News Analysis: UN makes significant difference in people's lives globally: British experts

In the last 70 years, the United Nations (UN) and its agencies have made a significant difference in the lives of people across the world, British experts on international affairs said, as the world marked the UN's 70th anniversary on Oct. 24.

The UN was created in the aftermath of the Second World War as a global peacemaker, tasked with averting a third world war.

As the UN turned 70 on Saturday, the big question is: Has the Manhattan-based organization earned its keep?

With technology ushering in the concept of a global village, there is undoubtedly more need than ever for a world watchdog, ready, willing and able to step in when things go wrong.

The UN was created on Oct. 24, 1945, the idea of wartime U.S. President Franklin D. Roosevelt and British Prime Minister Winston Churchill as a successor to the ineffective League of Nations set up after the First World War. Among the League's greatest failures was its response against the Japanese aggression in China in the 1930s.

The UN has grown into a massive organization, with 193 member states, almost four times the 51 at its formation.

From its birth the UN has faced controversy and criticism. In the U.S., one early opponent even began a "get US out of the UN" campaign, fearing the aim of the UN was to establish a "One World Government."

Professor Nick Rees, an expert in international affairs, has reflected on the work of the UN over seven decades, and said it has been a force for stability in international politics, and a major force for change, seeking to raise and address significant international issues.

Rees is professor of international politics and dean of the Faculty of Arts and Humanities in the Archbishop Desmond Tutu Center for War and Peace at Liverpool Hope University in Britain.

He commented: "In the last 70 years the UN and its agencies and programs have made a significant difference in the lives of people across the world, helping to reduce infant mortality rates and raise living standards."

The professor said UN's achievements around health care, clean water, education and poverty stand out as having made a real difference. He cited two concrete examples, including the eradication of smallpox in 1980 and the improvement of literacy for women, as well as its work on HIV/Aids.

"The UN continues to offer the best way forward in addressing global problems, but it needs the support of its member states, NGOs, private companies and the public," he said. "The very nature of international politics and the support of member states is key to the UN being able to successfully achieve its aspirations."

Professor Harry Verhoeven teaches at the School of Foreign Service in Qatar, Georgetown University. He is also an Associate Member of the Department of Politics and International Relations of the University of Oxford.

Verhoeven said whether the UN has been a success depends on which period of its 70 years are being looked at.

"One of its main successes has been in the fight against HIV. The UN's HIV program has potentially averted a massive pandemic and HIV is no longer the threat to the world -- it was 15 years ago," he said.

In its 70th birthday year the UN continues to face criticism, but as Verhoeven pointed out, "There is not really an alternative to the UN around the corner."

He cited Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon's Rights Up Front initiative as a small incremental step in the right direction. Launched by the UN Secretary-General in late 2013, the initiative intends to ensure the UN takes early and effective action to prevent or respond to large-scale violations of human rights or international humanitarian law.

David Alton is a member of Britain's House of Lords and a university professor in England specializing in human rights issues. He travels the world visiting trouble spots looking for solutions.

He told Xinhua: "Dag Hammarskjold, one of the great UN Secretary Generals, said the UN was not created to take mankind to heaven, but to save humanity from hell."

Alton said looking at the work of the UN over 70 years makes him believe that Hammarskjold was right, that the world needs the United Nations, but that the UN needs to be rejuvenated and much better led.

As it heads towards the future, people will have their opinions on the success, or failure of the UN.

The reality is that the UN's record as peacemakers is better than many imagine. Partly due to its conflict resolution and peacekeeping work, the number of people killed in conflicts has declined rapidly since World War II. In the first decade of the 21st century, fewer people worldwide died as a result of conflict compared to any decade of the 20th century.

During the last century, 70 million died as a result of famine, a figure much lower in the 21st century as a result of the UN's World Food Program.

The biggest issue facing the UN as an organization, will be its ability to adapt to a changing world. Endit