Why is the UN important to small countries ?

The UN is playing a critical leadership role within the community of multilateral organisations to help the poorer, less developed nations eradicate extreme poverty. Efforts are also being channelled towards integrating these poorer countries into the global economy. Significantly, in the area of rule of law, a vigorous apparatus of international law has grown up around the UN. Rule of law is particularly important for small countries like Singapore which makes up a majority of the UN membership. In the absence of the rule of law, the law of the jungle will prevail. That kind of a world would be a more dangerous place for small countries.

Criticisms of the UN

The UN has also drawn criticism for perceived failures. In many cases, member states have shown reluctance to achieve or enforce Security Council resolutions, an issue that stems from the UN's intergovernmental nature—seen by some as simply an association of 192 member states who must reach consensus, not an independent organization. Disagreements in the Security Council about military action and intervention are seen as having failed to prevent the 1994 Rwandan Genocide, failed to provide humanitarian aid and intervene in the Second Congo War, failed to intervene in the 1995 Srebrenica massacre and protect a refugee haven by authorizing peacekeepers to use force, failure to deliver food to starving people in Somalia, failure to implement provisions of Security Council resolutions related to the Israeli - Palestinian conflict, and continuing failure to prevent genocide or provide assistance in Darfur. UN peacekeepers have also been accused of child rape, sexual abuse or soliciting prostitutes during various peacekeeping missions, starting in 2003, in the Congo, Haiti, Liberia, Sudan, Burundi and Côte d'Ivoire. In 2004, former Israeli ambassador to the UN Dore Gold criticized what it called the organization's moral relativism in the face of (and occasional support of) genocide and terrorismthat occurred between the moral clarity of its founding period and the present day.

How the UN has helped ?

A 2005 RAND Corp study found the UN to be successful in two out of three peacekeeping efforts. It compared UN nation-building efforts to those of the United States, and found that seven out of eight UN cases are at peace, as compared with four out of eight US cases at peace.Also in 2005, the Human Security Report documented a decline in the number of wars, genocides and human rights abuses since the end of the Cold War, and presented evidence, albeit circumstantial, that international activism — mostly spearheaded by the UN — has been the main cause of the decline in armed conflict since the end of the Cold War. Situations where the UN has not only acted to keep the peace but also occasionally intervened include the Korean War(1950–1953), and the authorization of intervention in Iraq after the Persian Gulf War in 1990.

Background

Peace keeping is defined by the United Nations as " a unique and dynamic instrument developed by the Organization as a way to help countries torn by conflict create the conditions for lasting peace ". It is distinguished from both peace building and peace making. Peace keepers monitor and observe peace processes in post-conflict areas and assist ex-combatants in implementing the peace agreements they may have signed. Such assistance comes in many forms, including confidence-building measures, power-sharing arrangements, electoral support, strengthening the rule of law, and economic and social development. Accordingly UN peace keepers (often referred to as Blue Beret because of their light blue berets or helmets) can include soldiers, police officers, and civilian personnel.