Hiba Huneini

The entire world will be celebrating United Nations Day on Oct. 24, the day when the Charter of the United Nations came into force in 1945. For 72 years, the U.N. has been facing crises, conflicts and transformations all over the world with its measures that aim to sustain peace.The U.N. Day is an occasion to flash back to San Francisco, the city of the Golden Gate, where the delegates of 50 nations gathered at the United Nations Conference on International Organization and signed the Charter of the United Nations on June 26, 1945.

This conference is considered one of the biggest global gatherings in history, where representatives of over 80 percent of the world’s population from all races, religions and continents decided to convene and establish an organization that preserves peace, and build a better world for successive generations.

The U.N. was created as a “postwar international organization based on the principle of collective security.” At that time, Franklin D. Roosevelt convinced the public that an international organization was the best means to prevent future wars from occurring. For this reason, the charter established the function and organization of the United Nations with a focus on peace, security and justice. This charter was the product of a series of diplomatic efforts that went back to the Atlantic Charter of August 1941, a joint declaration between the U.S. and Great Britain. The key step in celebrating or evaluating the mission and performance of the U.N. is the revision of the main charter and its underlying rationale for the establishment of the United Nations.

Almost three generations have passed on the U.N. with evolving challenges and rapidly changing realities. Human memories cannot forget the Blue Helmets, coming from various countries and dispatched to areas of conflict to restore peace and stability, in addition to the improvement of overall living conditions in many places across the globe where development hands were seldom seen. However, we now ask ourselves: Where is the charter from the point of view of emerging new types of wars and conflicts, new smart industries and alarming environmental deterioration?

In 1945, there were slightly more than 2 billion people living on Earth, which is less than one-third of today’s population of over 7.5 billion. When the U.N. was first conceived, the world had more people living in extreme poverty than today, with almost half the population living on less than $1.9 a day, according to Bourguignon and Morrison (2002); whereas today, albeit extreme poverty remains a pressing global challenge, we live under an extreme state of inequality where 1 percent of the world’s population controls the biggest share of the economy. The charter’s writers were obviously anchored by the aftermath of World War II, but now, where is the charter considering the new forms of terrorism, violent extremism and the future of armed conflicts via state and non-state actors? Where is the charter considering the fourth industrial revolution and global hyperconnectivity that humans are witnessing for the first time in history?

These questions are not news to the U.N.-reform discussions. Consecutive secretaries-general have proposed agendas for structural reforms but were met by a global political gridlock. However, developed structure and bylaws that belong to the 21st century and its immense challenges are really needed.

If we want to discuss the development and evolution of the function and purpose of the U.N., we need to go back to the essence of this organization, to its originating charter. We cannot face today’s reality and solve its problems with the tools of 1945. Thus, it is the responsibility of all member states to review, amend and develop this charter to be in line with today’s challenges and realities. This shall also apply to all treaties and conventions of the U.N. that shall be revised and amended. Empowering and developing the role of U.N. lies in developing its core principles and charters as there are no rigid and everlasting structures that can fit for all changes that take place during decades of global socio-economic, political and environmental dynamics.