The UN: Successful In Achieving Its Founding Objectives? Flashcards
arguments suggesting that the UN has been successful in achieving its founding objectives
UN peacekeeping successes
veto power in the UNSC is declining, enabling the UN to be more effective in maintaining peace and security
success of the MDGs
arguments suggesting that the UN has NOT been successful in achieving its founding objectives
UN peacekeeping failures
veto power in the UNSC often prevents the UN from acting
failures of the MDGs
successes of the MDGs
one of the UN’s founding objectives has been to reduce poverty
the UN’s Millennium Development Goals (2000 – 15) and Sustainable Development Goals (2015 – 30) have also provided important global targets in the reduction of global poverty
They have been a highly effective, coordinated international effort to tackle poverty, with considerable successes
MDGs were powerful because it was the first time that human development objectives had been internationally agreed and a total of 189 member states and 23 international organisations committed to the goals, reflecting a huge international consensus
The MDGs created the potential for the UN, member states and various NGOs to coordinate their development efforts on MDG priorities
For the 15 years that these goals were active, many global and national aid budgets were aligned with the MDG priorities. In the first 5 years alone, foreign aid budgets doubled from $6 billion to $12 billion
By 2015, the UN called the MDGs “the most successful anti-poverty movement in history” and there were definitely some clear successes
For example, the number of people living on less than $1.25 a day (the definition of extreme poverty) decreased massively from 1.9 billion in 1990 to 836 million in 2015 – over 1 billion people have been lifted out of extreme poverty
Furthermore, the global number of child deaths under the age of 5 fell from 12.7 million to 6 million while the number of people with access to clean drinking water doubled between 1990 and 2015
New HIV infections also fell from 3.5 million to 2.1 million, with 13 million people receiving anti-retroviral treatment in 2015 compared with just 0.8 million in 2000
Previously, there had been no international coordination of this kind, demonstrating how effective and impactful the UN has been in taking steps to reduce poverty
Moreover, the MDGs have now been followed by the SDGs, showing that the UN has renewed its commitment to reducing poverty and has increased its focus on sustainability
failures of the MDGs
when looking at specific regions, countries and genders, the success of MDGs was varied
Sub-Saharan Africa had not met the MDG for extreme poverty reduction, as it is still 12.5% behind the MDG target
By contrast, economic growth in China distorted the overall global figures, where it had contributed to a reduction in extreme poverty in eastern Asia, from 61% in 1990 to 4% in 2015 – success of MDGs is clearly not consistent and other factors have been responsible for some of the seemingly impressive MDG figures
The UN also found that in 2015, women were still more likely than men to live in poverty and globally, women stilled earned 24% less than men – suggesting that the MDG to “promote gender equality and empower women” has not been adequately met
Therefore, the UN cannot be said to be entirely effective in reducing poverty and promoting economic and social development
