United Nations

[Gardian]

I've often wondered - what is the point of the UN?

One of it's principal stated aims is to prevent the outbreak of war, but it hardly has a glittering record in that. SE Asia, the Middle East, the Balkans, Iraq, etc, etc. At the end of the day, nobody takes any real notice of what the Security Council says, and I include Britain and the USA in that (over Iraq).

I doubt that anybody really thinks that today's edict over an arms embargo on Libya will exactly have Ghadaffi quaking in his boots.

Both the UK and France pay roughly 6% each towards the cost of UN peacekeeping operations worldwide  - that's about £300M each, if I remember the numbers correctly.

UNICEF carries out valuable work worldwide, but other NGO's such as Medicins sans Frontieres and OXFAM are arguably just as, if not more effective.

Finally, the Secretary Generals. Has any of them really stamped his authority on a worldwide situation? Has any one of them really impressed you? 

[pachapapa]

Dag Hammarskjöld

[Gardian]

PPP .................

Yes, point taken - but he was a bit before my time.[:P] Nonetheless, his was the best reputation of all of them.

I'm just surprised that this thread hasn't attracted more comment: this is (supposedly) one of the world's governing bodies.

 

[PaulT]

The UN will never be effective all the time that nations put their interests or game playing first.

Amazingly China voted for sanction against Libya whilst at the same time putting strong security on the streets to stop protests.

Russia and the US used to vote against one another I presume not to be seen agreeing.

Then there are the vetoes as it would hit that countries exports.

Would countries that have a dictator provide troops for say an action in Libya to remove a dictator?

In a Utopian World then all the other nations would stop another that is 'doing wrong'. Unfortunately, it is not a Utopian World but one with a whole range of views.

Paul

[Quillan]

Talking of China and Russia I saw on the BBC morning that the UK is going to stop overseas aid to these countries this year and the money divided up and given to other countries already receiving aid. The guy also said that overseas aid would be increased this year by over a third in general. I was surprised that there was need for either of them to need UK aid. I was also surprised that aid was being increased, surely the money would be better spent at home in the current UK economic troubled times.

[Alan Zoff]

It does make you wonder who decides how the money is spent when you hear things like the sorry tale I heard today from an old family friend (Battle of Britain hero). He is 89, his lovely wife 91. He has been looking after her for some years as, sadly, this kind, intelligent lady fell victim to quite serious dementia. A couple of months ago, things were made worse by a stroke. But he has battled on caring for her, despite his own ailments. Last week she fell and bashed her head, badly bruised her side and damaged her arm. He called the hospital for an ambulance as she was in pain and understandably distressed, as well as very confused.

"Sorry, Mr War Hero. No point in sending an ambulance as we don't have a bed for her." He ended up taking her himself to a local nursing home where she has been treated for, among other things, a cracked bone.

A few months ago I watched him on TV while he marched proudly with surviving colleagues at the service in Westminster Abbey. But today he asked me if I thought what his generation went through in 1939-45 was worth it. And I couldn't give him an answer.

[Quillan]

Well Alan the health care system is the main reason I left the UK because of the way I was treated. I also saw how my parents were treated by the state, my father played his part as well just like your friend. By father 'bought in' to the beliefs of the Labour Party and the 'Cradle to the Grave' social system except as he got nearer and nearer to his grave the system could not care less. He took two years to die under the most atrocious conditions and with absolutely no dignity at all. At the wake there was a knock on the door and some big guys were there to remove all the special equipment that had been 'hired' to him (yes he had to pay for it), left my mother in tears and where very insensitive. In fact one of his brothers gave the guys a piece of his mind but they didn't give a toss. I remember my father telling me that he had read (this was a very long time ago) that German WW2 soldiers got better pensions than him. I sw him the day before he died and in one of his more lucid moments said "Son never vote for Labour".