At their meeting on 20 November 2010, UNA-USA Council of Chapters and Divisions’ Steering Committee members voted unanimously to endorse an expedited advocacy agenda process for 2011 that focuses UNA’s work on four core issue areas: securing US-UN funding; advancing human rights through the UN; encouraging US ratification of international treaties; and supporting the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs). These issues have been included in previous advocacy agendas along with several other issue areas; UNA-USA members should not forgo acting in support of other issues should circumstances make progress in these areas possible. On an ongoing basis, however, UNA-USA and Better World Campaign staffs will coordinate activities in the areas listed below as part of a larger effort to maximize our overall advocacy impact going forward.
UN Funding:
After more than two decades of congressional controversy over the payment of US contributions to the UN regular budget, peacekeeping, and UN specialized agencies and voluntary programs, the United States in recent years has fully funded its commitments to the United Nations system. In FY 2010, for example, Congress provided over $ 3 billion to UN peacekeeping and the UN regular budget as well as other UN specialized agencies and voluntary programs, such as UNICEF, the World Health Organization, and the UN Population Fund.
Growing concerns over the size of the federal budget deficit, however, combined with a less than clear sense among most members of Congress about the full scope and effectiveness of the UN’s activities around the world and/or their relevance to US national security, will likely lead some on Capitol Hill to propose ways to reduce our commitments to the UN. Rep. Ileana Ros-Lehtinen (R-FL), for example, newly-elected chair of the House Foreign Affairs Committee, introduced H.R. 557, The United Nations Transparency, Accountability, and Reform Act, during the 111th Congress. H.R. 557 would shift the funding mechanism for the regular budget of the United Nations from an assessed to a voluntary basis. The bill received more than 100 co-sponsors, including all incoming members of the House Republican leadership. There is an expectation that this bill will be brought up for a vote in committee and on the House floor. Members of Congress should be encouraged to vote against this bill, as it would undermine US national security, severely erode US legitimacy abroad and cause massive new US arrears to the UN.
Human Rights:
The UN’s human rights work is a hallmark of the organization and has a significant impact on Americans’ overall perceptions of the United Nations. This is particularly true in the case of Congress, where the UN Human Rights Council has served as a lightning rod for criticism of the United Nations. The United States stood virtually alone in its opposition to the creation of the Human Rights Council in 2006. As a result of a reversal in US Government policy by the Obama administration in May 2009, the US was elected to a three-year term on the Council and a full-time US ambassador was appointed to the Council.
In November 2010, Human Rights Council members discussed the US human rights record as part of the Universal Periodic Review (UPR) process in which all members of the United Nations are required to take part; follow-up by the Obama administration will occur over the next several months, culminating in the adoption of a US plan of action by the Council in March 2011. Next up on the Human Rights Council’s calendar is a mandated review in March 2011 that will examine the Council’s performance over its first five years with a view to considering changes in its operation that would enhance its effectiveness over the longer-term. Now that the United States is a member of the Council, it is in a better position to be able to influence change in the way the Council operates. Members of Congress should be encouraged to play a constructive role in advising the Obama administration about ways in which the Council can be improved.
International Treaties:
Prospects are decidedly mixed for United States ratification of several longstanding international treaties, such as the Women’s Convention (CEDAW), the Law of the Sea Convention, the Convention on the Rights of the Child, and the Treaty on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities, among others, in the 112th Congress. The new Senate, with 53 Democrats (of whom 13 are freshmen) and 47 Republicans (24 of whom are freshmen), will not be able to act on these treaties without mustering the two-thirds majority, or 67 votes, required for Senate advice and consent. The new configuration means that Senate approval of treaties will only occur by reaching across party lines. Many incoming senators have little knowledge of the treaties that await ratification by the United States, but they will quickly become aware of the controversial issues surrounding them.
During the 111th Congress (2009-10), there were important developments in support of treaty ratification, such as Senate approval of New START in late December 2010 and a hearing on CEDAW in the Senate Judiciary Committee in November 2010. Going forward, it will be especially critical for grassroots organizations to build momentum toward Senate votes on pending treaties in the context of the Obama’s administration’s ongoing commitment to seek US ratification of such treaties.
Millennium Development Goals:
The September 2010 world summit at United Nations Headquarters reaffirmed governments’ support for meeting the MDGs by 2015. The United States, which played a leading role in galvanizing international support for meeting the MDGs in 2000, may now find its own commitments challenged on Capitol Hill in the context of a stringent budgetary environment. Further, the global financial crisis continues to cast a heavy pall over the world’s commitments to the MDGs.
Extensive recent polling sponsored by the United Nations Foundation, however, finds that a solid majority of the American public supports the MDGs as well as an active and sustained role for the United States in meeting them. UNA-USA chapters and affiliated national organizations are well-placed to have a positive impact in this area, having just concluded many successful local UN Day 2010 events focused on the importance of the MDGs. United Nations Foundation programs, such as the Nothing But Nets and Girl Up campaigns can inspire activism in support of the MDGs in local communities and aid in the recruitment of new UNA-USA members.
