In the midst of heated negotiations at the United Nations in late June on the various aspects of institutional reform, and on the verge of what could have become a major United Nations budgetary crisis, a high-level parliamentary delegation travelled to New York, at the initiative of IPU President Pier Ferdinando Casini, for a first-hand assessment of the situation.
After meeting with top United Nations officials, including the President of the General Assembly, the President of the United Nations Budget Committee, the Assistant Secretary-General for Strategic Planning, as well as with the ambassadors of the main regional groups - the Group of 77 and China, the European Union and JUS-CANZ (Japan, United States, Canada, Australia, New Zealand) - the delegation issued its own report, which provides much food for thought.
The Report finds that the United Nations is fundamentally sound as a global forum for international relations, and indeed more necessary than ever to face the security and development challenges of the new century.
One of the United Nations’ problems, the MPs said, is not so much what it does (quite a lot in fact, on relatively little money), but how much people know about it (not a whole lot). Another problem is that democratic principles do not fully apply in the way the United Nations conducts its business: inter alia issues relating to transparency and accountability; the fact that developing countries are not adequately represented in the management’s top ranks; and the composition and modus operandi of the Security Council, which lag far behind the current geopolitical realities of the world [see box].
The United Nations has already achievedsome major reforms of late, including the creation of a Peacebuilding Commission, a Human Rights Council, and a new Democracy Fund, which show that meaningful change is indeed possible. Yet, as the IPU delegation concluded, at this particular juncture the United Nations reform process could advance further, faster, and with greater chancesof success if parliaments were to be more involved.
A series of recommendations were formulated to this effect, which include: a more regular pattern of debate and hearings in parliament on important United Nations-related issues; working more closely with constituents to raise awareness of the United Nations and its work; debating alternative methods of financing the United Nations alongside assessed contributions; and including members of parliaments more systematically in national delegations to the General Assembly and other organs of the United Nations.
The report of the high-level parliamentary delegation was circulated during the summer to all national parliaments and United Nations Member States for further consideration, with the understanding that this important question will be taken up again in November, on the occasion of the Annual Parliamentary Hearing at the United Nations.
