Category United Nations

We already know about the United Nation Environment Programme (UNEP) that came into effect in 1972. Eleven years after that, the UN proposed that development should not exploit the natural resources. This idea of sustainable development then became the key plank of all of UN’s development programmes.

The UN is also working to make the whole world accept the model of sustainable development. It was presented during the Earth Summit that was conducted in Rio de Janeiro in1992.

Agenda 21 of the Earth Summit is an action plan to achieve sustainable development and concerns with individual governments across the world that operates at local, national and global levels.

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‘Perhaps the single most successful international agreement to date has been the Montreal Protocol.’ Kofi Annan was not wrong to say this.

The Montreal Protocol is indeed a success story. The ozone hole in Antarctica is slowly recovering and is expected to reach the 1980 levels between 2050 and 2070.

The Montreal Protocol phases down both the production and use of nearly a hundred harmful chemicals. This is done in several steps. The developed and developing countries follow a different timetable in the process.

Without this treaty, ozone layer depletion would have increased at least by ten times by 2050 in comparison with the current levels. This treaty also aids the global climate system.

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By the 1990, people around the world became aware of the problem of the ozone layer. Human activity has damaged the ozone layer that protects us from the harmful UV radiations. The UN looked into this problem and in response, designed the Montreal Protocol.

The Montreal Protocol on Substances that Deplete the Ozone layer is an international treaty to protect the ozone layer. The treaty asked nations to phase out the production of many substances that would deplete the ozone layer.

The UN got the major industrialized nations to sign the treaty. The treaty was adopted in September, 1987 and came into force in September, 1989.

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The UN has faced and mediated many threats to the world including nuclear war. The organisation is now trying hard to deal with something that is more complex and worrying. It is trying to deal with something that has put all living creatures to the risk of mass destruction and that is climate change.

We have been warned that human activity is rapidly changing the Earth and the environment since the mid-1980s. Pure water and air has increasingly become a rarity.

The ozone layer has been damaged due to the release of harmful substances like CFCs from appliances like air conditioners and refrigerators. The waste from factories and households has polluted the air, water and soil.

Millions of acres of rainforests have been irreplaceably cut down. This situation has forced the UN into actions against climate change.

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The United Nations Mission in Sierra Leone (UNAMSIL) was active from 1999 to 2006. It was one of the most difficult peacekeeping missions of the 21st century.

The civil war in Sierra Leone began when the Revolutionary United Front campaigned to remove the then President Joseph Momoh. When things went out of hand, the UN was asked to help. Several attempts for negotiations were made after an exploratory mission, but none of them were successful.

So, the UN employed the United Nations Mission in Sierra Leone (UNAMSIL) to make sure that the Lome Peace Accord was implemented. It was an agreement to end the civil war.

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It was in 1992 that the UN sent a peacekeeping force- the United Nations Protection Force (UNPROFOR) to Yugoslavia. The force was sent to the Serb-controlled areas of Croatia.

It was the duty of the UNPROFOR to ensure that the United Nations Protected Areas were free of military action. It was also responsible for the patrolling of borders. However, the conflict worsened; it spread to Bosnia-Herzegovina.

The airport at Sarajevo was under threat. Because of this, the UNPROFOR widened the area that it watched over to ensure security. This was followed by days of violent attacks.

Yugoslavia had to survive a string of bombarding. The lives of the people were in great danger. The UN force worked hard to provide them with food and medical supplies.

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In the early 1990s, the UN was occupied in one of its largest ever peacekeeping missions in Yugoslavia. Now there’s no country called Yugoslavia. Now there’s no country called Yugoslavia. It split to give birth to six smaller independent nations.

Yugoslavia was made of six republics: Bosnia-Herzegovina, Serbia, Slovenia, Croatia, Macedonia and Montenegro. With the diverse backgrounds of the republics, each one of them started demanding more power. In 1991, Slovenia, Macedonia and Croatia declared independence.

Conflict broke out when the Serbs living in Croatia set out to make a Serbian state within Croatia. Weapons were sent from the Republic of Serbia for this purpose. This led to the outbreak of conflict and that’s why the UN issued an arms embargo on Yugoslavia. This stopped arms from reaching there.

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The Gulf War began in 1991 when Iraq invaded Kuwait. Iraq claimed that Kuwait produced too much oil that led to its price drop in the global market. It was in this situation that the Security Council decided to take action against Iraq. The UN also stated that the member states could use whatever means that were necessary to remove the Iraqi force from Kuwait.

In 1991, a multinational force, largely comprising the US military assembled in Saudi Arabia for an operation in the name of the United Nations. This was code-named ‘Desert Storm’. It was a bombing campaign that lasted for six weeks. Kuwait was later liberated following a cease-fire. Iraq also agreed to pay compensation to Kuwait.

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For more than twelve long years, El Salvador was reduced to a land of brutal civil war. The military government was opposed by the left wing supporters of the country and this in turn broke into civil war. The UN began peace negotiations in 1990 and a peace agreement was signed by both the parties in 1992.

It was in 1992 that the UN force, ONUSAL entered the war torn country. The force was constituted by both military and civilian personnel. The prime duty of the force was to ensure that peace prevailed in the country. It initiated a number of reforms including fair trails, and free and fair elections.

It also made sure that greater rights were granted for women and minority racial groups. The force remained in El Salvador for three years and was successful in carrying out these objectives.

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Cyprus is a Mediterranean island had been conquered and ruled by many imperial powers like the Greeks, Persians, Turks and the English. But, the population mainly practise two traditions-Greek and Turkish.

After the island gained independence, the Greek Cypriots wanted to join Greece. The Turk Cypriots did not agree to this. This led to an outbreak of conflict between the two groups. When the conflict picked up, the Security Council sent in UNFICYP, a UN force. This happened in 1964.

However in 1974, a Turkish force invaded and conquered the Greek part of the island. UNFICYP was not powerful enough to resist them. But it was successful enough to prevent a full-scale civil war.

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