United Nations-Revisited

A few weeks ago, the current President of South
Sudan, Salva Kiir, caused a bit of a stir, when he questioned the role
of the United Nations in his Country.
At a time of heightened tensions, he wondered why it seemed that the
United Nations had taken on the role of a parallel government. This came
at a time when his hands were busied with some troubles in his
government and when he was trying to clean house. Fresh thoughts have
emerged questioning the role of the United Nations in countries like
Congo, where concerns regarding the presence of the mission there and
its effectiveness.
Maybe our chief political commissar-Lt. Col. Felix Kulaigye (in an
interview on UBC TV) was right when he brought this up-noting the length
of and apparent ineffectiveness of these U.N missions.

When i was in High School we had the privilege of participating in the
Model United Nations where i served as a representative of Green Peace
and was elected as chair (a role which in my youth, i toyed with). But
one of the most interesting conversations and debates while in session
was about the difference between Peace Keeping and Peace Making.
Historians and humorists will note that the rather sprightly youth of
the day also presented some mock resolutions about the Bobbit issue
which had caused quite a stir in the news of the day.

The debate regarding the role of the United nations in Peace efforts is
just as fresh now as it was then, and i gather memories from Rwanda have
a lot to do with this. The rise of parallel forces and new mandates
defining peace efforts and allowing forces to act in defense have helped
transform the manner in which relief forces operate and i suspect, will
influence new methods of deployment for the U.N if not completely
replace them.

I speak here in reference to AMISOM, a group created to help restore
some semblance of Order in Somalia and which has had at its fore a well
trained Ugandan army. Some changes in peace efforts and perceptions have
clearly had a lot to do with its effectiveness.

Is it possible to replace the U.N and its agencies and to replicate
their efforts using local groups? Will the African Union, at some point,
begin to function as the U.N does and will the conflicts in policy which
seem to be causing some friction between the International Criminal
Court spill over into other groups?

Is there some trouble in Rome between it religious arm (Vatican-Holy
See) and its political wing (United Nations)?

If indeed the African Union seeks to replace or overshadow the United
Nations in some of its relief work, then she does have her work cut out
for her. For starters, all these projects are going to need financing.
The Africa Development Bank will need to develop policies and relief
based programs and projects to work in conjunction with African Nations.
In addition to reviewing the work of the U.N and understanding its
structure and culture, the International Monetary Fund, World Bank and
other similar groups of influence will need to be studied in the search
for Best Practice. Anything short of that spells disaster for us and
means that the U.N with all its warts is here to stay.