UN at 76: Achievements, Failures, Challenges and The Need for Reform

Nothing’s flawless in the world, including the U.N. The failures of stopping genocides in Rwanda (1994) and Srebrenica (1995 after the break-up of Yugoslavia) have raised questions over the role of the U.N peacekeeping operation in war-torn areas.

Then-U.N Secretary-General Kofi Annan stressed that the U.N failures to prevent mass killing in Rwanda and Srebrenica were due to the organization’s serious errors of judgement, rooted in a philosophy of impartiality.”

It is not easy to pinpoint the main cause of the organization’s failures given several factors—from the leadership to poor management and inefficiency.

The corruption implicating the oil-for-food program in Iraq and child sex abuse in Congo are among the U.N most embarrassing scandals.