The United Nations, with a new secretary-general at the helm, is
expected to face in 2007 the daunting tasks of pressing on with its
reforms, fulfilling the Responsibility to Protect, and promoting
multilateral cooperation it advocates.
Moderate progress in UN reforms
One of the UN's primary tasks in 2006 was to implement the
Outcome Document -- a blueprint adopted at the global summit in
September 2005 in New York to renew the world organization.
In 2006, seemingly moderate but vital progress has been made in
the UN reforms, spearheaded by outgoing Secretary-General Kofi
Annan. The Human Rights Council and the Peace building Commission
were set up and initial steps were taken to overhaul the UN's
management practice.
Unlike its predecessor -- the Human Rights Commission, which was
widely criticized for the practice of double standards and
politicization -- the Human Rights Council has made it a principle
that human rights issues should be dealt with in an impartial and
non-selective manner, said Chen Jian, undersecretary-general for
the General Assembly and Conference Management in an interview with
Xinhua.
"Yet, the work of the council did not proceed in a very balanced
way," Chen said. Since its inception, the council has convened
three sessions to examine the human rights situation in the Middle
East and adopted a resolution denouncing Israel.
"But it has also drawn criticism for failing to make due
responses to mass violations of human rights in other parts of the
world," he said.
The newly-created Peace building Commission, set up to help
post-conflict countries avoid a relapse into bloodshed, has
unveiled its plans to assist two war-battered African countries,
Burundi and Sierra Leone, in building a lasting peace.
Noticeable progress was also achieved in the UN management
reform. Annan presented in March a radical management overhaul
report, setting forth 23 reform proposals. Some of the proposals
have been put into practice, including the establishment of an
ethics office and a strengthening of the UN's internal oversight
service.
UN role enhanced in handling world affairs
The past year also witnessed the United Nations playing a
stronger role in dealing with international affairs. Thorny
problems popped up one after another in 2006, with a majority of
them raised to the Security Council for a solution.
Greater involvement in world affairs by the United Nations,
which was once described as being "irrelevant" after the US-led
invasion of Iraq in 2003, "is due to a large extent to the setback
the US administration's unilateral foreign policy has suffered,"
Chen said.
The Bush administration, seeing US troops increasingly bogged
down in violence-ridden Iraq, adjusted its unilateral policy and
chose to cooperate with other powers within the framework of the
United Nations in coping with regional crises, such as the Iranian
nuclear issue and the Israeli-Lebanese conflict.
"The adjustment paved the way for cooperation among world
powers, making it possible for the world organization to play a
stronger role in handling regional hot spots," Chen noted.
The UN Security Council adopted this year a series of
resolutions regarding the situations in Iran, on the Korean
Peninsula and in the Middle East.
"It is especially unusual for the 15-nation council to
unanimously pass a resolution on this summer's Israeli-Lebanese
conflict, which condemned Israel's invasion of its northern
neighbor," Chen stressed. "In the past, the US always vetoed draft
council resolutions decrying Israel's moves."
Nonetheless, it is too early to say that the power of the United
Nations has been significantly enhanced. The United Nations only
provides a stage for international cooperation. It is the 192member
states who decide what kind of role the United Nations could play
in international affairs.
Daunting challenges ahead
Former South Korean foreign minister Ban Ki-moon, who was sworn
in as the next UN chief in mid-December, will formally take over
from Annan on Jan. 1. Coming along with the world's top post are a
series of daunting challenges facing the new secretary-general.
Among them, carrying on the reform process, implementing the
Responsibility to Protect, and promoting multilateral cooperation
are the most significant.
"Ban would find that there is relatively little space left for
him to put forward new reform proposals since his predecessor's
plan has almost covered every possible aspect of the reforms," Chen
said.
"What he has to do is to explore new ways to implement the
reforms which can really benefit the organization but are blocked
at the moment," Chen added.
The concept of Responsibility to Protect poses another challenge
for the world body. The concept, initiated by Annan, calls for
international intervention through the United Nations when a state
is unwilling or unable to stop massive human rights violations.
The concept had been long rejected by the developing countries
which feared that the West could use it as a pretext to interfere
with their internal affairs. Only at the 2005 World Summit had the
UN member states reached consensus on the issue in principle.
"How to put the concept into practice without violating a
nation's sovereignty is a challenge for both the UN member states
and secretary-general," Chen said.
The Iraqi war marked a serious defeat of the multilateralism
represented by the United Nations. The gap of trust it left among
member states, between the United States and other powers, and
between the UN member states and the Secretariat has yet to be
bridged.
Whether the trend of cooperation among major powers at the
United Nations in 2006 could be maintained in 2007 mainly depends
on the US attitude towards the United Nations.
"The most important task for Ban is to act as secretary-general
on behalf of the 192 member states as a whole while establishing
good relations with big powers, the United States in particular,"
Chen said.
(Xinhua News Agency December 30, 2006)
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