PS-III (BLLB-406) UNIT-IV (B)

INTERNATIONAL ORGANISATIONS

UNITED NATIONS: GENERAL ASSEMBLY, SECURITY COUNCIL,

ICJ & SPECIALIZED AGENCIES
 INTRODUCTION
The failure of the League of Nations in preventing second world
war and maintaining international peace & security led to the
emergence of the United Nations Organisation. That means the
UNO arose on the ashes of the LN.
The former US President Franklin Delano Roosevelt was in favour
of a global peacekeeping agency and Roosevelt himself coined
the name “United Nations.”
 UN is the largest, most recognized and most powerful
intergovernmental organisation in the world, its predecessor, the
League of Nations, was created by the Treaty of Versailles in 1919 and
disbanded eventually in 1946. All of Leagues of nations documents &
archives were handed over to the UN.
 STEPS THAT LED TO THE FORMATION OF THE UNO
The UN Charter is the treaty that established the United Nations
Organisation, it was ratified on 24 Octber 1945. The following series of
events led to the writing of the Charter and the UN’s founding:
 Declaration of St. James Palace (June 1941)
 Atlantic Charter (August 1941)
 The United Nations Declaration (January 1942)
 The Casablanca Conference (January 1943)
 The Mosco Conference (October 30, 1943)
 Tehran Conference (December 1943)
 Dumbarton Oaks Proposals (August to October 1944)
 Yalta Conference (1945)
 The San Francisco Conference (25th April to 26th June 1945)
 In 1945, 51 states met at the UN Conference in San Francisco to
debate the terms of the UN Charter.
 After intense deliberations, the UN came into existence on 24 October
1945.
 The UN charter containing 10000 words in 111 Articles, divided into 19
Chapters, was finally prepared in five officials languages-French,
Russian, English, Spanish and Chinese.
 The current official and working languages of the UN are Arabic,
Chinese, English, French, Russian and Spanish. Official languages are
the languages in which all official UN documents are made available.
 The UN has its headquarters in New York and its current Secretary
General is Antonio Guterres from Portugal. The UN is an association
of sovereign member states on the principles of sovereign equality.
 Membership of the UN is open to all peace-loving nations that
accept the obligations of the Charter. The UN’s membership has
grown from the original 51 Member States in 1945 to the current
193 member States. All UN member States are members of the
General Assembly.
 Admission to the UN is by a two-thirds majority vote by the General
Assembly upon the recommendation of the Security Council.
 OBJECTIVES OF THE UN

The Charter of the UN begins with a preamble which outlines the

purpose or objectives of this international organization.
The vision of a world based on the ideals of peace, justice, truth and
fraternity is contained in the Preamble.
 To maintain International Peace and Security: To maintain international
peace and security and to achieve this end to take effective collective
measures for the prevention and removal of a threat to peace.
 To develop Friendly Relations among Nations on principles of Equal
Rights and Self-determination: To develop friendly relations among
nations based on respect for the principle of equal rights.
 To encourage international cooperation in the spheres of
economical, political, social & cultural developments and also
address its challenges. To achieve international cooperation in
solving international problems and development of economics,
social, cultural, or humanitarian character.
 Encourage respect for human rights and fundamental freedoms of
all people: Encouraging respect for human rights and for
fundamental freedom of all without distinction on race, sex,
language or religion etc.
 To be a centre for harmonizing the actions of nations: To be a centre
for harmonizing the actions of nations in the attainment of these
common ends.
 BASIC PRINCIPLES OF THE UN

 The UN is based on the principle of the sovereign equality of all its

members.
 The members will fulfil in good faith the obligations in accordance
with the Charter.
 The UN shall ensure that states which are not members, act in
accordance with these principles as far as necessary for the
maintenance of peace and security.
 All the members of the UNO will settle their disputes peacefully.
 All members shall refrain in their international relations from the
threat or use of force against the territorial integrity or political
independence of any state or in another manner inconsistent with
the purpose of the UN.
 All the members shall give the UNO every assistance in any action it
takes in accordance with the Charter.
 The UNO shall not intervene in matters which are essentially within
the domestic jurisdiction of any state or compel any member to
submit such matters to settlement by the UN, a principle which will
not apply when coercive measures are applied in order to deal with
threats to peace, breaches of peace and acts of aggression.
 MAJOR ORGANS OF THE UNITED NATIONS
The General Assembly
The Security Council
The UN Secretariat
The Economic and Social Council
 The International Court of Justice
 The Trusteeship Council.
The other specialized agencies are WHO, ILO, United Nations
International Children’s Emergency Fund (UNICEF), UNDP, etc.,
 THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY
 General Assembly (GA) is the most popular and the largest body of
the UN. It is the main policy-making organ of the UN. All the
members of the UN are members of the GA.
 Chapter IV of the UN Charter says that each state can send five
delegates but can cast only one vote.
 The GA elects its own president for the session. The GA must meet
once a year (annually from September to December).
 It can also meet for Special sessions and Emergency Special Session
(within 24 hours) at the request of UN security council or majority
of members.
 At the beginning of each session the General Assembly holds a
General Debate when many heads of State come to express their
views on the most pressing international issues.
 Following the General Debate, most issues are discussed in one the
Assembly’s six main committee;
i. First Committee (Disarmament and International Security)
ii. Second Committee (Economic and Financial)
iii. Third Committee (Social, Humanitarian and Cultural)
iv. Fourth Committee (Special Political and Decolonization)
v. Fifth Committee (Administrative and Budgetary)
vi. Sixth Committee (Legal)
 POWERS AND FUNCTIONS OF GA
 DELIBERATIVE FUNCTIONS: GA can discuss any question or matter within the
scope of the UN Charter.
 It may discuss the issue relating to maintenance of international peace and
security (including development, disarmament, human rights, international
law, and peaceful arbitration of disputes between nations) brought before it
by any member state of the UN or by the Security Council (SC) or by a state
which is not a member of the UN according to Article 35 of its Charter.
 The GA receives and considers annual and special reports from the SC.
 A resolution in UNGA can be adopted in two ways. By reaching consensus
among member states and by majority through voting on the resolution.
 To get a resolution passed it needs to get a simple majority to agree on the
text of a resolution. However, if an issue is of “important question” then a
two-thirds majority is required.
 UNGA resolutions are generally non-binding towards member states.
However, the resolutions passed by the Security Council are binding upon the
member states.
 SUPERVISORY FUNCTIONS: The supervisory role of the GA
mentioned in UN Charter chapter IX, X, XII.
 As an apex body, it receives and considers reports and special
reports from the SC.
 The GA supervises the work of Trusteeship Council as provided
under Art.16.
 The Economic and Social Council has to take the approval of the GA
for calling international conferences.
 The GA makes rules for the appointment of the staff in the
Secretariat.
 FINANCIAL FUNCTION: The Budget of the UN is regulated by the General
Assembly.
 Article-17 of the UN Charter provides that GA has the power to consider
and approve the budget of the UN.
 The GA can review the work of organs of the UN when their expenditure
estimates are presented.
 ELECTORAL FUNCTIONS: The GA admits the new states on the
recommendation of the SC. It also elects non-permanent members of the
SC.
 The GA elects 18 members of the Economic and Social Council (ECOSOC)
each year for a three-year term.
 UNGA along with UNSC elects Judges to International Court of Justice
(ICJ).
 The GA appoints the Secretary-General of the UN on the
recommendation of the SC.
 AMENDMENT OF THE CHARTER: Under Art.108 amendment to the UN
Charter may be valid only when it has been adopted by a vote of 2/3 of
the members of the GA and ratified by all the Permanent Members of
the SC.
 According to Article 109 of the Charter, the GA can call a general
conference for the review of the Charter and the date and place of the
conference may be fixed by 2/3 votes of the members of the GA.
 In fact, GA is a forum where the weak and developing countries can
protect their interests, restrain the strong and promote more equitable
world order.
 The Third World, which constitutes about three-fourths of UN
membership, can act as a bloc, get any resolution passed by a simple
or two-thirds majority in the General Assembly.
 THE SECURITY COUNCIL

 The SC is an executive organ of the UN, and its primary responsibility is to

maintain international peace and security. If the GA is the deliberative
organ, the SC is the enforcement organ of the UN.
 Composition: Article 23 deals with the composition and membership of the
SC. Originally, Chapter-V provided that the SC shall consist of 11 members
of the UN. P-5 + 6 non-P members elected by GA for a term of 2 years.
 However, in August 1965, the GA, by an amendment of the Charter,
increased the number of non-permanent members of the council from 6 to
10 for two year terms.
 The non-permanent members are not eligible for immediate re-election.
They will consider on the bases of geographical and global representation
in SC.
 They will also consider nation’s contribution to the international peace and
security.
 The presidency of the UNSC rotates alphabetically among 15 members
every month.
 The Voting system in the UNSC is rigid. Each member of the SC shall
have one representative and one vote.
 For any decision to be made, an affirmative vote of 9 members is
needed. Along with 9 votes the concurrence of all permanent
members is also needed.
 If a permanent member does not fully agree a proposed resolution but
does not wish to cast a veto, it may choose to abstain. (In any case
minimum 9 votes are required without any veto).
 POWERS AND FUNCTIONS OF SECURITY COUNCIL
 Article 24 confers on the Security Council (SC) ‘primary
responsibility for the maintenance of the international peace and
security’ but if it fails to do so; the GA is given the power to take up
the matter.
 The SC can discuss, investigate and make a recommendation on
matters of international peace and security.
 For the settlement of international disputes, the SC will first seek a
solution through negotiations, enquiry, mediation, conciliation,
arbitration, adjudication or resort to regional arrangements or any
other peaceful means.
 If the situation is serious, the SC, under Article 39, shall determine
the existence of any threat to peace, breach of the peace or an act
of aggression.
 Under Article 41 and 42 of the Charter, the council may decide
diplomatic, economic and military sanctions against the aggressor
state. All the member states are obliged to carry out the decisions of
the council.
 The SC has jurisdiction in such matters as the admission of new
member states, selection of the Secretary-General and the judges of
the International Court of Justice.
 It can recommend to the GA for suspending any member of the UN
for persistently violating the Charter.
 The five permanent members of the SC enjoy the Veto power. It
ensures the cooperation of great powers. The Veto power has been
used more frequently than it actually should have been.
 The SC can exercise all the functions of the UN relating to strategic
areas, including the approval of the terms of the trusteeship
agreements and their alteration and amendment.
 A military staff committee has been established to assist the Security
Council in all matters relating to its military requirements for the
maintenance of international peace and security.
 This committee also assists with regard to employment and
command of forces at its disposal and the regulation of armaments
and disarmament. The committee comprises the chief of the
permanent members of the Security Council or their representatives.
 Nowadays, strong demand is being made for the expansion of
UNSC.
 For making the SC an effective body, its powers should be revised,
and its composition should be changed by increasing the number of
its members.
 It is being proposed that it should have at least 25 members, nine
permanent and 16 non-permanent. Brazil, India, Germany and
Japan are strong contenders for permanent seats in the UNSC.
 The democratization and expansion of the UNSC is now a major
item of international agenda of the 21st century.
 In other terms, a more representative SC, reflecting present-day
international realities, is an absolute imperative for the UN in the
21st century.
 International Court of Justice (ICJ)
 The ICJ is the principal judicial organ of the UN. It replaced the Permanent
Court of Justice of the LN. Its statute is an integral part of the UN Charter. It
can be called as the “World Court.”
 ICJ was established in June 1945 by the Charter of the UN and began its
work in April 1946. The seat of the Court is at The Peace Palace in Hague
(Netherlands), and the only principal organ of UN to be not located in New
York.
 All the UN member states (193) are automatically parties to the Court. All
countries which are parties to the statute of the court can be parties to cases
before it; no private party can present a case.
 However, other countries can refer cases to it under conditions laid down by
the SC.
 The GA, the SC and the specialised agencies can ask for an advisory opinion
on legal questions within the scope of their activities.
 The Court consists of 15 judges elected by the GA and the SC for a period of 9
years. A candidate needs to get an absolute majority in both the chambers i.e.,
the UNGA and the UNSC.
 The Judges are elected on the basis of their qualifications, moral character and
competency. No two judges can be selected from the same country to check the
dominance of the country in the Court. The members of the ICJ do not represent
their governments but are independent magistrates.
 Of the 15 judges, the composition is mandated to be as follows—3 from Africa, 2
from Latin America and the Caribbean, 3 from Asia, 5 from Western Europe and
other states and 2 from Eastern Europe.
 The judges retire in a group of 5, every three years. They are also eligible for re-
election.
 Each member of the court has to make a solemn declaration in the open court
about exercising his powers impartially and conscientiously before entering upon
his office.
 In order to guarantee his or her independence , no Member of the Court can be
dismissed unless, in the unanimous opinion of the other members, he/she no
longer fulfils the required conditions. This has in fact never happened so far.
 The Court elects its own President and Vice-President every three
years by secret ballot.
 The President presides at all meetings of the Court, and he directs
its work and supervises its administration, with the assistance of a
Budgetary and Administrative Committee and of various other
committees, all composed of members of the Court.
 During deliberations, the President has a casting vote in the case of
votes being equally divided.
 The ICJ has its permanent seat at The Hague. But it can meet
elsewhere too. The quorum of the court is 9, and in case of a tie, the
president of the court can cast a vote.
 The Court settles legal disputes between nations only and not
between individuals, organisations and private enterprise.
 Powers and Functions of the ICJ
 The function of ICJ is to resolve the dispute between the sovereign
states.
 Disputes may be placed before the Court by parties upon conditions
prescribed by the UN Security Council.
 No state, however, may be subject to the jurisdiction of the court
without the state’s consent.
 The Court usually entertains those cases that involve legal disputes
between states, which are submitted by them for resolution and also
requests for advisory opinions on legal questions referred to the ICJ
by the UN organs and its specialized agencies.
 The UNSC can enforce ICJ judgements as per the UN Charter.
However, the permanent members of the UNSC can veto against any
such ruling.
 Adjudication in Contentious cases between states/Contentious
Jurisdiction-(Art.34): In the exercise of its jurisdiction in contentious
cases, the International Court of Justice has to decide, in accordance with
international law, disputes of a legal nature that are submitted to it by
States.
 An international legal dispute can be defined as a disagreement on a
question of law or fact, a conflict, a clash of legal views or of interests.
 The jurisdiction of ICJ founded upon the consent of the parties is known
as the contentious jurisdiction.
 The Court can only deal with a dispute when the States concerned have
recognized its jurisdiction.
 No State can, therefore, be a party to proceedings before the Court
unless it has in some manner or other consented thereto.
 Advisory opinions to the UN Organs and its other
agencies/Advisory-Jurisdiction-(Art.65):
 The International court of Justice also has advisory jurisdiction, and
in its advisory jurisdiction, the Court may give advice to the General
Assembly, Security Council or any member state as the case may be.
 The advice of the court is not binding on the organ seeking it. In
fact, the advice is more of opinion than a decision.
 SPECIALIZED AGENCIES OF THE UNO
 Establishment of peace and security is not the only concern of the UN. It
is also expected to promote higher standards of living, full employment,
and conditions of economic and social progress and development.
 It is responsible for providing solutions for the international economic,
social, health and related problems and promoting universal respect for,
and observance of human rights and fundamental freedoms for all
without any differences based on race, language, religion, region, etc.
 To fulfil this responsibility, the UN is assisted by a number of specialized
agencies such as United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural
(UNESCO), ILO, WHO, Food and Agricultural Organization (FAO), United
Nations International Children Emergency Fund (UNICEF), IAEA, IMF,
International Bank for Reconstruction and Development (IBRD), etc.,
 The United Nations Specialised Agencies are autonomous organizations
working with the United Nations. All were brought into relationship with
the UN through negotiated agreements.
 Some existed even before the First World War. Some were associated with
the League of Nations. Others were created almost simultaneously with the
UN. Others were created by the UN to meet emerging needs.
 Articles 57 and 63 of UN Charter provides provision of creating specialised
agencies.
 Specialized Agencies each have a process for admitting members and
appointing their administrative head.
 Article 58 of the Charter states that the UN will make “recommendations
for the co-ordination of the policies and activities of the specialized
agencies”. Coordination is facilitated through ECOSOC and the Chief
Executives Board (CEB). There are 15 Specialized Agencies are under the
UNO.
 United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural
Organization (UNESCO)
 The UNESCO came into existence in November 1946 but was recognized as a
specialized agency of the UN in December 1946.
 Organization: The UNESCO consists of a general conference, an executive
board and the secretariat. The general conference is the governing body
consisting of representatives of the member states.
 Each member state can send up to 5 delegates but possesses only one vote.
The general conference elects the members of the executive board of 15
members and with its consent appoints the director-general of the
secretariat.
 The secretariat is headed by the director-general who is appointed by the
general conference on the recommendations of the executive board for a
period of 6 years.
 The general conference is responsible for organizing international
conferences on education, science, culture and humanity and dissemination
of knowledge.
Functions of UNESCO
 UNESCO’s mission is to contribute to the building of a culture of peace, the
eradication of poverty, sustainable development and intercultural dialogue
through education, the sciences, culture, communication and information.
 It tries to promote education among children and adults. It provides
educational materials, books, fellowships and study grants to the countries
devastated by war. It has set-up a regional research and training Centre and
also an International Institute of Educational Planning at Paris.
 UNESCO also helps in bringing about improvement in the teaching of science
at various levels.
 UNESCO gives importance to the problems of human rights and the socio-
economic implications of disarmament. It also helps the member states in
preserving and protecting their cultural heritage.
 UNESCO promotes a spirit of intellectual cooperation among the people of
different countries with the aim of promoting peace and tranquility.
 UNESCO’s programmes contribute to the achievement of the sustainable
development goals (SDG) defined in the 2030 Agenda, adopted by the UNGA in
2015.
 The International Labour Organization (ILO)
 This organ was formed in April 1919 as a part of the League of Nations. In 1946, it became
the first specialized agency of the UN.
 The ILO is a UN agency dealing with labour issues, particularly international labour
standards and decent work for all.
 The objective of ILO is to improve the living as well as the working conditions of the workers
throughout the world.
 In the other term the aim of ILO are to promote rights at work, encourage decent
employment opportunities, enhance social protection and strengthen dialogue on work-
related issues.
 It had held a significant position during the Great Depression (1930s) for ensuring labour
rights. The organization got the Nobel Peace Prize in 1969, for its efforts to improve peace
amongst the classes, and for promoting justice and fair work for the workers.
 It also looks after the problems of security of workers in the industry, commerce and
agriculture. ILO provides technical assistance to member states.
 It pays special attention to the problems of women and children.
 Its job is to undertake an in-depth examination of the future of work that can provide the
analytical basis for the delivery of social justice in the 21st century.
 The World Health Organization (WHO)
 The WHO was came into being on 7 April 1948. Its membership is open to all
the members of the UNO. Its aim is to create proper health conditions through
international cooperation.
 The primary objective of the WHO is the attainment of good health by all
people. The WHO fulfills this objective through the following functions:
 By playing a role as the directing and coordinating authority on international
health work (To provide leadership on global health matters).
 Maintaining and establishing collaboration with the UN and any other
appropriate bodies (Formulate world health research agenda).
 Assisting governments, upon request, in strengthening their health services
(Setting norms and standards).
 Giving appropriate technical assistance and in case of emergencies, required
aid upon the request or acceptance of governments (Provide technical support
to countries and monitoring and assessing health trends).
 These objectives are achieved through various ways such as educating
people about prevailing health problems, proper food supply and
nutrition, safe water and sanitation, maternal and child health including
family planning, immunization against major diseases, prevention and
control of local diseases, appropriate treatment of common disease, and
injuries and provision of essential drugs.
 World Health Assembly is the supreme decision-making body of WHO,
attended by delegations from all member states.
 It is the world’s highest health policy setting body and is composed of
health ministers from member states. WHA generally meets every year in
May in Geneva.
 The main role of WHA is to determine the policies of the WHO, Appoint
the Director-General of WHO, Supervise financial policies of WHO and
Review and approve the budget of WHO.
 Executive Board of WHO implements the decisions and policies of the
World Health Assembly.
 Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO)
 This organ was established on 16 October 1945. Its main objective is to find
out the means to develop and maintain adequate food supply by
encouraging new methods, preserving the existing food supplies and finding
new sources of the food supply and finally to defeat hunger.
 The main functions of the FAO are to collect, analyse, interpret and
disseminates information relating to nutrition, food and agriculture.
 It helps to check various diseases affecting plants and animals and has been
doing valuable work in this regard by inventing new medicines and vaccines.
 It helps countries in increasing food production by means of developing and
introducing new seeds and adopting new methods of cultivations.
 It is also involved in checking diseases among children resulting from
malnutrition.
 In nutshell, the UN’s Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) works to
combat hunger and poverty around the world by improving agricultural,
forestry, and fishery practices.
 United Nations International Children Emergency Fund (UNICEF)
 UNICEF was created in December 1946 through a resolution of the UN General
Assembly. It helps countries that are unable to meet the needs of their children out of
their own resources.
 UNICEF is mandated by the United Nations General Assembly to advocate for the
protection of children's rights, to help meet their basic needs and to expand their
opportunities to reach their full potential.
 UNICEF is committed to ensuring special protection for the most disadvantaged
children – victims of war, disasters, extreme poverty, all forms of violence and
exploitation, and those with disabilities.
 UNICEF responds in emergencies to protect the rights of children. In coordination with
United Nations partners and humanitarian agencies, UNICEF makes its unique
facilities for rapid response available to its partners to relieve the suffering of children
and those who provide their care.
 UNICEF also assist in providing balanced food such as milk, meat, fish, fats and fish
liver oil to children.
 It takes care of the interests of women and provides facilities for pregnant mothers. It
also addresses the issue of trafficking of women and children and the prevention of
the crime.
 International Monetary Fund (IMF)
 The IMF was set-up in December 1945. It was established to
promote international monetary cooperation, to foster economic
growth and high levels of employment; and to provide financial
assistance to the member countries to overcome the balance of
payments crises.
 The fundamental purpose of IMF is to promote international
cooperation through a permanent institution that provides the
machinery for consultation and collaboration on international
monetary problems.
 To assist in the establishment of a multilateral system of payments
in respect of current transactions between members and in the
elimination of foreign exchange restrictions, which hampers the
growth of world trade.
 International Bank for Reconstruction and Development (IBRD)/World Bank
 The IBRD came into existence in December 1945 as a result of the discussions at
the Bretton Woods Conference of 1944.
 Functions & Objectives of the WB: It helps the war-devastated countries by
granting them loans for reconstruction. They provide extensive experience and
the financial resources to the poor countries to increase their economic
growth, reducing poverty and a better standard of living.
 Also, it helps the underdeveloped countries by granting development loans.
So, it also provides loans to various governments for irrigation, agriculture,
water supply, health, education, etc. Also, the world bank provides economic,
monetary, and technical advice to the member countries for any of their
projects.
 This includes providing long-term capital to its member nations for economic
development and reconstruction. Also, it promotes the capital investment for
member nations by providing a guarantee for capital investment and loans.
 The United Nations Specialized Agencies
Agency Acronym Headquarters Founding Year
Food and Agriculture Organization FAO Rome, Italy 1945

International Telecommunication ITU Geneva, Switzerland 1865 (Joined UN in 1947)

Union
International Fund for Agricultural IFAD Rome, Italy 1977
Development
International Labour Organization ILO Geneva, Switzerland 1946

International Maritime Organization IMO London, United Kingdom 1948

International Monetary Fund IMF Washington, United States 1945

United Nations Educational, Scientific UNESCO Paris, France 1946

and Cultural Organization
World Health Organization WHO Geneva, Switzerland 1948

United Nations Industrial UNIDO Vienna, Austria 1966

Development Organization
International Civil Aviation ICAO Montreal, Canada 1944
Organization
World Intellectual Property WIPO Geneva, Switzerland 1967
Organisation
International Fund for Agricultural IFAD Rome, Italy 1977
Development
Universal Postal Union UPU Bern, Switzerland 1874

International Telecommunication ITU Geneva, Switzerland 1865

Union
United Nations World Tourism UNWTO Madrid, Spain 1974
Organization
World Meteorological Organisation WMO Geneva, Switzerland 1950

World Bank Group WBG Washington, D.C, USA 1944

 Major Challenges of the UN & Demand for UN Reforms
The UN has had its fair share of challenges in the years of its existence.
Now there is no one single factor to those challenges but rather multi-
faceted factors that make the UN’s task of fostering world peace a
difficult one. Some of the challenges to the UN’s efforts for global peace
are as follows:
 Geopolitical aggression and intransigence: Conflicts are becoming
commonplace and gradually being magnified by rival global powers as
they lend support to proxy groups to wage war overseas. The UNSC,
being dominated by a few nations, is unable to take a neutral stand on
issues, thus endangering world peace and security. Apart from issuing
declarations, the UN has been unable to stop certain conflicts from
taking place.
Legacies of military intervention and regime change: Framed as
interventions to counter terror, save civilians or remove rogue
regimes, in case after case, military intervention and regime change
have failed to bring lasting stability or to defeat fundamentalist
groups. This has brought an atmosphere of distrust regarding any
intervention done by the UN.
Panic over forced displacement: As desperate people flee war
zones, the impact of forced displacement is hitting neighbouring
countries hardest and they are trying to manage as best as they can.
Meanwhile, Western governments are making hasty deals to
support border and security forces in transit countries to close their
borders and shut the problem out. But such short-term measures
will only further antagonize the nations who are overburdened by
the inflow of refugees.
Struggling humanitarianism: Undoubtedly humanitarians have a tough
job. The UN and others are making enormous efforts, with inadequate
resources, to assist the victims of conflict. But they are not yet good
enough at defending humanitarian values, working for prevention
during a crisis or empowering those affected by humanitarian crises to
take the initiative.
 Western interventions in countries like Syria, Iraq, Afghanistan, etc.
have not brought about lasting peace or stability to those regions. The
UN has largely been like a mute spectator to the horrible events
(humanitarian crises) that unfolded in these conflict-ridden zones of
the world.
 Although, it must be acknowledged that many humanitarian efforts
such as by the WHO, UNICEF, WFP, etc. have helped these zones
immensely at least in their respective domains. However, political
resolutions to conflicts are more tricky and the UN does face enormous
challenges in this regard.
 The Demand for UN/UNSC Reforms
 The changing needs of global governance for peace and security require
significant reforms in the UN. There have been great demands for
reforms within the UN Security Council. Not only in the UNSC, world
leaders are also demanding a change in the manner in which the UN
system functions.
 Why reforms are needed?
 Changing geopolitical situation: The Security Council’s membership and
working methods reflect a bygone era. Though geopolitics have changed
drastically, the UNSC has changed relatively little since 1945, when
wartime victors crafted a Charter in their interest and awarded
“permanent” veto-wielding Council seats for the Allied victors.
• The veto powers possessed by the UNSC’s five permanent members are
used as an instrument to shore up their geopolitical interests, regardless
of the disastrous consequences for the victims of armed conflict.
 Reforms Long Overdue: Despite profound changes in global realities,
the basic structure of the Security Council has not changed significantly
from its original form of 1945. Although the overall membership of the
UN has increased from 51 to 193, there has been not much change in
the composition of the UNSC. Therefore the present Security Council
does not reflect today’s realities.
 Inequitable economic and geographical representation: While Europe is
over-represented, Asia is underrepresented. Africa and South America
have no representation at all. It does not reflect today’s distribution of
military and economic power, nor a geographical balance.
 Crisis of legitimacy and credibility: Stalled reform agenda and various
issues including its interventions in Libya and Syria in the name of
responsibility have put questions on the credibility of the institution.
 North-South Divide: The permanent UNSC membership portrays the
big North-South divide in the decision-making of security measures.
For instance, there is no permanent member from Africa, despite
the fact that 75% of its work is focused on that continent.
 Emerging issues: Issues such as deepening economic
interdependence, worsening environmental degradation,
transnational threats also call for effective multilateral negotiations
among the countries based on consensus. Yet, all critical decisions
of the UNSC are still being taken by the permanent members of the
Security Council.
General Assembly Reforms: The UN General Assembly(UNGA) can only
make non-binding recommendations, which is another reason for
ineffectiveness of the UN and another important issue of UN reform.
UN’s Financial Crisis: It can be said that the UN has a lot to do but it
has too little money, as it is in a permanent financial crisis due to the
unwillingness of many members to pay their contributions on time. As
long as the UN’s budget remains tightly constrained, it cannot be
effective. Toothless UN Peacekeeping Operation, etc
 As former UN secretary general noted that “No reform of the UN
would be complete without reform of the Security Council”. Therefore,
equitable representation as well as expansion of the UNSC is the
desired reform that India envisages.
 However, this would be the most challenging aspect of UN reforms, as
the most permanent five are generally opposed to strengthening the
institution and use their power to stop any significant change.
 Conclusion
• The United Nations was established with the goal of finding solutions to
keep the globe at peace. Since its inception, it has aided governments in
dealing with economic, social, and humanitarian issues, as well as
protecting refugees and promoting long-term development of the
countries.
• Further, given the current circumstances and global issues, today the
world needs multilateralism more than ever. In this context, it has
become crucial for the UNSC to reform itself and uphold its legitimacy,
democracy and representation in the world.
• Many countries have strongly advocated the formation of a more
legitimate, representative, effective and efficient Council, including an
increase in both the permanent and non-permanent seats. However, for
that to happen, political will, especially of the P-5 nations and strong
consensus among all the nations is the need of the hour.
Thanks