Topic: Improving Accountability at the United Nations
Country: Spain
Delegate Name: Michaela Zewde
School: Williamston High School
Topic page: background guide and all position papers All Spain position papers GLIMUN 2014 committees
It is necessary for the members of the United Nations to devise a way to improve accountability. In the previous United Nations peacekeeping missions, there have been reports of deplorable acts by peacekeepers including rape, murder, forced prostitution, and theft. The victims of these crimes are the very people peacekeepers are supposed to be protecting. Unfortunately, those responsible for these heinous acts have not been punished. There have also been issues of accountability when nations are dishonest during the UN procurement process. For example, in the United Nations Security Council Resolution 986, Iraq was permitted to sell oil to the world market in order to use the proceeds to supply aid such as food, medicine, and other humanitarian needs to ordinary Iraqis who were negatively affected by the economic sanctions aimed at Saddam Hussein's regime. The United Nations must determine a way to increase accountability to prevent future atrocities from occurring.
Spain has great interest in finding methods to improve accountability in the United Nations. Since past cases of abuse by United Nations peacekeepers have not been brought to justice, they are not being deterred from committing nefarious acts. Spain believes that it is important for peacekeepers to do exactly as their name suggests: keep peace. The responsibility of a peacekeeper is to protect citizens and prevent an eruption of violence in conflicting nations, and the violation the rights of the citizens desecrates the integrity of the United Nations and its peacekeeping programs.
In order to properly discipline violating peacekeepers, Spain believes that the United Nations must create a set of laws to prosecute offenders. This will prevent the question of what country an violating peacekeeper is arraigned under. Spain also proposes to resolve the issue of accountability by increasing the number of non-permanent seats in the Security Council. It is important for smaller nations and African countries to have their voices heard to make a more representative and responsible United Nations. We also consider it necessary to increase the chances of all member states to periodically have access to a seat on the Security Council by expanding the number of elected seats to make it more accountable and democratic. Spain expects to find allies in most members of the European Union in this topic.
