Sonipat (Haryana), October 28 : The Jindal School of Government and Public Policy (JSGP) at the O.P. Jindal Global University (JGU) organised a seminar on the Relevance of the United Nations on the 80th Anniversary of the signing of the United Nations Charter, also known as the San Francisco Treaty.

The programme of the seminar featured eminent experts from and on the United Nations, faculty from the Jindal School of International Affairs (JSIA) and the JSGP, as also scholars and researchers from different schools of the JGU.

The keynote speakers were Dr Deodat Maharaj from the UN Technology Hub for Least Developed Countries and Dr Mitali Nikore from Nikore Associates.

In his opening remarks, Prof (Dr) Naresh Singh urged speakers to focus on the relevance of the United Nations now rather than dwell on the past alone.

Dean Ramaswamy Sudarshan provided a detailed narrative of the setting within which the United Nations was created, its achievements, many of which are unsung and its failures, most of which are well-known.

Prof Ambassador Mohan Kumar explained that member countries need to come forth with funds and human resources, instead of blaming the organisation whose core ethos and structure had served quite well ' and BRICS and G20 can play this role ' buffering against the skewness in membership of the UN Security Council.

Dr Maharaj argued that our perspective regarding the relevance of the UN is determined by where the interlocutor is located geographically.

In the developed countries, the UN is often criticised for the failures of the UN Security Council due to the veto power exercised by the P5 countries and disparaged for its shrinking budget and human resource challenges. The emerging economies like the BRICS and G-20 have a more nuanced view and can contribute funds and human resources for UN Reform, but permanent membership of the UNSC is a sticking point.

When it comes to other less developed countries, it is not feasible to develop without a strong role of the United Nations. Hence for nearly 60 per cent of the countries in the world, the UN is and will continue to be highly relevant.

Dr Nikore provided an account of her own connect with the UN ' first as a child growing up inspired by the UN, and then her initial engagement with UN Women HQ and subsequent, ongoing work with a wide variety of UN agencies, the World Bank and Asian Development Bank, under the umbrella of Nikore Associates.

She argued that the UN can stay relevant provided it reflects the Global South not only in terms of projects, but even more so in its hiring practices at all levels, including senior positions in HQs and regional offices.

She argued that the diversity in the composition of leadership at all levels and across regions will make the UN more representative of the world today and therefore more relevant.

Prof Veselin Popowski argued that the continued relevance of the UN can be done not only through the reform programmes such as UN80 but also by creating a new UN Charter with a World Parliament which eliminates the temporary gift of the veto power to the victors of World War II, and rejuvenates the language and spirit of the UN Charter for young people and future generations in the 21st century.

Prof Silvia Bottega argued that the extensive network of experts and projects of the UN and its funds and programmes, and specialised agencies cannot be dismantled without damaging the very development trajectory of the world, including the countries critical of the UN.

She explained that the reform process needs to certainly include UNSC reform but also the reform of the specialised agencies ' with the required increase in budget and human resources for the agencies.

Prof Naresh Singh summarised the points made by the speakers and argued that the frame of thinking about development needed to evolve towards addressing complexity and system interdependency ' and that this change would also make the thinking about the UN more relevant, especially given the challenges of climate change, inequality and conflict.

During the interactive Q&A, scholars and researchers in the audience appreciated the insights from the speakers and raised queries regarding UN reform measures, the prospects of UNSC reform and new sources of funding and leadership for the UN. The perspectives from them included diverse views regarding the UN's continued relevance but found common ground in the discourse of complexity and spirituality.

Prof Suraj Kumar stated that the relevance of the UN has been questioned and debated since its very inception, and that conversation is renewed virtually every decade if not annually.

Eleanor Roosevelt, the founding persona behind the creation of the UN and the host country role of the United States, has described the United Nations as a dream implemented by a bureaucracy. The dream is eternally relevant, but the bureaucracy has to adapt and reform not only in terms of the UN80 Initiative but also in the mindset of the constituent organisations ' funds and programmes and specialised agencies and the mindset of UN staff.

India has 28 UN agencies that find it difficult to coordinate and contribute towards common goals, and there is a sharp disjunct between "international staff" and "national staff". It is time for UN constituent organisations to give up the "Ego and Logo" and for UN staff to forego their self-definition in terms of nationality and see themselves as UN staff first and foremost.

/IANS