The preamble of the UN charter reflects the spirit and thoughts of the UN’s founders, who represented all peoples of the world – as expressed in their use of the term “peoples” rather than “states.” The goals of the UN as expressed in the preamble nevertheless run counter to the regulations included in the main body of the document, and none of these goals has been achieved.

The preamble expresses the will of UN members to save succeeding generations from the scourge of war, with the memory of the first two world wars still fresh. Though there has not been a third world war, the regional wars that have erupted since the establishment of the UN have left in their wake millions of victims. Ironically, the US was the first to use atomic weapons, in Hiroshima and Nagasaki in 1945, causing the death of thousands of people, just as the final touches were being made to the UN charter ahead of its signing in San Francisco by 50 states.

There is a contradiction between Paragraph 2 of the first article of the charter, on the enhancement of ties of friendship between UN member states based on equality of rights and the right of self-determination, and Paragraph 1 of the second article, which stipulates the reliance of the organisation on the principle of equal sovereignty between member states on one hand and the liabilities of the Security Council, as stipulated in Article 7, on the other. The Security Council consists of five permanent members and 10 non-permanent members elected for two-year terms. The permanent members enjoy discriminatory rights, represented mainly in the right of veto, which allows them to oppose any resolution taken by the majority of member states. This right has prevented the council from efficiently fulfilling its mission of maintaining international peace and security. The UN, because of this mechanism, has failed to settle numerous conflicts around the world, including those in Palestine and Kashmir. The UN failed to use either the peaceful means stipulated in Article 6 or the penalty code stipulated in Article 7. The right of veto used by the US has impeded several resolutions that would have served the interests of the Palestinians despite the fact that the majority of states did not share the US view. Even the resolutions taken were not practically applied due to the absence of the political will of several permanent members spearheaded by the US.

The failure of the Security Council to fulfil its responsibilities with regard to the Korean war in the early 1960s led to a resolution giving the General Assembly the authority to pass any resolution, with majority support, to confront any threat to international peace and security. Yet several resolutions were not implemented, such as General Assembly resolution 194 of 1949 on refugees, Resolution 242 of 1967 and Resolution 338 of 1973. The right of the Palestinian people to self-determination continued to be denied.

The collective security system created by the UN charter remains linked to economic and social progress and development. The preamble of the charter asserts that endeavours must be made to generate human social development, enhance living standards and direct the world order towards the fostering of economic and social development by means of mobilisation of all peoples in order to maintain international peace and security. There is an international agreement on the relation binding security and development, human rights and basic freedoms, which acknowledges that collective security is threatened by poverty, epidemic diseases and environmental deterioration.

The UN called for the first conference on trade and development in 1964 and established a permanent secretariat for the conference in Geneva with the aim of assisting the developing countries in their quest for economic and social development. The secretariat was also meant to establish links between the production capabilities of the developing countries and their exports, between exports and imports, and between trade and development. An international development strategy was approved that set the minimum target level of development at 0.7% of the GDP of the developed countries. The General Assembly held extraordinary sessions in 1967 and 1975 to establish a new international order fairer to the developing countries and called for the opening of channels of dialogue between the developing and developed countries in order to settle problems related to trade, finance, energy, basic goods and development, as well as to alleviate the debts of developing countries. However, the dialogue that took place in the 1970s and 1980s was not successful due to an absence of political will on the part of the developed countries and their insistence on controlling the international economy through the Bretton Woods framework, ie though the International Monetary Fund and the World Bank.

The money market crises that followed restricted growth in developing economies, especially in Latin America, which led to the description of the 1980s as an era of lost development. The Uruguay round of multilateral trade negotiations, part of the Gatt framework, ran from 1986 to 1993. The round resulted in the expansion of the international trade system to include agricultural products, textiles, services and intellectual property, all under the umbrella of the World Trade Organisation. Despite the efforts of the UN secretary-general in 1994 to bring the WTO into the UN fold, WTO member states opted to preserve the organisation’s independent status, although this did not prevent cooperation between the two bodies, especially through Unctad. The establishment of the WTO increased the marginalisation of most developing countries in the international economic system and further strengthened the economic power of the developed nations.

In brief, the Security Council, responsible for international peacekeeping, and the international economic organisations, responsible for the world economy, effectively worked together for the interest of the rich countries at the expense of the poor.

Although the UN’s founders were fully aware that the collective security system was not confined to military concepts, economic growth was nevertheless confined to the rich countries and a small number of developing ones. The gap between the rich and poor countries has grown considerably since the early 1960s, as civil wars sprung up in a number of newly independent countries and state institutions failed in others, as was the case with Somalia and Afghanistan. As a result, more than 1 billion people have been forced to live on less than one dollar a day and without safe drinking water. More than 2 billion people, meanwhile, are living without adequate health care services and more than 3 million die annually of famine.

 A new UN strategy for the 21st century

Boutros Boutros-Ghali, speaking before the UN General Assembly on 3 December 1991, shortly after his election as secretary-general, said that his strategy would focus on three pillars:

- Peacemaking, due to the urgency of establishing an effective form of preventive diplomacy

- Development, to bridge the ever-increasing gap between the rich and poor countries

- Democracy, to establish equality between member states and push them to adopt democracy internally

After taking office, Boutros-Ghali re-emphasised these principles in a speech before a head-of-state level meeting at the Security Council. He launched several initiatives to illustrate his action plan for the three main pillars of work, and presented the Agenda for Peace in June 1992 and the Agenda for Development in May 1994, which was developed and issued in June 1997, after he left office. He also drafted a third agenda, for democracy, which he submitted to the General Assembly in December 1996, just before the end of his term in office. The development agenda was further developed though those dealing with peace and democracy were left unchanged.

While secretary-general, Boutros-Ghali set the basis for a plan for a series of international conferences to address the problems faced by the world at the threshold of the 21st century. These included: the UN Conference on Environment and Development in Rio de Janeiro, 1992; the World Conference on Human Rights in Vienna, 1993; the UN International Conference on Population and Development in Cairo, 1994; the World Summit for Social Development in Copenhagen, 1995; the Fourth World Conference on Women in Beijing, 1995; and the UN Conference on Human Settlements in Istanbul, 1996.

Current UN secretary-general Kofi Annan has continued what Boutros-Ghali began. Building on these conferences, Annan called for a General Assembly summit in September 2000, at which the Millennium Declaration was issued and eight development goals set for completion by 2015. The General Assembly has scheduled a follow-up summit for mid-September 2005, at which it will review the progress of the millennium development goals and the recommendations of the secretary-general as detailed in a report titled “In Larger Freedom – Towards Development, Security and Human Rights for All,” submitted on 21 March 2005. In this report, Annan discusses the challenge of ridding the world of poverty and fear and creating an environment in which all can live in dignity. He also talks of enhancement of UN structures, including enlargement of the membership of the Security Council.

Annan’s initiative to study these challenges followed criticism of his position regarding the US-British invasion of Iraq, which was in violation of the rules of the UN charter. The secretary-general’s silence in this regard led some to accuse the UN of involvement with the US in its management of Iraqi affairs. This perhaps spurred the attack on the UN bureau in Baghdad, where 22 employees were killed, including the UN special envoy to Iraq, Sergio Vieira de Mello, and his chief of staff, Nadia Younes. Although the secretary-general later raised the question of the legitimacy of the war, given that the weapons of mass destruction used as a pretext were never found, his remarks still run counter to Article 51 of the charter, which links the individual and collective legitimate right of defence to any actual attack on state territory.

From preventive diplomacy to the establishment of peace

The Agenda for Peace, issued by the UN at the beginning of Boutros-Ghali’s term in 1992, was built on four main pillars: preventive diplomacy, peacemaking, peacekeeping and post-settlement peace establishment.

The main objective of preventive diplomacy is to avert the outbreak of armed conflict should two or more parties be involved in an escalating dispute. If an armed conflict arises that is considered a threat to international peace and security, Article 7 of the UN charter permits the Security Council to intervene to end the conflict, and to initiate the holding of negotiations. This is followed by the peacekeeping stage, under the supervision of the UN. After the settlement of disputes, the peace establishment process begins, which includes the provision of humanitarian aid and the implementation of projects to rebuild state structures and capabilities, as well as work to ensure the holding of free elections.

While many may have expected the end of the Cold War at the beginning of the 1990s to have been followed by a period of peace in the world, armed conflicts have continued apace. In Africa, for example, internal conflicts are widespread, even if some may have external aspects. Recent conflicts include those in the former Yugoslavia, Rwanda, Sierra Leone, Liberia, Democratic Republic of Congo, Côte d’Ivoire, Afghanistan, Iraq and Darfur.

The UN assumed its supervisory role to ensure peace a few years after its establishment. Its first attempts in this regard took place within the context of the Arab-Israeli conflict, which was triggered by the establishment of the state of Israel in May 1948 and the consequent division of Palestine. The Security Council brokered a ceasefire in 1949 and formed the UN Truce Supervision Organisation (UNTSO) to supervise its implementation.

Another mission, the UN Military Observer Group in India and Pakistan (Unmogip), was formed in Kashmir in 1949 following the separation of India and Pakistan and their subsequent dispute over Kashmir.

The UN also undertook a peacekeeping role in Lebanon through the UN Interim Forces in Lebanon (Unifil) mission, formed to supervise the settlement of disputes between Syria and Israel. The UN Disengagement Observer Force (Undof) was also formed, to supervise peacekeeping efforts in the Golan Heights, and the UN Iraq-Kuwait Observer Mission (Unikom) was established to supervise settlement of the dispute between Iraq and Kuwait. Another mission was formed for Western Sahara.

Preventive diplomacy is considered the most appropriate tool for the achievement of international peace and security and a worthwhile investment of international human and financial resources as the results benefit the international community as a whole, supporting development and promoting higher standards of living around the world. Nevertheless, the UN role in the area of peacekeeping has not been fully developed, leading Chile to request the Security Council to discuss the matter, which it did in a session on 26 January 2004.

Enhancement of the UN’s role in peacekeeping would facilitate national reconciliation in communities torn apart by disputes, after which the achievement of permanent peace is possible. It was a lack of national reconciliation that led to the re-eruption of conflict in Haiti in 2003, just two years after the peacekeeping mission there was dismantled. The Security Council was thus urged to form another mission in Haiti in 2004. In the same year, the Security Council also extended UN missions in East Timor and Kosovo, both for an extra year, and dispatched peacekeeping missions to Côte d’Ivoire and Burundi. In April 2005, the UN formed another peacekeeping mission in Sudan.

After ministerial-level discussions on 22 September 2004 to address the civil aspects of peacekeeping operations, the Security Council issued a statement highlighting the following points:

- the increasing importance of civil matters with regard to the resolution and prevention of conflict

- the importance of civil-military cooperation in the settlement of crises, formulation of security guarantees, restoration of national systems, and establishment of public institutions capable of construction, reform and maintenance of peace to attain long-term sustainable development

- the role of regional and other organisations in containment of crises, referring to articles 52 to 54 of the charter, and the importance of coordination between the different roles of these organisations in the post-peacemaking stage

- the provision of appropriate mechanisms to preserve peace in transitional periods, including the protection of civilians and employees of the UN and aid agencies, disarmament of militias, prosecution of the perpetrators of crimes against humanity and war crimes, establishment of state institutions, management of justice, and enhancement and protection of human rights

The above factors were taken into consideration during the formation of the UN peacekeeping missions in Haiti, Côte d’Ivoire, Burundi and Sudan. Each mission included a special envoy to the secretary-general and two vice presidents. One vice president has responsibility for supervision of the mission, disarmament operations, the return of refugees, the holding of fair elections, the establishment of a fair judiciary system and the protection of human rights. The other coordinates UN programmes and humanitarian and development aid through cooperation with the UN’s specialised agencies, the World Bank, regional banks and donor countries to provide the necessary funding for state reconstruction as a prelude to the gradual reduction of first the military and police elements of the mission and then the winding down of the mission as a whole.

On 2 December 2004, a peacekeeping commission established by the UN secretary-general to study the challenges and threats to international security submitted a report. The commission recommended the formation of a peace-building commission with responsibility for mobilisation of resources and coordination of efforts to restore post-dispute reconstruction and which would help in supporting states through post-conflict transition.

Based on this report and in preparation for the General Assembly summit in September 2005, the secretary-general submitted another report, “In Larger Freedom – Towards Development, Security and Human Rights for All,” as mentioned above. In this report he recommends various reforms for the UN, including the establishment of an international commission for the establishment of peace and a bureau under the umbrella of the UN secretariat for consolidation of peace. The commission would also be involved in post-war efforts targeting the improvement of UN plans to provide funding and build any necessary institutions.

The budget

The UN budget for peacekeeping operations in the fiscal year 2003-04 was $3bn. Because of the formation of new missions – in Burundi, Côte d’Ivoire, Haiti, Iraq and Sudan – the budget for 2005-06 has risen to $5bn.

The peacekeeping operations department of the UN secretariat coordinates with the political administration to provide the needs of military and civilian employees in peacekeeping missions, both in terms of equipment and funding. The department also follows up on the preparation of regular reports for the Security Council on the 14 peacekeeping missions in progress and the 26 political delegations funded by the UN, including the UN mission in Afghanistan, UNTSO and Unmogip.

The UN allocated $169.4m for political delegations in its 2004-05 budget. The secretary-general has called for this to be increased to $257.5m in order to fund the UN missions in Afghanistan and Iraq.

In 2004-05, some 65,000 personnel were involved in UN peacekeeping operations, including military units, military observers, police and non-military staff. It is expected that this number will increase to 69,000 in 2005-06.

Ninety per cent of the supplies for UN peacekeeping operations are sourced from the developed countries, while the majority of military personnel and police are from developing countries, in particular India, Pakistan, Bangladesh, Sri Lanka, Nigeria and South Africa.

Sources

- Boutros Boutros-Ghali, Peacekeeping, Development and Democracy, Al-Nahar Publishing House, Beirut, 2003

- Document A/59/2005, 21 March 2005

- “Plan for Peace”, UN, New York, 1992

- Document S/PRST/2004/33, 22 September 2004

- Secretary-General’s Report, Document A/59/2005, 21 March 2005

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