Why the United Nations really matters

Kofi A. Annan, New York

When the appalling disaster of the tsunami struck in the Indian Ocean, killing at least 150,000 people and destroying the livelihood of millions, President Bush acted quickly to form a core group of nations with available military forces in the region. That was the right thing to do. It got the relief efforts off to a flying start, which was essential.

But a week later, when all involved came together in Jakarta to plan and coordinate the multinational effort, everyone, including the U.S., agreed that the UN should take the lead.

Why? For two reasons.

First, the UN had the necessary skills. Its Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs, which I formed in 1997 soon after I took office, is designed exactly for the role that was required -- a light structure, not getting in anyone's way or doing their job for them, but able quickly to locate needed supplies and contact whatever organization can deliver them.

But second, and even more important, everyone was willing to work with the UN: The governments and people of the affected countries, the donors, and the non-profit organizations whose role is so essential in all emergencies, great and small. All of them recognize that the UN is the right body to lead, because it is in no one's pocket. It belongs to the world.

Another example of the UN's importance -- a more difficult one, because of its sharply divisive political context -- is Iraq. Indisputably, the war in Iraq two years ago caused many people on all sides to lose faith in the UN. Those who favored military action against Saddam Hussein were disappointed that the Security Council did not -- as they saw it -- have the courage to enforce its own resolutions. And those who opposed it were frustrated at the UN's inability to prevent a war they thought unnecessary or premature.

And yet, when the U.S. and its allies wanted an Iraqi body with broad national and international support to help them run the country, they turned to the UN and my special representative, Sergio Vieira de Mello, for help and advice. He persuaded Paul Bremer that it should be a Governing Council, not a mere advisory body, and he persuaded key Iraqi leaders such as Ayatollah Sistani to let their followers join it. Sergio and 21 of his colleagues paid with their lives for their courage and determination to help the Iraqi people - as, alas, do too many brave servants of the UN whom the world hears little about.

Last year, when the Coalition wanted to transfer power to an interim Iraqi government, they turned again to the UN for help. They knew that only if the UN were involved in choosing it would the new government be accepted as legitimate and sovereign.

Both Iraqis and Americans turned to the UN for help in organizing last month's elections.

Again, we had the necessary expertise -- we have organized or helped organize elections in 92 countries, including most recently Afghanistan and Palestine. But even more important was the legitimacy that our involvement brought.

Now Iraqis have their own elected Transitional National Assembly, and will soon have an elected government answerable to it.

Here too, the UN can help -- and it will. We can give expert advice, if asked, on the drafting of the constitution. We can reach out to those groups -- mainly Sunni Arabs -- who stayed away from the elections, for whatever reason, but are willing to pursue their goals through peaceful negotiation and dialogue. And we can bring together the world community in a joint effort to help Iraq rebuild itself and heal the wounds of dictatorship and war.

The UN can be useful because it is seen as independent and impartial. If it ever came to be seen as a mere instrument or prolongation of U.S. foreign policy, it would be worthless to everyone.

I could go on. I could speak also about the 18 peace operations we have in war-torn countries around the world, and the tens of millions of homeless and hungry people, over and above those affected by the tsunami, to whom we are bringing relief. Indeed, when ill-informed critics try to cut the UN off at the knees, the people they hurt most are not diplomats or bureaucrats, but innocent people caught in war or poverty, in desperate need of the world's help.

Some decry what they see as a lack of principle in UN decision-making, pointing to the compromises that inevitably emerge from a body of 191 member states. Anyone who attacks the UN for failing to serve the global interest should, as part of that exercise, critically examine the decisions of each nation within the body.

Of course the UN is far from perfect -- even if some of the recent allegations made about it have been overblown. The interim report of Paul Volcker's independent inquiry has helped put the oil-for-food program in perspective. Some of the more hyperbolic assertions about it have been proven untrue.

Yet I am the first to admit that real and troubling failures -- ethical lapses and lax management -- have been brought to light. I am determined, with the help of member states, to carry through the management reforms which are clearly called for by Volcker's findings.

Even more shocking are widespread cases of sexual exploitation and abuse of minors by peacekeepers and UN officials in the Democratic Republic of the Congo and other African countries.

In my eight years as Secretary General, I had already done a lot -- with the support of member states -- to make the UN more coherent and efficient. Now we need to make it more transparent and accountable -- not only to diplomats representing member governments, but also directly to the public.

The UN cannot expect to survive into the 21st century unless ordinary people throughout the world feel that it does something for them -- helping to protect them against conflict (both civil and international), but also against poverty, hunger, disease and the erosion of their natural environment.

This September, we have a real opportunity to make the UN more useful to all its members. Leaders from all over the world are coming to a UN summit in New York. I shall put before them an agenda of bold but achievable proposals for making the UN work better, and the world fairer and safer.

I believe Americans want to do that as much as any people on earth. More than any other people, they have the power to do it -- if they listen to and work with others, and take the lead in a concerted effort. In the hope that they will give us that lead, I look forward to September with great excitement.

The writer is Secretary-General of the United Nations.