UNA-UK has written to all major UK political parties, asking them for a statement on the United Nations. By shedding light on the approaches taken by different parties we hope to contribute to an informed national conversation on foreign policy, and help raise awareness of the ways in which the international system delivers benefits to British citizens.
Read more on this initiative and read other parties' statements
The Ulster Unionist Party's approach to the United Nations
The Ulster Unionist Party fully supports the United Kingdom being a member of the international system.
The United Kingdom has long been a force for good and has played a key role in world affairs.
The UK makes a major contribution via its global aid budget and indeed is one of the few major industrial nations to maintain aid at 0.7 per cent of GDP. This is something which we believe should be maintained into the future.
The Ulster Unionist Party believes that the United Kingdom has consistently fulfilled its wider obligations and stands as an example to others.
The UK has long been a champion of Human Rights and has a record that stands comparison with anywhere on earth in terms of how the rights of its citizens have been respected and protected.
The UK has also played a key role in seeking to make the World a safer place via strategic alliances such as NATO and the European Union Battlegroup. Although military intervention is a major step and only taken as a last resort, we have deployed forces unilaterally in trouble spots such as Sierra Leone and collectively with other partners to places such as Kosovo in a bid to prevent atrocities.
The UK has also contributed to considerable resources in supporting the International Security Assistance Force (ISAF) in Afghanistan set up by the UN Security Council.
More enduring operations have seen the UK continue to contribute to the UN peacekeeping mission in Cyprus, while more recently we have sent peacekeepers to South Sudan underlining our commitment to UN peacekeeping missions around the globe.
As one of five permanent members of the UN Security Council, the UK has major influence on global security policies. This membership ensure the UK is a major global power and a force of good.
The full implications of the recent decision by the people of the United Kingdom to vote to leave the European Union have yet to be felt, but the Ulster Unionist Party is nonetheless confident that the UK will continue to play a full and constructive role on the world stage, just as it did prior to membership of the EEC.
It is in all our interests that the UK should retain influence and allies as the 21st Century unfolds.
