Lecture 5: United Nations - Foundation and Organization PDF

Foundation: 1940-1945 January 1942 (Washington): Allied Powers (26 countries) sign the Declaration by the United Nations. October 1943 (Moscow Declaration): US, USSR, UK and China declare the intention to establish a ‘general international organization’ when the war is over. November 1943 (Tehran):...

Foundation: 1940-1945 January 1942 (Washington): Allied Powers (26 countries) sign the Declaration by the United Nations. October 1943 (Moscow Declaration): US, USSR, UK and China declare the intention to establish a ‘general international organization’ when the war is over. November 1943 (Tehran): Churchill, Stalin and Roosevelt: a ‘world family of democratic nations’. Dumberton Oaks Conference 1944: Proposal of a General International Organization 5  Foundation: 1940-1945 April 1945 (San Francisco Opera House): United Nations Conference on International Organization Matters of dispute: - Role of regional organizations - Right to veto of permanent members in SC - Status of ICJ jurisdiction NL signing the Charter, 26 June 1946 - Role of colonies/ independence 6 The Charter 7  Critical perspectives on the foundation (Mazower 2008) “Alliance of the Great Powers embedded in a universal organization” Underestimated importance of British imperial thought in the creation of the UN: - the UN as a mechanism to maintain imperialist, racist and colonialist world order - Drafting of the UN Charter heavily influenced by lessons from the failure of the League of Nations →Keep allied powers together at all means (veto powers, permanent seats on SC) 8  UN General Assembly Subsidiary organs: - Six Main committees - Commissions (e.g. Peacebuilding commission) - Councils (e.g. Human Rights Council) - Joint Inspection Unit - United Nations Dispute Tribunal  UN GA: meetings The “superbowl of diplomacy”: General Debate (24-28, 30 September 2024) Craziest moments: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=thihXcZXOsU UN GA behind the scenes: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XvKpnRPosek The UNGA can also be convened in special sessions (Art. 20 Charter and Rules of Procedure).  UN GA: decision-making (Art. 18) Important issues: 2/3 majority → peace and security, election of members of the UNSC, acceptance of new members in GA, suspension of GA membership, and budgetary issues. Other issues: simple majority (including the question whether other issues should be decided by a 2/3 majority) In practice: ~80% of resolutions adopted by concensus UN GA resolutions: political recommendations - not legally binding.  UNGA: UN membership (1) Ultimate decision made by General Assembly Procedure: UN SC: Formal Secretary- Positive recommendation UN GA application by General (9 votes needed, including (2/3 majority) state no veto)  UNGA: UN membership (2) Case: membership request by Palestine - non-state observer status since 1974 - request for full membership in 2011 Membership in UNESCO in 2011 and ICC in 2014. →Decision by US to leave UNESCO 2012 request for an ‘enhanced observer status’, accepted by UN GA → non-member observer state  States and other entities in the UN (1) 1) Member states (193) 2) Non-member observer states (2): Holy See, Palestine (since 2012); Switzerland (until 2002). 3) IGOs with observer status (e.g. AU, OAS, League of Arab States, etc.) 4) EU (enhanced observer status since 2011)  States and other entities in the UN (2) The UN GA decides what rights observers have: 1) Right to speak 2) Right to vote on procedural matters EU (since 2011): right to - speak, - voting on procedural matters, - submit proposals, amend proposals, circulate documents , etc. but no right to vote on matters of substance. http://www.un.org/ga/search/view_doc.asp?symbol=A/RES/65/276  Regional groups in the UN 1) African Group (54) 2) Asia-Pacific Group (53) 3) Eastern-Europe Group (23) 4) Latin American and the Caribbean (GRULAC) (33) 5) Western Europe and Others Group (WEOG) (28)  UNGA: main committees 1) Disarmament and International Security Committee 2) Economic and Financial Committee 3) Social, Humanitarian and Cultural Committee 4) Special Political and Decolonization Committee 5) Administrative and Budgetary Committee (5th) 6) Legal Committee Committee tasks: prepare draft statements and draft resolutions and report back to the plenary meeting.  UN GA: budget The UN GA decides on the budget of the UN (Art. 17). Procedure: UN GA Plenary ACABQ 5th committee decision proposal review (2 readings) on draft resolution Plenary decision by the UNGA: Formally 2/3 majority (= 128 countries), but since 1986 agreement on consensus (http://www.un.org/en/ga/search/view_doc.asp?symbol=a/res/41/213)  Regular budget (1) Financing of core activities: six main organs, eight headquarters, international conferences and political missions (e.g. UNAMA). 2000/2001: $ 2,53 billion 2010/2011: $ 5,41 billion (increase of 113,8 %) 2012/2013: $ 5,15 billion (first decrease since 1998) 2014/2015: $ 5,8 billion 2018/2019: $ 5,4 billion 2020: $ 3 billion; 2023: $ 3.4 billion  Regular budget (2) Member state contributions: max. 22% (USA), minimum 0.001% of total expenditures → The 128 least paying countries pay approximately 1,3 percent of the budget. → Informal agreement: regular budget adopted by consensus Source: Haug, S. et al. 2023: Funding Multilateralism, available at: https://t20ind.org/research/funding- multilateralism/  Regular budget (3) 2023: 51 member states paid in time (53 in 2023/2022 and 41 in 2021). State of affairs: 133 member states paid as of 10 Sept 2024 (http://www.un.org/en/ga/contributions/honourroll.shtml) Withholding payments as a political instrument Sanctioning mechanism: the ‘nuclear option’ – loss of voting rights  UN GA, Peace and Security: The Uniting for Peace resolution (1) Origins: dispute between the Soviet Union and other Security Council members about China in 1950. UN GA adopted resolution 377(1950): If UN SC fails to reach unanimity, - the UN GA “shall consider the matter immediately → emergency special sessions - the UN GA may establish a peace operation  Uniting for Peace resolution (2) Based on resolution 377, the UNGA can convene emergency special sessions within 24 hours. Special emergency sessions called if: 1) Seven UNSC members in favour of such a session. OR 2) The majority of the members of the UN GA votes in favour.  Uniting for Peace resolution (3) 11 emergency special sessions - e.g. deployment of a peacekeeping operation: UNEF I on Sinai (1956); mandate extension of ONUC mission in Congo (1960- 1964) - 11th Emergency session on Ukraine (28 February 2022): Resolution A/ES-11/L.2 (21 March 2022) “Humanitarian consequences of the aggression against Ukraine” - 10th Emergency session on Palestine (10 May 2024): Resolution A/ES-10/23, additional rights for Palestine in the UNGA