does the UN still have a role to play?

Russian strikes took place on Saturday evening July 23, on the port of Odessa. And this less than 24 hours after the agreement on Ukrainian grain exports signed under the aegis of Turkey and the UN. This UN whose impotence Volodymyr Zelensky has been denouncing for five months: “The UN is currently unable to perform the functions for which it was created“. So, is the UN useless? Today, the UN is 193 countries from five continents, united, according to its charter, to preserve peace in the world. Its governance, a system inherited from the post-war world order.

When it was created in 1945, the five victorious powers, the United States, United Kingdom, France, Russia and China, granted themselves the right of veto on resolutions passed in general assemblies. This right now protects Russia, the attacking country, and the statutes prevent it from being excluded. During the vote at the beginning of March, of the resolution condemning the Russian invasion, China, India and about fifteen African countries preferred to abstain. A revival of the non-aligned that changes the game. The UN is a tool, powerless to resolve armed conflicts, but its agencies remain essential in the defense of human rights, aid to refugees and children. Above all, the UN remains the only place where the ambassadors of the nations can express themselves and exchange views, even if it is a dialogue of the deaf.