Guterres under fire, but it is the UN structure that is to blame

Piping for the superpowers

My article yesterday was about the post of UN Secretary-General and its decline in significance since the early days of Dag Hammarskjold. The Secretary-Generals are not to blame for this erosion. They are at the mercy of the five permanent members of the Security Council, who wield a privileged position in the UN structure. The US in particularly powerful, in as much as it is also the main funder by a very substantial margin, forking out up to $10 billion a year. In fact, the US pays more than the next three nations combined, which are the UK, Japan and Germany. As the saying goes, "he who pays the piper calls the tune".

UN credibility beyond repair 

Is it surprising then that the Secretary-General has to kowtow to the powerful nations and not rock the boat too much? This month, Secretary-General Antonio Guterres came under fire for failing to broach the subject of human rights during a meeting with Chinese Premier Xi Jinping. Human rights activists were livid. Sophie Richardson, the China Director of Human Rights Watch published an article listing human rights violations by Guterres' host, including many relating to the United Nations itself. She concluded with an echo of previous warnings to the UN by Human Rights Watch:

The credibility of the United Nations depends in part on its willingness to vigorously and publicly challenge human rights violations committed by its most powerful members.

Sadly, this credibility is in already tatters. We cannot blame the Guterreses of this world for that. And while we can blame the nations that have been consistently undermining the position he holds, the root cause is the structure of the United Nations itself. 

UN-aligned: the alternative United Nations

That is why UN-aligned is working towards a virtual United Nations that does not need to be beholden to anyone or anything, other than its founding principles which are non-negotiable (though they will evolve with time). Trump, Xi or Putin would not even be able to pass the virtual threshold of this organisation. Citizens of their countries, however, would be. It will be the citizens that will construct this United Nations; a United Nations that will be able to live up to its federal mandate.

UN-aligned for a better United Nations; join here!