TIME HAS COME FOR A UN EMERGENCY CAPACITY

The United Nations played a key role coordinating the international response to the tsunami crisis. The UN’s effort, as well as that of the international community at large, was a shining example of how nations can come together to help those in need. Unfortunately, the United Nations often lacks the capacity and resources to act quickly in response to deadly emergencies, whether man-made or natural. The tsunami response was a unique success not the norm.

All institutions need periodic retooling to meet new challenges and the United Nations is no exception. This year, due to the UN’s sixtieth anniversary, there is added impetus for reform. Therefore, Congressional task forces have been set up, and think tanks are busy crafting, proposals to make the UN better able to cope with the security threats of the 21st century. As of now, the UN lacks the capacity to quickly prevent or respond to natural disasters, genocide, "ethnic cleansing", and crimes against humanity, even if intervention could save hundreds of thousands of lives. The genocide in Rwanda illustrates this incapacity, as do the massive killings in Cambodia, the former Yugoslavia, Sierra Leone, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Sudan and elsewhere.

The need to contemporize the UN’s security response mechanisms has led groups, like Citizens for Global Solutions and Human Rights Watch (HRW), to agree in principle on the need for UN Member States to authorize the creation of a United Nations Emergency Peace Service (UNEPS). UNEPS would give the UN the capacity to prevent early stage crises from destabilizing whole countries and regions. According to Johanna Weschler, Human Rights Watch's UN Representative, “[UNEPS] would create an additional tool to address the genocide, mass rapes, and violations that continue to plague the international community.”

UNEPS is envisioned as a permanent UN organization, composed of ten to fifteen thousand expert-trained personnel. Recruits would serve as civilian police, military, judicial experts, and relief professionals, and would be tasked with conflict resolution, environmental crisis response, and medical assistance. UNEPS military component would have two complete mission headquarters (with military, police and civilian staff), technical reconnaissance units, light armored reconnaissance squadrons, motorized light infantry, armored infantry, a helicopter squadron, an engineer battalion and a logistics battalion.

The concept was primarily developed by Dr. Peter Langille of the University of Victoria and Professor Robert Johansen of the University of Notre Dame. Both men envisioned the Service as typically operating on a “first in, first out” basis. According to Johansen, “By offering a highly trained, integrated early response capacity, UNEPS has the potential to save millions of lives and billions of dollars and prevent fragile states from becoming failed states… It would be designed to complement -- not replace -- other essential national, regional and United Nation’s efforts.”

At a recent meeting in Cuenca, Spain, a group of UN experts came to a general consensus that an emergency service would be logical for the UN. It was also acknowledged that UNEPS would run into political resistance, with opposition expected from those member states, like the U.S., which oppose any kind of standing UN group with a military competent.

However, Citizens for Global Solutions Executive Vice President, Don Kraus, believes the time is right to begin promoting UNEPS. One promising sign is that Representatives Jim Leach (R-IA) and Albert Wynn (D-MD) are planning to introduce a bipartisan resolution urging U.S. support for the proposal. According to Kraus, “There is a huge push now to think outside of the box in terms of UN reform. Although UNEPS pushes the political envelope, policy makers are willing to listen. When you dial 911 in an emergency, police, fire fighters, and medics respond. But today no one answers a global 911 call. We need to change that. It might take us a decade to do it, but I believe UNEPS is an idea whose time has come.”

Updated February 25, 2005