United Nations Flashcards
Overview
The U is an international organisation founded
in 1945, made up of 193 member states whose aim
is to promote international peace, security and co-
operation. Due to its unique international status and
the powers vested in its founding charter, the UN is the
intergovernmental institution with the greatest political
authority at a global level.
Principles
taking action on issues that face humanity in 21st century such as peace and security, climate change and poverty
Fostering co-operation by facilitating dialogue and negotiations between nations; the UN is a mechanism for solving problems and finding areas of agreement
Specialist bodies
UN General Assembly: develop good relations between nations and settling disputes, each country has a representative
UN Security Council: Maintain world peace, 5 permanent members (🇨🇳, 🇫🇷, 🇬🇧, 🇷🇺, 🇺🇸) has facilitated nuclear disarmament since Cold War
WHO, manage public health issues and global pandemics, praised for response to COVID-19
Specialist bodies
UN General Assembly: develop good relations between nations and settling disputes, each country has a representative
UN Security Council: Maintain world peace, 5 permanent members (🇨🇳, 🇫🇷, 🇬🇧, 🇷🇺, 🇺🇸) has facilitated nuclear disarmament since Cold War
WHO, manage public health issues and global pandemics, praised for response to COVID-19
UN promoting growth
UN sanctions have allowed inequalities and injustices to be resolved. The UN punishes countries that do not abide by international laws. For example, the UN has imposed several sanctions against Iran, some of the toughest sanctions against the world, in order to deter Iran’s use of nuclear enrichment and reprocessing.
The UN promotes economic, social and environmental growth through the creation of international treaties and goals. The UN’s Millennium Development Goals and Sustainable Development Goals are prime examples of UN declarations that promote stability and growth. These nation-backed goals aim to globally improve quality of life, targeting literacy rates, poverty, famine, and other global issues.
The UN creates policies and legislation to protect social rights. For example, the Declaration of Human Rights was adopted by the UN General Assembly, and it now protects billions of people living in countries in which the declaration is ratified in. The International Court of Justice also protects social rights by punishing those who commit crimes against humanity.
Exacerbating Inequalities and Injustices
The UN, on several occasions, has been accused of being inactive in many cases where aid or intervention is desperately needed. Some say the UN have an inability to prevent conflicts, which creates further injustice.
● The UN have been criticised for not preventing the 1971 Bangladesh Genocide.
● The UN was criticised for the peacekeeping forces being inactive in the DR of Congo (2014). Peacekeepers allegedly failed to provide assistance in Mavivi after attacks. Peacekeepers are accused of failing to respond to repeated calls for help during an attack which killed 30 people. The peacekeepers were only 9 km away but arrived two days later.
● In 2013, Saudi Arabia was elected as a member of the UN Human Rights Council, a body that elects states who uphold the highest standards of human rights. It was later found that the UK had influence on this decision through secret voting trade deals, which eventually allowed Saudi Arabia (a country generally known for its poor human rights) to be elected. This highlights the UN’s lack of power, having potentially dangerous consequences to those affected by inequality or injustice.
● Organisations such as UN Watch have
been created to monitor the effectiveness of the UN (this organisation contributed towards discovering the secret voting trade deal in 2013 between the UK and Saudi Arabia.
Exacerbating Inequalities and Injustices 2
The UN Peacekeeping Forces have come under major criticism for crimes against vulnerable citizens. Peacekeeping forces have been accused of sexual assault, human trafficking, child prostitution, and murder during multiple dispatches. The UN’s Kosovo Mission allegedly had many crimes involving peacekeeping forces, including 800 counts of sexual abuse, 70 of murder, and 100 of extortion/theft. These crimes disastrously exacerbate inequalities of the already vulnerable citizens.
The UN has also been accused of creating inequalities through bias of countries, especially those in conflict. The largest criticism comes from the UN being allegedly biased against Israel in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.
Between 2006 and 2016, the Human Rights Council adopted 135 resolutions criticising countries. 68 out of 135 of those resolutions targeted Israel. Between 2012 and 2015, the General Assembly adopted 97 resolutions. 83 out of 97 resolutions targeted Israel.
The amount of criticism that Israel face is said to be too severe in relation to Israel’s crimes, and that not enough attention is given to Palestine.
