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On this date in 1945, World War II battle-weary nations came together in San Francisco in the War Memorial Building, appropriately enough. They agreed to establish an international organization that could ensure world peace, and they brought the United Nations into existence with the highest of hopes. Today, the Bush administration charges that the UN has become an outmoded debating society lacking the gumption to act. But as the president should know, the UN was not designed to exercise power on its own; rather, it was intentionally set up to be almost entirely dependent on the will and wishes of its member states. Thus, when the Bush administration pulls the rug out from under the UN and then blames the UN for falling down, the administration is deliberately misleading the public on the rules by which the UN operates. 

But if we dim the spotlight on the Security Council for a moment, we can see more clearly how the UN, despite severely diminished resources and escalating physical risk to UN staff, does quite often successfully “think globally, and act locally.” In Iraq for example, despite the disturbing fact that the UN role there remains largely undefined, the UN High Commissioner for Refugees is nonetheless dealing with hundreds of thousands of refugees; the UN World Food Programme is transporting and supplying tons of food; and UNICEF is delivering water and milk to children and providing them with emergency school materials. Take another look throughout the world where the work of UN agencies saves lives and occasionally dignity: the World Health Organization in dealing with AIDS and with SARS; the UN Population Fund’s work on prenatal care and childbirth; the UN Development Programme’s technology assistance to less-developed countries; the UN Development Fund for Women’s input into improving women’s health; and the Food and Agriculture Organization’s life-preserving foodstuffs delivered to millions who would otherwise starve. In East Timor, Bosnia, Kosovo, Afghanistan and other sites, UN missions are helping societies move from war toward peace, stable government and progress. These are more than statistics and do-good stories; what these activities have in common, simply put, is their valuing of human life. 

While far from flawless, the United Nations and its agencies have become an invaluable and trusted partner throughout the world, more relevant every day to hundreds of thousands of women, children and men needing the food and medical support they supply. Is it enough? Certainly not. Much more needs to be done to assist more people more comprehensively, to help lift them out of dependence into self-sufficiency. 

That said, here in our community is a shining example of the global-to-local link: The United Nations Voluntary Fund for Victims of Torture, headquartered in the UN’s Geneva offices, helps fund a San Francisco human rights organization, the Center for Justice & Accountability. CJA represents survivors of torture in civil suits against perpetrators living in or visiting the United States. Recently, two Salvadorans generals living in Florida were found guilty when a West Palm Beach jury determined that the generals bore “command responsibility” for the torture of three San Francisco-based Salvadoran refugee clients of CJA. The jury awarded a $54.6 million judgment against the generals. The steep amount reflects an American jury’s determination of the gravity of the harm done.The relieved survivors, however, subsequently declared the monetary award, whether or not any of it ever reaches them, to be of no real importance. Achieving a measure of justice is what matters. 

So the UN global-to-local link worked again. And survivors living among us were helped to regain a sense of wholeness. In the process, the rule of law—a basic tenet of the UN and the American system—was reaffirmed. 

Can the UN do better? Undoubtedly. Can we? As Danny Glover, a UN Goodwill Ambassador, can be heard repeating over the airwaves these days: 

“Today, we are taking notice of the world around us. Today, we understand that what happens in even the most remote part of the earth affects each and every one of us. Today, more than ever, Americans understand the value of the United Nations as an instrument of change. 

“This Oct. 24, join me in celebrating United Nations Day. To find out more about the UN, go to unausaeastbay.org or call 849-1752. “This Oct. 24, get involved. Get to know the UN and get to know the world.” 

Rita Maran is a lecturer in international human rights law at UC Berkeley. She is also president of the United Nations Association-USA East Bay Chapter and a boardmember of CJA.