Thanks to your support, the crisis at
the United Nations has been diffused, and the spending cap
was lifted, allowing the organization’s life-saving
activities to continue functioning without interruption.
But there is important work still to be done. With your help,
we will continue working to motivate the world’s leaders
to work together to strengthen the organization and ensure
nations are supporting the organization financially and poltically.
WHAT WAS THE CAMPAIGN?
“Resolve the Crisis: Don’t Shut Down
the UN” was a collaborative effort launched by the Better
World Campaign to engage individuals and organizations committed
to averting a political crisis at the United Nations. We urge
those that govern the United Nations – its 191 Member
States – to take the steps necessary to ensure that
the reform process continues and there is no interruption
in the UN’s operations because of a lack of necessary
budgetary authority or resources.
The campaign did not take a position on these issues of disagreement
among Member States, but urged nations to exercise the necessary
leadership, flexibility, diplomacy, and cooperative spirit
needed to resolve those differences and ensure a strong and
effective UN.
All Member States bear a shared responsibility to ensure the
uninterrupted functioning of the world’s primary platform
for international cooperation, peace, and prosperity and to
promote continued efforts to improve the efficiency of UN
operations.
WHY IS THE CAMPAIGN WAS NECESSARY?
A gulf has emerged between the UN’s
principal donor nations and the G-77, a majority bloc at the
United Nations.
There are a variety of legitimate perspectives on the causes
of the crisis that threatened continued UN operations in June
and the UN’s financial and political base in the future.
Most immediate are the following:
On December 23, 2005, the UN General Assembly adopted a two-year
budget for the United Nations’ basic operations. However,
by agreement of the Member States, the UN’s budget was
limited to $950 million, enough money to fund the UN until
June. This six-month spending cap was established to provide
time for further progress on reform.
While additional reforms have been made, the General Assembly
recently reached an impasse in the reform process. On May
8, 2006, the General Assembly adopted a resolution that significantly
slows the reform process and rejects certain proposals for
management flexibility and budgetary procedures proposed by
the Secretary-General. This presents a problem because many
governments have expressed an intent to link the release of
UN dues to progress on reform.
On June 28, 2006, Member States agreed to lift the budgetary
cap on the UN’s spending, allowing the organization
to continue functioning and carrying out its operations. However,
the road forward on strengthening the institution remains
somewhat tenuous.
It will be necessary for Members States to reach agreement
on core upgrades to the UN system so that the UN is able to
best meet its mandates and perform critical missions of relevance
to all peoples of the world – from development projects
to the UN’s life-saving humanitarian work to ongoing
efforts essential for international peace and security.
OUR MESSAGE
Our message is simple: failure to nurture,
preserve, strengthen, and adequately fund the UN does not
serve the interests of any nation or group of nations and
would reflect poorly on all world leaders and governmental
representatives. A UN shutdown — of diplomacy, reform,
or operations — would represent a failure of all nations
to take the necessary steps, make the necessary compromises,
and undertake the necessary actions to ensure that the UN’s
vital and irreplaceable efforts continue uninterrupted.
The United Nations has stood as a beacon of global peace and
progress for over 60 years. Given the world’s large
and growing agenda requiring international cooperation, now
is not the time to undermine the foundations of the UN.
HOW YOU CAN HELP
Please join us in our efforts
to stave off future threats to the United Nations by staying
informed and engaged through the Better World Campaign. You
can learn more about the U.S. – UN relationship and
the work of the United Nations by visiting www.betterworldcampaign.org.
Thank you to all of those who signed the online petition—we
look forward to your engagement in future initiatives!
