United+Nations+in+Action

We need to understand what the UN actually does. Yes we have read the charter and we know the Millenium goals but what do they actually do? Are they successful or is it simply a facade?

This page enables us to summarise the activities of the UN in real terms. We can then give meaningful examples in explaining our position. The aim is to get a 20 line summary for each example. We then place it in this page. What might be included in the summary? 1 - Brief contextual statement. What is it about? What is the UN trying to do? 2 - List the UN organs / committees that manage the situation. What resolutions apply? 3 - Issues in the Security Council or conflict over the issue and how to manage it. 4 - Successes / failures

Naz = Haiti, Caleb - Yugoslavia 1991 / 99, Zoe = Timor Leste ( East Timor), Ella - DPRK, Nick - Copenhagen, Ellen - Sudan / Darfur, Sebastian - R2P, First Gulf War Iraq / Kuwait - 1991 -Musty, Montreal Protocol - Sarah, Refugees - Lily, Somalia - Jai, Chechnya 1991, Terrorism - Averil, Afghanistan - Ash


 * Caleb - Yugoslav Wars**

An ethnic war said to be the worst European conflict since WW II- Between Serbs and the Croats and Bosniaks. The Croats and Bosniaks also had conflict in Bosnia. The Macedonians and and Albanians also were at war in Macedonia. The wars ended at different stages resulting in International recognition of sovereign nations. It was judged as a genocidal war including mass ethnic cleansing. 50,000 women were reported to be raped by the UN created __[|International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia]__ (ICTY). The Tribunal was created to prosecute the thousands of war crimes committed in the duration of the wars. This is a war that leads back years and years to the creation of Yugoslavia and the joining of Croatia and Serbia. It is known as the Croatian war of independence. The UN was involved with creating peace Treaties and trying to keep the peace in the countries. The UN was involved in stemming the extreme violence and ethnic cleansing. It was seen in some sense as a failure because the peace keeping from the UN was brought in after thousands of murders had already taken place.


 * Angus - UN in Iraq**

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The UN's contribution to the ongoing conflict within Iraq can, to some degree be seen as a failure, although they managed to keep peace eventually, they failed to foresee the invasion of the Coalition of the Willing in early 2003 even after extensive discussion within the security council prior to 2003. This failure is fueled by the fact that the invasion was carried out by two permanent members of the security council with out their knowing, USA and UK respectively. The initial Invasion in 2003 was an action taken by the Bush Government in a bid to rid Iraq of 'Weapons of Mass Destruction'. The invasion was in breach of the UN's Resolution 1441, which stated that Iraq declare all WMD, which after many failed inspections was still unfound. In december 2002 Iraq filed a 12,000 page declaration of weapons, which was handed to the five permanent members of the UN SC. Following this declaration and unknown to the UNSC the coalition of the willing went on to invade iraq on suspicion of these weapons, weapons of which were given to them by the US during the Iraq- Iran war.=====


 * Jai - UN In Somalia**

UNDP Somalia works with local partners ‒ NGOs, civil society and government ‒ towards a peaceful and secure nation for all Somalis. Together with 15 other UN agencies in Somalia, UNDP is helping Somalis recover from 18 years of conflict, build peace, rebuild their institutions, and set Somalia on the path to development. It works through three main programmes (Governance, Rule of Law and Security, and Recovery and Sustainable Livelihoods). From November 1991, there was heavy fighting in the Somali capital of Mogadishu between armed elements allied to General Mohamed Farah Aidid, or to Mr. Ali Mohamed Mahdi, the appointed "interim President", and yet other factions. In addition to Mogadishu, there was conflict in Kismayo, and in the north-west, local leaders were pushing to create an independent "Somaliland". The country as a whole was without any form of central government. By 1992, almost 4.5 million people, more than half the total number in the country, were threatened with starvation, severe malnutrition and related diseases. In terms of success the UN had failed misserably, due to their charter and specific laws, the UN Peace Keeping force were unable to bring stability to Somalia. As they are limited in who they can attack and only protect themselves plus hostages under-fire.


 * Ash - Afghanistan**

Afghanistan joined the UN in 1946. In late 2001, the Security Council authorized the United States to overthrow the Taliban government, as an offensive against the terrorist al-Qaeda organization, said to be based in the country. The Council also authorized the US and its NATO allies to set up the International Security Assistance Force (ISAF) to provide military support for a newly-established pro-Western government (the United States also continued to run a separate anti-terrorist military operation). In March 2002 the Council established the United Nations Assistance Mission for Afghanistan (UNAMA) to manage all UN humanitarian, relief, recovery and reconstruction activities. Despite (or perhaps because of) these military-centered initiatives, Afghanistan has remained a "failed state." The UN's role in the country includes an election operation that is working with Afghan authorities to register voters and organize elections for 2009 and 2010. Other efforts include promoting of good governance and the rule of law, training of police, and the like. But in a land torn by violence, warlordism, drug production and intense suspicion of foreigners, these programs seem unreal and very unlikely to succeed. Until Afghanistan achieves a lasting and stable peace designed and supported by Afghanis, there can be no prospect of progress, electoral or otherwise. The United Nations did not authorize the U.S.-led invasion of Afghanistan.

The United Nations Assistance Mission in Afghanistan (UNAMA) was established on 28 March, 2002 by UN Security Council resolution 1401. Its original mandate was to support the Bonn Agreement (December 2001); reviewed annually, this mandate has been altered over time to reflect the needs of the country and was recently extended until 23 March 2010 by resolution 1746. UNAMA’s mandate currently has the following elements: providing political and strategic advice for the peace process; providing good offices; helping the government to implement the Afghanistan Compact. The Afghanistan National Development Strategy and the National Drugs Control Strategy; promoting human rights; providing technical assistance; and continuing to manage and coordinate all UN-led humanitarian relief, recovery, reconstruction and development activates in Afghanistan. These were endorsed by the UN Security Council in resolution 1662.

Would be considered a UN failure as it is already to late to have any major effects, although the UN continues to work on Afghanistan the damage has been done, proper precautions and actions needed be taken place. No peace, no harmony, only war.

UN agencies in Afghanistan: UNDP (United Nations Development Program) UNAMA (United Nations Assistance Mission in Afghanistan) UNCC (United Nations Compensation Commission) UNCCD (United Nations Convention to Combat Desertification) UN-HABITAT (United Nations Centre for Human Settlements) UNCSD (United Nations Common Supplier Database) UNCTAD (United Nations Conference on Trade and Development) UNEP (United Nations Environment Programme) UNESCO (United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization) UNFCCC (United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change) UNFPA (United Nations Population Fund for Afghanistan) UNHCR (United Nations High Commission for Refugees) UNICEF (United Nations Children’s Fund) UN ICT TF (United Nations Information and Communication Technologies Taskorce) UNIDO (United Nations Industrial Development Organization) UNIFEM (United Nations Development Fund for Women) UNJLC (United Nations Joint Logistics Center) UNODC (United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime) UNOPS (UN Office for Project Services)

The DPRK- otherwise known as north Korea- has been particularly problematic when dealing with Nuclear Weapons. In the early nineties, rumours of Nuclear weapons and plutonium extracting devices in North Korea were floating around globally. Due to the Heat across the borders of North Korea and South Korea, much concern was given to the peacekeeping in the Korean peninsula. In 1991, The IAEA organ of the United Nations agreed with both nations that they could check and prevent Nuclear weapons being created for the use on each other in both countries, in aim of the Denuclearization of the peninsula. Through 1992 and 1993 several documents were signed through the IAEA by North Korea about nuclear prevention and elimination (like the NPT). Soon after, North Korea’s leader Kim II sung died and North Korea eventually withdrew from these treaties, and When realization that North Korea was still using plutonium-extracting devices, the UN and America was indefinitely annoyed. So In 1994, America acted collaborated with North Korea to establish a framework that stated · North Korea would freeze its existing nuclear program and agree to enhanced International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) safeguards · Both sides would cooperate to replace the D.P.R.K.'s graphite-moderated reactors for related facilities with light-water (LWR) power plants. · Both countries would move toward full normalization of political and economic relations. · Both sides will work together for peace and security on a nuclear-free Korean peninsula. · And that both sides would work to strengthen the international nuclear non-proliferation regime. Eight Years later, in October 2002 America’s secretary of State James Kelly announced to North Korea it’s knowledge of them having a current program enriching Uranium for Nuclear Weapons. Initially, North Korea denied these claims. In April 2004, North Korea then admitted these claims to be true at a discussion with USA and China in Beijing. Upon doing this, North Korea Nullified the Framework compromised with the US government some nine years ago. In 2006, North Korea conducted an underground explosives test, which shows that no real progress has been made of the situation By the IAEA organ of the United Nations or by any other source.
 * ELLA- DPRK**


 * R2P** – **Sebastian Goldsmith**

The R2P (Responsibility to Protect) is an international security and human rights doctrine, which includes three major principles: 1. The primary responsibility for the protection of populations lies with the state. This is a recognition that sovereignty includes not just rights, but responsibilities; 2. When governments are unable or unwilling to protect their populations from genocide, war crimes, crimes against humanity and ethnic cleansing, the international community has a responsibility to take action; 3. The international community’s responsibility is a continuum of measures including prevention, reaction to violence, if necessary, and rebuilding shattered societies. This response should be the exercise of first peaceful, and then, if necessary, coercive, including forceful, steps to protect civilians. There are 8 countries, which maintain support towards the R2P, which consist of Argentina, Canada, Ghana, Mali, Sweden, Switzerland, Rwanda and the UK. Concern’s surrounding the RTP are that the Security Council in the UN, decides which crises RTP applies too, which leads to them being selective and bias towards certain countries with states that are economically or politically advantageous. This is an issue of concern but it shouldn’t hinder the effectiveness of the RTP in general. The issue of selectivity in UN organs can only be solved within the UN, and holds no reliance on the RTP. R2P is currently working to help countries in crisis such as Zimbabwe, Darfur, Burma and Sri Lanka. 

**Ellen - Sudan/Darfur region** In early 2003, a peace agreement between the Sudanese government and the Sudan People's Liberation Movement/Army seemed to be heralding the end of a civil war that had existed for over 20 years. Then a series of attacks on government targets were carried out jointly by the Sudan Liberation Army (SLA) and the Justice and Equality Movement (JEM). They claimed that recent attacks by the Janjaweed, a group of nomads, were supported by the government. Long time conflict has existed in the Darfur region of Sudan between African and Arab Muslims, and the attacks were allegedly to clear African Muslims from the area. The US and various aid agencies claimed that the Sudanese government was committing genocide by proxy, but a report commissioned by the Security Council stated that although "war crimes" were prevalent, there was no intent by the government to commit genocide. Attempts by the ICC to prosecute perpetrators of these war crimes were blocked by the Sudanese government, who demanded the right to try said individuals in their internal court system. During the fighting of the last seven years, it is estimated a minimum of 400 000 people have been internally displaced, with at least half of these fleeing across the western border to refugee camps in Chad. The peacekeeping force - set up as a joint operation between the UN and the African Union in 2007 - was charged with protecting civilians and facilitating humanitarian aid, yet the Janjaweed regularly patrol both the edges of internal camps as well as the Chad-Sudan border. They attack anyone desperate enough to leave the relative safety of the camps in search of firewood or water. In addition to this, the warrant issued by the UN for the arrest of Omar al-Bashir, the country's president, has led to several international aid agencies being banned from North Darfur, where the aid is needed the most. Some critics claim that the UN has antagonised the situation. Their camp are considered breeding grounds for rebels, with children as young as nine being forcibly recruited to fight the government and the Janjaweed. Volunteers can fight, knowing their families are protected. While its intentions have been noble, the UN has so far been unable to take practical steps to rectify the situation. In trying to prevent genocide, it has opened itself up to allegations of aiding rebels, challenging sovereignty, and being powerless to actually help. Attempts to aid the country's civilians and bring to justice those responsible have been blocked repeatedly by the government, highlighting the fact that the source of the UN's power is in the co operation of governments.


 * Nic - Copenhagen**

The United Nations climate change conference, commonly known as the Copenhagen summit, was a conference held between 170 of the world’s leaders. The conference included the 15th Conference of the Parties (COP 15) to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change and the 5th Meeting of the Parties (COP/MOP 5) to the Kyoto Protocol. The Goal of the meeting was to discuss the issues involved with the worlds changing climate, greenhouse gas emissions and national carbon footprints. Each nation proposed a decrease in their own carbon footprint, and by 2020 have a carbon rating that is far lower then that of the 1990 rating. However, despite the propositions, little to nothing came out of the Copenhagen Summit. Several factors have been credited to being the cause of the failure, such as: -Many of the propositions to limit greenhouse gas, also meant the limiting on industry to certain countries. Limiting sovereignty, which can become an excuse for nations to hide behind. In some democratic countries (mainly America) a majority of people have shown no or little support for global warming. (Some) People simply do not want their life disturbed, which is exactly what may happen if limitations are placed on industry (mainly to the general consumer). -In a majorly capitalist world, corporations hold a great deal of power. The concept of limitations placed upon corporations that may cut their profits would be seen as something that should be avoided. -China growing as a world super power, and as the leading manufacturer of the world, doesn’t want its place in the world economy threatened. More talks regarding a solution to climate change are set to commence in 2010

[] //For more detail, better, clearer information than the UN website. //
 * ZOE- East Timor **

In 1975 after the Portuguese withdrew from their initial colonisation, Indonesia invaded East Timor, violently oppressing its population’s independence movement. It was not until 1999 when due to international pressures the East Timorese people were given a referendum as to their independence. Terror was used in vain to repress votes for independence by the Indonesian military and when the results showed that majority voted for independence mass murder and destruction was unleashed as punishment. This is the point when an international peacekeeping force stepped in to stop the violence, and plans of the UN to help East Timor were enforced. The UNMIT (United Nations Integrated Mission in Timor-Leste) and UNTAET (United Nations Transitional Administration in East Timor) are examples of UN bodies working in East Timor. The aim of the UNMIT is “consolidating stability, enhancing a culture of democratic governance, and facilitating political dialogue among Timorese stakeholders, in their efforts to bring about a process of national reconciliation and to foster social cohesion” (taken from the UN website) Until 2006 the UN remained in the country for peacekeeping and welfare purposed than in 2006 East Timor gained its independence and became the youngest state in the world. The transition was not smooth and until democracy is properly instated, the UN is effectively running the country, advising East Timor’s inexperienced government on all Nation-building matters and helping them to build a stable economy.East Timor has been called one of the United Nation’s greatest successes, and decribed as a 'poster child' meaning it has been an international symbol of the positives that the UN can achieve.


 * Naz- Haiti**

The 2010 Haiti earthquake was a catastrophic magnitude 7.0 M w earthquake. Its epicentre was near the town of Léogâne, approximately 25 km (16 miles) west of Port-au-Prince , Haiti's capital.

The general assembly- Welcoming also the efforts of the United Nations Special Envoy for Haiti to mobilize international support for emergency relief operations, as well as of the resident Emergency Relief Coordinator and the Country Coordinator for Haiti, Commending the prompt response, support, generous contributions and assistance provided by Member States, the international community, civil society, the private sector and individuals to the emergency relief and response to the impacts of the disaster, Reiterating the need for a continued high level of support for and commitment to the immediate humanitarian relief phase, early recovery, rehabilitation, reconstruction and development efforts, including in the medium and long terms, that reflect the spirit of international solidarity and cooperation in addressing the disaster, Noting the enormous effort and solidarity of the international community, reflecting the importance of the fullest coordinated response and taking into account the national development priorities of Haiti, that will be required to rebuild the affected areas in order to alleviate the grave situation arising from this natural disaster, Reiterating the need for the United Nations system to respond swiftly to requests for assistance by the affected country and to ensure that the humanitarian assistance provided is timely, adequate, effective and coherent and coordinated among all development actors, in particular the Government of Haiti, and is in accordance with the principles of humanity, neutrality, impartiality and independence.

article on the UN claiming that they have not failed Haiti. The UN were accused of not doing the best they can in terms of helping Haiti recover from the tragedy that stuck them. They were accused of not getting there as fast as they could, and as fast as they needed to be in order to help the people of Haiti. http://www.news24.com/Content/World/Haiti_Quake/3974/f854531f07f24d35a4f62099de97a5c3/22-01-2010-07-10/We_did_not_fail_Haiti_UN

this is an article in regards to how many bodies were found, what the death toll was, etc. it's called "how many died in Haiti" http://www.thedailyinquirer.net/how-many-died-in-haiti/018399


 * Lily- Refugees:**

Refugees are people who are seeking aid and refuge from their country, as they genuinely fear that they will be persecuted. On the 4th of December 1950 through the General Assembly, the U.N established the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees. The UNHCR’s main focus is to protect refugees and to resolve refugee matters globally. Through the Refugee Convention and Protocol which allows the legal ground for refugee protection, the UNHCR promotes international refugee agreements and make sure countries comply with international refugee law.

There are over 21 018 589 people the fall under the “people of concern” mandate of the UNHCR. These people come under the category of being Refugees under the Refugee convention, people fleeing their country due to conflict or distubance of order, former refugees, stateless people and internally displaced people. The countries with the largest amount of refugees include, Palestine, Afghanistan, Iraq, Myanmar and Sudan. Sudan has the most amounts of refugees out of all of them, as it has over 5 million.

In Palestine, it has a separate organisation under the U.N to help care for the 400,000 refugees living in the 59 refugee camps located in Jordan, Lebanon, Syria and the Gaza Strip. The United Nations Relief and Work Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East provides health care, human development programmes, education, social services and emergency aid for the refugees. It was established a year after the Arab-Iraeli war on the 8th of December 1949, which originally allowed refugees who had to have been livng in the British mandate of Palestine for over 2 years before they had fled their country. 7 979 251 in Asia 4 740 392 in Europe 5 069 123 in Africa 3 229 822 in America
 * People of Concern: **


 * Stephanie- Kyoto Protocol**

The Kyoto protocol was initially created due to pressure from The United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change. Simply, the Kyoto protocol is an agreement regarding global warming, which was negotiated by majority of industrialized nations in 1997 and came into force in early 2005. The main issues targeted in the agreement is green house gas emissions, which lead to changes within the climate due to the negative impacts on the atmosphere. As this is a global issue it is necessary the globe work together in combating the problem. The agreement states that if any of the 55 involved countries exceed their allocated carbon emissions they are able to purchase carbon credits from an eligible nation. The overall goal of the protocol is to reduce greenhouse gas emissions by 5.2% below the recorded levels of 1990 by 2012, this however, at current time is not proving successful with greenhouse gas emissions rapidly rising and the temperature of the globe continuing to rise. One reason why the Kyoto protocol has failed is that several nations, including Australia, The US and China, did not sign the agreement. Australia did not sign the agreement, as it was not in our economic interest to do so, considering our major commodity export is coal, which causes great damage to the atmosphere. China has incredibly large manufacturing and production markets, and overlooks the environment in order to keep these strong and exporting across the globe. The exclusion of these nations on the agreement is one potential cause of the failure of the Kyoto protocol. Many nations in Africa signed the agreement, but their involvement is not going to dramatically change the effect as countries such as Sudan do not have heavy production and therefore emit little green house gases.

Overall the Protocol was not a realistic concept in combating climate change due to the broadness and confusion of the issue, and the lack of interest from many polluting nations.


 * Mustii - Second Gulf War**

Prior to the war, the governments of the United States and the United Kingdom claimed that Iraq's alleged possession of weapons of mass destruction (WMD) posed a threat to their security and that of their coalition/regional allies. In 2002, the **United Nations Security Council** passed Resolution 1441 which called for Iraq to completely cooperate with UN weapon inspectors to verify that Iraq was not in possession of WMD and cruise missiles. **The United Nations Monitoring**, **Verification** and **Inspection** **Commission** (//UNMOVIC//) found no evidence of WMD, but could not verify the accuracy of Iraq's weapon declarations. Lead weapons inspector Hans Blix advised the UN Security Council that while Iraq was cooperating in terms of access, Iraq's declarations with regards to WMD still could not be verified.

Terrorism and the UN  The United Nations has created a committee that monitors acts of terrorism. They have created a ‘counter terrorism plan’ that enables them to strengthen and develop steps to a concrete plan of actions. Members of the general assembly, the Security Council, secretary-general and other officials are working collectively in condemning all acts of terrorism. There have also been treaties created between countries to limit the access to tools and resources for terrorism acts, however the UN is aware that there is an underground market that terrorists are able to access so tackling terrorism isn’t an easy job. They are also combating this issue by refusing to deny terrorist groups finance means for their actions. The Security Council resolution 1373 makes it mandatory for all states to stop the financing of terrorism, and to also freeze the financial assets of groups like the Taliban and Al Qaida. The Security Council, the General Assembly and Secretary-General are all the sectors of the UN that are focused on tackling terrorism. //“…// // resolution 1540 of the Security Council creates a mandatory set of measures for countries to implement in order to prevent terrorists from acquiring weapons of mass destruction” // // “… // resolution 1373 makes it mandatory for all states to eliminate the financing of terrorism” “…resolution 1267 along with subsequent related resolutions freeze all the financial assets of Al Qaida and Taliban associates” [|//http://www.un.org/terrorism/makingadifference.shtml//] The Security Council’s aims: “Those measures include taking steps to: -Criminalize the financing of terrorism -Freeze without delay any funds related to persons involved in acts of terrorism -Deny all forms of financial support for terrorist groups -Suppress the provision of safe haven, sustenance or support for terrorists -Share information with other governments on any groups practicing or planning terrorist acts -Cooperate with other governments in the investigation, detection, arrest, extradition and prosecution of those involved in such acts; and -Criminalize active and passive assistance for terrorism in domestic law and bring violators to justice.” [] The UN have succeeded in being able to come to complete agreements on how they want to tackle terrorism by creating resolutions and committees.