Magazine Articles

From my earliest association with United Methodist Women, I was aware that the Women's Division strongly en-dorsed the programs and policies of the United Nations. When I became a conference UMW officer and went to New York for training, I, along with other new officers, visited the Church Center for the United Nations-a building right across from the UN, proudly owned and operated by the Women's Division. We took a tour of the United Nations' facility and heard praises for the programs of this international body. I remember being amazed at this close relationship between the Women's Division and the UN.

At Schools of Christian Mission there was always a place on the agenda for the UN representative from our conference to bring us up-to-date on the latest program or treaty sponsored by the United Nations-and to encourage us to "sign on" to petitions or letters promoting a particular UN emphasis. My knowledge of some of these UN programs made me unwilling to sign-and gave me concern that a singular, favorable viewpoint was presented.

Many of the legislative petitions brought to the 2004 General Conference by the Women's Division advocated support for UN programs such as CEDAW (the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination Against Women), the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child, the Statute of the International Criminal Court, and the UN Kyoto Protocol, among others. All of these programs are radical in their requirements, eclipsing the rights of parents and nations, and harming rather than helping women.

The June 2004 issue of Response magazine showcased this love affair with the United Nations with the entire issue given over to the topic of "The United Nations in Our Daily Lives." Article after article extolled the UN and its programs. However, as Katy Kiser, who reviewed this issue of Response pointed out, the laudable goals of the UN are simply not attained by the actual performance of UN programs and treaties.

Katy's report reminds us that the real story of the UN is being told daily by print and television media. On July 13, 2004, CSPAN featured Jed Babbin, Deputy Undersecretary of Defense in the first Bush administration. Babbin authored Inside the Asylum which presents convincing evidence that the UN acts as a hindrance to progressive change in the world and has done little to promote its stated goals of world cooperation and peace. Babbin gives many examples to support this claim of unreached goals.

The Oil for Food program is currently the subject of at least eight or nine investigations. According to the testimony before a House subcommittee by Claudia Rosett, a fellow at the Hudson Institute and a member of the editorial board of the Wall Street Journal, UN officials allowed billions to be "filched from what was supposed to be relief programs for the tyrannized and impoverished people of Iraq."

Nowhere in Response magazine will UM women read anything about this scandal. Instead they will read David Wildman's claims that in all the UN's "programs and agencies, it seeks to address people's basic needs and equality." He further states that the UN places people before profits and human well-being before military might-a claim that is being flatly refuted by the investigations now taking place.

Wildman goes beyond the Oil for Food Scandal to report that the UN World Food Program has been a great success in North Korea where they have a "no access, no food" policy. While this goal is commendable, this policy has simply not been able to deliver to the people of North Korea. The UN has sat by while North Korea withheld aid to millions of starving people all the while indulging in lavish military spending which includes their nuclear program.

An article by the editor of Response dismisses the peacekeeping operations of the UN as a small percentage of its activity. This dismissal is convenient given the UN's dismal failure in the area of peacekeeping. July 12, 2004 marked the ninth anniversary of the Srebrenica massacre in Bosnia. It was the UN that was sent in by the international community and charged with putting a stop to ethnic cleansing. It would be the eventual deployment and presence of American troops that put a stop to the bloodletting-not the UN. The same failure was witnessed in the Somalian crisis of 1992-95. A look at the UN record in Haiti and Rwanda tells a similar story of failure, not only providing for the dissemination of humanitarian aid, but also to provide for the rudiments of peacekeeping.

Unfortunately the laudable goals of the United Nations are unmatched by the actual performance of this monolith organization. United Methodist Women have valid reasons to question this love affair between the Women's Division and the United Nations, and the promotion of UN programs through the UMW organization.

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United Nations and the Women's Division by Faye Short

United Nations and the Women's Division
by Faye Short