United Nations- Uniting Nations or Unilateral Nonsense

Dear Reader,

We live in a world where totalitarian governments are replacing egalitarian policies with bigoted radical fundamentalism.

Meta verse or not, Patna is closer to Paris and Guwahati to Guangzhou more than ever.

The state of affairs in Kabul will have ramifications in both Kigali and in Kolkata.

A multilateral behemoth with an annual revenue of 56 billion USD is mandated with the Brobdingnagian task of fulfilling its utopian charter which enlists peace keeping as its principal objective. Today, we commemorate the United Nations- a global potpourri of 193 countries, hegemonized by geo-political realities of 1945 struggling to navigate the ‘Kalyug’ of 2021.

Whether it be 800,000 infernally massacred in the Rwandan Genocide of 1994, Israel occupying 85 percent of Palestine, or overlooking the wilful contravention of their own charter when it came to USAs war in Cambodia which left over 2 million of the indigenous population dead. Preventing the apocalypse called Arab Spring or the Darfur conflict- the UN is as useful in peacekeeping as it’s predecessor was.

Many partisan advocates of the organisation in Lutyens Delhi and the echo chambers of western democracies cite the UN as an agglomeration of countries and not as a state in itself;

But an appurtenant question- do provisos exist to upbraid those who in the name of human rights abominably torment people at Guantanamo Bay or Abu Ghraib in a way that would make even the very ‘dictators’ that they overthrew turn in their grave?

What happens when their nauseating transgressions destabilise the entire Middle East leaving a refugee count that touches well over 40 million people? What happens when 1.5 million Uyghurs are being ‘culturally sensitised’ in modern concentration camps? Let me tell you what happens, Article 27 (3) of the UN is invoked- which states that all substantive decision will be taken after “the concurring votes of the permanent members”. And when it comes to reprehending these 5 nations or their allies- 293 vetos are cast at world peace.

And it’s not just the peace and security apparatus failing, but almost every committee that is mandated with a task.

A look at the humanitarian agencies and their floundering records will show how UN aid workers were responsible for the outbreak of Cholera in Haiti or how the UN failed to help millions displaced by the recent war in Syria.

The MDGs through palaver have become SDGs but they remain overarching and appalling ambiguous guidelines more than tangible targets. It’s much like saying India should win the World Cup- but without creating a process, system or a fail safe mechanism which can reward when targets are met and hold accountable when they’re not.

The biggest gremlin that the UN faces is the way it is structured and funded. With approximately 27 percent of the UN being funded by one country and 50 percent by 3 countries- the UN is overtly dependent on a few nations. With a median salary for entry level employees at USD 50,000, the organisation spends more in upkeep in most countries than funds available for its mission. Therefore, often being recognised as a factory that produces pusillanimous international civil servants who enjoy opulent lifestyles at the cost of millions of human lives.

Despite a multitude of endeavours to reform the UN- by members states such as New Zealand’s Helen Clark or India’s Narendra Modi and some by honourable UN staffers such as Late UN Secretary General Kofi Annan, even the most progressively expedient conclusion is forwarding it to or constituting a committee.

Currently bereft of any actual mission, the UN is best described by a Former Secretary of State of the United States of America- “the UN is an instrument we use to further our foreign policy” and I say why not? The altruistic cloak on this monstrosity of an excuse has come off. And in a day and age of instant gratification and transactional foreign policy initiatives- the world must realise what the UN actually stands for. It is a forum available to the highest bidder to exert your countries might. Howbeit, there is one caveat- you can exert your influence only if you are a part of the permanent five.

As an organisation that popularised the UN definitely more than the UN offices in India- what may leave you pleasantly discombobulated is the fact that the very organisation I founded took the then nascent concept from 19 schools in 2011 to now what is 29,000+ schools. Model UN in India today has become an incontrovertible tool to assess the intellectual prowess of a student and the credibility of an institution.

To all readers- I am not averse to everything that is the UN- and do believe that it’s vision statement is a noble one. In fact in addition to our Indian committees, we continue to simulate at our concourses- the UN as well as many other multilateral organisation. But in ways that are disparate- one where there is no Veto, where funding structures are meticulously defined and where funds are better utilised.

So why parrot the United Nations when steeped in our culture and that of most nations- is the concept of Vasudhaiva Kutumbakam? Why let Unilateral Nonsense come in the way of those who are our only hope? Ironic, but true- it’s time to teach our youth that Model UN must give way to a Movement to Unite Nations.

Jai Hind!