The United Nations turns 76

The United Nations will celebrate it’s 76th year of existence on Oct. 24. A birthday, along with the celebration, brings reflections of the past, present, and future. Birthdays also bring questions about accomplishments, value, and relevance.

The United Nations was born out of the League of Nations. Woodrow Wilson, in his Fourteen Points speech of Dec. 1918, outlined the Treaty of Versailles, and advocated for an international organization to maintain peace in the world. Unfortunately, Wilson, after an exhaustive campaign, could not sell the League of Nations to the American public, and Congress did not ratify the treaty. Concern was that such a treaty would undercut U.S. autonomy in international matters. A belief that continues to be held today, by some, about U.S. membership in the United Nations.

The League of Nations began in 1919 with 48 countries. It had some successes, but ultimately failed. As Europe moved closer to a second war, the League was increasingly depicted as a biased and weak organization and consequently, became ineffectual. Some historians believe that without U.S. membership in the League, it was doomed.

World War II devastated the world. The war left millions dead, cities destroyed, and art and culture stolen or lost. Atrocities that violated basic human rights shocked the globe. The United Nations arose from this chaos and was developed as a place where the world’s nations could gather, discuss common problems, and find shared resolutions. Peacekeeping was the priority.

Today, The U.N. has 193 members, including the United States. The U.N. charter holds the following goals: 1) save succeeding generations from the scourge of war, 2) reaffirm faith in fundamental human rights, 3) establish conditions on international justice, and 4) promote social progress and better standards of life. The organization includes several agencies that focus on these goals, the ILO being one. Other agencies, that are well known, include: the World Health Organization (WHO), Children’s Fund (UNICEF), World Food Program (WFP), Refugee Agency (UNHCR), Human Rights Council (HRC), and the Educational, Scientific, and Cultural Organization (UNESCO).

The success of the U.N. cannot be denied. Since its birth, the organization, or one of its agencies, has received the Nobel Peace Prize 12 times. Presently, the organization continues its work throughout the world, resolving conflicts, feeding the hungry, caring for the ill and displaced, and championing human rights. It is struggling, however, to find adequate funding to keep all their agencies working at full capacity.

Today’s issues are complex, becoming increasingly challenging, and increasingly global. The COVID pandemic and climate change alone have brought a halt to world progress, and will continue to affect the future. In some cases, we are losing ground. For example, climate change, an area that the U.N. had taken a strong leadership position on, beginning with the Paris Climate Accord, is worsening. Changing climates, lead to conditions unsuitable for agriculture. Inability to feed a family creates stress, which causes conflict, which ultimately leads to displaced populations and refugees. Millions of people, many of them women and children, are displaced, hungry, and ill. One country. or even a few together, cannot adequately address these crises. It takes a United Nations.

There is no organization in a better position to affect change on a global scale. It is one place where the world’s nations still gather to discuss common issues and find solutions together. Pandemics, climate change, human rights violations, hunger, illness, refugees, and conflicts, need to be discussed in a global venue for workable solutions to be found and to make the world a better place.

The theme for U.N. Day 2021 is “Creating a Blueprint for a Better Future.” How will the blueprint be drawn? Who will draw it? In his speech to the 76th United Nations General Assembly, on Sept. 21 President Biden lauded the U.N. for its work and reaffirmed U.S. support of the organization. However, currently there is a cap on the amount of money the U.S. can contribute to U.N. peacekeeping. On Oct. 25, the advocacy committee of the Iowa United Nations Association, is asking people to call or write their congressional representatives to permanently repeal that cap.

In the end, “We want the world our children inherit to be defined by the values enshrined in the U.N. Charter: peace, justice, respect, human rights, tolerance, and solidarity.” Antonio Guterres, U.N. secretary-general.

Ann Woodward is president if the Linn County UNA-USA.