Sovereignty in Action: Beating Back Beaurocratic Inertia at the UN

By Stefano Gennarini, J.D. | March 16, 2012

Sovereignty is a word that isn’t used within the UN superstructure, its bureaucracies, thousands of documents, reports and resolutions and frankly even UN member states. The UN system always tries to work towards achieving consensus, and to merely mention that each and every individual state has a the power and sovereign prerogative to undo consensus is simply not helpful.

This is disheartening to those of us concerned that UN bureaucracies are inundated with pro-abortion and pro-LGBT rights advocates, who want to create obligations on states by distorting international instruments. Oftentimes pro-abortion language and pro-LGBT language are simply ignored by member states whose laws protect the unborn and do not confer special rights on individuals because of their sexual preference, simply because consensus is seen as so important, and the delegates of UN member states are unwilling to stick out like a sore thumb.

But when a delegation at UN headquarters asserts its sovereignty in UN bodies… Ah! That, indeed is thrilling, and gratifying.

There are few displays of power that are more awesome to behold than a nation throwing its weight around in global politics, especially when it involves putting UN bureaucrats back in their place.

This week has been a thrilling week at UN headquarters in NY and in Geneva, as previous postings document.

We witnessed the Organization of the Islamic conference, representing 57 countries from Africa, Asia and the Middle East walk out of a Human Rights Council meeting on LGBT Rights and gave a statement that lambasted other states and the Office of the High Commissioner for trying to manufacture international obligations that do not exist.

The agreed conclusions for the CSW conference at UN headquarters in NY were derailed by countries who simply did not want to agree on conclusions after a resolution had been carried forward by the US with Chicago style politics and in total disregard to the concerns expressed by other countries.

It looks as though the Rio+20 Conference is heading the same way… The Secretary General is pushing hard for Rio to be the Conference of the century, by taking action against climate change. At a High Level Meeting on Financing for Development in the UN Economic and Social Council, the Group of 77 and China, as well as CARICOM, and LDC’s (least developed countries), and SIDS (small island states) spoke out against the hegemony of Western countries on the meaning of “Sustainable Development”. Later in the week at a Rio+20 briefing, some of these countries expressed their frustration with the UN Secretariat for ignoring states and pushing a Rio+20 agenda entirely concentrated on the environment without adequately addressing Social and Economic development.

The build up to Rio promises to be very interesting. The first round of “informal informal negotiations” begins Monday.

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