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Problems with Implementing Reforms
"If the
international community of the United Nations were to be founded anew tomorrow,
it would certainly look different to our organisation of today."
[Millennium Report by UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan
to the General Assembly]
In the
reform report to the UN Millennium Summit passed by the heads of
government and state, Secretary-General Kofi Annan names three
strategic aims. All of these have formed an important point of reference
in the reform debate since then:
Development
Agenda:
Freedom
from danger
Security
Agenda:
Freedom
from fear
Environment
Agenda:
Future
ecological capability |
Although
it is possible to ascribe considerable flexibility to the United Nations [see
Basic Course 2],
the
reform of the world organisation stood at a prominent position on the
international agenda no later than after the epochal revolutionary changes
of 1989/90. The following text excerpt from Varwick and Knelangen
summarises the most important requirements of the reform:
"Even if
numerous fundamental differences concerning the future form and function
of the United Nations exist, there is no actual dissent concerning the
importance of a comprehensive reform. Both the
Charter
and the
organisation itself require thorough reconstruction.
 |
Many
stipulations of the Charter have – as parts of Chapter VII show -
proven to be infeasible or have become – like the so-called 'enemy
state' clauses - obsolete; |
|
in
contrast, the United Nations’ new range of tasks, such as crisis
prevention, environmental protection, population questions and so on
are not, or are inadequately represented in the Charter; |
|
in
relation to its permanent members, the make up of the Security
Council
reflects
the situation at the end of the Second World War. In relation to the
number of non-permanent members, it reflects the structure of the
United Nations at the beginning of the Sixties; |
| the veto
right of the five permanent members is increasingly being seen as
discriminating, and is no longer considered to be just in terms of its
functions; |
| one principal
organ - the Trusteeship
Council -
has
suspended its work due to a dearth of regions to administer or
supervise; |
|
the
work of the General
Assembly is
complicated and time-consuming, the role of the Economic
and Social Council
is
continually losing in weight, and finally |
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effective
coordination of the whole
system
with
its numerous interweavings and redundant components is hardly possible
anymore."
[taken from: Johannes Varwick/Wilhelm Knelangen, Die Rolle der Vereinten Nationen
in der internationalen Politik; in: Aus Politik und Zeitgeschichte
27-28/2002, Bundeszentrale für politische Bildung Bonn, P. 8-9] |
Numerous
reform requirements addressed would need an amendment to the UN Charter to
institute them. The procedure provided for this in Articles 108 and 109
however requires
| a
three-quarters
majority in the General Assembly, |
| ratification
by two-thirds of the member states, |
| whereby,
all five permanent members of the Security Council need to be included. |
This
represents a series of extremely high hurdles. Reforms can be blocked by
just one of the five Security Council members. Not only is the
power of prevention large however; the hurdle to achieving a structural
majority is considerable, when one considers that 127 states have to be
won in the general Assembly for an amendment to the Charter to be made. |
The
Typology of Reform Suggestions
|
Increase
in efficiency |
Institutional
reforms |
Fundamental
design |
|
Reforms
aim at increasing performance capability and improved opportunities for
effectiveness in the central tasks of the UNO to-date |
Reforms
aim at institutional remodelling or adaptation to new challenges |
Reforms
aim at the fundamental remodelling of the former principles of the UNO |
|
Example: |
Example: |
Example: |
|
Rationalisation
in administration and finances |
Reform
of the Security Council, creation of new committees (for instance, the World
Environment Organisation) |
Repeal
of the ban on interfering in internal affairs; supranationalisation of the
UNO |
|
Chances
of realisation: |
Chances
of realisation: |
Chances
of realisation: |
|
Already
partially implemented by the internal reforms made by Kofi Annan
[see the section on
"Efficiency"] |
Implementation
requires a change to the Charter and is therefore difficult |
Implementation
is unrealistic |
[Slightly adapted from: Sven
Gareis/Johannes Varwick, Die Vereinten Nationen. Aufgaben, Instrumente und Reformen;
Bundeszentrale für politische Bildung Schriftenreihe Band 403, Bonn 2003, P. 259]
The 5th
Anniversary of the United Nations in 1995 and the discussions on Global
Governance as a response to the challenges of globalisation have given the
reform debate further impetus. In 1997, Secretary-General Kofi Annan put forward
a programme of reforms and began with the measures effecting his Secretariat.
This concerns reforms of the first type in the typology, dealing with measures
to raise efficiency [refer
to the section on "Efficiency"].
The reform
of the Security Council counts as one of the most important reform topics in
the second type ("institutional reforms"):
"The
modernisation of the most important principal organs of the United Nations
represents one of the largest challenges for the world organisation, and at the
same time a decisive test for its reformability, since all the difficulties and
hurdles of institutional remodelling of the organisation appear compounded here
like in a test tube."
[taken from: Sven Gareis/Johannes Varwick, Die Vereinten Nationen. Aufgaben, Instrumente und Reformen;
Bundeszentrale für politische Bildung Schriftenreihe Band 403, Bonn 2003, P. 270]
No
successful reform initiative has stood out to-date. Neither the member states
agreeing on new permanent members appears to be in view, nor is there any
success in repealing the privileges of the five permanent members. If we agree
with Gareis and Varwick that this constitutes is a test of the reformability of
the United Nation in toto, then we are forced to come to a sceptical
verdict regarding the urgently required adaptation of the United Nations to the
challenges of the 21st Century.
More pages on problems facing the United
Nations
| FINANCES:
The United Nations' Financial Crisis
|
| PEACE: The
Crisis of Securing Peace through the United Nations |
|
| EFFICIENCY: The
Problems with Coordination and Work Efficiency
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| REFORMS: Fundamental Reform Plans and the
Difficulties Associated with their Implementation |
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[Author: Ragnar Müller]
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