United Nations Day 2020

by Maya Garcia

As the United Nations celebrates its 75th anniversary, we look back at the purpose and goals for its creation. In 1945, after the end of World War II, fifty-one countries became the first members of the organization in hopes of re-establishing and continuing international peace. In 2015 members composed the Sustainable Development Goals so that it was clear what the United Nations was constantly aiming to achieve. The goals are a list of seventeen interlinked categories of social and environmental ills that the United Nations has committed to resolve by 2030.

The organization has six main branches; the General Assembly, the Secretariat, the International Court of Justice, the Security Council, the Economic and Social Council, and the Trusteeship Council. The Security Council is where a select group of member states come together to discuss international security. While the Security Council, whose membership rotates on a regular basis, is known for its procedural problems for the last twenty years, it is important to note that the world order since the Cold war has become increasingly complex. Even though some strategies and decisions made by the Security Council have changed since its creation, its goal to continue peace has not.

Secretary-General, Antonio Guterres, made a statement in June saying: “Today we have a surplus of multilateral challenges and a deficit of multilateral solutions.” However, this challenge of multilateralism is not affecting the United Nations or its member states. In fact, Chinese President Xi Jinping urged U.N. members to renew a commitment to multilateralism and “work to promote a community with a shared future for mankind”(Guterres, 2020). The continued pursuit to achieve effective multilateralism is to ensure that smaller member states are included in and are not being oppressed during peace talks.

It is especially important to acknowledge the United Nations efforts to keep peace and safety of civilians in conflict zones during COVID-19. It was imperative that groups in conflict took the initiative to follow the Secretary-General’s call for ceasefires throughout the world during the pandemic. “Some 146 Member States committed themselves to including violence prevention and response in their COVID-19 response plans” (Report of the Secretary-General, 2020, p. 16). Regardless of the criticism placed on the organization for not inserting enough influence on powerful countries, the United Nations has been unwavering in its commitment to rebuild post-pandemic. “As we grapple with the effects of COVID-19, we have an opportunity to build a more equal world. This means creating a new social contract — integrating education, employment, sustainable development, and social protection — based on equal rights and opportunities for all”(Report of the Secretary-General, 2020, p. 23).

While it is easy to criticize the problems and efficiency of the United Nations because of its overarching international influence, however, the organization has a long list of accomplishments in the past year that are necessary to highlight. There is continued support and resources focused on peacekeeping (ensuring that the governments and their efforts toward peace are sustainable before leaving the areas of conflict or instability), the climate crisis (ensuring that member states enact their own policies that follow the United Nations goals for a sustainable future), as well as gender equality and youth participation. In addition, in 2019, “The General Assembly [passed a] resolution [that] encouraged Member States, the United Nations, relevant specialized agencies and regional and subregional organizations to promote the meaningful and inclusive participation of young people in discussions in the field of disarmament and non-proliferation”(Youth4Disarmament, 2019). The resolution resulted in the creation of the Youth 4 Disarmament initiative that allows the younger generation to be involved in the discussion for the first time.

Despite the continued challenges and criticism that the United Nations faces, the leaders of the organization are confident in the progress that can be made within the next year. Secretary-General Guterres made a statement regarding his perspective of the future of the international community: “I firmly believe that an awakening will come when we recognize our shared fragilities — when the factors that today divide instead begin to force people to finally understand that division is a danger to everyone, starting with themselves. Ultimately, that is the way out of the mist. Our Charter still points that way” (Guterres, 2020).

As we look at the United Nations from the outside looking in, there needs to be an understanding that this is an intergovernmental organization established to handle the world’s largest and longest issues. The solutions for the long-standing systemic problems can not be fixed quickly, they need to be shifted throughout society long enough that the new practices become normalized; normalize human rights, nonviolent communications, and equality. These can not be changed if the citizens in the member states do not believe in the United Nations abilities. There have been positive changes due to the organizations’ support and resources and we can do our part to continue more by advocating for the United Nations.

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