United Nations Reform :: essays research papers

United Nations Reform Many of the UN's functions and responsibilities have come under weighty circumstances. For example, the delegation of revenue to it's ramifications and the standard of which â€Å"who† will â€Å"maintain† a seat on the security counsil are two of the main topics. First off, financing the United Nations 15 specialized agencies, the UN itself, and roughly 9,000 staff members (of which 40% are of professional grade) with the â€Å"Regular Budget† is a problem that continues to be a major threat to the continuation of the UN for two reasons: Some of the larger industrial countries, such as the United States and Russia, have been with-holding a portion of their assessed contribution due to their dissatisfaction with certain aspects of UN administration. The concern also exists that since all members must pay in U.S. dollars which are earned strictly through trade, the United States indirectly causes many developing nations to fall behind on payments. Secondly, the struggle just to maintain one of the two year seats on the SC has been a major concern. A yearning for a permanent seat on the SC has been expressed by many more countries. The European Union (EU)stated on April 9, 1996 that it feels strongly that the United States should not collect anything off of the UN because it is not contributing what it is supposed to. Many third world nations, such as Indonesia and Chile, are frightened by the attempts at cutting the UN's budget. Most countries feel Japan deserves a permanent seat on the Security Council. The UN proposed an elimination of 70 worldwide UN information centers on May 13,1996, With the supporting argument that with our current information superhighways these centers are becoming antiquated. Nations such as Indonesia and Chile argue that such cuts are unjust to those who have not been given the † Technological Gift.† The nation of Japan is going against what would normally be expected of us. We are not following along in the trail left by the United States in the ongoing struggle for the United Nations financial reform. Instead we hold ground in that everyone should pay their assessment. Japan also feels it is imperative for Japan to recieve a permanent seat on the SC, because it is the second largest