Monitoring Policy Making at the United Nations |
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March 26-30, 2001 - Global Policy Forum - Email 'Listserv' News
GPF List-Serv
March 26-30, 2001Greetings from Global Policy Forum!
UN Finances in a Pickle
The United Nations recently released information on its finances for the month of January and the news was not encouraging. At the end of the month, member states owed the organization $3.74 billion, of which the United States alone owed $1.81 billion, or 48% of the total. That is the largest arrears in the organization's history.
Some would argue that rising peacekeeping spending accounts for much of the recent arrears increase, so the crisis is proportionately less serious than it may at first seem. But such an argument misses the point. Since the UN has practically no reserves, any substantial rise in arrears puts the system into a dire financial condition, worsened by the economic and political blackmail of the organization's largest member. Rising peacekeeping arrears erode support for peacekeeping among troop contributing countries and sap the UN's credibility and capacity to act
In late December, after months of arm-twisting by the United States, UN member states agreed to reduce the US budget assessment, in return for a promise that the US would pay about $800 million dollars in arrears. Many hailed the deal as the beginning of a new era for the UN. But at Global Policy Forum we had grave reservations.
We had seen the US extract concessions in the past, only to back away from its part of the deal, insisting on further concessions. We didn't like the US demand that the UN accept over $700 million less than the full arrears. Nor did we like the way the US would pay off its arrears over more than one year, with further conditions, as well as opportunities for more Congressional demands and "reform" requirements. When member states agreed to change the assessment scale before the US paid its debts, we thought they had given up their main leverage to force compliance by the superpower.
As we suspected, the United States has not paid a penny to the UN regular budget, although more than three months have passed since the deal was struck. Congress has not passed the necessary legislation, nor does it seem that the administration is working to get the bills paid promptly. The House of Representatives, where militant conservatives oppose any arrears payments, is the main bottleneck. Congress probably will not act on the matter before the summer and action may be postponed a long time, or even indefinitely.
The lawmakers are preparing to vote tens of billions for a tax cut and billions more for additional weapons and military forces, but they are quite prepared to hold up the pitiful few hundred million owed to the United Nations, in defiance of international law and US treaty obligations. With many UN-haters and unilateralists in the Bush administration and in the Congress, the US poses a greater threat than ever to the organization. Though Under Secretary General Joseph Connor recently expressed guarded optimism about the UN's financial status, the Secretary General should not count on obtaining US arrears any time soon.
Sierra Leone Marks A Decade of Civil War
Tiffany's, the famous jewelry store on New York's Fifth Avenue, has a vast ground-floor emporium where thousands of diamonds are offered for sale. Sierra Leone, an impoverished state in Africa, produces many of the world's finest gem-quality stones that eventually find their way into showrooms like Tiffany's. But in contrast to the hushed and genteel environment of the Tiffany show room, Sierra Leone has been wracked by unspeakable violence and it has sunk into terrible poverty. A short time ago, the Sierra Leone civil war reached its tenth anniversary, with no end in sight.
The UN has sent a substantial peacekeeping force and the Security Council has imposed sanctions against the RUF rebels. But, the rebels continue to control the diamond-mining areas and their proceeds from diamond sales continue to fuel the war. The conflict has spread into Liberia, Guinea and Cote d'Ivoire, creating hundreds of thousands of refugees and displaced persons. Charles Taylor, the Liberian president, profits handsomely from the conflict, through his control of diamonds, logging, arms trafficking and other mafia-type operations. The Security Council has been unable to stop Taylor or to cut off his lucrative businesses. We wonder when the UN will impose serious controls on the world diamond industry - controls that can seriously block the abuses that make diamonds increasingly a symbol of greed and violence.
Super-Mineral Fuels the Congo War
The Washington Post has revealed that a rare new mineral known as "col-tan" (short for columbite-tantalite) is fueling the civil war in the Democratic Republic of Congo (former Zaire). This mineral, used to manufacture advanced mobile phones, computer chip capacitors, night-vision goggles and other military and high-tech paraphernalia, has been in short supply as its use by manufacturers has soared. In late 2000, world prices spiked to $200 per pound, making its inexpensive mining extremely lucrative. Congo is exceptionally rich in natural resources, including gold, copper, timber, cobalt and diamonds, but recently col-tan has proven the most profitable of all.
Smuggling rings, metals traders and rebel armies vie for the control of key col-tan areas like North Kivu Province, where thousands of farmers were flown in from Rwanda to work the mines. The Security Council will be hard pressed to resolve the conflict when so many riches tempt the rival armies and when shadowy international companies compete through violent proxies for control of these vast riches.
Now the new links for this week…..
