The United Nations turns 70 later this month and the older it gets, it becomes more removed from its founding principles in the aftermath of the Second World War. In the past months, there were confirmed reports and an investigation into UN peacekeepers abusing their positions and sullying the blue beret by receiving sexual favours from desperate women in crisis zones. Now comes word that the former president of the UN General Assembly, John Ashe — a diplomat from Antigua — has been named in a criminal complaint along with others in a bribery scheme.
US federal prosecutors say that Ashe and six more were involved in a criminal bribery scheme that involved more than $1 million (Dh3.67 million) in payments from China for assistance in real estate deals. Ban Ki-moon, the UN Secretary-General, was “shocked and saddened” by the development, which has the potential to be as damaging as the “oil-for-food” scheme in Iraq a decade ago that involved widespread abuse.
These allegations go to the very heart of the operations of the UN and further undermine its credibility. There is a perception that the world body is in need of an overhaul when it comes to the Security Council, the permanent members, veto powers and regional representation. But the case now developing shows that the UN needs fundamental overhaul, not just in its field operations, but at every other level too.
