The Role the UN plays and how Pivotal it Truly is in the Discussion of Global Affairs
- Vardui Chtrkyan
- Nov 8
- 2 min read
By: Raashi Khamkar
The United Nations is an international organization dedicated to achieving universal unity. Established right after World War II in 1945, the UN is committed to strengthening international peace and security as well as promoting a positive environment for social progress. The UN assists with improving the lives of those experiencing poverty, human conflict, climate conflict, disease, and illiteracy, just to name a few. The United Nations regards itself as the harmonizing force to achieve all these actions. Within the UN, there are several agencies, funds, programs, and specialized bodies that handle certain issues. One of the many organs of the UN is the General Assembly, where policy-making and decisions occur. A yearly meeting is held where all countries send a representative to deal peace-keeping, security, and budgetary topics all led by the president, who is elected yearly (UNIS).
Though the UN has had many proven successful events, there have been severe cases where they have failed to intervene, such as the Rwanda and Bosnia genocide. There are two specific reasons why the UN is unsuccessful in these situations. The UN has a certain mandate they’re required to follow. Within this mandate, it states that volunteers are not allowed to use force unless it’s for the safety of individuals who need to be evacuated. The United Nations has also failed to have its peacekeepers negotiate with violent offenders. Peacekeeping requires the permission of the host country, which the UN doesn’t have immediate access to. On a minor note, volunteers cannot culturally connect with those they assist, an integral part of social development which the UN aims to improve. Generally, due to the recent Covid-19 pandemic, financial constraints have been limiting the UN from allocating their money effectively. When crucial countries, for example, the US, create major changes such as leaving many UN bodies as a whole, it contributes to the lack of funding and breaks many political agreements (Balakir, 2021).
Generally, the United Nations has established a wave of change since its initial development; however, within a single unifying body, there will always be flaws. In many situations, their assistance has helped the conflict, but in certain cases, the UN wasn’t able to. Despite these obstacles, to have an institution dedicated to helping international dilemmas is one step forward to global peace.
Works Cited
Balakir, Katelyn. "Failures and Successes of the UN." The Alliance for Citizen Engagement, 22 Aug. 2021, ace-usa.org/blog/research/research-foreignpolicy/failures-and-successes-of-the-un/.
United Nations. "The UN in General." United Nations : Information Service Vienna, United Nations, 2023, unis.unvienna.org/unis/en/topics/the-un-in-general.html.
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