…in Asia
The UN helped end the 12-year conflict in Cambodia and organized the 1993 elections that led to the installation of a new Government. Earlier, the Secretary - General had used his "good offices" in the search for peace, helping to mediate the 1991 peace accord. The UN Transitional Authority in Cambodia was then deployed to supervise the cease-fire between the parties, disarm combatants, repatriate refugees, and organize and conduct the elections.
In Afghanistan, mediation by a UN envoy led to the 1988 agreements between Afghanistan, Pakistan, the Soviet Union and the United States aimed at ending the conflict. To help put the agreements into effect, the UN deployed an observer mission, which also verified Soviet troop withdrawal. The Secretary - General and his envoys have continued to work for a peaceful settlement of the continuing civil war. UN agencies provide assistance to the some 2.3 million Afghan refugees.
...in the Americas
The UN has helped resolve protracted conflicts in Central America. In Guatemala, UN-assisted negotiations resulted in the 1996 peace accord, ending a 35-year conflict during which over 100,000 people were killed. The UN began supervising talks between the Government and the Guatemalan National Revolutionary Unity in 1991. In 1994, two agreements opened the way to a settlement of the conflict, and led to the deployment of the UN Mission for the Verification of Human Rights in Guatemala. The Mission has remained in the country to help put into effect the peace accord.
In 1990, the UN observed the first democratic elections in Haiti. After a military coup in 1991 forced the President into exile, the UN mediated an agreement for the return to democracy. As Haiti's military leaders did not comply with the agreement, the Security Council authorized in 1994 the formation of a multinational force to facilitate the leaders' departure. After the landing of a United States - led multinational force, the exiled President returned to Haiti in 1994. A UN peacekeeping force, which took over from the multinational force in 1995, contributes to stability in the young democracy.
In El Salvador, the Secretary - General assisted in peace talks between the Government and the Farabundo Martí National Liberation Front (FMLN). His mediation led to the 1992 peace agreement between the Government and FMLN, which ended the 12-year conflict. A UN Observer Mission monitored all agreements concluded between the parties and observed the 1994 elections.
A UN mission deployed between 1989 and 1992 contributed to ending the fighting in Nicaragua. It helped demobilize some 22,000 members of the Nicaraguan resistance (also known as "contras"), who in 1990 turned in their weapons to the UN. Another mission observed the 1990 elections - the first UN-observed elections in an independent country.
Throughout Central America, UN specialized agencies and programs are working hand in hand to ensure that refugees are safely repatriated and provided with the tools to start over. They also provide training for civil servants, police, human rights monitors and legal professionals to promote good governance and the rule of law.
...in Europe
Following the 1995 Dayton-Paris peace agreements, four UN missions were deployed to help secure the peace in the former Yugoslavia. The largest of them, the UN Transitional Administration in Eastern Slovenia, was established to govern this area and help reintegrate it into Croatia.
From 1991, the UN worked strenuously to resolve the conflict, providing at the same time relief assistance to some 4 million people. To help restore peace, the UN imposed an arms embargo in 1991, while the Secretary - General and his envoy assisted in seeking solutions to the conflict. From 1992 to 1995, UN peacekeepers sought to bring peace and security to Croatia, helped protect civilians in Bosnia and Herzegovina and helped ensure that the former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia was not drawn into the war.
UN agencies continue to provide humanitarian assistance to over 2 million people still suffering the effects of the conflict.
...in the Middle East
The Middle East has been a major concern of the UN. In 1948, the first UN military observer group monitored the truce called for by the Security Council during the first Arab-Israeli war. The first peacekeeping force was also set up in the Middle East, during the 1956 Suez crisis; it oversaw troop withdrawal and contributed to peace and stability.
Two peacekeeping forces are deployed in the region. The UN Disengagement Observer Force, established in 1974, maintains an area of separation on the Golan Heights between Israeli and Syrian troops. In southern Lebanon, a UN Force established in 1978 contributes to stability and provides protection to the population.
Hand in hand with peacekeeping, the UN has sought a lasting settlement in the Middle East. Security Council resolutions 242 (1967) and 338 (1973) set forth the principles for a just and lasting peace, and remain the basis for an overall settlement. Following the 1993 landmark agreement between Israel and the Palestine Liberation Organization, a UN Coordinator has been overseeing all development assistance provided by the UN to the Palestinian people in Gaza and the West Bank. The UN Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East (UNRWA) provides essential health, education, relief and social services to over 3 million registered Palestinian refugees.
Military peacekeepers are the most visible, but not the only, UN peace presence in the field. UN envoys and other civilian personnel are engaged in diplomacy, human rights monitoring and other peace efforts in scores of regions threatened or afflicted by fighting often in the most difficult situations.
4.2 UN and Human Rights
The Charter goals of justice and equal rights, for individuals and for peoples, have been pursued by the UN from its early days.
As one of its first tasks, the UN formulated the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, a historic proclamation of the basic rights and freedoms to which all men and women are entitled - the right to life, liberty and nationality, to freedom of thought, conscience and religion, to work, to be educated, to take part in government, and many other rights. The General Assembly adopted the Declaration on 10 December 1948, a date commemorated every year as Human Rights Day.
Two International Covenants adopted in 1966 - one on economic, social and cultural rights and the other on civil and political rights - have expanded and made legally binding the rights set forth in the Declaration. These three documents constitute the International Bill of Human Rights, a standard and a goal for all countries and peoples.
The UN has also put in place mechanisms to further human rights. The UN High Commissioner for Human Rights coordinates all the human rights activities of the UN, seeks to prevent violations, investigates abuses and works with Governments in resolving violations.
The UN Commission on Human Rights is the only intergovernmental body that conducts public meetings on human rights abuses brought to its attention and reviews the human rights performance of all Member States. Special reporters of the Commission monitor the human rights problems in specific countries.
UN missions are monitoring the human rights situation in Haiti, Guatemala and Eastern Slovenia (Croatia).
The Security Council has established international tribunals to try persons accused of war crimes during the conflicts in the former Yugoslavia and in Rwanda. The tribunals have indicted several individuals and brought a number of defendants to trial.
Self-determination and independence.
A fundamental right - self-determination, or the right of peoples to govern themselves - was a goal when the Charter was signed. Today, it has become a reality in most of the lands formerly under colonial rule.
In 1960, the General Assembly adopted the Declaration on the Granting of Independence to Colonial Countries and Peoples, in which it proclaimed the need to bring colonialism to a speedy end. Since then, some 60 former colonial Territories, inhabited by more than 80 million people, have attained independence and joined the UN as sovereign Members.
Today, 17 Non-Self-Governing Territories remain, inhabited by some 2 million people. The Assembly has set the goal of ending colonialism by the year 2000, declaring the 1990s the International Decade for the Eradication of Colonialism.
Namibia's independence
The UN helped bring about the independence of Namibia, achieved in 1990. The General Assembly in 1966 revoked South Africa's Mandate to administer the territory - a decision South Africa rejected. Complex negotiations led in 1989 to the implementation of the 1978 UN plan for the independence of Namibia. The UN Transition Assistance Group was deployed throughout Namibia to monitor the withdrawal of South African troops, the registration of voters, and the 1989 elections, which led to the installation of the first independent Government and to Namibia's independence.
Election assistance
To further democratization, the UN has also observed elections, at Government request, in sovereign member states: in Nicaragua and Haiti (1990), Angola (1992), El Salvador, South Africa and Mozambique (1994), as well as the referendum on the independence of Eritrea (1993). In other instances - such as Malawi, Lesotho and Armenia - the UN has coordinated international observers provided by member states.
Observers typically follow the preparation and holding of the election; on election day, they are deployed to polling stations throughout the country, observe voting and vote counting, and issue a final statement on the conduct of the election.
Since 1992, the UN has provided technical assistance in the preparation and holding of elections to over 70 countries. Such assistance, which may involve coordination and support, advisory services and short-term observation, is instrumental in building the capacity of countries to run their elections in the future.
Apartheid.
Apartheid applies to all aspects of life. Socially, blacks had to live apart from the other races. Politically, they could not vote. Economically, they could work only in the lowest paying occupations.
The UN helped to bring an end in 1994 to South Africa's apartheid (racial segregation) system. For more than three decades, the UN carried out a sustained campaign against apartheid. The campaign, which ranged from an arms embargo to a convention against segregated sports events, helped to bring about a democratically elected Government in 1994, through elections in which, for the first time, all South Africans could vote. The UN Observer Mission in South Africa assisted in the transition and observed the election. With the installation of a non-racial and democratic government, the apartheid system came to an end.
International law.
The UN has made major contributions towards expanding the rule of law among nations through its development and codification of international law. The International Court of Justice has assisted countries in solving important legal disputes and has issued advisory opinions on UN activities.
The UN has initiated hundreds of conventions and treaties covering virtually all areas of international law - from international trade to environmental protection. Action has been particularly strong in human rights law.
For instance, the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women is the main international legal instrument to further women's equality. The Convention against Illicit Traffic in Narcotic Drugs is the key international treaty against drug trafficking. The Convention on the Law of the Sea seeks to ensure equitable access by all countries to the riches of the oceans, protect them from pollution and facilitate freedom of navigation and research.
4.3 UN Humanitarian Assistance to Developing Countries
When countries are stricken by war, famine or natural disaster, the UN helps provide humanitarian aid. Part of this aid is in the form of direct assistance from the UN operational agencies and programs: The Office of the UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR), the Food and Agriculture Organization of the UN (FAO), the World Health Organization (WHO), the World Food Program (WFP), the UN Children's Fund (UNICEF) and the UN Development Program (UNDP).
The Office of the UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) is responsible for the protection and assistance of over 26 million people around the world who have fled war or persecution, seeking at the same time durable solutions to their plight. In early 1997, UNHCR's major operations were in the Great Lakes region of Africa, with over 1.4 million people in need; the former Yugoslavia (over 2 million people); and western Asia (some 2.3 million Afghan refugees).
All UN emergency relief is coordinated by the UN Emergency Relief Coordinator, who heads the UN Department of Humanitarian Affairs.
In 1996, the UN raised $1.3 billion for emergency assistance to over 22 million people around the world.
5. DISARMAMENT
5.1 UN Activity in the Sphere of Disarmament
Halting the arms race and reducing and eventually eliminating all weapons of war are major concerns of the UN. The UN has been a permanent forum for disarmament negotiations, making recommendations and initiating studies. Negotiations have been held bilaterally and through international bodies such as the Conference on Disarmament, which meets regularly in Geneva.
The General Assembly adopted in 1996 the Nuclear Test Ban Treaty, a landmark agreement that aims at banning all nuclear-weapon tests.
In a major step in advancing non-proliferation, States parties in 1995 extended indefinitely the 1970 Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons (NPT). Under this Treaty, nuclear-weapon States agree not to provide nuclear weapons to other countries and to pursue nuclear disarmament; non-nuclear weapon States agree not to acquire nuclear weapons. Concluded under UN auspices, the Treaty has been ratified by over 170 countries.
Other treaties have been concluded to prohibit the development, production and stockpiling of chemical weapons (1992) and bacteriological weapons (1972); reduce conventional armed forces in Europe (1990); ban nuclear weapons from the seabed and ocean floor (1971) and outer space (1967); and ban or restrict other classes of weapons
The United Nations proposed another disarmament agreement in 1972. The 100 nations that signed this Seabed Agreement agreed never to place nuclear weapons on the ocean floor. Both the Soviet Union and the United States were among the signers.
In 1996, States parties strengthened a Protocol restricting the use, production and transfer of landmines – “silent killers” that slay or maim some 20,000 people each year. According to the UN, there are some 110 million landmines in over 70 countries, and 2 million new landmines are laid every year.
Mine Clearance
The subject of mine clearance is one of critical importance that has recently taken center stage in the forum of pressing world issues. As regards the work of the United Nations, the process of demining is fundamental to the UN's ability to deliver programs effectively in war-torn countries or post-war environments, whether such undertakings be related to peacekeeping, humanitarian assistance or rehabilitation.
Over the past seven years, the need for mine clearance has grown significantly in a number of regions around the world. As a result, the UN is increasingly called upon to operate mine clearance programs in areas that are completely infested with landmines and unexploded ordnance (UXO). Consequently, prior to any large deployment of personnel or equipment to a given area, the UN must prepare for a safe working environment by initiating preliminary mine clearance activities in localized areas. Once this has been completed, a broader operation can be accommodated to conduct mine clearance activities on a more comprehensive scale.
The clearance of areas for use by a supported nation is undertaken only when specially mandated by the Security Council. It is standard procedure for the UN to not only performs mine clearance but also to assist a supported nation in the development of its own sustainable clearance capacity. The UN program may include such topics as mine awareness, mine marking, mine survey, mine clearance as well as unexploded ordinance disposal. Additionally, the program's overall efforts may go beyond mine-specific issues to cover related areas, such as management and logistics, training and support.