United Nations: Is It Still Relevant Today

The United Nations is a global cooperation intergovernmental organisation. In October 1945 in order to save humanity from the war flag, the United Nations was founded. After World War I, the League of Nations did not prevent the correlation between nations from escalating in another world war II. Every other international or regional organisation shall not replace the role of the United Nations in international affairs. In sustaining international peace and security, supporting cooperation between Nations and international development, the United Nations made significant positive contributions. We would have to create it if the United Nations did not even exist.

While these seventy-four years of history show significant vulnerabilities and struggles to accomplish the goals of the United Nation. Therefore, the role of the United Nation as a stage is important. It is very relevant for international peace, cooperation, and sustainability as when the United Nation was created. Governments from all countries and political views regularly express their unwavering devotion to the United Nation and its mission and values in as many of their statements as possible.

The purpose of the United Nation is: to maintain peace and security; to develop friendly relations among nations; to achieve international cooperation in solving international issues; to be a centre for harmonizing the actions of the nation (Nigel White, 2002, P. 12-13).

The United Nation, it should be important because it gives credibility to decisions made by the international community, particularly in peace and security matters. The Security Council is one of them in the United Nation system which responsible for keeping the peace. There are sometimes United Nations can be success and fail to keep the peace between countries. The truth is that the United Nations would have a responsibility to enforce and fail to enforce past agreements, especially about with Iraq situation.

This is why United Nation are relevant. First and foremost are Health and Relief Aid, in Finance, peace and security and also the development and progress of Human rights. For Health, The World Health Organization(WHO) is the world’s most productive and authoritative organisation to encourage and find solutions to issues relating to health among nations, carries out programmes to control and eliminate many contagious diseases such as measles, malaria, and leprosy to improve the quality of life.. In need of nutrition, the World Food Program provides aid to several countries. The World Health Organisation aims to treat 50 Million people, save 14 million lives, and expand equitable access to quality diagnosis and treatment (Unite Nation Department of Public Information, 2008). Particularly, the World Health Organisation aims in areas with insufficient access to health services. Therefore, the United Nation still significant as some nations need aid from WHO.

Next, the finance, working to develop as well as improve developing nations by providing financial support and knowledge to them, assisted by the World Bank and the International Monetary. With the help of the World Bank, these are aimed at reducing extreme poverty and encouraging 40% of the growth every country.

Especially peace and security, the United Nations Peacekeeping force a major role in trying to end conflict and war by sending troops in turbulent regions. They still try to stop the resumption of peace talks by warring parties by taking on the role of an advanced entity to chalk out peace laws and treaties. The United Nations plays a significant role in nuclear disarmament, primarily through the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty. The United Nations Security Council frequently also took important decisions on legislation, international conflict intervention, settlement of regional territorial claims and more. It is even though the security council has not been more successful in preventing wars but it is undeniable the achievements of the Security Council in keeping the peace over the past century. It is not expected that it can solve a dispute or immediately halt fighting that has already broken out but at least able to bring bear the weight of outside opinion.

The United Nations, by numerous resolutions and conventions, has embraced human rights, including the Universal Declaration of Human Rights (UDHR), which has acted as a key principle for defining human rights for many nations. Nigel. W. (2002) wrote that; the UDHR also promotes economic, social and cultural rights: rights to social security, work, rest and leisure, an adequate standard of living, education, and to participation in the cultural life of the community.(p.59)

For example, in Kosovo, The United Nation Interim Administration Mission Kosovo(UNMIK) was responsible for protecting Albanian Kosovars’ human rights, establishing a stable political structure, and attempting to negotiate with Serbia in accordance with Kosovo’s independence. John, Steve and Patricia (2017) stated, NATO conducted an air campaign towards the Republic of Yugoslavia in Kosovo in March 1999 without a Security Council authorization, as Russia announced that it would veto certain steps. The results of the United Nations in Kosovo are at best neutral. In addition, in Kosovo, the United Nations peacekeeping mission can not be considered a complete failure. Criminal acts towards the Kosovo community certainly decreased at the humanitarian level. Another success of peacemaking is in Egypt, Suez, East Timor which the conflict ended and no war. The United Nations experiences huge difficulties in way of making each state to be in peace and security.

Nevertheless, I do think the United Nations is as relevant today as it’s always been for any of the above purposes. In any organisation, there is still improvements to be made, but it is irresponsible to say that it is excessive in the modern world when we have a lot problems affecting the world.

Besides, sometimes the United Nation could be not relevant, because nowadays a lot crises had happened such as climate change, genocide and the tension between countries there are Israel, Syria and Iraq. First of all, I think the United Nations in the United Nations General Assembly, the members of the United Nation actually do not presentable from all nations.

United Nation should take action to guarantee of prosperity, well-being and safety because United Nations is world institution that involved many nations. United Nation should maintain peace and security since there United Nations system that had been created. Because knowing that the United Nations has not been able to solve any of the major conflicts of recent decades (the Middle East and Vietnam, Bangladesh and Biafra, the Dominican Republic and Yugoslavia, Ethiopia and Rhodesia) it is more and more weakened power in developed world relations (Derek Heater, 1994, p.2). It is thought, as in East-West politics, conventional alliances, and financial and economic diplomacy, that the political solutions are pursued elsewhere between the major powers, intense negotiation. The United Nations appears unsuccessful and insignificant in all these issues.

The UN contains, it was said that only expressions but not actions; it relies on deception rather than on substantive debate and discussion; it is governed by a number of very low, reckless nations who use their elections to force through unreasonable resolutions; it flourishes in endless insurmountable financial difficulties; it is an expensive, wasteful and prolonged authority.

Furthermore, report of the UN context was peacekeeping, although their impressive accomplishments has been achieved before. It still have a marked string of losses. For example such as in the Somalia that United Nation have been involved which requested by Somalia. Baylis. J, Owens. P and Smith.S. (2017) wrote that:

A later resolution (S/Res/794) authorizing the United States to intervene did not mention the consent of Somali authorities, but by that time a central Somali government did not exist.(p. 242).

Other than that, Marc Hudson (2019) wrote that “ the UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres is calling on world leaders to come with concrete and realistic plans to bring their national net carbon emissions down to zero by 2050.” Especially, this year when Brazil’s Amazon forest faced extremely burning Amazon forest, this forest fires kind of emergency because it globally affects the world. For sure, these big fires effect causing releases of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere have increased and the health of Brazil’s people and the state’s neighbors could be in danger as well. Then, the United Nations of the environment should take immediate plan about this matter but United Nations addressed this issue not really well.

Aside from that, armed conflict that always happened in the Middle East such as Israel, Iraq, Syria. This country still has a crisis between them. The war in Syria pursued to the worst This should be pointed to the United Nations Security Council because the Security Council’s mission is to maintain peace.

References

1. Nigel White. The United Nations system: toward international justice, Lynne Rienner Publisher, Inc, 2002.
2. Derek Heater the United Nation: How it Works and what it does. Marc Hudson (September 20, 2019)