The
United Nations and Its Relevance to our Times
Principal
John Tuminaso
Mr. John Orlowski
Dear Students
- My wife and I are deeply honoured to be here at
this School. I thank Mr. John Orlowski for his kind
invitation. At the sametime I should be derelict in
my responsibilities if I were not to express my thanks
to our dear friends the Finks, and their daughter
Cheryl, for their share in making this event possible.
- You are aware by now that I am the Ambassador of
Bangladesh to the United Nations. It is the world's
eighth largest country in terms of population - it
numbers 130 million - and is situated in South Asia,
between India and Myanmar, or Burma. It's a green,
deltaic country, with many criss-crossing rivers,
lush forests, and varied flora and fauna. Not so long
ago it had so many constraints that Henry Kissinger
had called it a 'bottom-less basket case'. Today less
than 30 years later it is a vibrant, democratic polity
on the track of development. From its people have
emanated ideas like Grameen's micro-credit and women's
non-formal education. These have made Bangladesh a
model for emulation in many developing countries.
Bangladesh has shown the world that positive changes
within a society can only come from home-grown ideas.
But we have also had help from our fiends around the
world, including the United States with whom we share
so many values. Most importantly from the United Nations.
It is this institution that I shall speak to you about
today.
- Dependence on foreign aid reduced from 60% of development
budget to 16%. We produce 27 million tones of food
grains to feed our entire people. Scientific discoveries
like URT, a simple method of mixing salt and water
to address stomach ailments has saved 40 million child
lives and many more millions around the world.
- Those of us who work in the United Nations are every
day confronted with many problems that we need to
address. We cannot do it by ourselves alone. That
is why we need to build awareness about this Organization
among the peoples of the world. Particularly young
people like you, who represent the future. This Organization
belongs to the entire humanity. We expect every generation
to contribute to it. Including yours.
- The United Nations was born in 1945, after the greatest
conflict in history, World War II ended. The stated
goal of founding fathers was "to save succeeding
generation from the scourage of war". That is
how the preamble of its Charter begins. The name 'United
Nations' was coined by the war-time President of its
host country, Franklin Delano Roosevelt. It was constituted
of nations that committed themselves to unite, to
live together in peace. Its objectives were: to maintain
peace and security, to develop friendly relations
among nations, to implement international cooperation
in various socio-economic, cultural and human fields,
and to respect human rights and fundamental freedoms.
The Organization is housed in the 40 storied structures
in Manhattan. It provides a forum, a permanent centre
where diplomatic deliberations and negotiations take
place, and where international decisions are made.
- It works through a number of bodies that the Charter
has established. These are called the Main Organs.
They are the General Assembly, the Security Council,
the Economic and Social Council or ECOSOC, the International
Court of Justice, and the Secretariat. Apart from
the Main Organs there are also a number of Agencies
and Programmes that together comprise the "UN
System" or Family". Let me first describe
the Main Organs, one by one:
i. The General Assembly or the UNGA: The 192 Members
of the UN are all represented in this body through
their Ambassadors, also called Permanent Representatives.
Its regular Session opens each year in September in
New York and lasts for a year. Each year it elects
a new President. Bangladesh was its President in 1986.
The first month it meets daily. During this period
many countries send their President or Prime Minister,
and almost all send their Foreign Ministers. Each
country delegation makes a statement in what is called
the General Debate. The US President is traditionally
the second speaker, always after Brazil. It discusses
a wide range of issues - it has about 150 items in
the agenda, and on each item adopts a resolution.
Each member has one vote, inspective of size or power.
Member States are not compelled to abide by its resolutions.
That is why there is always a first attempt at consensus
or adoption without a vote. This would carry more
moral weight, but is not always possible. The General
Assembly breaks itself up into Six Committee to deliberate
on its Agenda.
ii. The Security Council: The Charter gives the Security
Council the primary responsibility for the maintenance
of international peace and security. Its resolutions
are mostly mandatory for those on whom they apply.
This makes it an extremely powerful body. Of its fifteen
members - five representing the major victorious powers
of World War II - i.e., China, France, Russia, the
US, & the UK - enjoy veto powers meaning they
can multify any resolution with a negative vote. The
Presidency changes every month, alphabetically. It
examines situations that are brought before it which
could involve a threat to peace, or lead to a conflict
between nations. It can recommend means for a peaceful
settlement of disputes, impose economic sanctions
to prevent aggression or, if necessary, undertake
military measures. It can mediate between parties,
or ask the Secretary-General to offer his "good
offices" to do so. The 10 non-permanent members
are each elected for a two year period. Bangladesh
served on the Council during 1978-79 and then again
during 2000-2001.
iii. The Economic and Social Council or ECOSOC: What
the Security Council is to peace and security, ECOSOC
is to economic and social activities of the UN. Its
mandate is to deal with issues affecting the international
community in the economic, social, educational, cultural
and social fields, among others. Through the resolutions
it adopts, it provides guidance to Member States and
other Agencies of the UN System in their work. Throughout
the year, the ECOSOC functions are carried out by
subsidiary bodies such as the Geneva-based Human Rights
Commission who report to it. ECOSOC has 54 Members
elected by the General Assembly each for a 3 years
term, and holds two sessions every year alternating
between New York and Geneva. Bangladesh has declared
itself a candidate for the period 2004-2006.
- The International Court of Justice: Unlike the other
Main Organs that are located in New York the ICJ is
housed in the Hague, Netherlands. It decides on complaints
by Member States, not individuals. It can also give
advisory opinions on legal questions referred to it
by the UN itself or its Specialized Agencies. As of
2002, the Court had delivered 74 judgements, and another
24 cases were pending. It comprises 15 judges, all
of different nationalities, chosen for their qualifications.
They act as independent magistrates and do not represent
their governments. The judges are elected by the General
Assembly and each serves for nine years. No Bangladeshi
has served as a Judge.
- Finally there is the Secretariat, or the large body
of international civil servants headed by the Secretary
General, the highest official of the Organization
and its personification in the eyes of the world.
The Secretariat staff are headed by some political
personnel known as Under-Secretary-Generals or Assistant
Secretary-Generals; under them they are categorized
into 'Director's, 'Professionals' or 'Generals Service'.
There is a quota system for each country for some
categories. A principle of geographical rotation is
followed in the appointment of the Secretary General
who is elected by the General Assembly and approved
by the Security Council. The current Secretary General,
Kofi Annan is an African from Ghana, into his second
and final five year term. The next Secretary General
is likely to be from Asia.
- I had earlier stated that apart from the Main Organs,
the UN System or Family comprise of a number of other
Programmes or Agencies, whose activities are extremely
varied. Each agency or programme has its own field
of competence or mandate. They range from trade to
development, labour to public health, education to
food and agriculture, environment to atomic energy,
meteorology to telecommunications, protection of human
rights to preservation of intellectual property. The
two major programmes, UNDP, that deals with development
and, UNICEF, that focuses on children are based in
New York. Most others like those dealing with human
rights, trade, health, labour and intellectual property
in Geneva, and yet some others such as involved in
drug-control or atomic energy in Vienna or FAO in
Rome. Each seeks to establish national standards in
its sphere, harmonize legislations, and collate and
transmit 'best practices'. Each is usually headed
by an important international personality.
- Sometimes, as had happened in the 1990s, the UN
organizes International Conferences of Heads of Government
to address a particular issue. These are called 'Summits'.
A number of them focused on Environment, or Human
Rights or Population and Development, or Racism or
Food have adopted Programmes of Action. Most are now
under implementation. Bangladesh actively participated
in all these.
- An emerging and important role of the UN, which
is not mentioned in the Charter, is peace-keeping
operations. These are put in place where a conflict
has been resolved. The UN peace-keepers, also known
as 'blue-helmets', perform other useful work such
as holding elections or building roads or infrastructure.
The 'blue-helmets' together have also received the
Nobel Peace Prize. Currently there are 11 such operations
existing. Bangladesh is one of the largest troop contributors,
with 5000 in service, mainly in Sierra Leone. We are
currently negotiating another deployment of 1200 or
so in the Congo.
- There has, of course, been much criticism of the
UN. Sometimes important initiatives are blocked by
a veto in the Security Council when the interest of
one or another Big Power is affected. The UN could
not resolve problems such as the Middle East or Iraq,
could not prevent genocide in Rwanda or the former
Yugoslavia, and could not stop famines in Ethiopia
or destruction of historical sites by the Talibans
in Afghanistan. But the UN can only act when its members
decide to do so. And sometimes the Members remain
inactive when to remain so is in their perceived national
interest.
- Yet there is much the UN has achieved. These have
mainly been in the areas of preservation of peace,
humanitarian assistance, economic and social development
and human rights. Peace-keeping in Namibia, Cambodia,
Mozambique, East Timor and Sierra Leone have been
success-stories. In humanitarian assistance, the UN
High Commissioner for Refugees is currently assisting
22 million people round the world; Economic and Social
Development take up 80% of the UN's work, designed
to benefit developing countries, helping them improve
their technical capabilities and increasingly to meet
their basic human and social needs. In human rights,
it acts as a watchdog, helped by hundreds of NGOs
who are increasingly becoming active partners of the
UN System.
- All these are done with comparatively small amounts
of money, raised from members through assessed contributions.
For its core functions the UN spends US $1.3 billion
a year, about 4% of the annual budget of New York
City! Tokyo spends US $1.8 billion just to cover the
cost of its fire department. The cost of peace-keeping
in 2002 was US $2.75 billion, less than 0.3% of the
world's military spending. The entire UN Family spends
US $4.8 billion a year for total economic, social
and humanitarian assistance to the world's poorest
countries. This is equivalent of 80 cents per inhabitant
of this planet. By contrast the world's governments
spent about US $797 billion for military purposes
-- or about US $135 per individual. All Members contribute
towards the UN budget. Nine cover more than 75%. They
rank as follows: US $22%; Japan 19.6%; Germany 9.8%;
France 6.5%; Italy 5.1%; the UK 5.1%, Canada 2.6%;
Spain 2.5% and Brazil 2.2%.
- Do we need the UN today, as much as we did in 1945?
For most of the world, the answer will be an unqualified
"yes". When Calamities - man - made or natural
disasters - occur, who would bring massive humanitarian
aid to the victims? Would human rights abuses not
become more flagrant without the world organization
to bear witness, and to condemn them? Could development
aid, as delivered by the UN without political strings
attached, be allowed to disappear? Indeed if the UN
ceased to exist, most peoples in the world would want
it recreated. Its future depends on the citizens of
tomorrow, and that means you.
- And what of the diplomat who works at the UN. It
is extremely important that he or she shares the same
values as this organization. He or she cannot be compared
to the diplomat of the past who used speech only to
conceal thought. In this connection let me conclude
with an amusing story about Talleyrand, the Grand
Old French diplomat of the early 19th Century. The
year was 1830. The month was February. Talleyrand,
old and retire, was receiving guests in his apartment
in Paris. The Second French Revolution was breaking
out. There was fighting in the streets below. Talleyrand
heard the noise. He walked to the window and looked
down. He remarked: "It seems we are winning!".
His visitors asked: "Excellence, but who are
we? "Hush" said Talleyrand: "I shall
tell you tomorrow!"
Thank You.
