The U.N. Needs Reform
By Rep. Cliff Stearns
In 1945, representatives from 50 countries met in San Francisco to develop the charter of the United Nations (U.N.), and the U.N. started in October of that year. For nearly 60 years, the U.N. has provided a forum for diplomatic discussions, peacekeeping operations, and health services and food to the needy.
However, any organization, especially one with a global mission, loses focus on its mission over the years and sees its flaws multiply and worsen. As the U.N. nears its seventh decade of service, it would benefit from being rehabilitated and reinvigorated. In addition, the U.N. leadership needs to exercise greater accountability and the entire U.N. structure needs reform.
The U.N. has become dangerously dysfunctional. Let's start at the top. Kofi Annan's tenure as Secretary General of the United Nations is one of abject failure. Even the senior management at the U.N., his own employees, last year approved a vote of no confidence in his leadership.
Prior to becoming Secretary General, Annan headed the U.N.'s Peacekeeping Department. In 1994, Major General Dallaire, leading the U.N. peacekeepers in Rwanda, pleaded with Annan for permission to prevent an attack against the Tutsi tribe. Annan refused to act and 800,000 Tutsis and their allies were slaughtered.
In 1995, peacekeepers working under Annan established a "safe zone" for Bonsian Muslims in Srebrenica. Due to U.N. inaction, Serbian troops entered the "safe zone" and murdered 7,000 men and boys.
Then there is the Oil-for-Food Scandal that ocurred under Annan's watch. The Oil-for-Food program was established by the U.N. to provide humanitarian assistance to the people of Iraq in light of sanctions imposed on that nation. Through the abuse of the program, Saddam Hussein collected nearly $10 billion, and officials of numerous countries and the U.N. apparently benefited as well. A Congressional report found that Hussein used these kickbacks to key individuals to influence the decisions of the U.N. Security Council.
Also, a U.N.-sanctioned inquiry of the scandal found that the head of the program, Benon Sevon, a close associate of Annan, received kickbacks from Hussein. Incredibly, Sevon is still on the U.N. payroll.
How have other U.N. peacekeeping operations gone under Secretary General Annan? U.N. peacekeepers in the Congo are accused of widespread sexual exploitation of refugees (2005), peacekeepers were accused by Human Rights Watch of the systematic rape of women in Sierra Leone (2003), and in Bosnia peacekeepers were accused of sex trafficking (2001).
We see that the U.N. often fails at peacekeeping, is it any better at handling money? In 1995, staffers of the U.N. Children's Fund in Kenya stole $10 million in agency funds. In 1997, 16 employees were investigated for stealing $6 million from the U.N. Development Program. An employee of the World Meteorological Organization skimmed $3 million in U.N. funds. This is merely a partial list of theft within the world body.
The United States remains the largest contributor to the U.N., contributing 22 percent of the world body's annual budget. That is more than the combined contributions of Germany, the United Kingdom, and France. In addition, our contributions for peacekeeping operations exceed what we give toward the U.N. budget.
As the world's largest financial supporter of the U.N., the United States should lead efforts to reform the U.N. Last month, I joined the House in approving H.R. 2745, the U.N. Reform Act. This measure sets forth a number of reforms for the U.N. to adopt.
The reforms focus on greater budget efficiency, streamlining and prioritizing programs, strengthening oversight and accountability, and improving peacekeeping and human rights operations. In all there are 39 reforms. If the U.N. fails to adopt at least 32 of these reforms, Congress would withhold 50 percent of the U.S. funds appropriated for the U.N. budget. Information on this bill can be found at http://www.house.gov/international_relations/.
The U.N. has talked about reform for years; now it must act or face a loss of funding from the United States. The U.N. has the potential to improve its role in enhancing global peace, dealing with refugees and disasters, and promoting health and development. Yet, without reform the U.N. will continue to be wasteful, inefficient, ineffective, and, in some cases, a danger to the people it is meant to help.
A long-time U.N. advocate urged the nations of the world "to act boldly and adopt the most far-reaching reforms of the United Nations." That advocate is Kofi Annan. On this one account, I agree with him, as do most Americans.
