Thursday, August 21, 2003
Madeleine Albright on the U.N.
There was a time in the not-so-distant past when a certain U.S. administration did give a damn about the United Nations. Madeleine Albright, who served in that administration both as ambassador to the U.N. and as secretary of state, writes in Foreign Policy about both the relevance of the U.N. and the misconceptions surrounding it in the U.S.
The annual budget for core U.N. functions—based in New York City, Geneva, Nairobi, Vienna, and five regional commissions—is about $1.25 billion, or roughly what the Pentagon spends every 32 hours. The U.N. Secretariat has reduced its staff by just under 25 percent over the last 20 years and has had a zero-growth budget since 1996. The entire U.N. system, composed of the secretariat and 29 other organizations, employs a little more than 50,000 people, or just 2,000 more than work for the city of Stockholm. Total annual expenditures by all U.N. funds, programs, and specialized agencies equal about one fourth the municipal budget of New York City.
The annual budget for core U.N. functions—based in New York City, Geneva, Nairobi, Vienna, and five regional commissions—is about $1.25 billion, or roughly what the Pentagon spends every 32 hours. The U.N. Secretariat has reduced its staff by just under 25 percent over the last 20 years and has had a zero-growth budget since 1996. The entire U.N. system, composed of the secretariat and 29 other organizations, employs a little more than 50,000 people, or just 2,000 more than work for the city of Stockholm. Total annual expenditures by all U.N. funds, programs, and specialized agencies equal about one fourth the municipal budget of New York City.
