We were delighted to welcome Natalie Samarasinghe, the new dynamic and impressive Executive Director of UNA-UK to our pub lunch in March.
Natalie started her thoughtful and thought-provoking talk by considering the UN's role in shaping the global environment. She recognized that frustration with the UN is often expressed - it can seem marginalised and the question is asked 'Is it still fit for purpose?' But in so many ways the world has become a better place since the UN's inception: deaths from conflict-related violence have dropped and many people live longer and healthier live with increased freedoms for women and minorities. The UN play a crucial role every day around the world providing food, shelter and protection and responding to diaster. Long term projects to promote peace and development and prevent conflict are undertaken and, said Natalie, the very idea that peace, development and rights go together was popularised by the UN.
Nevertheless, too many people are still left behind by this wave of progress. Development has been uneven, instability is caused by climate change, the financial crisis, population growth and continued human rights violations. Clearly, the UN is needed as much as ever and, despite all the tensions and difficulties, it is still here nearly 70 years after it was created. It remains the pre-eminent platform for the world's countries, even though cases like Syria demonstrate some of its limitations. For all its flaws, we still turn to the Security Council to provide legitimacy for robust action.
As Natalie reminded us, the UN can only be as good as its member states allow it to be but there is, she feels, one area in which it is underperforming: it can and should exercise a leadership of its own. It should speak truth to power. It should also do more to capture the public imagination by publicising its successes, adopting a pro-active media strategy, seeking to connect directly with people and speaking out on those issues where governments remain silent.
UNA-UK has a valuable role to play as a grassroots movement and policy influencer. As a critical friend, it should encourage the UN to speak out and use its moral authority. At the same time it should keep producing idea and lobbying the UK Government to support initiatives to strengthen the UN.
The complete text of Natalie' talk can be found on the TRUNA website www.truna.org.uk.