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In depth I  UN reform The establishment of the Human Rights Council Source: Center for UN Reform Education To a certain extent, the issue of the role and mission of the Council, as with the question of membership composition and criteria, reflected the North/South divide. The North opted for retaining confrontational measures, in contrast to the South’s demands for a greater emphasis on dialogue and cooperation in the work of the Council. April 2008 (pdf version).[see more]   print    send   Correct  ADD YOUR COMMENT >> The United States (US) invasion of Iraq in March 2003, which launched a unilateral ‘preventive war’, deepened the unresolved crisis regarding the relevance of the United Nations (UN) in the 21st century international arena. The crisis was aggravated seven months later when the UN Security Council approved Resolution 1511 which accepted the occupation and acknowledged the US full powers to rebuild Iraq. An Ambassador to the UN ended up stating that such declaration had been ‘the suicide of the Security Council’, because by ‘recognizing that the US can invade a country and manage to obtain the support of the international community, it has declared de UN to be irrelevant’. His statement partly agreed with that of Anne-Marie Slaughter, expert on international law at Princeton University: ‘Iraq has been of use to show that the UN has either to change or fall into irrelevance’. The need to reform the UN had already been raised by the Secretary General himself, Kofi Annan. The ‘Millennium General Assembly’, held in September 2000, approved a ‘Millennium Declaration’ which also included the topic of the ‘United Nations Reform’. The following requirements are put forward, among others, throughout the eleven sections of article VIII of such Declaration: to further strengthen the Economic and Social Council (ECOSOC) and the International Court of Justice; to improve better cooperation between the United Nations, its agencies and other multilateral bodies; and to further strengthen cooperation with national parliaments through the Inter-Parliamentary Union. There is also a demand to give greater opportunities to contribute to civil society, to ensure a timely and predictable provision of resources to the United Nations and to urge the Secretariat to make good use of those resources by concentrating on the priorities of Member States and by adopting the best management practices. The UN needs reforms such as reduction in bureaucracy and in the number of very well-paid positions of doubtful benefit, elimination of duplication of departments, improvement of the organization and celerity of peacekeeping missions. An important step in the reform process took place on 15 March 2006 when an overwhelming majority in the General Assembly approved the creation of a Human Rights Council, in place of the much criticised and flawed Human Rights Commission (see further information). But the UN renovation implies, above all, to reform the Security Council, its powers, composition and the right of veto of permanent member states. The last time the Security Council structure was reformed was 40 years ago. With regards to important aspects, for example the group of five permanent members, it dates back even to the post-war order defined in 1945. The UN had 50 members then instead of the nearly 200 it counts nowadays. At the present time, neither the big regions from the Southern Hemisphere nor important industrialized countries are permanent members of the Security Council. In this way, the Security Council is progressively less representative and lacks legitimacy. After the events in and around Iraq, Kofi Annan re-launched the debate on the reform and established a panel of 16 eminent personalities, to which he assigned the task of advising him on specific recommendations to be presented before the 2005 General Assembly, when the organization commemorated its 60th anniversary. Among these recommendations not only is the question of how the United Nations should collectively react to the new threats but also the new basic legitimacy of the main United Nations’ bodies, being the Security Council among them. Kofi Annan has described this next stage as a ‘crossroads’; a moment that is of the same importance for the UN as its founding back in 1945. Based on the book For a strong and democratic United Nations: A South perspective on UN reform, by South Centre Versión en español share:   print    send   correct  ADD YOUR COMMENT >>  Official information  Southern perspectives  Northern perspectives  Civil society involvement  Gender  Security Council reform  Human Rights at the UN  Peace operations: the UN and international conflicts  Reform of the General Assembly  Reform of the ECOSOC   News Up-to-date current affairs information. Fri Aug 24 2007 The UN Human Rights Council a year later Fuente: AWID Thu Mar 29 2007 Joint G77-NAM letter on UN 'coherence' sent to UN S-G Fuente: SUNS In-depth reports Detailed reports on key issues The UN reform... and what about women? It would seem that is not only necessary to incorporate the discussion into the High-Level Panel but also that many more things should be changed to be able to talk about equity. Corporate accountability How big business handle big issues like human rights and sustainable development. International Criminal Court The globalization of justice strengthens, despite US efforts to undermine it. Iraq: the war and occupation An in-depth report with special emphasis on information from alternative media and civil society opinion and analysis. Millennium Development Goals - MDGs A comprehensive list of resources from the United Nations and civil society organizations. Campaigns NGO-organised actions Act for special procedures: a global petition Ensure more transparent and democratic working methods on the Security Council      Official information The present reform process of the United Nations was started in 1992 by Secretary General Boutros Boutros-Ghali, giving rise to a series of changes that have already been carried out and others that have not been processed yet. The reform was sought to preserve the balance between the different UN bodies in order to achieve common goals, such as the preservation of international peace and security, promotion of economic and social development, disarmament and the respect for human rights, among other things. Besides, it sought to consolidate and simplify the activities of the Organization by clearly defining the functions of each office or agency within the UN System. United Nations Official website in English. UN Reform Site at the UN Links to information on official reform proposals, including proposals by the Secretary General and intergovernmental proposals. Renewing the United Nations: a programme for reform The measures and proposals set out in this report –dated in 1997- encompass the reform programme undertaken by the Secretary-General during his first six months in office. It constitutes an extensive and far-reaching set of changes that will move the Organization firmly along the road to major and fundamental reform designed to achieve greater unity of purpose, coherence of effort and flexibility in response. (pdf format) We the Peoples: the Role of the UN in the 21st Century The Secretary General's Millennium report with his comments and suggestions for the role of the UN in the 21st century. (April 3, 2000) UN reform dossier: 1997 – 2002 Source: UN Office Information Centre in Uzbekistan More than the sum of its parts, the reform effort is credited with bringing about a culture of greater openness, coherence, innovation and confidence within the world body. It provides a significant re-shaping of the United Nations Organization to respond to the challenge of maintaining and improving multilateralism in the twenty first century. Strengthening of the United Nations: an agenda for further change Source: United Nations The present report suggests a number of improvements aimed at ensuring that the Organization devotes its attention to the priorities fixed by the Member States, and that the Secretariat gives better service. However, the intergovernmental organs must also change. The General Assembly and the Economic and Social Council both need to adapt in order to realize their potential, while the stalled process of Security Council reform needs new impetus. The work programme of the Organization as a whole should be better focused, with fewer but more productive meetings and fewer but more useful documents. September 2002 (pdf version). Report of the High Level Panel on Threats, Challenges and Change Source: UN In September 2003 Secretary General Kofi Annan announced to the General Assembly his appointment of a High Level Panel on Threats, Challenges and Change to make recommendations towards the reform of the UN. Suggestions on taking action against terrorist threats ominously echo the US doctrine of pre-emptive strikes, but a strike would require Security Council approval. December 2, 2004. (pdf document) In Larger Freedom: towards development, security and human rights for all Source: United Nations Kofi Annan Calling for action, not more words, to fulfil pledges already made, Secretary-General Kofi Annan on 21 March laid before the General Assembly his plan for United Nations reform, ranging from greater investment in developing countries to steps to fight catastrophic terrorism and collective action against genocide and ethnic cleansing. Investing in the United Nations: for a stronger organization worldwide Source: United Nations Kofi Annan Secretary-General Kofi Annan presented to Member States his proposals for a fundamental overhaul of the United Nations Secretariat in March 2006. He states that the organization's rules, systems and culture need significant retooling and investment if the UN is to fulfill growing expectations and demands placed on it by the international community. March 2006 (pdf version). Delivering as One Ten ways for the U.N. to "deliver as one". Recommendations in brief from the Secretary-General’s High-level Panel on U.N. system-wide coherence in the areas of Development, Humanitarian Assistance and he Environment. 9 November 2006 (pdf format). Recommendations contained in the report of the High-level Panel on United Nations System-wide Coherence Source: UN-NGLS Ban Ki-moon, UN's Secretary-General The UN Secretary-General recently released his report, "Recommendations contained in the report of the High-level Panel on United Nations System-wide Coherence in the areas of development, humanitarian assistance and the environment" and submitted it to the General Assembly. He formally presented the report in a plenary meeting of the General Assembly on Monday, 16 April 2007. Pdf version. Follow up to the High-level Panel’s Report on UN System-wide Coherence This online focus page is intended to provide an overview of the follow-up to the High-level Panel’s Report on System-wide Coherence. Here you can find information about the Secretary-General’s follow-up to the report, information about the report itself and what non-governmental actors are saying about the report. Since the release of the High-level Panel’s report, NGLS has organized - or co-organized - several events bringing governmental and non-govermental actors together to discuss the report’s reccomendations and follow-up.    Southern perspectives The different reform proposals and the political controversy they entail regarding the debates on the UN reform, reflect different views and expectations as well as different evaluations of the nature of the problems faced by the Organization. These different perceptions are rooted in the power disparities, the differences as to levels of development and political points of view of the large number of members regarding world problems. The broad opinion groups that can be identified in connection to the UN reform have tended to take two sides on the debate: north and south. There is strong controversy since those proposals related to the UN reform also take part in the struggle for influence and control over the Organization. Renewing the United Nations: a programme for reform Source: South Centre A policy brief prepared by the South Centre at the request of the Group of 77. The United Nations at the cross-roads Source: Third World Network Chakravarthi Raghavan The United Nations is at a cross-roads and 'under siege' and fundamental issues need to be tackled, needing some major reforms, says the South Centre in a policy paper on the future of the United Nations. It is time to reform the United Nations Source: Arab News Dr. Mariam Al-Oraifi The UN has failed the world, and its mission has been taken over by the United States because the UN did not have the necessary tools to enforce its resolutions. Dr. Mariam Al-Oraifi is a Saudi academic. She is based in Riyadh. Shake, rattle and roll: Chavez sees UN as dying body Source: Terraviva "This is over. This document, the manner in which it was conceived, its contents, how they are eroding the modest goals of the Millennium, all this shows that at 60, the United Nations system is suffering from terminal cancer," said Venezuela's president, Hugo Chávez at the UN World Summit. 16 September 2005. Coherence Panel proposes major changes in UN system Source: SUNS Martin Khor Major changes in the way the United Nations system works in development, environment and humanitarian affairs have been proposed by the high-level panel on UN coherence in a report launched on 9 November at the UN secretariat in New York. The panel proposes sweeping reforms of the UN's activities at country level, as the UN system is envisaged to move towards "one UN" (in terms of office, chief representative, funding and programme). The panel also suggests the establishment of new institutions and mechanisms at UN headquarters level. November 2006.    Northern perspectives At one end of the spectrum of opinions on the north side are those who regard the UN as the product of an internationalist world-view, which would be a sufficient reason to condemn the organization. They consider the UN as an unnecessary, even undesirable institution, which represents a political and financial burden. Being strongly hostile towards the UN, they suggest it is high time to close down part of it, or at least to carry out a revision in order to better reflect the new post-war realities. The supporters of this trend are, basically, in the United States. Others in the north show a better attitude towards the idea of a reform of the United Nations as a means to make it more effective. This moderate trend is mostly expressed through independent reports that propose clear reform guided solutions which, from their point of view, would internally strengthen and revitalize the UN and the way it establishes relationships with the Bretton Woods institutions and the World Trade Organization. Center for UN Reform Education The mission of the Center for UN Reform Education is to encourage, generate and sustain a serious public discussion of various specific proposals to reform and restructure the United Nations System, all with a view toward improving the effectiveness of that System. Between politics and efficiency: United Nations reform and conflict of interests Source: The Ecumenical Review Joachim Muller Discussion about the need for reform of the United Nations is certainly not new, nor is it confined to eliminating the countless shortcomings of the organization in the realm of work procedures, efficiency and cost. Various reform initiatives in the past have always been marked by deep-seated conflicts of interest among member states and have thus usually led to relatively insignificant changes to the bureaucracy. But reforms are now being attempted in all areas of the organization's work. July 1995. U.S. views on reform measures necessary for strengthening the United Nations System Source: US State Department A presentation to the Open-Ended High-Level Working Group on the Strengthening of the United Nations System, February 1996. Released by the Bureau of International Organization Affairs, February 20, 1996. Can the United Nations reform? Source: World Policy Journal Stephen Schlesinger “The United Nations faces serious problems: it has a hide-bound organizational edifice in which, for example, there are overlapping agencies for development and humanitarian assistance; a patronage system that allows member states to appoint supporters and hence encourages incompetence and waste; inadequate financial discipline; and an often indistinct vision. Its record of past successes, such as ending apartheid in South Africa, moderating the nuclear arms race, instituting democracy in El Salvador and Haiti, and bringing peace to Guatemala and Angola, has been tarnished by such persistent bureaucratic and political defects. Indeed, the organization's vexing and long-running fiscal and political crises have for the first time raised questions about its ability to survive into the next millennium.” Stephen Schlesinger is director of the World Policy Institute at the New School for Social Research and acting publisher of the World Policy Journal. He wrote this article in 1997, while working in a book on the 1945 San Francisco Conference that founded the United Nations. Recommendation 1367 (1998) of the Council of Europe’s Parliamentary Assembly The Assembly supports the package of structural reforms presented by the Secretary General in July 1997, and the subsequent related resolutions of the General Assembly. It considers that these measures, which are largely already being implemented, constitute a solid basis for an improved management structure and a more effective use of available resources. Looking for the Sheriff Source: Global Policy Forum Brian Urquhart Since the birth of the League of Nations in 1919, a residual isolationism in the United States has periodically inhibited the struggle to build even a minimally effective world organization. New York Review of Books. July 16, 1998. Reform initiatives have strengthened operations, but overall objectives have not yet been achieved Source: United States General Accounting Office The Chairmen of the Senate Committee on Foreign Relations and of its Subcommittee on International Operations asked GAO to assess the status and impact of the U.N. reform program. Specifically, GAO assessed whether the United Nations had put into place the three core elements of its reform program and whether U.N. management and performance were improving as intended. May 2000 (pdf version). Reform the United Nations Source: The Heritage Foundation Nile Gardiner and Baker Spring “President George W. Bush's major address to the United Nations General Assembly in New York on September 23, 2003, was a powerful wake-up call for an organization that is in danger of becoming an outdated irrelevance on the world stage. At the dawn of the 21st century, the United Nations looks more like a glorified debating society than a serious global body designed to confront the world's growing threats and problems.” Nile Gardiner, Ph.D., is Jay Kingham Fellow in International Regulatory Affairs in the Center for International Trade and Economics, and Baker Spring is F. M. Kirby Research Fellow in National Security Policy in the Kathryn and Shelby Cullom Davis Institute for International Studies, at The Heritage Foundation. Reforming the United Nations: lessons from a history in progress Source: International Relations Studies and the United Nations Occasional Papers Edward C. Luck Through the years, scores of independent commissions, governmental studies, and individual scholars have put forward literally hundreds of proposals aimed at making the world body work better, decide more fairly, modify its mandate, or operate more efficiently. Not to be left behind by the reform bandwagon, successive Secretaries-General and units of the Secretariat have engaged in frequent, if episodic, bouts of self-examination and self-criticism, offering their own reform agendas (pdf version, 2003). United Nations Reform and Article 109 Source: Foreign Policy Associations Pat Orvis Article 109 of the U.N. Charter required that a general conference "for the purpose of reviewing the present Charter" be held within the world body's first 10 years. If such a conference was not held before the 1955 annual autumn session of the U.N. General Assembly, the Charter stated, a proposal to call such a conference would automatically take its place on the agenda of that year's 10th session of the General Assembly, where every member country gets an equal vote. Pat Orvis has been covering the United Nations as a resident correspondent since 1982. United Nations reform: reshaping the world Source: Free World Academy “We cannot go on any more with the UN which is more and more a machine against Freedom. A reform is impossible, and considering the war on terrorism, democracies have to establish a new organization.” US retreating from UN system Source: Institute for Agriculture and Trade Policy Despite the fact that the United States was one of the driving forces behind establishing the United Nations in 1945 and initiated many of the multilateral treaties that have encouraged cooperation on our planet, there has been a steady decline in the U.S. government’s support of the UN and the agreements it helped establish. "The Treaty Database - A Monitor of U.S. participation in Global Affairs" is a report from the Global Cooperation Project of the Institute for Agriculture and Trade Policy. September 2004 (pdf version). A U.N. that Lives up to its Founding Principles: The U.S. Agenda at the U.N. General Assembly Source: Embassy of the United States of America in South Africa Mark P. Lagon The US State Department has released the full text of a speech by Mark Lagon, Deputy Assistant Secretary for International Organization Affairs, made at the conservative Hudson Institute on September 13, 2004. Reform or die: the United Nations as second superpower Source: Open Democracy Phyllis Bennis The United Nations desperately needs reform. The power relations of the global organisation’s structure - particularly the undemocratic Security Council - cry out for transformation. Yet the most powerful member-states determinedly resist any prospect of reduced authority; the desire of the second world war victors to orchestrate the post-war world, however anachronistic, is undiminished. December 2004. A democratic United Nations? Source: Open Democracy Ian Williams The months before the "Millennium +5" Summit presented Secretary-General Kofi Annan with a rare opportunity to persuade world leaders to treat the organisation as more than just an annual opportunity to grandstand in front of the TV cameras. His March 2005 reform package -"In Larger Freedom: towards development, security and human rights for all"– was designed to persuade them to live up to their promises, and the UN talked it up accordingly. Sept. 19, 2005. Summit asymmetry: the United States and UN reform Source: Global Policy Jeffrey Laurenti The US approached the World Summit with diffidence because the Summit sought to strengthen the UN's future capacity. Washington was not concerned with the UN’s “structural deficiencies” but rather with allegations of corruption in the oil-for-food programme. The author suggests that the US does not want the UN strengthened and it wants any reform to be only on their terms. The US would rather “de-fang the beast, not give it more bite.” (International Spectator). December 2005 (pdf version). UN reform for the rest of us: an agenda for grassroots accountability Source: Foreign Policy In Focus Michael Kagan What the UN needs most is an administrative justice system open to people directly affected by UN policies. In the long run, the UN should have a unified tribunal system with a high court at the top that can issue binding rulings, but it could start with judicial oversight of UN entities that wield power over vulnerable individuals. April 2006. Concern for U.N. 'reform' often stops short of enforcing resolutions Source: Third World Network Features Ian Williams There is no doubt that the United Nations could benefit from some serious reforms – but one of the major ones would be an exclusion of the influence of individual member states other than when expressed in collective decisions by bodies like the General Assembly and the Security Council. June 2006. United Nations essential to world peace and security Source: Seattle Post-Intelligencer Richard B. Blakney and James Maynard The strength of the U.N. is that it includes everyone within a common tent. Without the all-encompassing infrastructure, capability for effective international discourse would be crippled. The U.N. is essential to world peace and security. We should be building it up, not tearing it down. August 2006. The Coherence Panel's mixed bag of proposals: will it make a difference in development? Source: Global Policy Forum - World Economy & Development Thomas Fues This World Economy and Development piece calls the UN High-Level Panel on System-Wide Coherence's November 2006 report a "hybrid of innovation and status quo," with few proposals likely to elicit North-South support. Moreover, the author argues that the UN member states - rich and poor alike - have played a "pivotal" role in the organization's "shortcomings" in development. He concludes that the UN cannot make progress as long as donor nations try to push their own agendas while others remain strongly resistant to any form of change. November 2006 (pdf version). UN reform: progress, prospects and priorities Source: Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars David Birenbaum There is no mistaking the reasons: the concerted opposition of most developing countries, constituting the overwhelming majority of UN member states, acting under the banner of the Group of 77 plus China, has stalled and frustrated many of the most significant management reforms. These countries, democracies as well as authoritarian regimes, have come to believe the United States and its rich and powerful partners are pressing a hidden agenda of consolidating their control over the United Nations under the banner of reform. So long as this attitude prevails, it will be difficult to find a path to approval by the General Assembly of reforms to an institution widely agreed to be in urgent need of a makeover to meet the immense challenges of the 21st century. October 2007 (pdf version).    Civil society involvement In the report to the General Assembly entitled ‘Strengthening the United Nations: an agenda for further change’, the UN Secretary General Kofi Annan expressed his desire to establish a High-Level Panel of Eminent Personalities in order to examine the relationship between the United Nations and civil society. The General Assembly, in its resolution 57/300 of December 20th, 2002, approved this initiative and the High-Level Panel was established in February of the following year, headed by the former Brazilian President Fernando Henrique Cardoso. The report of the High-Level Panel was released on 21 June 2004, to which Mr. Annan responded in his report in September 2004. The subject was debated in the General Assembly from 4-5 October 2004. United Nations Non-Governmental Liaison Service (NGLS) NGLS is a small inter-agency programme, established in Geneva and New York in 1975 and 1976 respectively, with the aim of strengthening UN-NGO dialogue and cooperation in the fields of development education, information and policy advocacy on global sustainable development issues. In October 2004, NGLS launched a new section of its website to provide up-to-date information on UN reform with a special focus on UN – Civil Society Relations. The new section also showcases background information on the reform process, including reports issued by the Secretary-General and the Secretary-General's Panel of Eminent Persons on UN Civil Society Relations, statements by Member States, perspectives from the NGO community, background papers and more. We the peoples: civil society, the United Nations and global governance Source: UN-NGLS Report of the Panel of Eminent Persons on United Nations–Civil Society Relations, that was launched on 21 June 2004 by the Chairman of the Panel, former Brazilian President Fernando Henrique Cardoso. The Panel believes that “constructively engaging with civil society is a necessity for the United Nations, not an option” (doc version). Third World Network comment on the Cardoso Report Source: Global Policy Forum This report concludes that the Cardoso Report is seriously flawed and, if implemented, would not improve UN-NGO relations. The report raises questions about the “partnership” and “multi-constituency” models offered by the report and it urges a more fundamental critique of global institutions and power relations (pdf version). Treaty Body Reform following the UN Secretary-General’s proposals Source: IWRAW Asia Pacific The current process of reform has focused on matters of form and procedure as well as on “capacity building”. According to this paper, NGOs believe that, to truly enhance the system, reform should also address underlying problems such as: the difficulties faced by the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) in processing reports and ensuring appropriate follow-up, because of inadequate resources; the methodology used in the consideration of reports by treaty bodies; the lack of political will that determines non-reporting by certain States parties; and the insufficient independence and/or expertise of some treaty body members. World Federation of United Nations Associations At the core of the policy and institutional reforms endorsed in the Millennium Declaration is a commitment to ensuring that the United Nations serves the needs and hopes of people everywhere – giving new life to the opening words of the UN Charter – “We the Peoples”. Through this Declaration, the United Nations has made “putting people at the center of everything we do” its guiding motto for the 21st Century. Citizens for Global Solutions From Wall Street to Main Street, Americans are, often for the very first time, paying attention to the role of the United States and the United Nations in the world. This public inspection has opened a window of opportunity for American internationalists across the political spectrum – from progressives to conservatives –to affirm a new American vision of international institutions and laws. The United Nations and Civil Society: the role of NGOs Report of the Thirtieth United Nations Issues Conference sponsored by The Stanley Foundation. February 19-21, 1999 (pdf version). Friedrich Ebert Stitfung FES-NY actively contributes to international debate over the future role of the major UN bodies through the aid of conferences, high-level consultations and publications. Secretary General's Report on the Proposals of the High Level Panel on Civil Society Source: United Nations Kofi Annan This report has been prepared in response to the report of the Panel of Eminent Persons on United Nations--Civil Society Relations (Cardoso Report). It offers comments and recommendations from the perspective of the UN Secretariat and is expected to be presented to the General Assembly in early October. Building on the Panel's proposals, this report makes a number of concrete suggestions and actions in connection with strengthening the participation of NGOs in UN intergovernmental bodies, the accreditation process, improving involvement of NGOs from developing countries and enhancing the UN's own institutional capacity for NGO engagement (pdf version). Towards a consensus in shaping the future of United Nations - NGO relations Source: Global Policy Forum On 16 September 2004, the UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan released his response to the Cardoso Panel report “We the Peoples: Civil Society, the United Nations and Global Governance”. A few days later, an NGO paper in response to the Secretary General's recommendations on the High Level Panel on UN-Civil Society Relations has been produced. The paper addresses some misunderstandings and concerns of governments and NGOs related to the Panel's report. "The UN is the only way out that we have" Source: IPS TerraViva Adalberto Wodianer Marcondes Flavio Lotti, a representative of the Italian NGO Tavola della Pace, has been working since 1987 for the restructuring of the United Nations. The aim is to make the UN more democratic and less dependent on the agenda of rich countries, particularly the United States. January 2005. United Nations Watch United Nations Watch is a non-governmental organization based in Geneva whose mandate is to monitor the performance of the United Nations by the yardstick of its own Charter. UN Watch was established in 1993 under the Chairmanship of Ambassador Morris B. Abram, the former U.S. Permanent Representative to the United Nations in Geneva. UN Watch participates actively as an accredited NGO in Special Consultative Status with the UN Economic and Social Council. Reform the UN This web site -a project started by the World Federalist Movement - Institute for Global Policy (WFM-IGP)- provides up-to-date information about UN reform in 2005: its background, Member States' positions, reactions from parliamentarians, and civil society responses. For a democratic, transparent and effective selection process for the UN Secretary-General Source: UNSGselection.org Historically, the selection process of the UN Secretary-General has been almost exclusively conducted behind closed doors by the five permanent members of the Security Council: Russia, China, the USA, UK and France. Thus, in choosing the highest international official, there has been no formal and transparent process, timeline, candidate criteria, or background check. UNSGselection, a new initiative of The World Federalist Movement – Institute for Global Policy, is a global campaign calling for a democratic, transparent and effective selection process for the UN Secretary-General. February 2006. NGO Letter on NGO participation at the United Nations Source: Global Policy Forum NGOs contribute valuable information and ideas, advocate effectively for positive change, provide essential operational capacity in emergencies and development efforts, and generally increase the accountability and legitimacy of the global governance process. The United Nations must strengthen and deepen its relations with NGOs in order to create a stronger, more effective and more legitimate organization. Submission to the President of the General Assembly by: Eurostep, Friedrich Ebert Stiftung, Global Policy Forum, North-South Institute, Social Watch, Third World Institute, WEDO, World Federalist Movement- Institute for Global Policy. March 2006. A civil society response to the report of the UN High-Level Panel on System-Wide Coherence Source: UN-NGLS "We approach the Report of the High Level Panel on UN System-Wide Coherence (Panel's Report) and the process of UN reform of which it is part and parcel as civil society groups with a long experience in carrying out advocacy towards reform of the UN system. In this intervention, as in previous ones, we seek to ensure that some values and principles remain at the centre of the processes of institutional reform." April 2007 (pdf version). The Year in Review 2006 Source: NGLS The Year in Review 2006, published by the UN Non-Governmental Liaison Service (NGLS), gives a snapshot picture of civil society engagement in the policy and normative work of the UN and reviews the various consultations, forums, policy dialogues, hearings, CSO advisory committees, that have taken place throughout the year 2006. The Year in Review 2006 is available on line in English, pdf format. April 2007.    Gender The UN reform... and women? Source: Choike On February 16 2006, the United Nations announced the appointment of a new High-level Panel on UN System-wide Coherence in the areas of development, humanitarian assistance and the environment. Crosscutting gender and women's rights issues had not been included among the Panel's responsibilities until national and international women groups lobbied Kofi Annan. It seems that not only is it necessary to incorporate the discussion into the High-Level Panel but also that many more things should be changed to be able to talk about equity. March 2007.    Security Council reform The Security Council today still reflects the global power structure of 1945, though its membership has been expanded from 11 to 15 in 1965. The five World War II victors (China, France, Russia, United Kingdom, and United States) have held on to their privileged status - they are "permanent" and can each veto any Council decision. This arrangement makes the Council both undemocratic and often ineffective. The few powerful members dominate UN policy and frequently veto widely accepted decisions in order to further their own interests. Despite the geographical representation of the ten elected members, the Security Council remains imbalanced in favor of the industrialized North. Security Council The Security Council has primary responsibility, under the Charter, for the maintenance of international peace and security. It is so organized as to be able to function continuously, and a representative of each of its members must be present at all times at United Nations Headquarters. Five powerful countries sit as "permanent members" (China, United States, Russia, France and the United Kingdom) along with ten other member states, elected for two-year terms. Since 1990, the Council has dramatically increased its activity and it now meets in nearly continuous session. It dispatches military operations, imposes economic sanctions, mandates arms inspections, deploys human rights and election monitors and more. Security Council Reform Source: Global Policy Forum Though many states favor reform of the Council, change in this conservative body moves very slowly. The five permanent members prefer a status quo that favors them, with only cosmetic changes. In 1965, Council membership expended from 11 to 15 members, but few find the body representative or accountable. This section assembles extensive information about Council reform, adressing issues on transparency, expansion, and voting methods. Razali Reform Paper Source: Global Policy Forum Paper by the Chairman of the Open-Ended Working Group on the Question of Equitable Representation on and Increase in the Membership of the Security Council and Other Matters Related to the Security Council. Razali Ismail - United Nations General Assembly President and Malaysia's Foreign Minister in 1997- consulted with 165 of the UN's 185 members and made a proposal for UNSC expansion on March 20, 1997. His plan would increase the number of UNSC members, permanent and non-permanent, from 15 to 24. UN Security Council Reform: a challenge for the South Source: Institute for Global Dialogue Shannon L. Field There is currently a consensus among the developing countries that the structure of the Security Council is anachronistic and unreflective of the current realities of the post-cold war world. Developing countries now make up more than two-thirds of the total UN membership, but are grossly underrepresented on the Security Council. This can be explained by the fact that many did not exist as sovereign independent states at the time the organisation was founded. The roller coaster of relevance: the Security Council, Europe and the U.S. war in Iraq Source: Transnational Institute Phyllis Bennis When the UN Security Council, led by two of its three key European members, stood defiant against Washington's drive towards war from September 2002 to May 2003, President George Bush failed to win international legitimacy for the Iraq invasion. The Bush administration spurned the global body as "irrelevant." But throughout those eight months the Council, and the UN as a whole, commanded more importance, more influence and ultimately more relevance than perhaps ever in their history. The United Nations and 21st Century Security Source: The Stanley Foundation The United Nations and 21st Century Security is a Stanley Foundation initiative aimed at helping the United Nations create a sustainable international security system in the new century, including support for the work of UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan's High-Level Panel on Threats, Challenges, and Change. Reforming the United Nations Security Council: will its time ever come? Source: UNA-USA Jeffrey Laurenti Jeffrey Laurenti is executive director of policy studies at the United Nations Association of the United States of America (UNA-USA). He presented this paper in his personal capacity at a symposium in Tokyo on March 17, 2003, on "What is expected of United Nations diplomacy now?—Seeking peace and prosperity in the 21st century," sponsored by the United Nations University and the Japanese Foreign Ministry, as part of a panel on “The U.N. Security Council and Japan.” Africa and the UN Security Council permanent seats Source: Pambazuka Wafula Okumu While UN member states discuss adding new permanent seats to the Security Council, African states disagree on which countries should represent the continent as new permanent members. Various factors such as troop contribution records to UN peacekeeping missions, democratic values, African representation, financial contributions to the UN and financial capability will determine the likelihood of obtaining a seat. April 2005. Theses towards a democratic reform of the UN Security Council Source: Global Policy James Paul and Céline Nahory As the debate is now in full swing in the General Assembly, Global Policy Forum has just published a paper on Security Council reform, in which James Paul and Celine Nahory argue that adding more permanent members to the Security Council would enlarge a discredited oligarchy rather than build for a democratic future. They also oppose the addition of elected members, arguing that an expanded Council would be too large to function effectively and not substantially more representative. Instead, they propose a process of stronger regional representation as a future-oriented approach that can develop in stages and without the headache of Charter change. July 13, 2005. Report of the Facilitators for Security Council Reform to the General Assembly Source: Global Policy Forum The ambassadors of Tunisia, Cyprus, Croatia, Chile and the Netherlands facilitated a UN General Assembly report on Security Council reform. The report proposes temporarily expanding Security Council membership as part of a transitional approach to reform. Making available more Security Council seats would increase countries' chances of achieving Security Council membership. April 2007 (pdf version). Security Council transparency, legitimacy, and effectiveness Source: Security Council Report For more than a decade, the working methods of the United Nations Security Council have been the topic of much discussion within and outside the Council. This reflects concerns about a number of aspects of Council practice and procedure. Essentially most of these concerns are related to four key areas: transparency, participation, accountability, and efficiency. This Special Research Report looks back over the period from 1993 to the present and describes many of the efforts made to address these key issues. It is not an exhaustive history. The focus is more on issues and reforms to Council working methods which have ongoing relevance. October 2007. Security Council reform: a transitional approach Source: UN Chronicle Ghislain Ondias Okouma Most Member States agree on expanding the membership of the Council, but they are sharply divided on the category in which the increase should take place and by how many. During a plenary meeting of the General Assembly, the current president, Srgjan Kerim, reiterated the importance and complexity inherent to the reform process, which world leaders had stressed during the 2005 World Summit. During a press conference on 15 June 2007, Mr. Kerim supported the view that the Security Council should be more representative, more efficient and transparent in order to strengthen the legitimacy of its decisions. December 2007.    Human Rights at the UN The 15 March 2006, with 170 votes in favour, 4 against and 3 abstentions, the General Assembly approved the creation of a Human Rights Council, in place of the much criticised and flawed Human Rights Commission, whose members included States which violated these rights. Unlike the Commission, which ceased to function at the close of its 62nd session, the Council will meet more often (at least 3 times a year) and will be able to convene special sessions more easily, allowing it to react more effectively in urgent crises as well as ongoing situations; members of the Council must be voted individually by at least 96 individual votes of the 191 member States; and those members which commit grave and systematic human rights violations can be removed from the Council by a two thirds majority of the General Assembly. 2005 UN Commission on Human Rights: Joint statement on UN Reform Source: Amnesty International Amnesty International, Association for the Prevention of Torture, Baha'i International, Centre on Housing Rights and Evictions, Colombian Commission of Jurists, Franciscans International, Human Rights Watch, International Commission of Jurists, International Service for Human Rights, Lutheran World Federation, Organisation Mondiale Contre la Torture, Quaker UN Office and Rights Australia welcome the strong reaffirmation in the Secretary-General's report "In larger freedom", that human rights and the rule of law are integral components of the "vital and achievable" reform goals for the Millennium summit in September 2005. April 2005. UN reform must strengthen and enhance existing mechanisms of protection of human rights Source: International Federation for Human Rights (FIDH) The reform process of United Nations mechanisms for the protection of human rights, launched by the Secretary General, is on the way. Several documents: the Secretary General’s report, In Larger Freedom, the High Commissioner for Human Rights’ The OHCHR Plan of Action: Protection and Empowerment, and, Mr. Jean Ping’s Draft Outcome Document for the High Level Plenary Meeting of the General Assembly of September 2005, have started to give shape to the reform process. While numerous aspects remain unclear and are not unanimously approved, it appears that the basic principles are being agreed upon. July 2005. Who deserves a seat on new Human Rights Council? Source: IPS Thalif Deen When the US, one of the self-declared champions of human rights, ran for a seat in the 53-member U.N. Human Rights Commission back in May 2001, it suffered a humiliating defeat and was ousted from the panel for the first time since its creation in 1947. Now the United States is spearheading a campaign to disband the commission and replace it with a new Human Rights Council to be elected directly by the 191-member General Assembly by a two-thirds majority. September 2005. Human rights CSOs call for more engagement on Human Rights Council negotiations Source: Democracy Coalition Project Members of the Campaign for a UN Democracy Caucus signed a letter urging the Convening Group of the Community of Democracies to lead the Democracy Caucus to work actively in the negotiations for a strong and effective Human Rights Council. (PDF document). Draft resolution by the President of the General Assembly Source: United Nations Jan Eliasson This draft proposal "decides to establish a Human Rights Council, based in Geneva, in replacement of the Commission on Human Rights, as a subsidiary organ of the General Assembly". The draft has been supported by Nobel prize winners Jimmy Carter, Oscar Arias, Kim dae Jung, Shirin Ebadi, and Desmond Tutu. March 2006 (pdf version). Human Rights: A needed UN reform Source: Global Policy Forum Mary Robinson Mary Robinson, former UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, argues that the Human Rights Commission draft resolution contains many positive aspects. She includes how candidates must be elected by an absolute majority of the general assembly, with abstentions counting as negative votes. In practice this procedure could set a "higher standard than the two-thirds majority test initially proposed." She also argues that drafting marks only the beginning and people must ask what governments will do after the vote to make the Council effective. (International Herald Tribune) March 2006. The Human Rights Council: a chance or a threat for NGO participation? Source: Global Policy Forum - CONGO NGOs welcomed the creation of the Human Rights Council but now fear that a failure by the new body to recognize the long fought-for "rights and privileges [they] acquired at the Commission" could potentially weaken NGO participation. In this article, the Conference of NGOs (CONGO) expresses hope that the newly created Council will retain active NGO involvement in its work. March 2006. Human Rights Council: time to make the UN matter to human rights victims Source: Forum-Asia Human rights groups struggle to increase their involvement with the Geneva-based UN Human Rights Council (HRC) and ensure that HRC decisions translate into action in their respective home countries. A coalition of Asian NGOs made recommendations for strengthening international human rights so that victims can receive compensation despite "faulty" domestic processes. September 2006 (pdf version). UN Human Rights Council: a step forward or a step back? Source: Isis Women The UN Human Rights Council was established in 2006 to replace the widely discredited Human Rights Commission. Through the reforms it intends to adopt, the Council aims to better promote and protect human rights around the world. But a year after its existence, activists are saying that the Council has acquired the same flaws that its predecessor had. June 2007. The establishment of the Human Rights Council Source: Center for UN Reform Education Nana Yeboah The UN Human Rights Council, established in March 2006, will investigate the human rights record of all member states every four years through the Universal Periodic Review (UPR). This inter-state mechanism only allows country representatives to question each other. Several NGOs feel that this prevents them from participating actively in the review process. UN officials disagree with this criticism, arguing that NGOs can contribute to the process by providing recommendations as part of country's delegations. April 2008 (pdf version).    Peace operations: the UN and international conflicts The United Nations was founded, as it is declared in the Charter, to ‘save succeeding generations from the scourge of war’. Such is the most important function of the Organization and, to a considerable extent, the criterion by which it is judged by the peoples it is at the service of. In repeated occasions, the United Nations has failed to rise to this challenge. United Nations Peacekeeping Operations Report of the Panel on United Nations Peace Operations Source: United Nations The Secretary-General asked the Panel, composed of individuals experienced in various aspects of conflict prevention, peacekeeping and peace-building, to assess the shortcomings of the existing system and to make frank, specific and realistic recommendations for change. United Nations and Global Security The United Nations Foundation (UN Foundation) - as a chief supporter of the UN and its mission - has launched an initiative with a number of partn