672. UN REFORM: A FEW ISSUES TO BE CONSIDERED. (Frederick Spielberg)

[TLDR (too long didn’t read): If you are reading this, chances are you care about HR. This Reader explores ideas about long overdue UN reform needs. For a quick overview, just read the bolded text]. Traducir/traduire los/les Readers; usar/utiliser deepl.com.

1. Pontificating about the need for UN reform has become a cottage industry in the past few years spurred by a growing recognition that the architecture originally created in the wake of World War II may no longer be fit for purpose. Frustrations that well-intentioned colleagues have with the UN these days play against impossibly high odds in the times of entrenched disparities and a casino economy.

2. Some questions arise: Should we seek some consolation in the fact that trying to raise consciousness does occasionally work? Is it enough to get colleagues who claim to be apolitical (and sometimes even opponents) to recognize* that the basic premises of how the international human rights (HR), humanitarian and development system is structured are biased? Where do the humanitarian principles like fairness, neutrality, objectivity, impartiality stand these days at the UN? If they remain on the backburner, why are these explicit UN principles not actually applied?

*: Recognizing is only a step in the right direction, but should not the consolation be for them to go beyond recognizing, i.e., for them to become politicized in the direction of human rights?

[My friend Fred chose here to focus on just a couple of key issues of UN reform, like the UN Security Council and the broad array of UN funds, programs and specialized agencies, since these are the most visible parts of the UN System.  The list of problems and suggestions below is simply a start and ought to be taken with some huge grains of salt]. 

The Security Council  

Established in October 1945, it. I includes five permanent members (USA, Russia, UK, France and China) and ten temporary members, elected on a rotating basis every two years (in a staggered manner, five per year). 

3. 5. Problems:

• Representativity – The world no longer looks like it did 80 years ago, when the winners of WWII could dictate all decisions. The most populous, powerful countries are excluded from a permanent seat (e.g., India, Brazil, Germany, Japan, South Africa, Nigeria, Thailand), especially those in the Global South.
• Member selection to the UNSC – The ten rotating nations selected must receive 2/3 of the vote from the General Assembly, which occasionally results in stalemates, favoritism and exclusions
•  
• Veto power – The veto poses an obstacle to meaningful resolutions (so many of them human rights-related!). The veto is used too often and in a self-interested manner. It has literally and historically paralyzed action on sensitive issues (e.g., Vietnam, the Middle EastPalestine, Hungary, Cuba, Panama, Korea, Ukraine...…).
• Nuclear power club – The five permanent members are considered ‘legitimate’ nuclear powers despite evidence that nearly a dozen other countries have also developed nuclear capabilities.
• Peace-keeping role – The Security Council’s action on international conflicts is frequently a function of strategic political interests of permanent members.
• Human rights-defending role – Because of all of the above, you can conclude yourself whether HR play an important role in Security Council affairs.

46. Suggestions:

• Expand the number of permanent members or create a ‘semi-permanent’ category for certain states.  Alternatively:
• Abolish permanent membership altogether and make all UNSC posts rotational, establishing appropriate geographic and demographic criteria.
• Regularize the rotation of members according to a fixed schedule, without election by the General Assembly. 
• Restrict/abolish the Security Council’s veto power. Allow UNSC members to register objections that are sent for resolution at the General Assembly by vote.
• Declare all nuclear weapons illegitimate.  Establish a schedule for the progressive decommissioning of nuclear arms. Monitor, inspect, and publicly name and shame violators.
• Put more teeth into peace-establishing and peace-keeping missions by clarifying their mandate, terms of engagement, specific objectives, resources and exit strategy –not missing the opportunity to put HR and humanitarian principles center-stage.
• Appoint a high-level HR expert to the staff of the UNSC to warn members of HR issues being overlooked in its resolutions.

Specialized Agencies, Funds and Programs (Under the aegis of the General Assembly)

– The first three agencies created in 1945 were the World Bank, the IMF and the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO).  In the intervening 75 years, scores more have cropped up. Rarely are any agencies ever phased out.

57. Problems:

• Overlapping mandates – Some agencies are sectoral (WHO, FAO, UNIDO, UNEP, UNAIDS), others target a specific group of beneficiaries (UNICEF, UN WOMEN, UNHCR). A dozen agencies deal with health; three handle displaced persons…
• Corruption – Highly publicized allegations of organizational waste and fraud (e.g., Food-for-Oil, UNOPS) are difficult to identify, investigate and prosecute. 
• Abuse and impunity – Abuse by individuals (sexual exploitation; racial, ethnic, or gender discrimination; bullying or harassment) is rarely uncovered and even more rarely punished.  There are simply colossal obstacles to bring about cultural change within UN institutions.
• Biased recruiting – UN recruitment and staffing still favor candidates from industrialized nations. Donor nations have unfair advantages at all levels.
• Donor driven programs – Unequal power of donor nations to define and set details of projects (where agencies will work, what sectors are a priority…) and set administrative guidelines (who is hired, where equipment is purchased…).
• Private sector chokehold – Increasing commandeering of development efforts by private sector entities. Example: public-private partnerships and multistakeholder platforms, not only like GAVI –the Vaccine Alliance (that ostensibly works to extend immunization to poorer developing countries)** — but also the Scaling Up Nutrition (SUN) Initiative,  COVAX and quite a few others.
• Human rights too often relegated to lip service – Every UN agency is bound by the UN Charter to put HR upfront, but too often HR are added-on as a window dressing.

**: “GAVI has been criticized for giving private donors more unilateral power to decide on global health goals, prioritizing new, expensive vaccines while putting less money and effort into expanding coverage of old, cheap ones, harming local healthcare systems, spending too much on subsidies to large, profitable pharmaceutical companies without reducing the prices of some vaccines, and its conflicts of interest in having vaccine manufacturers on its governance board.” (Source:  GAVI – Wikipedia)

68. Suggestions:

• Re-vision and re-mission, as well as rationalize the coverage and efficiency of the several specialized UN agencies, emphasizing sectoral distribution in a logical manner.
• Standardize administrative and contractual arrangements across all agencies, organizations and funds, so that all are governed by the same rules.
• Consolidate and put teeth into the various legal and ethical and HR watchdog initiatives (UN Ethics Office, OIOS, UNHCHR…) to ensure institutional culture change.
• Promote multi-lateral over bi-lateral funding of agencies. Divert private sector funding/donations to a central UN Fund that will allocate the same to programs.
• End the prerogative of certain donor nations to name UN agencies’ directors (e.g., World Bank to the USA; IMF to the EU; UNICEF to the USA…).
• Provide equivalent training opportunities for potential staff from LDCs. Open JPO opportunities to citizens of the Global South keeping them funded by the Global North.*** Provide equivalent training opportunities for potential staff from LDCs.
• Demand that these agencies, funds and programs design and implement actions in the field around HR imperatives. Monitoring and evaluation of the same must include measuring HR impacts.

***: Junior Program Officer. JPO is an introductory entry level for UN officers. Typically, JPO posts are established by a UN agency (WHO, WFP, UNICEF, UNHCR…) at the request of a donor nation which, in return for funding the post, gets to place one of its up-and-coming young stars in that agency. The JPOs overwhelmingly come from the wealthy donor nations. That is why there is an abundance of sharp young professionals from the North always ready to apply for a UN post.

79. Other Miscellaneous Suggestions (in no particular order.)

• Revisit the financing of the UN System, to make the annual member states’ assessments fairer, proportional and more appropriate, ensuring that the economies of the Global North pay a much greater share. 
• Move the General Assembly and the Security Council out of New York City. Subsidize the relocation of headquarters of more funds, programs and agencies to capitals inof the Global South.
• Revisit the UN policy of civil-military collaboration in humanitarian contexts, taking into considerationing the real impact and potential consequences of using military assets of donor nations that have with their own geo-political strategic interests.
• Stop viewing the private sector as the panacea to all the problems of the UN!

Claudio Schuftan, Ho Chi Minh City

Your comments are welcome at schuftan@gmail.com

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