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Three Things You Can Do Today to Promote Global Solutions

1. Oppose efforts to weaken the United Nations. The United States and the UN not only need each other, they cannot succeed without one another. The UN cannot do its job without our support. And America cannot achieve its foreign policy objectives without an effective UN. In the past year, the President has relied on the UN to help administer elections in Afghanistan and Iraq, manage tsunami and earthquake relief, and find a solution to the crisis in Darfur.

In September, more than 150 world leaders – including President Bush – met to commemorate the world body’s sixtieth birthday. At this, the largest gathering of heads of state ever, governments adopted an aggressive set of reforms that will alter the way the UN does business on a number of important fronts. The end result could be a stronger and more effective UN capable of responding to the threats and challenges of a new century.

So what’s the bad news? At the very moment that so much is being done to help make the UN more effective, Congress is considering a bill that could undermine such efforts – and badly hurt the institution. Recently the House passed and sent to the Senate the Hyde-Smith Act, a reckless piece of legislation that represents the absolutely wrong approach to UN reform.

The Hyde-Smith Act orders the Secretary of State to cut America's annual contribution to the UN in half – unless the UN adopts and implements thirty-two key reforms in an unreasonably short period of time. Such a step would severely limit the ability of the Secretary of State and the President to promote positive change at the UN. It will exacerbate America's isolation in the world when we desperately need our allies and will make it harder to achieve real UN reform.

America doesn't need to wield threats like these to make the UN more effective. And this is not merely the position of Citizens for Global Solutions. Eight former U.S. Ambassadors to the UN, including Jeane Kirkpatrick and John Danforth, have said the bill is a bad idea. The Bush Administration also opposes the Hyde-Smith Act. It is bad legislation and will represent even worse policy. It will tie America’s hands at the very moment it should be working closely with other nations to promote UN reform.

What you can do: Call your Senators in Washington – the main number is (202)224-3121 (ask for your Senator’s office when they answer) – and tell them they should oppose S.1394, “the Hyde-Smith UN Reform Act.”


2. Make sure we are prepared for a potential bird flu pandemic. One of the biggest challenges we face today is the rise of new diseases that can spread more quickly than our ability to respond to them. This is sometimes not a question of rapid response – often pandemics spread silently, until – like HIV/AIDS – they have killed millions before the world reacts.

But an even greater threat is the potential of a new disease spreading like wildfire, killing millions and disrupting the lives, families, and livelihood of those who survive. That’s what happened in 1918, with the Great Influenza, which killed between 20 and 50 million people in less than eighteen monts. At the time, scientists were caught flat-footed, unprepared for a pandemic, and unable to coordinate their response. In fact, they did not discover that a flu virus caused the pandemic until years later. Only the flu’s mutation into a milder form prevented more deaths.

Today, we face the risk of a similar outbreak. If an avian flu pandemic happens, it will challenge scientists, disrupt lives, and mock our concept of national sovereignty. Indeed, the strain in question, known as H5N1, has begun to mutate in ways that are similar to those that allowed the 1918 flu to jump to humans. The resultant death toll could dwarf what happened in 1918.

In the face of such potential devastation, it’s tempting to throw up our hands and say that there is nothing that we as individuals can do. In fact, the exact opposite is true. The good news is that President Bush just this week announced a new $7.1 billion initiative to help prepare the country for an outbreak. That is an important first step, but two important components are missing.

First, only a small part of the funds -- $251 million – are set aside to help other countries strengthen their capacity to detect and control outbreaks in humans, birds, and farm animals. If the world is to stop a pandemic before it starts – much as it did with SARS – countries like Thailand and Vietnam will need more of our help.

Second, the plan does not do enough to outline how communities will respond. In the wake of Katrina, it has become evident that states and communities need to design and implement local plans to deal with disasters and health threats. Yet Katrina also made it clear that state and local health agencies – as well as hospitals – do not currently have the capacity to respond quickly to a crisis. Only by taking concerted action to make sure our elected officials are working together at the local, state, national, and international level can we ensure that we are adequately prepared.

What you can do: Call your Member of Congress – (202) 225-3121 – and tell them you want more funds allocated to international coordination and response. Then call your local officials and ask them what they’re doing to prepare. Demand that your elected leaders hold a town hall meeting to brief citizens on what they are doing. If they refuse, organize one yourself.


3. Make sure your community is helping to address climate change. If our planet continues to experience the kind of changes in climate we have seen in recent years, we will experience even greater instability in our weather -- more intense hurricanes, heavier rains, more severe snowstorms, longer droughts, hotter summers and colder winters.

As a nation, we have the ability to do what it takes to create viable, lasting solutions. But we have to stop letting politics and profits get in the way of saner policies. In the absence of action by the federal government, cities from across the country are stepping up to confront climate change and other environmental challenges. Thus far, more than 60 mayors worldwide have signed the Urban Environmental Accords, and more than 175 U.S. mayors have signed the Climate Protection Agreement. Cities are coming together to make urban living more sustainable, with a focus on climate change, water usage, energy conservation, waste management, urban design, mass transit, and environmental health.

The urban environmental movement could not come at a more crucial time. For the first time in history, a majority of the world’s people lives in urban communities. Fortunately, most city-dwellers recognize that their survival and prosperity – both within their own cities and as a world community – require much greater cooperation.

What you can do: Call your mayor to find out whether s/he has signed on to these important initiatives. If s/he has, thank them and ask what they are doing to make these new commitments real. If s/he hasn’t, ask why. Organize your community to urge your local elected leaders to sign on to both agreements.