Written Answers. - United Nations Reform.
Dan Wallace
Question:
9
Mr. D. Wallace
asked the
Tánaiste and Minister for Foreign Affairs
his assessment of the major structural and operational deficiencies of the United Nations; the main representations, if any, he has made to assist or prompt the necessary reforms; and his views on the realistic potential for improvement in the United Nations performance in the intermediate term.
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The member states of the United Nations are currently discussing a wide range of institutional and operational issues as part of an ongoing process of reform within the United Nations system. The objective of these discussions is to agree on reforms which would make the system more effective in fulfilling its mandate to maintain world peace and promote economic and social development.
I share the widely held view that important bodies such as the General Assembly and the Economic and Social Council need to review their structures and working methods so that they become more responsive and relevant to the real issues that currently face the world community. As major decision making organs within the UN system, their debates and decisions need to be more focused on the main problems facing the world community and should result in concrete and practical proposals for common action to adequately address these problems.
The Security Council, the major decision-making body within the system, also requires reform. Its membership needs to be enlarged so that it is more representative of the views of the wider community of UN states. Its deliberations on key issues should be more open and transparent and involve closer consultation with both the General Assembly and the Secretary-General.
In general, institutional reform should aim at a closer co-operation between the major UN bodies so that the actions and programmes of the UN system have the force of real collective action backed up by the political support of the member states. This can be done without disturbing the balance of powers and responsibilities given to these bodies under the UN Charter. What is needed is a more cohesive and better co-ordinated approach by the various institutions to ensure that the United Nations act more effectively in addressing threats to peace and to social and economic progress.
In seeking to make the United Nations more effective, we need to review its present programmes and activities, particularly in the field of economic and social development, to make sure that it is making the best use of resources and targeting those problems which are a real priority, especially for the poorer developing countries. There is also a particular need for the various specialised agencies of the UN active in this sector to work more closely together to maximise the overall impact of UN programmes in such areas as poverty alleviation and sustainable development. A better co-ordination between the various major programmes and agencies can only improve both the quality and scope of United Nations action to assist poorer developing countries.
Peacekeeping is another area which needs review. It is clear from recent experience that the United Nations must develop a better planned and properly resourced response to the type of intra-state conflict which is becoming more frequent in the post-Cold War era. I welcome the increased attention on preventive diplomacy and efforts to address the economic and social causes of conflict as well as measures aimed at improving the rapid response capacity of the UN to conflict situations. In seeking to strengthen the peacekeeping capacity of the United Nations, it is important to remember that to be successful, peacekeeping operations must have the political support of all member states and particularly of the members of the Security Council, who have a special responsibility in this area.
Apart from institutional and operational reforms, I would also underline the need for agreement on a secure and long-term financial basis for the UN system and its activities. The reform process we are engaged in will have little value or impact if the more dynamic UN system which we want to see emerging does not have sufficient and secure financial resources to allow it to plan and implement long-term programmes of economic and social development, as well as fulfilling its peacekeeping role.
Ireland, along with her partners in the European Union, has been playing a positive and constructive role in the reform negotiations under way. We have supported proposals to make the General Assembly more streamlined and relevant in its working methods, to review the operations of the Economic and Social Council and the various subsidiary organs and specialised agencies dealing with economic and social development. We have recommended enlargement of the Security Council and more open and transparent decision-making within it. In the area of peace-keeping we have laid emphasis on the need for a more comprehensive approach to peacekeeping interventions and supported the efforts of the Secretary-General to put in place more effective planning and standby arrangements to improve rapid deployment of personnel and resources.
We will continue to play a full part, along with our EU partners, in efforts to reach consensus on required reforms within the system. I am optimistic that with sufficient political will on the part of member states, real and meaningful reform can be achieved. The Secretary-General has already carried through administrative reforms which will result in substantial budget savings and a reduction in staff numbers in the Secretariat. There is a growing recognition among member states that in addition to administrative reform, greater attention has to be given to setting priorities for the various programmes of the United Nations and channelling available resources to a better and more effective implementation of these. This is particularly true of the sectors of economic and social development, where the UN system has the greatest potential for making a real and lasting impact on the problems of underdevelopment.
Ireland will continue to participate actively in the process of positive and constructive self-appraisal within the UN system. We all have an interest, and a responsibility, to ensure that the United Nations can renew its capacity to be the unique instrument of collective action, on behalf of the world community, to tackle the challenges and crises to be faced in the coming years.
