Topic: 2025 – Responsibility of International Organizations
Country: South Africa
Delegate Name: Caitlyn Leahy
Country: South Africa
Delegate: Caitlyn Leahy
School: Williamston High School
Committee: Legal
Topic: Responsibility of International Organizations
United Nations organizations are very important for maintaining peace and security around the world, but it’s not immune from mistakes and consequences of those mistakes. Specifically, sometimes UN organizations escalate the situations in which they are in and do not contribute to the solutions to international issues. For example, in Sudan’s civil war the UN gave weapons to a rebel militia in order to overthrow the authoritarian government, but in turn the militia committed genocide of hundreds of innocent civilians. In 2010 UN peacekeepers in Haiti contributed to a cholera outbreak and spread diseases due to poor sanitation in its base and infected one of Haiti’s major rivers with disease. In 2011 the UN authorized NATO’s Operation Unified Protector which issued airstrikes that killed an estimated seventy civilians. The question arises; who should be held responsible for this – the UN, member states, or the individuals who are in control of these situations?
South Africa is committed to the UN’s charter and goals of peace and believes that the UN has real responsibilities like upholding human rights and supporting development. In 2025, South Africa has publicly called out other African states on their failure to properly adhere to international humanitarian law. South Africa helped launch a campaign to defend the ruling of the international court of justice, pressing for enforcement of international law.Through the Hague group, it expects states to be held accountable and push for collective action to enforce international law when states violate it.
South Africa believes that individuals who are affiliated with the UN and go against its goals toward peace and stabilization of governments should be held accountable for their actions and be fired or tried in a court of law. South Africa believes that some of these problems are a multilateral issue with accountability also given to the member states as well as the entirety of the UN. South Africa firmly believes that international organizations are not just advisory and used for justice and enforcement; They feel any instances where the fundamental values are being compromised, the UN should use full force to punish individuals and fix any internal issues with the organization.
