In an op-ed piece in the Los Angeles Times posted by GPF this week, UN Secretary General Kofi Annan continues to speak out about the war in Kosovo and call for swift action by the international community. But the SG is in a very difficult position, under intense pressure by three of the five Permanent Members of the Security Council to support the NATO action, but at the same time aware that this conflict is underming the UN and seriously weakening his authority. As the NATO air campaign falters, the alliance has decided to deploy a large number of ground troops on the border of Kosovo -- a step towards a ground war in Yugoslavia. This move increases the urgency of an accord based on the Security Council and using a UN-brokered peacekeeping force.
On May 26, GPF's Security Council team attended a meeting hosted by the International Peace Academy (IPA) at the Austrian Mission on "The Humanitarian Impact of Sanctions." Panelists included Austria's Ambassador Ernst Sucharipa, David Cortright of Fourth Freedom Forum, George Lopez of Notre Dame University and Thomas Weiss of the City University of New York. The meeting brought together a number of ambassadors and senior mission staff, as well as secretariat experts, to consider how sanctions can be made more just and more effective. During the discussion, one distinguished participant commented that the sanctions in Iraq, with all their negative humanitarian consequences, are opposed by "nearly all" the international community, and maintained by the will of just one nation -- the United States. This was refreshingly frank and signified the growing impatience with the Iraq sanctions' abuse of UN authority and legitimacy.
On May 28, the UN held a second briefing for NGOs on the Secretary General's "Global Compact for a New Century" -- a compact with global business corporations to promote human rights, environmental standards and labor standards. Secretariat Economist Georg Kell and ILO representative Gareth Howell once again tried to sell this idea to a very sceptical group of NGOs. A number of different NGOs were present this time, some who were in town for the Social Development prep com, including our friends Jens Martens of Germany and Roberto Bissio of Uruguary. When the UN presenters stated that the Secretary General would not propose rules of corporate compliance (just "suggestions"), Canadian NGO representative John Foster pointed out that nation states have not hesitated to develop powerful new global rules to enlarge corporate property rights -- so why not some new rules that would work in the opposite direction?
A recent article by Judith Miller in the New York Times caught our attention this week (see postings). She states that "diplomats are quietly complaining that the international community, preoccupied with Kosovo, is paying too little attention to conflicts in Angola, Ethiopia and elsewhere." This theory of neglect, though sometimes voiced by frustrated African ambassadors, can be quite misleading. Many of these crises are fueled by powerful outside parties -- companies and nation states alike -- who can hardly be accused of "neglect." -- We will have additional information on this issue in two weeks' time, after we have met with Ambassador Robert Fowler of Canada, who has just returned from a month-long trip to consider the sanctions on Savimbi's rebel forces in Angola. We hope he will have found ways to tackle the global diamond trade and to promote the "attention" that so many around the UN have long been working for.
On Monday, May 24th, our friend Ambassador Antonio Monteiro of Portugal hosted a group of NGOs especially concerned about the situation in East Timor. This meeting provided a valuable opportunity to think together about the serious challenge of a fair and democratic referendum, due to be held in the territory on August 8th. Whether such an election can be held remains an open question. It is clear that NGOs have an important role to play in the runup to the referendum and also -- most especially -- in ensuring a peaceful and successful aftermath.
