WCC calls for UN reforms
By Parker T. Williamson, The Layman Online, February 24, 2006
PORTO ALEGRE, BRAZIL – The 9th Assembly of the World Council of Churches adopted a statement on Thursday, calling for “reforms” of the United Nations that would give it international superpower status.
Applauding the text of the UN Charter and its “noble ideals,” the WCC noted that the international organization has throughout its history received the strong support of the WCC. That support is needed more than ever today, said the WCC, in the light of “the rapid spread of globalization.”
Globalization has meant that the territorial boundaries of nation states are becoming increasingly meaningless, said the WCC. “Complex global problems require a cooperative and multilateral response. Never has it been so clear that the challenges of communicable diseases and environmental degradation, of corruption and organized crime, of proliferation of arms and the threat of terrorism cannot be resolved by individual states alone,” said the WCC.
Signs of UN weakness
Citing these factors, the WCC stated that a strong international control mechanism is essential. Yet at this very time when, in the view of the WCC, the UN should be stronger, there is evidence that some nation states are showing a preference for going their own way.
Without mentioning the United States by name, the WCC statement cited states that “withdraw behind barriers of exclusion or rush to unilateral action, believing that it is more effective.”
Without mentioning specific failure, like the UN’s unwillingness to halt genocide in Rwanda, its stalemate when challenged to enforce its mandates on Saddam Hussein’s regime, and the corruption that surfaced in its “oil for food program,” the WCC statement mentioned that there had been occasions of UN “weaknesses.” Still, said the WCC, “it is the best instrument that we have to respond to the contemporary challenges.”
UN World Summit of 2005
The WCC statement expressed its “disappointment” in the outcome of the UN World Summit of 2005. It said that in that meeting, the UN failed to say all that should have been said about “disarmament and non-proliferation” and “attacks against civilians for political purposes.”
It criticized the UN Summit for failing to make any new commitments on debt relief or trade. It expressed its unhappiness with the UN’s failure to establish a target of 2 per cent of national income for development assistance, as recommended by the WCC. It lamented the “reluctance by some countries [the United States was not named, but is the obvious culprit] to ratify the Rome Statute of the International Court” as “another example of undermining progress of the international rule of law.” In summary, the WCC said that the UN summit was “highly politicized” and “ended in a deadlock.”
Calling for reforms
The WCC called for reforms that would grant increased powers for the UN over its member states. It called on its churches to encourage their governments to honor their financial obligations to the UN.
It called for the UN to increase and initiate new monitoring and regulatory activities, particularly in areas of “the environment,” “economic injustice,” and “holding International Financial Institutions to account.” It asked that reforming the UN include “strengthening the mechanisms to ensure that transnational corporations are held accountable to global standards.” Words like “binding,” “monitoring,” and “increased controls” are replete throughout the document.
Although the WCC statement avoids explicitly saying so, the theme and tenor of its document clearly indicates that “UN reform” means the creation of an international superpower, thereby erasing the sovereignty of nation states.