United Nations reform

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The reform of the United Nations is a restructuring of the UN that is being discussed in the international community and found to be necessary by the majority of states . How this reform should look, however, is the subject of heated controversy. Fundamentally, it is and has been called time and again to adapt the United Nations organization to the new security situation - especially after the terrorist attacks of September 11th . On the other hand, a more effective safeguarding of human rights and the fight against poverty in the so-called Third World were called for.

In September 2003, the then UN Secretary General Kofi Annan set up a 16-person committee to develop proposals for UN reform, the so-called "High-Level Panel on Threats, Challenges and Change". On December 2, 2004, the report, which contains 101 recommendations, was published.

Annan's reform proposal

On March 21, 2005, Kofi Annan presented his surprisingly extensive 63-page reform document In Greater Freedom: Towards Development, Security and Human Rights for All . The main suggestions:

Enlargement of the Security Council

Main article: Reform of the UN Security Council

Annan called for the membership of the Security Council to be increased from its current 15 (five permanent and ten non-permanent members) so that it "represents the international community as a whole and today's geopolitical reality to a greater extent". The envisaged number of members of the reformed Security Council should be 24 or 25 states. To implement this, Annan proposed two models that take up the proposals of the high-level panel. This point is particularly controversial and has been decoupled from the general reform discussion.

A new human rights council

The Geneva Human Rights Commission is to be replaced by a new Human Rights Council with expanded powers as the seventh main body. In particular, it should be able to decide with a 2/3 majority to send observers to monitor the human rights situation in a member state. On March 15, 2006 the UN General Assembly decided with 170 votes in favor, 4 votes against and 3 abstentions - against the will of the USA - to found the UN Human Rights Council as the successor to the UN Human Rights Commission . In June 2006 the new Human Rights Council met for the first time for its constituent session. Germany was elected to the council from the group of western member states with the most votes.

More competencies for the Secretary General

The Secretary-General of the United Nations is to be given more decision-making powers on personnel and budgetary issues. Together with streamlining the UN administration, this is intended to make the organization's management structures more efficient.

At the UN General Assembly on April 28, 2006, the group of developing and emerging countries rejected this plan by 108 votes to 50 with three abstentions. They fear a loss of their influence because power in the organization would be too centralized. The US, the European Union and Japan supported the Annan Plan.

More funds for development aid

Annan demanded that the member states provide 0.7% of the gross national product for development aid (although this was not expressly stipulated in the resolution), which the “richer” states had actually already agreed to do in 1970. This is also an element in the fight against terrorism.

More suggestions

Other proposals are being discussed in civil society, for example:

• The establishment of a Parliamentary Assembly at the United Nations
• The establishment of a permanent UN reaction force
• The establishment of a world environmental organization

literature

• Kofi Annan: In greater freedom: On the way to development, security and human rights for all . UN Doc. A / 59/2005 of March 21, 2005. Official German translation. Link (PDF; 484 kB)
• Hans Corell: Reforming the United Nations , in: International Organizations Law Review 2 (2005) pp. 373-390
• Johannes Varwick: The reform of the United Nations - world organization under pressure to adapt , in: From Politics and Contemporary History (B 43/2004). on-line
• Rainer Sütfeld: Annan's reform plans for the United Nations . Comment on NDR Info. March 25, 2005. Link

Web links

• UN.org: Reforming the United Nations , official United Nations reform website
• United Nations High-level Panel on System-wide Coherence (2006 )
• A More Secure World: Our Shared Responsibility , Report of the Secretary General's High-level Panel on Threats, Challenges and Change (2004 )
• WG Peace Research at the University of Kassel: Reform of the United Nations - contributions, reports, documents, opinions
• Foreign Office: Reforms in the United Nations
• Global Policy Forum information on UN Reform
• The different projects of reform (G4, Africa Union, United for consensus). 2006 (French)
• Executive Summary, A more secure World: Our shared responsibility (2004) (PDF file; 173 kB)
• Cross-forum on the reform of the United Nations (English)

swell

1. ^ UN founds Human Rights Council , Der Spiegel, March 15, 2006.