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The Gingrich- Mitchell Task Force
A Bipartisan Blueprint for Revitalizing the UN
In December 2004, Congress called for a 12-member bipartisan taskforce
to review prospects for reform of the United Nations. The U.S. Institute of
Peace (USIP) coordinated the taskforce, which included participants from the
American Enterprise Institute, the Brookings Institution, the Center for
Strategic and International Studies, the Council on Foreign Relations, the
Heritage Foundation, and the Hoover Institution. The resulting report,
entitled American Interests and UN Reform, offers an bipartisan
perspective on UN reform and America's international responsibilities.
The Task Force's Main Findings
Former House Speaker Newt Gingrich and former Senate
Majority Leader George Mitchell headed the panel, which presented its report
on June 15, 2005. The report recognizes that:
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In today’s interconnected world, global problems
require global solutions;
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American leadership and participation at the UN summit in September is crucial to making the United Nations an effective institution
for the 21st century;
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The United Nations is a body composed of individual nation-states; too often, member states have found it convenient to blame the UN when they themselves blocked collective action.
The Task Force's Main Recommendations
In addition to these underlying themes, the
Gingrich-Mitchell task force also made several important recommendations for
how the U.S. could improve and restructure the UN. These recommendations are
underlined by five main themes.
1. Preventing Genocide & Human Rights Abuses
American Interests and UN Reform endorses the principle of a
“responsibility to protect” as a basis for countries to work together
against genocide, ethnic cleansing and crimes against humanity. It states
that although every country is sovereign, if a government fails to protect
its people from massive human rights violations, the UN Security Council or
the international community can intervene diplomatically and, if
necessary, militarily.
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The report takes a strong stance on Darfur, urging the United
States to assemble a package of assistance with NATO for the deployment of a
larger African Union presence and the establishment of a "no-fly" zone over
Darfur.
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The Gingrich – Mitchell task force recommends that the United States
encourage the African Union (AU) and other regional bodies to develop their
own capabilities to prevent and halt genocide, mass killings and human
rights violations.
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The report also urges the United States to support a restructuring
of personnel, such that the the High Commissioner for Human Rights (HCHR)
and the Special Advisor for the Prevention of Genocide (SAPG) report
directly to the Security Council.
In addition, the Task Force supports Secretary General Kofi Annan’s
recommendation to replace the current dysfunctional Commission on Human
Rights with a Human Rights Council whose members would be elected by the
General Assembly based on their respective human rights records. The report
recommends that
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Ideally, the Council would be composed of democracies
with a strong commitment to human rights; and that
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The Human Rights Council coordinate its efforts with the
Democracy Fund and Democracy Caucus.
2. Development and Humanitarian Assistance
The taskforce agrees that addressing the needs of the developing
world is important and recognized the important role the UN plays in such
efforts. It recommends that the Department of State take the lead on U.S.
development and humanitarian assistance policy in the U.S. government. It
also suggests that the State Department facilitate burden-sharing by
coordinating its efforts with multilateral organizations such as the UN.
The taskforce agrees that the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs),
agreed to in September 2000, are ambitious but attainable targets for the
year 2015 in the global effort to address poverty, hunger, disease, and
other development challenges.
The taskforce did not reach an agreement whether or not
to endorse Secretary General Kofi Annan's proposal that
countries must commit 0.7% of their gross national incomes in order to
achieve the MDGs. However, the panel stressed the need for the UN to ensure
that countries invest their aid efficiently and implement legal, economic
and political reforms to achieve sustained economic growth and development.
In addition the Task Force made the following
recommendations:
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The Economic and Social
Council (ECOSOC) should direct its efforts towards crosscutting issues like
the MDGs, good governance, rule of law, and anticorruption.
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The UN to strengthen its
relationship with the World Bank.
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The UN
rationalize and simplify the funding of its programs
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The World Health Organization
(WHO) take the leading role in combating infectious diseases.
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United Nations Children Fund (UNICEF) lead
global efforts for child survival and against hunger & nutritional
deficiency diseases.
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The U.S. should lead a high-level effort
to re-engineer the current UN relief architecture to avoid overlapping
responsibilities and inefficient competition.
3. Integrity, Transparency, Accountability, Effectiveness
The taskforce recommends that the UN:
| Establish an Independent
Oversight Board that will monitor UN activities, deter corruption and
ensure efficient use of resources |
Implement a modern
personnel system to evaluate performance, recruit highly qualified
employees, and remove unprofessional staff |
| Create a senior official
position in charge of daily operations filling the role of Chief
Operating Officer |
Establish effective
protection mechanisms for employees who come forward & report misconduct |
| Establish a system to
ensure that UN procedures are conducted openly and according to rules |
Develop a new standard of
personnel ethics and promote them within the organization |
4. Preventing and Ending Conflicts
The report recommends that the Department of Peacekeeping Operations
(DPKO) become a more independent program with its own staff and distinct
rules and regulations. This will allow peacekeeping operations to be
comprehensive and more effective. American Interests and UN Reform also recommends that peacekeeping
operations develop broad strategies combining the need for security with
economic and political development.
The taskforce supports the Secretary-General’s recommendation to
establish a Peacebuilding Commission and a peacebuilding support office to
enhance the UN's ability to support states and societies as they rebuild
their communities, economies and government institutions.
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Roughly half the countries that emerge from conflict
revert back to conflict within five years.
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A permanent office would identify states on the verge of
collapse, provide assistance to prevent such collapses, and sustain the
efforts of the international community in post-conflict peacebuilding.
Although the taskforce did not endorse a standing UN military force,
the report urged Member States to increase the availability of trained and
equipped forces for rapid deployment in peace operations.
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The report recommends that the Bush Administration step up training
efforts for African troops through the Global Peace Operations Initiative (GPOI)
announced at last year's G8 (Group of Eight) meeting.
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It also states that the Department of Defense
should prepare policy options for the U.S. to support and engage in peace
operations that are consistent with U.S. national interests.
The taskforce advocates the use of sanctions and supports the establishment of sanctions committees by the Security Council
to monitor and ensure that sanctions are effective and consider
humanitarian impacts.
5. Preventing Catastrophic Terrorism
The taskforce recommends that the Security Council play a more
assertive role in ensuring that Member States fulfill their obligations to
prevent the spread of deadly weapons. It urges the Council to develop
penalties for future consideration in individual cases of violations.
The report concludes that the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA)
should be more proactive in promoting nuclear nonproliferation and increase
efforts to prevent threats from non-state actors. It also recommends that
the United States continue to press for the establishment of a committee of
the IAEA board to review the agency’s role in monitoring and promoting
nonproliferation obligations. In addition, the report
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Supports President Bush’s
proposal that countries and companies selling nuclear material and equipment
should not assist in the development of new nuclear processing facilities in any
country that does not already have them.
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Recommends that the General Assembly adopt a clear
definition of terrorism as any intentional attack on civilians and
noncombatants by non state actors for political purposes.
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Urges the United States to work within the UN to strengthen the Democracy Caucus
& make
it capable of organizing strong political action to counter violations of
human rights & save lives.
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Suggests that the World Health Organization (WHO)
should be strengthened to prevent terrorists from acquiring or constructing
biological weapons.
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Recommends that the
permanent five members and the Security Council as a whole should meet
regularly on proliferation and terrorism issues.
Updated August 9, 2005
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AMERICAN INTERESTS AND UN REFORM - FULL REPORT
+ IN LARGER
FREEDOM - FULL REPORT
+ FIND OUT MORE ABOUT UN REFORM
+ FIND OUT MORE ABOUT MILLENNIUM PROJECT
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