Promoting Peace and Burdensharing
The UN currently maintains the world’s second-largest
standing army, operating 15 peacekeeping missions and three
political missions in some of the world’s most hostile
environments. Through UN peacekeeping operations, the international
community shares the burden of fostering peace and stability,
so no nation has to take every risk or bear every cost. A
wide variety of academic and expert analyses have found these
missions to be remarkably efficient and effective, and laud
the United Nations for its leadership in significantly reducing
civil strife worldwide since the end of the Cold War.
Building Democracy in Afghanistan
Since December 2003, the UN has assisted in registering over
10 million Afghan citizens to vote, 41% of whom are women.
More than 8,000 election observers, polling agents, international
observers, and media observers were trained by the UN to monitor
the September 2005 provincial elections and the October 2005
elections to ensure they were conducted freely and fairly.
Responding to Natural Disasters
Every year, UN agencies raise more than $2 billion to help
respond to devastating natural and humanitarian disasters.
Working in conjunction with NGOs and other major aid organizations,
the UN leads global efforts to provide rapid and essential
life-saving assistance in the aftermath of disasters. Within
24 hours of the Asian tsunami in December 2004, the UN was
on the ground providing food for 1.7 million people, shelter
to 1.3 million people, water to more than 1 million people,
and vaccinations for 1.2 million children.
Fighting Poverty
At the 2000 United Nations Millemmium Summit, 189 heads of
state and government from the North and South signed onto
the Millennium Declaration, an ambitious and concrete plan
for improving the quality of life in developing countries.
This Declaration developed into the Millennium Development
Goals (MDGs) and represented the first internationally agreed
upon framework for fighting poverty, hunger, disease, and
inequality. The MDGs, which ambitiously motivate Member States
to fight these problems at their roots, are targeted for achievement
by 2015.
Promoting Justice
UN war crimes tribunals have developed an international legal
framework that enables prosecution of individuals involved
in genocide and gross violations of human rights. These tribunals
have put perpetrators of atrocities in Rwanda and Yugoslavia
behind bars. Most recently, former Liberian President Charles
Taylor was turned over to the UN Special Court in Sierra Leone
on 17 counts of war crimes and crimes against humanity for
allegedly supporting rebels during the Sierra Leone conflict.
Protecting Human Rights
In 1948, the UN General Assembly passed the Universal Declaration
of Human Rights, the world’s gold standard for the basic
rights that all human beings should enjoy. In subsequent years,
the UN has led global efforts to forge consensus on international
human rights norms and helped broker dozens of comprehensive
agreements on political, civil, economic, and social rights.
UN human rights capabilities help stop abuses and provide
refuge to the oppressed.
Establishing International Standards
The UN has been responsible for negotiating internationally
accepted technical standards in areas like statistics, trade
law, customs procedures, intellectual property, aviation,
shipping, and telecommunications, which have facilitated cross-national
transactions and stimulated business activity throughout the
world.
Promoting Free Elections in
Iraq
The UN has played an integral role in the organization and
execution of free and democratic elections in Iraq. For example,
UN experts provided the Iraqi-administered Independent Electoral
Commission of Iraq (IECI) with the expertise, skills, and
manpower necessary to conduct three successful national elections,
which have helped enable the transition of full sovereignty
to the Iraqi people. The UN has also assisted Iraqi leaders
in developing a Constitution that lays the foundation for
a government of national unity.
Fighting for Women’s Rights
The UN General Assembly adopted the Convention on the Elimination
of all Forms of Discrimination against Women in 1979, which
was subsequently ratified by 180 countries, providing a basis
for greater recognition of women’s rights throughout
the world. Working to improve the quality of life for women
around the globe, the UN Development Fund for Women (UNIFEM)
has sponsored projects in over 100 countries addressing violence
against women, women’s health, and women’s economic
security.
