Strong monitoring organizations are required to strategically and financially sustain the globe in the face of difficulties as the present global order becomes increasingly brittle. However, the present weak institutions, especially the UN, are pretty weak. The United Nations has not yet failed, but it is in jeopardy. Many nations are turning elsewhere for answers to significant global crises and challenges, viewing it as a transitory and polite diplomatic solution. This is evident in several issues, including those relating to Syria, Iran, and North Korea, extremism, cyber security, immigration, Covid-19, and the escalating dilemma surrounding the budget for humanitarian help (75 years of UN – achievements and failures, 2020). The UN has numerous advantages but also some obvious structural flaws. What we desire to achieve and do are becoming more and more dissimilar. The world requires the United Nations to act on the ground and provide political advice.
The UN is a crucial organization, a crucial jigsaw component that became part of post-World War II duties. However, if its significance and purpose wane, nations will alter their fundamental beliefs about how they should negotiate with other nations in the future if it gradually turns into another private organization. International relations will soon revert to the unilateralism and the jungle law that were formerly prevalent worldwide. The ability of the UN to reconstitute itself has been demonstrated. Nevertheless, for the time being, this needs to be done as it is required and difficult. In order to show concrete achievements in every area, from security and peace to environmental sustainability, human rights, and interpersonal contact, the organization urgently has to reevaluate its financial structure and mechanisms.
In particular, I should consider some crucial actions as the future Secretary-General of the United Nations. To start, we need to have a summit at which member states declare their commitment to multilateralism as a fundamental concept (a continuation of the 1945 San Francisco Conference during which delegates adopted the UN Charter) (Illingworth, 2021). This gathering should dispel the myth that multilateralism is easy to understand and implement while highlighting the significant advantages of global collaboration. Additionally, I should underline the UN’s position as a link between the great powers, particularly during times of conflict involving Russia and Ukraine, as well as the responsibility of the great powers in igniting the broader UN interest in the worldwide community.
Third, we must apply Article 99 of the United Nations Charter. This implies that the UN must develop new strategies to handle global leadership demands even if these projects fail. In order to prevent and lessen future crises, a complete ideology of prevention that includes robust, long-term policies must be established (Jain, 2020). The UN should not just respond in times of crisis. The program should focus on combating terrorism and violent extremism, enhancing cyber security, reducing the spread of lethal weaponry, implementing global humanitarian law on the ground of war (necessary), and taking a comprehensive and forward-thinking approach to the limits of the planet and the effects of human activity on the environment.
To accomplish the present significant objectives, including sustainable growth, the new leadership must establish efficient procedures and a well-organized environment. The UN’s efforts will be publicly criticized if the SDGs, which comprise 169 specific targets and 17 demands, are not achieved (Kenkel & Foley, 2021). Reuniting the efforts of the SDGs, the World Bank, the Regional Development Bank, and the United Nations would be necessary to prevent such a result. The objectives must be very defined, similar to the 2015 Paris Climate Agreement case, which called for enough development in renewable energy generation and energy efficiency sources to stop a rise in global temperatures of more than two °C (Symons, 2020). The UN’s global objectives (stability and safety, sustainable development, human rights, and humanitarianism) should be incorporated into a strategic chain framework rather than as distinct, autonomous institutional linkages. UN interdisciplinary teams may overcome difficulties and administrative hurdles. Teams can be managed by the UN management team in any nation as they work under a single mandate across all UN agencies.
Young people should have a more significant say in the UN’s decisions, but it should not function as a hierarchical think tank. Their future is shaped by the choices they make. Youth (those under 25) now account for 42% of the worldwide people, and their numbers are expanding (Symons, 2020). We require new policies to combat unemployment since nothing works with our current ones. More generally, the UN has to modify its culture (perhaps with the help of a new compensation system) to prioritize activities that make a difference on the playing field rather than only those that take place in the headquarter and behind the desks. The report’s suggestions must be carried out, and there has to be a benchmark for evaluating these directives. It is not sufficient for journalists to compose the report. Counting the number of meetings the UN has hosted is insufficient.
In the end, I must comprehend the UN’s ability to play an influential, flexible role in the face of limitations as the next Secretary-General, who must think practically. A miracle will not appear from above. Therefore, there is no point in asking for one. Instead, we must take responsibility for our actions.
References
Seventy-five years of UN – achievements, and failures. JournalsOfIndia. (2020). Web.
Illingworth, R. (2021). The responsibility to protect and the failures of the United Nations Security Council by Patrick M. Butchard, Global Responsibility to Protect, 13(1), 100–102. Web.
Jain, D. (2020). Where the UN has failed to live up to its mission: looking back to look forward. Ethics & International Affairs, 34(3), 351–359. Web.
Kenkel, K. M., & Foley, C. (2021). Responding to the crisis in United Nations Peace Operations. Contemporary Security Policy, 42(2), 189–196. Web.
Symons, J. (2020). Seventy-five years of the UN: Its triumphs and disasters. The Lighthouse. Web.