Bringing democracy to the United Nations .....!!!

Bringing democracy to the United Nations

Since assuming the Presidency of the UN General Assembly, Father Miguel d’Escoto Brockman has shown that he is capable of taking some strong positions on issues and this have been well received especially by those from the developing countries. The following is an editorial he wrote which provides a glimpse of his vision and priorities which will guide his work in the UN.

On September 16, I assumed the Presidency of the General Assembly. As an old man, a priest and someone who did not seek this post, I was surprised to be elected by all 192 Member States. I come to the Assembly acutely aware of the sorry state of the world and the inescapable fact that the United Nations has not fulfilled the mandates clearly outlined in its Charter 63 years ago. With this defining concern in mind, I have dedicated my presidency to the poor and oppressed of the world.

There are many reasons for our spectacular failures, but it is clear that our “mad selfishness”, as Tolstoy described it, is still very much at work. I believe that this is at the heart of the matter. And there is growing awareness that we cannot continue with business as usual.

Obligations

UN building

The General Debate of the Assembly ended on September 29 after 111 Heads of State and Government addressed what can be called the global village’s town meeting.

The Assembly is, after all, the most representative body of any international organization in history.

In my address to world leaders, I was frank: The Assembly has not been fulfilling its mandate as outlined in the Charter. And because of this, the United Nations as a whole has been unable to meet its obligations entrusted to it by the peoples of the world.

Over the decades, the central role of the General Assembly in the UN system has been undermined, its authority has been diverted to other bodies, and its resolutions have become toothless and tired. Some of its important functions have fallen into disuse.

I asked our leaders: What good is the Assembly’s magnificent democratic structure if our votes, often reflecting the vast majority of nations, are ignored?

Credibility
How can we continue to tolerate the behaviour of some Permanent Members of the Security Council that so often contradicts the spirit and the letter of the Charter which they are obligated to uphold and defend?

Can we continue to accept the domination of the Bretton Woods institutions by the US and Europe when their economic and social policies so often contribute to the poverty we are struggling to overcome.

In short, I believe that the Assembly must vigorously resist the marginalization in the economic and social spheres and take immediate steps to re-establish its credibility and authority. To achieve this, we need some serious changes. For this reason I have made the democratization of the United Nations a priority of the 63rd Session.

Business as usual has produced a world in shameful disarray. After 63 years, we have not made violent conflicts, war, genocide and mutually assured destruction the distant nightmares of another century.

The trillion dollars spent each year on arms is but one shocking example of our wrong-headed priorities. Wars of aggression, the worst form of terrorism, are another.

There is no one in the world who does not claim to want to end poverty. But world leaders stand by while half the world’s population continues to live in unending deprivation.

With the world on the brink of financial catastrophe as the result of greed and corruption, soaring food and energy prices and shrinking development assistance are plunging many millions more into poverty each day.

We must immediately move to prevent the food crisis from becoming an ongoing catastrophe for hundreds of millions of people.

We have created an extraordinary body of international law, yet justice is still a rare commodity in much of the world. After 60 years, the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, as inspiring as always, is cynically defied mostly by States - both large and small.

And, as we willfully tip our environment into toxic destruction, leaders cannot summon the will to curb the mind-boggling consumerism that fuels climate change for fear of losing public support and hefty profits.

Experiment
The United Nations is an ongoing experiment in partnership. Let’s inspire these partnerships with solidarity and compassion.

The trigger for this solidarity does not lie with world leaders. Nor Government bureaucracies. Nor the corporations but comes from people, from civil society, from ordinary citizens doing extraordinary things.

As president of this Assembly, I am working as an agent of change so that we can, together, restore the vitality and relevance of this Assembly and push for the democratization of our international institutions as never before.

- Third World Network Features