Le Canada et l’ONU > Newton Bowles Reports

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Before Words...
Are you computer friendly? All I know is what they told me at the VIP orientation: 1 + 1, that is what the computer does. How does it get up to 9? I get up to 9 by staying up too late.

This is my ninth annual round-up on the UN. I do this for my friends and colleagues in Canada, and I also do it for myself. It is my best effort to see, to grasp the big show here at the UN. Since no one is telling me what to think, this round-up reveals my limitations, my bias. It is the worst I can do.

For people like me who need to get things straight, this report is untidy: it is categorically unresolved. Instead of a river flowing along between its banks, this is a swamp where the same fish keep jumping out wherever you go. There are two reasons for this. One is that the themes occurring in the "General Debate" (pages 6 to 14) keep coming back as the Assembly continues. The other reason is that the major issue at this session-- humanitarian intervention = human rights-- cuts across everything. This inclusive approach is also being taken by the Security Council as it looks more seriously at what causes war and how it affects civilians. My ubiquitous fish have their reasons.

There is a lot more to the UN than what goes on here in New York. I know something about that sprawl since, in days gone by with UNICEF, I used to make the rounds of all the Specialized Agencies involved in development, as well as the World Bank and OECD (DAC). Someone should be doing a comprehensive overview of the whole UN network. Nothing happens outside politics, but the work of these Agencies would somewhat defuse the contentious politics around this UN establishment. Good things happen.

Are you spooked by the Millennium? I am. In one era and out the other.