UNSC
More than Half
Africa in
2014, Europe /
Ukraine
Doubled to
16.6%
By
Matthew
Russell Lee
UNITED
NATIONS,
January 25 --
The UN
Security
Council held
36% more
meetings in
2014 than in
2013, as
counted by the
“Highlights of
Security
Council
Practice 2014”
published this
month by the
UN.
Among the
litany of
statistics in
the
Highlights,
here's one
that jumped
out to Inner
City Press:
while the
percentage of
the Council's
country-specific
or regional
meetings that
concern Africa
is still above
50%, it
declined in
2014 in the
face of
increase in
meetings
classified as
about
“Europe,” the
new ones
nearly all
about Ukraine.
In 2013, 66%
of country- or
region-specific
meetings by
the Security
Council were
about Africa,
and 7% were
about Europe.
In
2014, by
contrast,
54.7% of
country- or
region-specific
meetings by
the Security
Council were
about Africa,
and 16.6% were
about Europe.
Asia is by far
the most
populous
continent, and
is not without
its problems
and conflicts.
But less than
4% of Security
Council
country- or
region-specific
meeting are
about Asia,
and less than
2% - Haiti -
are about the
Americas.
The
Council-authorized
troops size
for MINUSTAH
in Haiti,
where the
Security
Council is
today, was
reduced in
2014 by 2,651,
a larger
decrease that
in Cote
d'Ivoire
(1,700) and
Darfur --
reduction of
355 as violence
continues
and the UNAMID
mission covered-up
allegations of
mass rape in
Tabit.
The UN's report
is
interesting,
but for
obvious
reasons does
not assess the
effectiveness
of the
Security
Council's
actions. Yes,
the Council
imposed
sanctions in
Yemen in 2014,
including on
Ali Saleh and
two Houthi
leaders. But did
it work?
The “regime
change letter”
on the
letterhead of
the Somalia
and Eritrea
Monitoring
Group,
exclusively
exposed by
Inner City
Press, is not
mentioned. But
the UN's
reporting on
itself, of
which this is
a better
example than
most, is not
the only
reporting on
the UN. Watch
this site.
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