Citizens for Global Solutions

HEALTH AND ENVIRONMENT | UN Report: A More Secure World

UN REPORT IDENTIFIES POVERTY, DISEASE AND ENVIRONMENTAL DEGRADATION AS GROWING SECURITY THREATS, CALLS FOR EFFECTIVE PREVENTIVE ACTION

The UN report, "A More Secure World: our shared responsibility," released by a high-level UN panel today calls for a broadening of traditional definitions of security threats to include poverty, infectious disease and environmental degradation, as well as a parallel expansion of the definition of security to include human as well as State security. The report lists economic and social threats as one of six threat "clusters" menacing international security and calls for preventive action to meet them. The United Nations can (and must) play a critical role in addressing these threats, the report claims, pointing out that its "unparalleled convening power... allows it to formulate a consensus for achieving" solutions to these global problems.

The Threats

Poverty: While per capita income has risen by an annual average of 3 per cent in developing countries since 1990, the number of people living in extreme poverty has continued to increase. When combined with ethnic or regional inequalities, such poverty has the potential to trigger civil violence. Africa has been hardest hit by poverty, with rising levels of malnourishment and infant mortality and declining life expectancy.

Disease: The threat posed by infectious diseases has increased over the past thirty years. New diseases, such as AIDS have arisen, and old ones (malaria, polio, tuberculosis) have spread and developed resistant strains. International response to this threat has been inconsistent and inadequate, the report claims. It is particularly critical of the international community's handling of the AIDS pandemic. "International response to HIV/AIDS was shockingly slow and remains shamefully ill-resourced," the report states. It hints at misplaced priorities - "By 2000, when the Security Council first discussed HIV/AIDS as a threat to international peace and security, the number of deaths per year from HIV/AIDS in Africa had outstripped the number of battle deaths in all the civil wars fought in the 1990s" - and raises "the troubling question of whether international response would have been so slow if the disease had reduced life expectancy by 30 years in non-African countries." However, the report also points out that "the recent international experience in combating SARS shows how the spread of infectious disease can be limited when effective global institutions work in close partnership with capable national institutions."

Food Insecurity: The report warns that "current trends indicate persistent and possibly worsening food insecurity in many countries especially in sub-Saharan Africa" as population growth in developing countries continues and per capita consumption in industrialized countries rises. "Feeding such a rapidly growing population will only be possible if agricultural yields can be increased significantly and sustainably," the report adds.

Environmental Degradation: "Environmental degradation has enhanced the destructive potential of natural disasters and in some cases hastened their occurrence," the report warns. It also criticizes global attempts at environmental protection, pointing out that "regional and global multilateral treaties on the environment are undermined by inadequate implementation and enforcement by Member States."

Gender Inequality: The UN report touched on this problem of gender inequality briefly, acknowledging that "little has been done to address the gender aspects of the Millennium Development Goals." Correcting this oversight will be critical to the success of the prevention efforts, envisioned by the report.

Meeting the Challenge

More Resources and Action

Calls on all States to recommit to achieving the Millennium Development Goals of poverty eradication, economic growth and sustainable development
Calls on all donor countries who contribute less than 0.7 per cent of their gross national product (GNP) target in official development assistance (ODA) to meet that minimum standard. The current level of ODA provided by the U.S. is around 0.1 percent of GNP, far below this minimum standard.
Applauds the willingness of donors to discuss new approaches to development finance and calls on lender governments and international financial institutions to provide greater debt relief, longer rescheduling, and improved access to global markets.
Calls on WTO members to conclude the Doha development round, which committed to placing developing countries at the heart of trade negotiations, by 2006 at the latest.
Points out that, while resources devoted to fighting the HIV/AIDS pandemic have increased from $250 million in 1996 to $2.8 billion in 2002, more than $10 billion annually is needed to win that fight
Calls on leaders of countries affected by the AIDS pandemic to mobilize their resources and engage both civil society and the private sector to halt the disease

New Initiatives

Calls on the Security Council to host a special session on HIV/AIDS "as a threat to international peace and security, to explore the future effects of HIV/AIDS on States and societies, generate research on the problem and identify critical steps towards a long-term strategy for diminishing the threat."
Recognizing that to win the fight against infectious diseases requires the cooperation of governments and functioning public health systems, the report calls on donors to "undertake a major new global initiative to rebuild local and national public health systems throughout the developing world."
At the same time the report calls for "improving global disease monitoring capabilities" and calls on Members of the World Health Assembly to "provide greater resources to the WHO Global Outbreak Alert and Response Network."
Calls on modern economies to reduce their dependence on hydrocarbons and commit to climate-friendly development strategies, to "provide incentives for the further development of renewable energy sources and begin to phase out environmentally harmful subsidies, especially for fossil fuel use and development."
Praises the entry into force of the Kyoto protocol as a positive development, but points out that the Protocol alone cannot solve the problem of greenhouse gas emissions. One of the Protocol's limitations noted in the report is that "the United States, which accounts for about one quarter of world emissions of greenhouse gases, refuses to ratify the Protocol." The report "urge(s) Member States to reflect on the gap between the promise of the Kyoto Protocol and its performance, re-engage on the problem of global warming and begin new negotiations to produce a long-term strategy for reducing global warming..."
Calls on the United Nations and international financial institutions to do more to assist States affected by severe natural disasters. Calls on the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP), the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) and the World Bank to work collaboratively in this area.

Updated December 2, 2004

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