Topic: Role of the UN in Encouraging and Aiding Democratization
Country: Afghanistan
Delegate Name: David Fairfield
School: Roeper School
Topic page: background guide and all position papers All Afghanistan position papers GLIMUN 2012 committees
Afghanistan recognizes the important role of the United Nations in promoting democracy, and has itself recently become democratic with the aid of the international community, yet urges the United Nations not to overstep the limitations of its power and violate national sovereignty. Afghanistan attests to the fact that United Nations and other international assistance is in many cases necessary in order to hold free and fair elections and investigate claims of electoral corruption and believes that, with the consent of the government or the people of that nation, the United Nations is fully within its bounds to do so.
With the recent Arab Spring, the people of many Middle Eastern nations have risen up against their leaders for the purpose of achieving a democracy. In many of these cases the United Nations has tried not to interfere or side with either party other than to provide humanitarian relief. However if the United Nations uses the statement made in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, namely that “the will of the people shall be the basis of the authority of the government” to define sovereignty, intervening on behalf of the people of a nation where the government no longer has their consent, is not a violation of sovereignty and would fall within the authority of the United Nations. Afghanistan would look favorably upon any assistance to the people in nations recently liberated from dictatorships to monitor their elections if the people so choose, as well as assistance in nations such as Syria, where the people still struggle for the right to a democracy.
In recently democratic nations, the United Nations should only monitor elections or investigate claims of corruption when the people of that nation call upon them to do so, otherwise the UN would be ignoring the principles they try to promote. That if the people of a nation are not in favor of UN action, by intervening, the United Nations would be ignoring a democratically reached conclusion.
Afghanistan looks forward to working with other nations to more accurately define the role of the United Nations in promoting democracy and where limitations should be placed in order not to infringe upon sovereignty.
