Global Policy Forum

Secretary General Ban Ki-moon has presented a paper outlining four options to improve the UN gender equality architecture. Over 300 women's and human rights organizations support the idea to combine the four existing UN gender entities into one new gender body. The body would be a mixture between a fund focused on operational projects and a department working on rules and policies. This would resolve the current fragmentation of the system and the lack of clear leadership in the area of gender issues. UN Member States should also commit to providing adequate funding to eliminate the current lack of resources. (TerraViva)

This article urges the five permanent Security Council members to give up their veto rights and recommends that the G4 – Brazil, Germany, India and Japan – join as permanent members. Seeking greater involvement of the Secretary General, the author also suggests to make the UN head an ex officio officer of the Security Council. To increase the democratic profile of the General Assembly, the author proposes that each member country appoints four representatives through national elections. (Global Research)

Among the many caucuses and groupings of the United Nations none seems to be more intensively scrutinized than the Group of 77 (G77), a powerful faction representing the interests of 130 developing Member States. Since its inception in 1964, the Group has carefully guarded the interests of 'the South', as the developing world is colloquially referred to at the United Nations. For outsiders, the G77 has often been elusive yet the Group constitutes a powerful factor in moving opinions on important issues at the UN. Through interviews with key diplomats and UN officials, this article analyzes the current management reform discussions as seen through the eyes of the Group of 77. (Center for UN Reform Education)

Secretary General, Ban Ki-moon, has acknowledged that his UN reform effort has stalled. Ban, also known as Invisible Man, is often criticized for his low-key public profile and for failing to take a strong enough stand on many issues. But this is the kind of UN leader that Washington wanted. Currently the Obama administration is redefining Washington's strained relationship with the world body by working more closely with the Secretary General.(The Wall Street Journal)

UN member states cannot agree on a draft resolution on strengthening environmental governance within the UN system. The Mexican and Swiss co-Chairs halted negotiations because member states disagree on financing of environmental efforts, the mandate of the UN Environment Programme and the idea of a new body. At the same time, many governments suggest that national and international responses to the economic crisis must be environmentally sustainable. Apparently, member states do not take seriously a strengthened UN role on the environment. (ReformtheUN.org)

In this paper, the Secretary General proposes options for strengthening the UN work on gender equality. The reform would replace the four existing bodies with a fund, a department or a composite of the two. A fund carries out operational work in different countries, while a department does not focus on field presence. However, a fund relies on voluntary donations by rich countries, while a department receives resources from the general UN budget. A composite body could therefore combine field presence with policy work and give poor countries more influence over the work regardless of funding. (UN)

In this interview Stephen Lewis, the former UN Special Envoy for HIV/AIDS in Africa, predicts that the UN General Assembly (GA) will establish a single agency for women before 2010. The United Nations has not acted on the proposal to merge the UN bodies working on gender issues for some years, but Lewis thinks a proposal from the Secretariat could prompt a decision from the GA. UN member states would decide on the agency's budget, which will naturally determine how much and how well the agency will perform. (TerraViva)

This article calls for the creation of a United Nations Parliamentary Assembly (UNPA). The author claims support for the proposal is stronger than ever and advocates include former Secretary General Boutros Boutros-Ghali. Boutros-Ghali stated that a UNPA "has become an indispensable step to achieve democratic control of globalization." The author believes the UNPA should consist of 900 elected representatives who speak for the world citizens. (Policy Innovations)

UN Secretary General Ban Ki-Moon uses many great words in his New Years speech. But critics doubt that he will be able to fulfill all of his pledges for 2008. They suggest that Ban should shift focus to restore the esteem of the UN and more importantly free the organization from the domination of the US. (Inter Press Service)

Election crises in Kenya and Pakistan show that international elections assistance often fails to prevent post-election violence. The author suggests establishing a UN monitoring unit that sets standards for national election commissions. Commissions that live up to these standards will receive a UN certificate. A failure of certification could warn for potentially problematic elections. (New York Times)

Accountability should play a larger role in the debate on UN reform. According to Michael Fowler and Sumihiro Kuyama, "perceptions of UN efficiency, effectiveness and credibility are closely related to accountability." A UN, which is both managerially and politically accountable, will attract larger support from member states and thereby play a more effective role in global governance. (unu)

Critics, including two-thirds of the US population, express disappointment at the UN's inability to bring peace to the Middle East and eradicate poverty and hunger in the global south. This Daily Times article points out that member states are themselves responsible for the UN's shortcomings. The author urges the member states to collectively build upon the UN's positive aspects and provide the necessary resources by paying their dues to the modest US$7 billion UN peacekeeping budget. According to the article, even though "the UN system is far from perfect, the world would be a poorer and more disorderly place without it."

This Norwegian Institute of International Affairs (NUPI) report reviews the UN Reform process from October 2003 until the High Level Summit in September 2005. It highlights the process' shortcomings claiming that then UN Secretary General, Kofi Annan, set the bar too high and that the member states achieved unsatisfactory results. Further disappointments include the lack of discussion on Security Council reform, exclusion of disarmament and non-proliferation, and inadequate representation of the global south in the discussions.

Former Deputy Secretary General Mark Malloch Brown analyzes the UN reform initiatives taken by Kofi Annan in his last two years as Secretary General. Malloch Brown compares his reform initiatives at UNDP to Annan's initiatives such as the Human Rights Council, the Peacebuilding Commission and management reforms. He asserts that Annan "was hostage to intergovernmental warfare" which prevented him from effectively managing the UN. Malloch Brown claims that UN reform will continue to be a tough task until the member states move away from their individual motives and "allow an empowered accountable management to lead a modern UN." (Academic Council on the UN System)

Veering from its traditional agenda of preserving international peace and security, the UN Security Council plans to hold a meeting to discuss the issue of climate change. The Group of 77 and the Non-Aligned Movement have denounced this decision as evidence of the SC's "ever-increasing encroachment" on the mandates of the UN's other main bodies. Citing the UN Charter, they argue that the Council should only "come into action when there are actual threats to peace or breaches of the peace." (Inter Press Service)