The undeniable relevance of the United Nations

UNGA serves an invaluable role by bringing people with power to solve world’s most pressing problems under one roof

The General Debate of the 69^th session of the United Nations General Assembly opened in its usual stylish fashion in New York City. This is the week when New York is flooded with heads of state, activists, politicians and even celebrities, all hoping to use their influence to shine a spotlight on their favourite worthy cause. Some of the speeches will become legendary; some of the resulting traffic jams, even more so. Outside observers will use the occasion to trot out their cliched queries regarding the United Nations’ relevance in an increasingly volatile world.

In an effort to answer this perennial query, the UN has become more social media-savvy than ever, keeping its constituents informed on developments via Facebook, YouTube and Instagram. But it is the world body’s multiple Twitter accounts that have been in overdrive, putting out a constant stream of real-time updates about the General Assembly’s programme and related activities, using hashtags as varied as #Climate2014, #ForeignTerrorists, #EbolaResponse, #ZeroHunger and #HeForShe.

This is a crowded agenda and it only incorporates the first week of the month-long General Assembly, which will later tackle topics as diverse as sustainable development, nuclear disarmament and international drug trafficking. One would be forgiven for wondering how it will be possible to give all of these issues the considered attention they deserve. It isn’t — but that doesn’t matter, in the end.

The UN is often criticised for being too big, too bureaucratic, too slow. It has dozens of agencies in various countries, thousands of employees, and six official languages. Its response to international crises — whether natural or man-made — can appear inept and bumbling. Unquestionably, the organisation would be more effective if a substantial subgroup of its senior international civil servants were forcibly retired, or at the very least, frog-marched into management training seminars.

These complaints, while valid, are misplaced. As an institution, the UN can undoubtedly be reformed and improved upon. But like all organisations, the UN is only as good as its members, which in this case comprise nation states whose political motivations are rarely uncomplicated or exclusively benevolent. It’s relatively easy to envision the competing interests which must battle behind the scenes of a debate on disarmament, global warming, or drug trafficking. More complex, perhaps, is teasing out the power struggles surrounding issues like the right to development, Ebola response, or female empowerment, which must simultaneously balance the needs of donor countries and receiving countries, confront widespread fear and misinformation, and candidly address questions of culture and religion.

In reality, the UN will only scratch the surface of these topics in the coming weeks — these are long-term problems that will require deliberative solutions. However, the UN matters very much as a trusted intermediary in an insecure world. Traffic jams and celebrity selfies aside, the General Assembly performs an invaluable service as the hottest ticket in town, bringing all of the people with the power to solve some of the world’s most pressing problems under one roof. Bumbling and bureaucratic? Perhaps. Relevant? Undeniably.

Published in The Express Tribune, October 2^nd, 2014.

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