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UN Braces for New Century Challenges
Fifty-five years ago, representatives from all over the world gathered in New York to proclaim the birth of the United Nations. Little did they realize, then, the profound impact their actions would have in years to come.
Over the past few decades, the UN has taken on ground-breaking work in preserving world peace and accelerating common development.
Now at the threshold of the new century, the UN must face up to even greater challenges, dealing with the widening wealth gap, rampant disease, environmental pollution and continued conflict in a world still far from peace.
The UN's work grows increasingly difficult, since the organization itself is struggling to overcome financial strain and unending debate on internal reform.
REMARKABLE ACCOMPLISHMENTS In 1945, the UN comprised 51 nations. Today there are 189 members, many of which have become independent because of the UN's decolonization campaign that began in 1960.
The developing world -- a term the UN has made popular, now plays an important role in international affairs. The UN has help groups such as the Nonaligned Movement and the Group of 77 have a voice in the world arena.
In peacekeeping, the UN has conducted more than 50 operations since 1945, employing over 800,000 military, police and civilian personnel at a cost of 19 billion U.S. dollars.
More than 1,500 brave people have sacrificed their lives in these operations. Currently, over 58,000 peacekeepers still serve in dangerous areas.
Over 500 multinational treaties have been signed, which reflect the UN's ability to fulfill its obligations.
The UN has held international conferences on various issues, setting short near and long-term social and economic goals.
MILLENNIUM SUMMIT PLEDGES TO DO MORE The world appreciates the UN for its remarkable accomplishments and hopes it will continue to fight poverty, end armed conflict, and help lessen the spread of disease.
More than one billion people live on an income of less than one dollar per day, although the world economy has grown 18-fold in the past century, according to UN figures.
Wealth inequality in the world today is astonishing -- the one billion people in developed countries earn three thirds of the world's income, while the 3.5 billion in developing nations earn less than 20 percent.
In sub-Saharan Africa, people are as poor as they were 20 years ago, and more than 23 million of them have caught HIV/AIDS, resulting in a devastating epidemic.
One billion people also lack access to safe drinking water, and half of humanity lives without adequate sanitation.
Unsafe water and poor sanitation cause an estimated 80 percent of all diseases and five million deaths in the developing world every year.
After 45 years without a major world war, the 1990s witnessed an upsurge in civil conflict. Three times more peace agreements were signed during this decade than in the three previous decades combined.
UN peacekeeping costs reached record highs in the 1990s, and in 2000, costs jumped to 2.1 billion dollars, more than double than in 1998 and 1999.
Against such a background, a historic Millennium Summit was held at UN headquarters in New York last September to discuss and define the role of the United Nations in the 21st Century.
"Unless we redouble and concert our efforts, poverty and inequality may get worse," said UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan.
A declaration adopted by acclamation by more than 150 heads of state at the summit committed the world leaders to turn the 21st century into an epoch free of war, poverty, disease and ignorance.
POLLUTION: ANOTHER CHALLENGE "Environmental sustainability is everybody's challenge," said Annan.
Scientists say that greenhouse gas emissions will raise the earth's surface temperature by 1.5 to 1.6 degrees Celsius, raising the sea level by 15 to 95 centimeters and causing extreme climate changes such as drought, flooding and heatwaves.
Carbon dioxide emissions, caused mostly by the burning of fossil fuels, are widely seen as a major cause of global climate change.
One fifth of the world's population that live in industrialized nations account for 60% of global energy consumption. These countries should share the responsibility for emissions reduction.
However, the two-week Hague negotiations held in November ended without tangible results, owing primarily to the reluctance of industrialized countries, especially those "big emitters," to tale responsibility for emissions reduction.
BIG AMBITIONS, LIMITED MEANS Since global issues need global solutions, and since no nation alone can solve these problems, the international community still relies on the United Nations to mobilize and coordinate such efforts.
The UN has proven itself to be the only world organization capable of bringing nations together to cope with issues through dialogue and consultation.
However, the UN's immobility to enforce its edicts hinders its overall effectiveness. For example, the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO bypassed the UN Security Council and waged air strikes on the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia in 1999, posing a threat to international security through armed intervention.
As for economic and social development, developing countries continue to struggle to keep up with their more developed neighbors.
If most developing countries cannot benefit from globalization, overall global development would be adversely affected, speakers at the millennium summit observed.
The UN itself must struggle with debates over internal reforms. Financial strains also pose threats.
Members' debt to the UN almost equals the UN budget of 3.3 billion dollars for 2000. In other words, the 189-member body is spending the money due for one year away.
Big ambitions and limited means constitute a predicament facing the UN., which can walk out of the dilemma only by a new international order aimed at improving the North-South relationship, analysts said.
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