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The President’s Corner

A UN Corps to the Rescue

Canadian UN police officers hold a repatriation ceremony in Port-au-Prince for some of their fellow officers. UN Photo/Logan Abassi

Feb. 3 – For decades, United Nations members and peacekeeping experts have debated the idea of a rapid deployment force to intervene in conflict zones, a subject that remains deeply controversial.

Yet the last decade showed us that the need for rapid response is as important for resolving human-generated conflicts as it is for countries hit by natural disasters. .Such a force could have been extremely useful on the ground in Haiti, where the earthquake last month left the country in dire need of immediate outside help.

In an era of global warming, cyclones, hurricanes and tsunamis have been just as devastating as wars in the recent past, killing hundreds of thousands of people, leaving millions homeless and causing damage in billions of dollars. A large earthquake proves to be equally destructive. Can the UN offer a quicker, more coordinated effort for future natural disasters? Can a multinational UN response team of troops and police be set up, meeting and training together often and able to mobilize within 24 hours?

Such a contingent could rescue and evacuate victims and help to distribute food, water and other necessities. The brigade would be fashioned much the way a New York City emergency response team is devised, including offering medical assistance and having resources like heavy equipment to move rubble. It would also need to have the means of transport to deliver the officers and machinery to the destination.

The force would work hand in hand with the UN World Food Program, which arrived on the scene in Haiti quickly (its stocks ready for fast transport) and fed up to 200,000 people within the first week of the quake, handing out ration packs of high-nutrition biscuits. The force would ensure orderly distribution, especially if the country’s government is unable to do so itself; the brigade would also work with the UN’s other agencies that participate in emergencies, taking its cues from those who already know how to act swiftly.

In Haiti, police officers are still needed for crowd control and to prevent looting. Although a UN peacekeeping force might be in place in a country suffering from a disaster, it can always use backup, as Haiti also showed. Food distribution sites in the country have been particularly strife-ridden, as reported by the UN’s Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs.

In one incident, a UN military escort/protection force was unable to contain a large group at a food distribution spot. John Holmes, UN under secretary-general for humanitarian affairs and emergency relief coordinator, has called for increased security for convoys and distribution sites to ensure that assistance reaches the weak and vulnerable. A rapid response force could usher the conveyances through.

The Question of Sovereignty

Even if the UN can provide the support to develop such a team, putting together a military force of any sort will have many detractors. Plenty of nations, including the United States, have doubts about a permanent multinational force intervening in politically wrought conflicts or in instances of abused populations – natural disasters aside.

For one, the question of sovereignty never goes away. Developing nations with histories of colonial rule are wary of outside intervention, as their reaction to the “responsibility to protect” doctrine illustrates. The cost of providing a UN team is high as well, with few countries or groups able to afford spending money on a standby entity, so it must be offering other services in downtime.

In fact, just 3 of the 192 members of the UN General Assembly -- Nicaragua, Bolivia and Venezuela -- questioned the intent of rescue and relief work in Haiti. But that did not stop Venezuela’s joining Mexico, China, Britain, France, Germany, Canada and Cuba in pledging doctors, trained sniffer dogs, tents, blankets and food to the Haitians.

Nevertheless, when a foreign military presence landed in Haiti it raised hackles. As the White House dispatched more than 10,000 military personnel, promising more on the way, questions of highhandedness fell into full gear. (The European Union is also sending a police force to reinforce security.)

So the matter of sending some form of military personnel – preferably a neutral force guided by the UN, operating under clear guidelines – continues to be a vital subject that should not be dismissed despite the inherent problems in taking it on.

Ultimately, what matters most is a country’s ability to function after a natural disaster and its attitude toward receiving outside help. This will determine what kind of military force should be organized and its purpose.

Unlike the government of Burma (Myanmar) which initially refused humanitarian aid from the US for the victims of the 2008 cyclone Nargis, Haiti, fragile even before the earthquake struck, welcomed help. When Pakistan was struck by a major earthquake in 2005, or when the tsunami washed over parts of Indonesia in 2004, these countries for the most part mobilized emergency responses and provided their own security.

Lessons are to be learned from Haiti, and now is the time to encourage the international community to explore ways to mobilize flexible teams for coping with future natural disasters – for they will come.

UNA’s Efforts

That leads me to report on UNA’s own rapid response civilian team to the Haitian disaster. As a nationwide grassroots organization with 128 chapters and divisions, UNA responded within days, sending an e-blast announcing our efforts to channel contributions to UN agencies to assist Haitians, raising more than $35,000 to the cause to date.

One UNA member, Anthony Piel, a former official of the World Food Program, wrote an op-ed about Haiti in his local paper in Connecticut. I encourage you all to write to your newspaper to continue to tell the story of the remarkable work the UN accomplishes on the ground, and I welcome new proposals on how the UN could do even better.

To share your views, send an e-mail to yourviewsmatter@unausa.org.