Jayne Blog (Volunteerism, Nonprofit Tech, Civil Society, etc.)

Jul. 13, 2008 - disturbing: ignorance about the UN

As I blogged about previously, I've been fooling around with YahooAnswers for several months. Lately, I've been reading and answering questions on the international organizations board and the nonprofits & government board. And it has been particularly depressing, because I've become aware of just how profoundly ignorant many people in the USA -- maybe most people -- are about the United Nations.

For example, people's posts imply that the UN has a standing army that can be deployed if and when the UN wants to do so. The reality is that the UN has no army, that any troops sent as "UN Peace Keepers" are still entirely the military of whatever country has agreed to send them, that these troops cannot be deployed unless there is a unanimous decision by the permanent members of the UN Security Council (USA, Russia, China, the UK and France), and that these troops cannot go into any country unless the ruling government of that country of destination invites them.

Or people will say, "Why isn't the UN doing anything about such-and-such situation?!" when, in fact, individual UN agencies are trying to address such-and-such situation, but are getting no coverage for it in the USA.

Or they will say the UN is "too powerful." Which is funny (and sad), because this will come from people who also complain that the UN doesn't do anything. Plus, what part of the UN is too powerful? The UN Secretariat? It issues statements, the Secretary General visits places and meets people, but there's no power there to really do anything. Individual UN agencies like UNICEF, UNIFEM, UNDP, UNFPA, WHO, WFP, UNESCO, etc.? They have little power to do anything besides help some of the most desperately-needy people on Earth; they do their best with very little resources, and are often restricted from speaking out about urgent issues by host countries and donor countries (including the USA). The UN General Assembly? All of its votes are entirely non-binding; no power there. The UN Security Council? When was the last time the five permanent members were on the same side of a vote?

So why is this ignorance so rampant? Are the UN Secretariat and individual UN agencies doing a poor job of educating the public, particularly people in the USA, about what the institutions really are, and aren't? Or are people in the USA just not listening? I can't decide.

But I'm asking all readers to please learn more about the UN. It's easy! You can read UN Works regularly. If you are lucky enough to have a chapter of the UN Association near you, join. Check out groups like Americans for UNFPA and Americans for UNESCO. Many web sites for individual UN agencies have RSS feeds, so you can get updates regularly, easily.

If you want to criticize how the UN works, great (goodness knows I can join you on several criticisms). But at least know more about it before you do.

-- Jayne Cravens

About Jayne

This blog (web log) is by Jayne Cravens, and is primarily focused on resources and news regarding mission-based organizations: nonprofits, non-governmental organizations (NGOs), civil society, and public sector agencies, as well as development issues and humanitarian efforts. It promotes resources and opinions relating to volunteer management/community involvement, tech use by nonprofits, and outreach strategies for nonprofits. There are also some personal postings (such is the nature of blogs), regarding travel, causes I personally support (like women's empowerment, urban biking, etc.). To comment on this blog, you must register on forumer.com.

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