Malaysian Airline Flight MH17.

For any matter to qualify consideration by the UNSC, it must be a threat to peace and security. This has resulted in arguments that humanitarian crises may not qualify as threatening peace. Concerning the issues of international humanitarian law, the U.N. charter has no express reference on how to deal with such issues. To some extent, this limits the actions of the council. Besides, there are times that the UNSC has been bypassed by some regional organizations.

For example, NATO bombed Yugoslavia without seeking authorization from the UNSC. Even though the military measures by NATO could be justified by arguments that the ethnic cleansing in Yugoslavia was a threat to peace and security in the region, it shows that other organized forces can still bypass the U.N. charter and UNSC provisions without fear of reproach. Similar scenarios have been experienced when NATO started military actions in Libya in 2011 without UNSC’s authorization. The involvement of international forces in military interventions in the Syrian Civil war points to the failure to consult UNSC. Regional organizations seem to have taken positions that disregard the UNSC’s mandate on international security and peacekeeping.

From the above, it is evident that the competence of the UNSC is limited especially when dealing with countries that have veto powers and some regional organizations from developed countries. CFR Backgrounders pointed out that most of the resolutions and operations sanctioned by the UNSC have been in failed and developing states (par. 12).

Conclusion

The UNSC enforcement powers are enshrined in the U.N. charter which outlines the mandates, functions, and powers of UNSC. The enforcement of the powers is important in ensuring international peace, security, and harmonious coexistence of nations. Articles 24, 25, 26, and 41 are crucial in defining the mandates and obligations of the council. However, its competence in ensuring that member states comply with the charter’s provisions has faced challenges due to the rivalry between countries with veto powers and actions of regional organizations that bypass the council to implement their decisions that relate to peace and security.

Works Cited

CFR Backgrounders. The UN Security Council. 2015. Web.

Liivoja, Rain. “The Scope of the Supremacy Clause of the United Nations Charter.” International and Comparative Law Quarterly 57.3 (2008): 583-612. Print.

Mahmood, Fakiha. “Power versus the Sovereign Equality of States: The Veto, the P-5 and United Nations Security Council Reforms.” Perceptions18.4 (2013): 117-119. Print.

Roscini, Marco. “The United Nations Security Council and the Enforcement of International Humanitarian Law.” Israel Law Review 43.02 (2010): 330-359.Print.

United Nations. Repertoire Of The Practice Of The Security Council: Functions and Powers of The Security Council. 2016. Web.

Weib, Wolfgang. “Security Council Powers and the Exigencies of Justice after War.” Yearbook of United Nations Law 12.1 (2008): 45-111. Print.

Introduction

The United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) is a refugee agency (under the umbrella of the United Nations) that has a mandate of protecting and supporting refugees from a third country as requested by a government that is a member state of the UN.

The agency focuses on providing voluntary assistance, resettlement and integration of displaced persons from a third country. It does this through funds obtained from donors and other arms of the United Nations. It is therefore imperative to note that the agency deploys its operatives to areas depending on the need and priority given to the places.

Failure

Despite the fact that UNHCR has in the recent past executed its duty in the best interest of all the refugees across the globe, the agency faces some setbacks and failures that need to be addressed with immediate effect. This should be done in order to restore the faith the globe has had on it.

Additionally, the agency should assure governments of its effectiveness in its mandate in order to secure its operations within their territories (Burger, and Rahm, 1996). The UNHCR has been doing a commendable job for refugees since it was founded in December 1949 but has, however, failed to provide services to areas according to priorities and need.

A November 2010 research carried out by the Policy Development and Evaluation Department, which is a UNHCR’s branch, revealed that the agency’s global strategic priorities are not in a position to give concrete information concerning resource allocation processes as well as the level of prioritization of a subject.

This came about despite the strategic priorities being a useful element in the agency’s checklist of involvements. This is an implication that the agency only provides services according to operatives’ own instincts without evaluating and assessing the levels of prioritization.

As a result of this, quite a number of nations that need genuine and urgent assistance from UNHCR end up receiving delayed services or no services at all. A good example is the case of Iraqi refugees who needed urgent and genuine help during a war that lasted for almost a decade. The political situation was unstable at that time in Iraq.

That was understandable but not a reason enough for UNHCR not to provide immediate shelter, clothing and other necessities to the refugees who were victims of the war. It is therefore important that the agency formulates measures to curb such an occurrence in future (Burger, and Rahm, 1996).

How the organization’s culture has led to the failure

The Executive Committee of the UNHCR holds an annual meeting in Geneva in Switzerland where member states review and approve reports and recommendations brought forward for implementation. Additionally, the panel also evaluates operational plans and policies as well as discusses finances during this annual meeting.

This is the most outstanding culture that derails the process of service provision to refugees across the globe according to priority. It is championed by the slow provision and review of reports that ultimately lead to delayed execution of recommendations that need urgent attention (Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees, and United Nations, 2010).

Concerns have been raised in the agency over the slow pace at which reports are reviewed. This is because it gives member states inadequate time to go through the documents and make conclusive recommendations. It is probably the reason why it takes the agency quite some time to act upon being summoned by a member state to intervene in an issue that concerns refugees.

Laws that describe the situation

The 1951 Refugee Convention contained a law in its Article 33 that stated that no refugee should be returned to his or her country of territory where they would be perceptible to prosecution. This is an indication that no government is expected to expel refugees from its territories back to their motherland where their freedom would be jeopardized on account of either race, nationality, political ideology, religion or membership of a social group.

As a result, governments are obliged by law to house refugees within their territories for as long as they want to stay. That notwithstanding, governments are also required to communicate the presence of refugees to UNHCR (Zimmermann, 2010).

Existing elements of the organization that are most likely to cause a similar failure again in future

Even though UNHCR works well with other related agencies to effectuate service delivery to refugees, a lot still needs to be done in relation to partnerships. Partnership behavior in this agency is an existing element that is most likely to derail the process of providing immediate services to refugees and consequently taint the agency’s reputation as far as its mandate is concerned.

Concerns have since been raised in relation to the promptness of the partnerships between UNHCR and other agencies that seek to provide voluntary services to refugees. This must therefore be addressed if the agency wants to assure member states of its commitment to executing its mandate.

Recommendations to avert future failures

As a way of hastening the process through which reports are reviewed and recommendations implemented, UNHCR’s Executive Committee should consider rescheduling its meetings to at least two per annum. It is through this that the committee will be in a position to give immediate responses to matters concerning refugees across the globe.

References

Burger, L., & Rahm, D. L. (1996). United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees: Making a difference in our world. Minneapolis: Lerner Publications Co.

Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees., & United Nations. (2010). Report of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees. New York: United Nations.

Zimmermann, A. (2010). The 1951 Convention Relating to the Status of Refugees and its 1967 Protocol: A commentary. Oxford: Oxford University Press.

The United Nations: How it all started

It was on October 24, 1945 when the United Nations was formed, with the hope of efficient prevention of another world war. The organization was formed by the four nations that had waged war on the Axis Powers—the Union of Soviet Socialist Republic (Russia), China, United States and Great Britain. The original United Nations Charter was written in June 1945, and 50 countries have agreed to it and gave their signatures. Promoting peace and human dignity—that’s what the organization is all about. It lives up to this principal aim so as to eliminate the problems that may lead to international conflict, and worse, to wars. As decades pass, the goals of the UN have been expanded. Today, other goals such as economic and social development, human rights and humanitarian affairs, peace and security, and international laws are also included in the UN Charter (Olson, Roux and Mesec 2005).

The strength and efficiency of the UN had been through different tests. The UN had been there when Israel established its independent state, and had been the mediator when the act stirred conflict with the Palestine. Peacekeepers of the organization also tried to hush the rage brought about by the Berlin Blockade. And it has proven its reliability in its involvement in the refugee relief during the Korean War. Just this past decade, the world witnessed how the UN had to intervene when terrorism expanded worldwide. There are also atrocities in Yugoslavia, Rwanda and Bosnia, civil conflicts in El Salvador, Cambodia and Guatemala, and disputes within countries such as the Philippines and China that the UN had to deal with (Olson, Roux and Mesec 2005).

The organization found a way to increase cooperation among its member states, and that was through international conferences. Such conferences were sponsored by the organization in order to have wider awareness of the problems that the world might encounter in the future. Such conferences did not only involve participating states, but as well as Non-Governmental Organizations (NGOs), citizens, members of the academe, and representatives of the business sector. These people helped produce environmental and financial treaties, reaffirmed security commitments, made declarations through these conferences. This resulted to increased international cooperation. The conferences covered various issues. It definitely stirred heated debates such as those on Human Rights, proposals for Social Development, researches about the Environment, recent problems on Human Settlements, and new laws regarding Women. One example of these conferences is the Millennium Summit, which was held in September 2000 (in New York) resulted in a declaration of aims and values for the new century. These so-called “millennium goals” include promotion of gender equality, reduction of child mortality, eradication of extreme poverty, and achievement of universal primary education (UN Website, n.d.). A follow-up Summit was held in New York, in September 2005 to check and evaluate the progress that were made toward attaining the mentioned goals (Olson, Roux and Mesec 2005).

Rwanda: Then and Now

In a matter of about a hundred days in the year 1994, there were more or less 800,000 people who were killed as a result of the civil war and genocide in Rwanda. Thousands of Rwandese were abused both physically and psychologically. More than two million citizens fled to neighboring countries and hundreds became displaced within Rwanda. The genocide had long been over, but the country continues to experience economic loss years after it.

The international community held hands and gave joint effort in finding solution to the Rwandan problems. About $1 Billion were collected from contributing countries, but only about one-third was spent in Rwanda. The rest was spent on asylum countries.

Today, Rwanda faces a lot of problems, and being a country with a really small income, it depends on the international security for special programs that will focus on:

1. Problems on malnutrition-Thousands of Rwandese suffer from malnutrition.
2. Problems on agriculture-A lot of lands were not being used wisely; either they are left for landlords who are absent from the country, or they are left as idle assets.
3. Problems on education- Rwanda has a very low literacy rate. Primarily because the government don’t have much budget on education.
4. Problems on security – More budget was given to food than on the countries armed forces.

The United Nations, being an authority on the international community becomes an instrument of welfare and peace. But just how efficient was the organization in dealing with the Problems of Rwanda?

United Nations and Rwanda

The Food and Agriculture Organization was founded as a specialized agency of the United Nations in the year 1945. The fundamental goal of this special agency of the UN is to lower the levels of malnutrition and raise the quality of living in the rural areas. This is to eventually cause improvement of the people.

FAO is currently the biggest of the UN specialized agencies. It is hailed the leader in the development of the agriculture, fisheries, forestry, and livestock. It also takes part in the overall development of the rural areas. The FAO currently has 187 member countries.

It was in 1985 when FAO opened its Representation in Rwanda. It aims to help the Rwandan Government in solving the problems of agriculture, especially in the rural areas. Having the mandate of supporting the country’s ongoing programs and developing new ones, the FAO lent its hand to the Rwandan Government. Through the Ministry of Agriculture and Livestock (MINAGRI), a National Document of a Special Program of Food Security (SPFS) was made. According to the FAO website, the organization is also supporting the Kigali Municipality in the same manner. They aided in making the Project of Urban and Peri-Urban Agriculture happen by having the Italian Government and Rome Municipality finance it. The organization also promoted Telefood projects in Rwanda by introducing one of the technologies of Micro-Garden throughout the city.

One of the cases which made serious setbacks on food security is the HIV/AIDS pandemic. The FAO prepared on Assistance Program in Nutrition and Feeding of the HIV/AIDS infected areas. This was done to supplement other types of humanitarian aid that were being given throughout the country. The FAO searches for its own funds for maintaining the operations of the programs mentioned above.

The FAO also assisted Rwanda, when it prepared a National Investment to “pillars” that were believed to create difference in Rwanda’s situation. The Three reinforcing proposals are:

1. “Extending the area covered by sustainable land development and management and water control systems that are reliable”.
2. “Improving infrastructures in the rural areas, as well as the trade-related capacities for optimum market access”
3. “Increasing the supply of food to reduce hunger”

Apart from that, the FAO also aided Rwanda in being a part of the National Forestry Programs’ support mechanisms. It is conducting a study on a participatory mechanism that will reintegrate demobilized soldiers. This program organizes income-generating activities to help these soldiers.

The organization also participates in the crop assessments that were done every season. It is also always present in the donor meetings to co-ordinate assistance in Rwanda. FAO also assists the Rwandan Government in reinforcing the National Alliance against Hunger.

Review of Related Literature

UN’s Inefficiency in Solving International Problems

An article that was written by Olson, Roux and Mesec in 2005 discussed the problems of the organization. According to the article The United Nations: What is not working?, the limitations of the UN had been more evident when the Cold War had ended. It has been accused of several failures:

• It committed failure in the enforcement of the 17 resolutions against Saddam. It allegedly neglected Saddam’s ejection of UN weapons inspectors, enabled him to stay in power by turning the other cheek as the dictator exploited Oil for Food.
• It also failed to utilize its peacekeepers already in place to halt the Rwanda genocide back in 1994.
• The organization also committed failure in stopping the massacre of African Muslims in the Sudan’s Darfur province.
• It has also failed to analyze or intervene in the Iranian and North Korean violations of nuclear non-proliferation agreements.

According to Olson, Roux and Mesec (1995), its own ideology and respect for national sovereignty as well as national boundaries complicate the UN’s human rights advocacy. Such respect is usually in conflict with the in-country tensions. The article also stated that the UN and Kofi Annan have been accused of mismanagement and incompetence.

Although the article may not be questioned by the facts it had presented, it can be seen that it lacks critical analysis. It has laid the accusations against the organization but did not include a comprehensive analysis of what exactly went wrong within the system. Because of this, another paper, which focused on the UN’s inefficiency in solving international security problems, had also been reviewed.

Russett and Sutterlin (1991) wrote “The UN in a New World Order”. It has stated that:

“…the lack of a standing force means that enforcement has always had to be improvised. However, in cases involving major commitment, such as the Gulf War, such an approach ‘is not likely to be viable unless the vital interests of one or more major military powers is at risk’…”(Russett and Sutterlin 1991).

According to the article, this is one of the limitations, which detracts from the worldwide security missions of the UN (Russett and Sutterlin 1991).

Not only did the latter article posed comprehensive analysis of the organization’s weakness when it comes to security, it also pinpointed a major mistake of the Secretary-General on the Work of the Organization, that is, its refusal to “search for improved mechanisms and techniques”, thinking that this would be of little significance (United Nations Website 1995).

No work was found that evaluated the efficiency of the UN in dealing with the problems of Rwanda, specifically. Although it can be clearly seen, from the previous articles that the UN cannot just solve everything all at once. However, if some of the problems takes time and if indeed the UN took its time in solving it, another insurgency might happen.

A Critical Analysis

Like any other organization aimed to promote peace between countries, the United nations is obviously having a hard time compromising one member’s rights and another member’s responsibilities. It has been efficient in terms of preventing international wars, but as was stated in previously, it had displayed such efficiency in solving in-county conflicts. This probably happened because of the organization’s lack of provisions when it comes to insurgencies. And the cases of insurgencies actually depend on the economy, governance and tradition of every member country. The thing is, would the organization go as far as intervening in such cases?

A number of factors certainly made it difficult for the organization to handle in-country conflicts. First, the Charter provided the extent to which the organization should intervene, and such limitations are still bound to different interpretations. Second, each member country has its own security force, and policies that are directly addressed to this problem, and not every country would allow “outsiders” to play god in their own territory. The United Nations apparently have not yet learned how to combine and compromise.

One concrete example of the organization’s failure to efficiently handle security issues is its action after the cold war. After the cold war, the UN had doubled the number of its peacekeeping missions since 1989. However, despite such increase, the organization’s efforts to deliver humanitarian aid and to negotiate a peaceful resolution to the civil war in Bosnia were repeatedly hindered by the unwillingness of the parties to coordinate. Immediate failures at peacekeeping were very obvious. The conflict became violent, involving large amount of casualties—parties took arms, violated human rights, and took hostages. It had not been expected by the UN that their intervention might cause conflict between the protagonist countries in the long run (Diehl, Reifschneider and Hensel 1996).

Now what is lacking? Could there be a serious negligence on the part of the organization in terms of considering the needs of each party? Of course the UN made sure everything in the system is thoroughly evaluated. What might be missing is its understanding of the differences in the interpretation of its intervention. It might be very helpful internationally, but it might just worsen the case, if it tries to intervene in a local conflict. The context of a particular country must be well understood, not on the perspective of an outsider. An inner perspective is needed. Therefore, the UN lacks an understanding of each of its members states. It will never be efficient in solving in-country conflicts if it insists on acting as a global authority.

As for its efficiency in solving the problems of Rwanda, from an outsider’s point of view, nothing has changed. Nothing had improved. The claws of capitalism continue to grip the country as first world millionaires use “humanitarian aid” as an excuse to buy lands and establish industries in the country. Citizens were exploited continuously. It is not very evident to the organization how the same member country ‘helps’ while pinching off some of Rwanda’s treasures. The UN not only has to be more careful, it has to be more critical, especially in their programs concerning post-war countries like Rwanda.

Works Cited

Diehl, P. F., Reifschneider, J. & Hensel, P. (1996). United Nations Intervention and Recurrent Conflict. The MIT Press.

Olson, E., Roux, A. & Mesec P. (2005). The United Nations: What is not working? In The United Nations: A Short Review.

Russett, B. & Sutterlin, J.S. (1991). The UN in a New World Order. From Foreign Affairs.

The United Nations Website (1995). Supplement to an Agenda for peace: Position Paper of The Secretary-General on the Occasion of the Fiftieth Anniversary of the United Nations.