Working With International Organizations

Kristen Silverberg
Assistant Secretary of State for International Organization Affairs

The Bureau of International Organization Affairs (IO) was created by Secretary of State Dean Acheson in the aftermath of World War II, as part of the United States' efforts to deal with the emergence of new international institutions. IO was designed to manage the United States' relationship with the newly formed United Nations, which had been founded by the United States and its allies to work, in the words of the UN Charter, "to maintain international peace and security … to develop friendly relations among nations based on respect for the principle of equal rights and self-determination of all peoples, and … to achieve international cooperation in solving international problems of an economic, social, cultural, or humanitarian character, and in promoting and encouraging respect for human rights and for fundamental freedoms for all."

The founders of the United Nations, including the United States, believed that this new institution could play a central role in supporting the promotion of freedom around the globe. In the post-9/11 world, when terrorism, intolerance, and hatred threaten the peace and prosperity of all of the world's citizens, a United Nations that lives up to the high hopes of its founders is even more critical. As President George W. Bush said in his second inaugural address, "The survival of liberty in our land increasingly depends on the success of liberty in other lands." He committed the United States "to seek and support the growth of democratic movements and institutions in every nation and culture." This is a historic effort that cannot be undertaken by the United States alone. As a result, Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice has challenged all of us at the Department of State to "work with our many partners around the world to build and sustain democratic, well-governed states that will respond to the needs of their people and conduct themselves responsibly in the international system."

As an important part of that endeavor, my bureau works with 82 international organizations and programs to promote international peace and security, to spread freedom and defend human rights, to promote development through trade and free enterprise, and to fight poverty and disease. In my role as assistant secretary, I oversee the work of more than 450 exceptional American diplomats, both here in Washington, D.C., and at our posts in New York, Paris, Rome, Geneva, Vienna, Montreal, and Nairobi, who work everyday to solve some of the most vital foreign policy issues confronting our country.

Peace and Security

As one of five permanent members of the United Nations Security Council, the United States plays a central role in every significant Council action. For example, the United States played a leadership role in the unanimous adoption on July 31, 2007, of Resolution 1769, which authorized the deployment of a joint, 26,000-strong United Nations-African Union peacekeeping force to Darfur, with a specific mandate to protect civilians. The United States also worked closely with our Security Council partners to adopt three resolutions on Iran in less than one year, two of which impose Chapter VII sanctions on Iran (resolutions 1696, 1737, and 1747). These efforts were in response to Iran's continued pursuit of a nuclear weapons capability.

Also in the Middle East, the U.S. has strongly supported the Council's efforts to assist Lebanon as it extends its sovereignty to all of Lebanese territory, most recently by working with partners in the Council for the adoption of Resolution 1757 on May 30, 2007. This Resolution established a Special Tribunal to bring to justice those responsible for the assassination of former Lebanese Prime Minister Rafiq Hariri and other brave defenders of Lebanon's young democracy. The United States also continues to work bilaterally to counter the Syrian regime's attempts to exert control over the Lebanese political system, weaken the majority pro-government March 14 Coalition, and undermine Lebanese sovereignty and security.

At the insistence of the United States, the Security Council, for the first time, agreed to put Burma on its agenda in 2006. The brutal September 2007 crackdown by the regime on peacefully protesting monks, women, and children showed, tragically, that Burma belongs on that agenda. The United States will continue to work through the Security Council and the UN General Assembly's Third Committee, which focuses on human rights issues, to ensure international focus on the grave human rights and humanitarian situation in that country.

The United States will continue to work in the Security Council and the General Assembly to help UN member states better combat terrorism. For example, the Counterterrorism Committee (Committee 1373) sponsored meetings in New York and Nairobi to improve member states' capacity to fight terrorism. The Council's al-Qaeda and Taliban Sanctions Committee (Committee 1267) has to date imposed sanctions on 368 individuals and 124 organizations, and has brought a renewed focus to preventing the flow of assets to both al-Qaeda and the Taliban.

The United States continues to work with partners to ensure full implementation of Security Council Resolution 1540, which obligates all UN member states to take measures to counter the proliferation of weapons of mass destruction, their means of delivery, and related materials.

Failed States and Peacekeeping

We have also worked to help put failed or failing states on a path toward political and economic recovery by supporting the United Nations' peacekeeping, humanitarian intervention, and post-conflict stabilization efforts. As of October 2007, the United Nations had almost 83,000 military and police personnel and nearly 18,000 civilians deployed in 17 peacekeeping missions around the world, providing stability and security in situations where local or regional solutions are inadequate or direct U.S. military engagement is not appropriate. The IO Bureau has worked closely with the UN's Department of Peacekeeping Operations to deploy an effective peacekeeping force to Darfur, to shape the UN's response to Hezbollah's attacks on Israel during the summer of 2006, to promote security in states such as Haiti, and to support the transition from internal armed conflict to democratic governance in countries such as Liberia and the Democratic Republic of Congo.

The United States also worked within the General Assembly and the Security Council to help found the UN Peace Building Commission, which works to put countries emerging from civil war and natural disasters on the path to long-term recovery.

Democracy and Human Rights

The United States works within multilateral institutions to defend human dignity and to call international attention to egregious human rights abuses. In the General Assembly's Third Committee, we have helped to pass resolutions condemning human rights violations by the regimes in Belarus, Burma, Iran, and North Korea.

We will continue to work within international organizations to provide technical assistance to those seeking to extend human rights and democracy. In 2004, President Bush proposed a new UN Democracy Fund, which was launched jointly by the U.S. and India in 2005 with matching contributions of $10 million each. The Fund is now disbursing funding to 123 projects located in over 75 countries.

Development and Humanitarian Relief

The United States, which is the world's largest single donor of bilateral Official Development Assistance (ODA), contributes more than $500 million of ODA annually to the United Nations. The United States advances trade and private investment - the engines of development - by promoting good governance, the rule of law, freedom, and respect for human rights.

In the UN system, the U.S. works particularly closely with the World Food Program (WFP), helping to feed 90 million people in more than 75 countries every year. We have been the leading supporter of the WFP since its founding, and continue to provide almost half of WFP's resources. Through the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO), we encourage the development of sound agricultural science and policies to benefit the world's many agrarian economies.

The United States is one of the top contributors to the UN Children's Fund (UNICEF), which helps to feed, vaccinate, educate, and protect children in more than 155 countries, and to the UN Development Program (UNDP), the lead UN development agency.

In 2020, ninety percent of the world's population will live in cities of the developing world. Today, one of every three city dwellers lives in slum conditions. We work with the Human Settlements Program (UN-HABITAT) to address these challenges by promoting socially and environmentally sustainable cities and towns, and access to adequate shelter for all people. The UN Environment Program (UNEP), which addresses environmental problems that transcend borders and potentially affect the health and prosperity of U.S. citizens, is another partner. The United States supports UNEP's core programs of early warning and assessment of environmental threats, capacity building for domestic environmental governance in developing countries, and the global program of action to combat land-based sources of marine pollution.
Finally, the U.S. partners closely with the World Health Organization (WHO) to lead global efforts on prevention and control of major killer diseases like HIV/AIDS, tuberculosis, and malaria, eradicable diseases such as polio and measles, and emerging disease threats such as a pandemic avian influenza. WHO also helps UN Member States strengthen their domestic health systems.

Conclusion

This is a busy and challenging time in multilateral diplomacy, but the United States has been able to engage effectively and cooperatively with others to promote a freer, safer, and more prosperous world. We remain committed to strengthening our partnerships with international organizations in the years ahead.