 Friends,
I am a true believer in the mission of the United Nations. I regret it is all too easy to take for granted the critical role the UN has played over the last eighty years in its peacekeeping and humanitarian efforts. My brief commentary below is my effort to call attention to what the UN represents for all the world, and I ask you to join me in appreciation and support for the vision, resourcefulness, and hope it represents for the world. And equally important we need to be grateful for its courageous and compassionate service to welfare of the global community and the earth of all the UN staff. Let us celebrate its 80th birthday with gratitude for its vision, effectiveness and resiliency. Aside from the embarrassing speech by President Trump that was the antithesis of the hopeful visionary mission of the UN, I listened with great gratitude and celebration to a number of presentations by various leaders of nations across the globe as they recognized the impact of the UN’s 80 years in their own nations since its founding in 1945, following the devastation of two world wars, including the use - and continued threat - of the atomic bomb. Each speaker was welcomed to the podium with dignity and decorum and proceeded to share their nation’s experience with the UN and how the UN gave the world an opportunity to prevent more wars through its peace keeping, its forums for dialogue, and its humane welfare programs for food, health care, protection, and the daily needs of millions of impoverished people, especially children, whose systematic neglect is often the root cause of people resorting to violence. Speakers also cited the many examples of crucial peace and humanitarian interventions between and among nations on behalf of the international cooperation necessary for securing peace. Many of the speeches also included considerable commentary about the failure of the UN to meet its hopeful vision and the need for revisions in structure that would make it more responsive and efficient in its practice. It is difficult to imagine the mediation skills necessary to overcome the barriers to integrating 193 nations through the complexity of a large bureaucracy. And it is even more difficult to imagine the complexity of the diverse sovereign nations - many with a history of colonialism, languishing animosities, war, famine, and violent changes in government - which bring all that history to the discussions as as they attempt to find common ground. But through personal interaction and various protocols, member representatives remarkably do have access to one another, despite all the cultural and language variations. And each nation has access to the various committees and programs sponsored by the UN. (See below) I can only imagine the systemic and personality dynamics needed to hold such a varied organization together, and yet it has persisted for eight decades in doing so! Another primary concern about the UN is that its Security Council, created as the centerpiece of preventing violent conflict and war, has been controlled by the nations who have nuclear weapons and thus can often demand their way through veto power and veiled threat. Again this is an example of a fault in the original UN model. Some of the inequalities of the Security Council, however, are addressed by a rotating membership that includes smaller nations in addition to the permanent membership. I especially decry the hamstrings that severely limit the Security Council’s effectiveness. As I reflect on the UN’s inspiring resiliency, despite its critics, I am deeply impressed with what it has accomplished. I think how difficult it is to manage even a small cooperative endeavor in comparison to the number of members in the UN. Even deciding how to cooperatively work together to pay for our cabin’s access road is a regular affair of competing points of view about what a fair taxation plan might be. And here is the UN trying to manage the great global crises of war, health, climate, among others, in a way that is both fair and recognizes the disparity of the members’ numbers, wealth and power. I am profoundly grateful that the UN was created, and I wish it many more years of its crucial and even sacred mission in preserving and sustaining our beautiful but troubled planet. Peace, Tom The United Nations implements various programs to address global challenges and promote sustainable development, including:
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