CCWA MUN

Role of the United Nations

International Peace and Security

One of the primary purposes of the United Nations is the maintenance of international peace and security. Since its creation, the United Nations has often been called upon to prevent disputes from escalating into war, to persuade opposing parties to use the conference table rather than force of arms, or to help restore peace when conflict does break out. Over the decades, the United Nations has helped to end numerous conflicts, often through actions of the Security Council — the primary organ for dealing with issues of international peace and security.
The Security Council, the General Assembly and the Secretary-General all play major, complementary roles in fostering peace and security. United Nations activities cover the areas of prevention and peacemaking, peacekeeping, peace-building and disarmament.

Civil conflicts

Since the 1990s there have been major changes in the patterns of conflict with more than 90 per cent of conflicts taking place within, rather than between, states.

The United Nations has therefore reshaped and enhanced the range of instruments at its command, emphasizing conflict prevention, continually adapting peacekeeping operations, involving regional organizations, and strengthening post-conflict peace-building.

To deal with civil conflicts, the Security Council has authorized complex and innovative peacekeeping operations. In El Salvador and Guatemala, in Cambodia and in Mozambique, the UN played a major role in ending war and fostering reconciliation.

Other conflicts, however — in Somalia, Rwanda and the former Yugoslavia — often characterized by ethnic violence, brought new challenges to the UN peacemaking role. Confronted with the problems encountered, the Security Council did not establish any operation from 1995 to 1997.

But the essential role of peacekeeping has once more been dramatically reaffirmed.

Continuing crises in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, the Central African Republic, East Timor, Kosovo, Sierra Leone, and Ethiopia-Eritrea led the Council to establish six new missions in 1998-2000.

Peace-building

The experience of recent years has also led the United Nations to focus as never before on peace-building — action to support structures that will strengthen and consolidate peace. Experience has shown that keeping peace, in the sense of avoiding military conflict, is not sufficient for establishing a secure and lasting peace. Such security can only be achieved by helping countries to foster economic development, social justice, human rights protection, good governance and the democratic process.

Economic and Social Development

Although most people associate the United Nations with the issues of peace and security, the vast majority of its resources are devoted to economic development, social development and sustainable development. United Nations development efforts have profoundly affected the lives and well-being of millions of people throughout the world. Guiding the United Nations work is the conviction that lasting international peace and security are possible only if the economic and social well-being of people everywhere is assured.

Many of the economic and social transformations that have taken place globally in the last five decades have been significantly affected in their direction and shape by the work of the United Nations. As the global centre for consensus-building, the United Nations has set priorities and goals for international cooperation to assist countries in their development efforts and to foster a supportive global economic environment.

Common interests

International debate on economic and social issues has increasingly reflected the common interest of rich and poor countries in solving the many problems that transcend national boundaries. Issues such as the environment, refugees, organized crime, drug trafficking and AIDS are seen as global problems requiring coordinated action. The impact of poverty and unemployment in one region can be quickly felt in others, not least through migration, social disruption and conflict. Similarly, in the age of a global economy, financial instability in one country is immediately felt in the markets of others.

Coordinating development activities

The Economic and Social Council (ECOSOC) is the principal body coordinating the economic and social work of the United Nations. It is serviced by the Department for Economic and Social Affairs. The entire family of United Nations organizations works for economic, social and sustainable development.

Human Rights

Virtually every United Nations body and specialized agency is involved to some degree in the protection of human rights.

One of the great achievements of the United Nations is the creation of a comprehensive body of human rights law, which, for the first time in history, provides us with a universal and internationally protected code of human rights, one to which all nations can subscribe and to which all people can aspire.

Not only has the United Nations painstakingly defined a broad range of internationally accepted rights, but it has also established mechanisms with which to promote and protect these rights and to assist governments in carrying out their responsibilities.

Human rights law

The foundations of this body of law are the United Nations Charter and the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, adopted by the General Assembly in 1948. Since then, the United Nations has gradually expanded human rights law to encompass specific standards for women, children, disabled persons, minorities, migrant workers and other vulnerable groups, who now possess rights that protect them from discriminatory practices that had long been common in many societies. Rights have been extended through groundbreaking General Assembly decisions that have gradually established their universality, indivisibility and interrelatedness with development and democracy.

Human rights action

Education campaigns have tirelessly informed the world’s public of their inalienable rights, while numerous national judicial and penal systems have been enhanced with United
Nations training programmes and technical advice. The United Nations machinery to monitor compliance with human rights covenants has acquired a remarkable cohesiveness and weight.

The United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights works to strengthen and coordinate United Nations work for the protection and promotion of all human rights of all persons around the world. The Secretary-General has made human rights the central theme that unifies the Organization’s work.

Humanitarian Action

Since it first coordinated humanitarian relief operations in Europe following the Second World War, the United Nations has been relied on by the international community to respond to natural and man-made disasters that are beyond the capacity of national authorities alone. Today, the UN is a major provider of emergency relief and longer-term assistance, a catalyst for action by governments and relief agencies, and an advocate on behalf of people struck by emergencies.

Emergencies

In the last decade, civil wars have become a central cause of emergency situations. In 2000 alone, millions were uprooted from their homes by war. Natural disasters — floods, droughts, storms and earthquakes — killed more than 50,000 people and caused economic losses exceeding $90 billion in 1998. More than 90 per cent of all disaster victims live in developing countries — a striking indicator of the degree to which poverty, population pressures and environmental degradation exacerbate suffering and destruction.

The United Nations has responded on two fronts. On one hand it has sought to bring immediate relief to the victims, primarily through its operational agencies; on the other hand, it has sought more effective strategies to prevent emergencies from arising in the first place.

Assistance

When disaster strikes, the United Nations and its agencies rush to deliver humanitarian assistance. In 2000 alone, the Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs launched 16 inter-agency appeals that raised more than $1.4 billion to assist 35 million people in 16 countries and regions. The UN High Commissioner for Refugees provides international protection and assistance to over 22 million refugees and displaced persons. The UN Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East (UNRWA) provides education, health, and relief and social services to 3.8 million registered Palestine refugees. The World Food Programme delivers one third of the world’s emergency food assistance, saving millions of lives.

Prevention

Disaster prevention seeks to reduce the vulnerability of societies to disaster, and to address their man-made causes. Early warning is especially important for short-term prevention, and agencies are increasing their capacity in this area -- from monitoring impending famines to carrying out tropical cyclone forecasting and drought monitoring. The UN Development Programme assists disaster-prone countries in developing contingency planning and other preparedness measures.

Conflict prevention strategies address the root causes of war in a comprehensive manner. They foster security, economic growth, good governance and respect for human rights—which remain the best protection against disaster, whether natural or, as is increasingly the case, man-made.

International Law

Among the United Nations most pervasive achievements has been the development of a body of international law — conventions, treaties and standards — that play a central role in promoting economic and social development, as well as international peace and security. Many of the treaties brought about by the United Nations form the basis of the law governing relations among nations. While the United Nations work in this area does not always receive attention, it has a daily impact on the lives of people everywhere.

Over the years, the United Nations has sponsored over 500 multilateral agreements, which address a broad range of common concerns among states and are legally binding for the countries that ratify them.

Pioneering work

In many areas, the United Nations legal work has been pioneering. It has been in the forefront of tackling problems as they take on an international dimension, providing the legal framework for regulating the use of the oceans, protecting the environment, regulating migrant labour, curbing drug trafficking and combating terrorism, to mention a few.

This work continues today, with the United Nations providing input into the trend towards a greater centrality of international law in governing interaction across a wide spectrum of issues, such as human rights law and international humanitarian law. The International Court of Justice has advanced international law with landmark Judgments and advisory opinions.

Useful Information