The UN, poverty and religious strife

by Lynn Ockersz

Sixty years after its founding the UN remains a vibrant, multilateral forum for the achievement of mankind's undying dream of a united, peaceful world. This is borne out by not only the substantial membership of the UN - now standing at 191 - but by also its continued appeal among the world's states as a deliberative and conflict - resolution forum.

It was only a few weeks back that world leaders met at the 60th anniversary sessions of the UN General Assembly and pledged to continue to work towards the now well known UN Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) which, however, are remaining distant targets for a considerable number of states.

Nevertheless, this epochal agenda of the UN remains a rallying - point for the membership of the UN and the continued adherence by the bulk of the UN membership to the vision and objectives of the UN proves the continuous relevance and importance of the world body.

All this is despite the tendency on the part of some major powers to act unilaterally in the pursuit of individual military and political objectives, seemingly upstaging the UN in the process and almost totally disregarding its authority and the claims that the world body has on its members.

Such developments would seem to prove the case of the detractors of the UN that it has outlived its usefulness and effectiveness but the fact remains that the world would be in a far sorrier state if not for the presence of the UN.

We see the truth of this proposition even in the current South Asian quake catastrophe. Although some of the biggest powers of the world are yet to register a substantial presence in the quake hit areas, the UN is already there, stretching itself inexhaustibly in the service of those affected.

This has been the case in most global emergencies - our own tsunami disaster being a case in point - although acknowledgement of positive UN intervention is rather slow in coming. This is perhaps because the UN is a presence which the world has come to "take for granted".

However, there is no gainsaying that the UN is obliged to prove its effectiveness in a sustained fashion for the perpetuation of its credibility. For instance, the UN would need to ensure that palpable and real progress is being made towards the achievement of the MDGs. This is on account of the crucial role the alleviation of material hardships and poverty plays in the establishment of world peace and stability.

Religious strife in some parts of the world, which some commentators see as a "Clash of Civilizations" and which is also seen as a contributory factor to global tensions, is traceable to increasing deprivation and the worsening pauperisation of some sections of the world community.

Poverty and deprivation fosters identity - based conflicts and violence because hate-breathing demagogues among these victims of want point to the religious and ethnic "other" as being responsible for the material backwardness of their communities.

This is happening in not only the deprived regions of Asia - such as South and West Asia - but also in North Africa and Egypt. As is known, religious strife has broken out in Egypt, reportedly pitting Muslims against Coptic Christians over blasphemy allegations.

Likewise, communal tensions among Arab "nations" are compounding Iraq's problems. Hopefully, an Arab League initiative to bring reconciliation among Iraq's ethnic and religious groups would succeed, but it is clear that lack of political power and inequitable distribution of national resources are playing a significant role in keeping Iraq on the boil, although the US military presence in the country is proving a great divider and a cause of unrelenting conflict.

All this calls for a continued, proactive involvement of the UN in the world's hot spots which are also the most deprived regions of the globe. Economic globalization has proved a divider and not an equaliser and this has aggravated poverty and underdevelopment. More so why, the UN should ensure that its MDGs are achieved within a specific time frame.