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Internal voices No 1/ August 2007

A peaceful roar for unity in Iraq “Be United Iraq” is not the name of some NGO, it was the message written on a banner during the AFC Asian Cup final in Jakarta. While the world of football was concentrated on big trans-fers in Europe and the Beckhams’ Los Angeles house-hunt, the Iraqi football team, known as the “Lions of Mesopotamia”, was realizing a real performance beating Saudi Arabia in the final and winning its first Asian Cup. The story of this team is one of the most extraordinary in the history of all football

This is the story of a team that, for several reasons, was not expected to win at all. First, Iraq has never had a great football team: in FIFA’s world ranking, Iraq is rated around the 90th in the world, far away from Asian teams such as Saudi Arabia, Iran, Japan or South Korea, the great favour-ites. All of these teams are used to participating in the World Cup, while Iraq qualified just one time in 1986 and has never passed the quarterfinals of the AFC Asian Cup.

None of the players are inter-nationally known, not even the team leader who scored the only goal during the final, Younis Mahmoud. And this is no surprise because they all play in minor leagues of Leba-non or Jordan for example, with only one player playing in Europe in the … Cypriot

stranger. When finally Vieira succeeded in putting together a real football team to train in Jordan or Syria (given the impossibility of playing in Iraq for security reasons and be-cause the national stadium became a parking lot for the U.S. Army’s tanks), another problem arose: the team, just like the country it represented, was totally divided without any unity. The coach commented: “I had problems with the group, there was no unity, the rela-tionship between players was bad”.

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league! The only “tour de force” the team made in its history was a semi-final during the Olympic football tourna-ment in Athens 2004. Moreover, what’s really sig-nificant in this story is that the Iraqi football team is the real representation of its country.

When the Brazilian coach Jorvan Vieira arrived, just six weeks before the beginning of the competition, the team was in shambles, and for the team’s first training in Amman, there were just six players because some Iraqi football clubs didn’t want their players participate in a national team coached by a

Disclaimer: This publication has been created by the interns of the United Nations Regional Information Centre in Brussels.

The views and opinions presented in this publication are those of the authors, and do not necessarily reflect those of the United Nations.

No 1 August 2007

Editorial 2

The world is my home 3

The fried mystery? 4

Questionable food 5

License to kill 6

The UN and me 7

Resource conflicts 8

Milk and politics 9

Tunes of peace 10

French diplomacy 11

The UN family 12

Test your UN knowledge

13

INSIDE THIS ISSUE


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Players were Sunnis, Shiites, and Kurds. The team was also exposed to the grim reality of life in Iraq and was tormented by death threats, kidnappings and the loss of loved ones to car bomb-ings and brutal murders. The team’s physiotherapist was killed by a car bomb while waiting to buy his airplane ticket to follow the team in Bangkok.

The Lions of Mesopotamia arrived in Thailand with nothing, not even new shirt kits. Their whole budget, 90,000 dollars, was spent on transportation and hotels. The team was training at night with the monsoon because of traffic jams, and some players had problems with the local food. But against all odds, the Iraqi team succeeded in getting into the semi-finals, beating Vietnam in the quarterfinals.

When they arrived in their hotel in Kuala Lumpur, where they were to play the semi-finals, there were just seven rooms for 25 people and they had to wait 24 hours in the hotel waiting for the Iranian team to leave their rooms. “Everything has gone wrong: hotel, food, equipment, players, training, logis-tics. You cannot imagine what we have been through”, commented their Brazil-ian coach. Even after winning the semi-finals against South Korea, one of the favourites, the problems were not over for the Iraqi team: during the celebra-tions in the streets of Baghdad, 50 per-sons were killed.

But just four days later, on July 29th, Iraq won the Asian Cup final. It was a historic triumph; the triumph of a team, representing a nation, that won against all odds thanks to its unity. And though the great ayatollah Al-Sistani recom-mended that people stayed at home after the game, the streets of Baghdad were nonetheless full, briefly regained from the gunmen, with Iraqis from all religious credos celebrating their win with patriotic songs and flags every-where.

The symbolism is really strong and represents much more than a sporting performance. The words of a Kurdish policeman, Hozam Mahmoud, sound like a national appeal: “It is the greatest

What will your verse be?

It is hard to be idealistic today. Every day we are showered with bad news in the media. If it is not an earthquake, it is a civil war. If it is not starvation, it is a terrorist bombing. There is an understandable temptation to turn the TV from CNN to Desperate Housewives and to read Donald Duck instead of the Economist. One of my favorite movies is Dead Poets’ Society. An inspirational teacher of English, Mr. Keating, is showing his young students how to think for themselves in order to make a difference in the world. Mr. Keating quotes the American poet Walt Whitman saying: “The powerful play goes on, and you may contribute a verse. What will your verse be?” In saying this, Mr. Keating is challenging his students to make a difference with their lives, to contribute something important to this world. That challenge is as valid for his students as it is for us. We all decide, every day, whether we will make a difference or not, whether we will watch Ricky Lake or watch BBC. We decide whether to stick our heads in the sand, or to stand up and face the challenges around us. The choice is one between action and complacency, between daring to dream and accepting the status quo. Let us remember what Robert F. Kennedy used to say during his presidential campaign in 1967: Some people see things as they are and ask why? I dream of things that never were and ask, why not?

Johan Eldebo, Sweden

gift since the fall of Saddam Hussein, and it shows how Iraqis from all walks of life can work together to achieve suc-cess… Football alone may not be able to heal the nation’s deep wounds, but for the moment it has induced a sense of cohesion, and we can all build on that if we try.” The Iraqi President, Jalal Tala-bani, said the team was “a true symbol of national unity”. This victory showed the world that sport can heal. In the words of FIFA’s President, Sepp Blatter, Iraq “deserved to win: it’s good for football and their country.”

It would be idealistic to think that sport could change everything in Iraq: gunmen have taken back the streets of Baghdad, most of the players will not return to Iraq because of security concerns, the Brazil-ian coach, as planned in the contract, left the team after the end of the competition and signed a new contract with South Korea. The situation has not changed completely, just as the unified Korean delegation that marched under one flag during the Olympic games of Sidney 2000 did not bring unity to Korea.

But what is true is that football can unite and bring together people of all colours, political views and religions. It is a very effective way to communicate messages of peace. Iraq’s victory brought this torn apart nation together, cheering in one voice for the team that represents them all, a pause from the daily turmoil and a temporary breath of peace and unity. When football seems to be a world made of money, violence and nationalism, it is good to keep this case in mind and encourage stories like this one.

Louis Biasin, France

EDITORIAL


migrate does not mean buying a one-way ticket: he left dreaming of his return to Pakistan. “Departing aliens”, as stat ist icians define ‘ re-migrants’, are the human face behind unimaginative figures and have their reasons: s u c c e s s f u l c a p i t a l accumulation and a will to r e i n v e s t a t h o m e , homesickness, pol i t ica l , rel ig ious or ideological opposition systems in the new country and negative economic c i r c u m s t a n c e s i n t h e destination country.

J E F F E R S O N A N D VERONICA. Jefferson and Veronica, a young couple from Ecuador, knew each other when they were children in their motherland. They met again in Italy some 20 years later, fell in love and had a baby.

Jefferson is a 26 year-old professional marathon runner and has a regular permit of stay; Veronica is a 24 year-old mother who entered Italy on a tourist visa several years ago and is employed in the black market without any kind of i n s u r a n c e o r w e l f a r e protection. Illegal migration accounts for 15-20% of world immigration, she is just a drop in an ocean of 30-40 million people. She is unable to find a way to get a regular permit of stay, even if she has an Italian-born child, and she is forced (yes, marathon runners do not make as much money as soccer players…) to work in the shadows to bring home a few euros. She is hoping for an amnesty, but amnesties have proved not to be an effective solution to illegal immigration.

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Someone, just a few minutes before I started writing, told me I am an emigrant. I never realized I actually am, but I have to admit that is a true statement. I am Italian and I am sitting in my office in Brussels.

My story, as well as those of Nadeem, Jefferson and Veronica will show you the human face of the complexity that is migration. 192 million people are classified as international migrants by the International Organization for Migration (IOM), whether they are moving for work reasons, family reunification or are forced to leave their country (refugees or asylum seekers). One person in 35, rather steadily over time, was or is a migrant. What has changed is mainly the poles of attraction for migratory flows. Jefferson, Veronica and Nadeem moved to Italy a few years ago. I came to Brussels a couple of months ago. If we were in the 1950s, Jefferson and Veronica would have remained in Ecuador or perhaps moved to the USA. Nadeem might have moved from Pakistan to England and I would have emigrated to Argentina. The new magnets are the developed countries and the quickly growing economies in East and South Asia.

British philosopher and political economist John Stuart Mill said that modernity would bring along wonderful opportunities, with all the benef i ts inher i ted from exchanges of knowledge, progress and social networks. Migration has a double dimension of opportunity and cost. As in the past, migration processes are still a natural and, simultaneously, two-edged phenomenon. They are the consequences of cultural,

e c o n o m i c a n d s o c i a l evolutions, but they also come along with difficulties, sacrifices and pain. Let me introduce you to four migrants.

NADEEM. The International Labour Organization says half of the migrant population worldwide is economically active. Nadeem is 24 years-old, he was born in Pakistan and was brought to Italy by his parents when he was child. He is a Muslim, he studied in a catholic school and is now working as a storekeeper in Milan. This would be a pretty

comprehensive description of how our “global village” is facing the challenge of peaceful existence and tolerance, but – obviously – it is not an exhaustive one. Every story of hate and discrimination represents the other side of the co in : Remember wha t happened two years ago during the riots in the poor banlieues (outskirts) of Paris. The integration issue is at stake. When emigrating you want to save your own culture and avoid assimilation and discrimination patterns in your new country. It has been said that the integration path is a difficult one because of (the

perception of) an immigration-criminality nexus, but there is no evidence supporting this idea. Rich countries cannot choose to say yes or no to immigration; they can only decide whether they prefer the temporary entrance of lonely individuals, who are vulnerable to job offers from criminal organizations, or to encourage stable flows of immigrants, based on family reunification, who are inclined to respect the law in order to be protected by the law themselves.

Going back to Nadeem’s story: His father was forced to leave Pakistan because of his political opposition to the government. He was pushed to emigrate. Other examples of the so called “push factors” are: wage di f ferences between the countries of o r ig in and those o f destination, risks of economic crisis or stagnation in the origin country, natural calamities, demographic overcrowding, uncertainty of private property rights on lands and housing and depleted natural resources. The case of Nadeem’s father implies that the decision to

The World is My Home - Migrations at a Glance

Copyright: Nordbild, www.norden.org


TITO. This is me. I am Italian, 26 years old, I have more than one degree: in other words I can be classified as a highly skilled worker. But am I a worker? I would rather (still) define myself as a student. Veronica is the least skilled labourer, Jefferson is a “talent” but he has no education, Nadeem is low-skilled. There are a lot of sub-categories included in the word “worker”:

highly-skilled and low-skilled; knowledge workers (students, researchers, professors); talents and artists… Each one of them – as a labourer – moves mainly led by economic stimuli. When highly skilled people move, a brain-drain (and, as well, a brain-gain, on the other side) phenomenon takes place. When there is an exchange of knowledge workers, brain circulation

positively affects the whole society. Maybe I am myself contributing a little to brain exchange.

I told you four stories, though they were tales of three men and only one woman, the gender balance in the migratory flows is fairly even (49.6% are women, according to IOM numbers).

This is an unfinished story; conclusions cannot be drawn as long as migration is a phenomenon far from being over. My story is about human beings: managing migration means dealing with real people, real needs and real feelings. Please, handle with care.

Tito Tiberti Italy

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States can impose barriers to the free movement of people, but they must remember that immigration policies are more a matter of managing the flows than a police task.

Both Jefferson and Veronica were pulled to migrate. Relevant “pull factors” are: the attraction of developed or growing labour markets, a strong presence of social networks based on family, c u l t u r a l o r h i s t o r i c a l connections in the recipient countries, the urbanization p r o c e s s ; e m p l o y m e n t opportunities in the black market, or relaxed immigration policies.

If Jefferson and Veronica had moved to the US instead of Italy, they would probably have acquired a hyphenated ethnic identity (like Italian-Americans, I r i sh-Amer icans , e tc…). Maybe a Latin-Italian group?

French fries are nothing special to us. You can find them almost anywhere. However, these delicious pieces of potato may come with more than just ketchup, they are also served with a mystery.

A recent adventure triggered a desire in me as to where they actually come from. Are French fries really French?

There are differing opinions on the origin of these yummy fries. A Dutch website writes that “the French claim they invented fries as they traditionally claim the creation of all good food.”

Wikipedia writes that French fries are actually Belgian. This claim dates back to 1680, when what is now Belgium was the Spanish Netherlands. The

Washington, DC then renamed French fries “freedom fries.” This was to protest French opposition to the invasion of Iraq. As a rather uncomplicated culinary treat, these savory crisps sure have ventured into unpredictable territory.

So many theories, yet no clear answer. In times like these, Europeans have a habit of turning to Brussels for guidance. The “capital of Europe” has a way of, multilingually and with impressive amounts of paperwork, handling many of the concerns facing Europe.

Given that the United Nations has announced that 2008 will be the International Year of the Potato, is it perhaps time for the European Parliament to announce the coming of the Eurofries?

IN MY VIEW

By Johan Eldebo The fried mystery

inhabitants of the area at the time used to fry fish, but would also fry potatoes when there was a shortage of fish.

One theory holds that French fries are actually Spanish. Spain was the first European country to enjoy potatoes, a result of its colonies in Latin America.

Another theory that French merchants exported Belgian fries to Americans, who then assumed that they were French.

Arguably the most well-known marketer of French fries today is McDonalds. Americans seem to be in agreement that French fries really do originate from France. This connection was vividly shown in 2003, during a diplomatic tense time between France and America. Certain restaurants in



When you go to the supermarket’s fruit section there is nothing to guide you as to what is transgenic, which means that its genes have been modified, and what is not. You can only see some signs saying “organic”. Does this mean that the other types of fruits are chemically treated?

Mums usually say that today’s tomatoes have no taste. Do they remember the tomatoes of their childhood and glorify them, or are they really worse now? It is hard to believe the second option, especially in today’s world with better computers, cars, clothes etc. Why would tomatoes then, be worse? And this is also strange since we now have four times as much money to spend on food than 40 years ago. Has food been neglected? Looking at today’s world, perhaps it has.

According to FAO, UN Food and Agricultural Organization, we have lost 75% of the planet’s local variety of agricultural plants in the last 15 years. This means that we are rapidly losing biodiversity that had been evolving for thousands of years on Earth. The qualities of biodiversity are obvious: they have an important genetic wealth qualities protect against plagues and diseases, they possess an unbeatable capacity to adapt to the environment they come from, and they provide perfect nutritional value.

The first transgenic seeds to appear in markets around 1987 were produced by multinational companies. One of the major companies in the market is Montsanto. The strategy of these companies was to find local varieties of plants, genetically modify them and

patent them. And through this p r o c e s s , i n v a d e a n d monopolize the world food market. The relationship between these companies and farmers works as follows: the company sells the patented transgenic seeds together with their own insecticide and herbicide to the farmer. The main reason farmers buy these products is that they think they will increase their production, but this has not proved to be true in the short term. In the long term, it has been proven that conventional farming is better than genetically modified farming in terms of increased production.

A farmer who is using conventionally cultivated corn in his field and who is less than 1000 meters from another corn field where transgenically cultivated corn is growing, is likely to have his plants infected and will lose the quality of his seeds. This way his corn will become transgenic too. This issue has been a problem since the introduction of transgenic agriculture because a lot of transgenic cultivation does not meet the m i n i m u m d i s t a n c e t o conventional cultivations.

According to Greenpeace, some of the dangerous things

for the environment and for ag r icu l tu re concern ing transgenic farming are the increase in the use of toxic products, genetic pollution, soil contamination, loss of biodiversity and development of resistance in insects and weeds or the undesirable effects on other organisms. The effects on the ecosystem a r e i r r e v e r s i b l e a n d unpredictable.

The effects are worse in the less developed countries, as usual. For instance, a noted environmental activist in India, Vandana Shiva, wrote an open letter to the Indian

Minister of Economics stating that a wave of farmers had committed suicide due to the e c o n o m i c c r i s i s t h a t transgenic farming involves. In 2003 in Argentina, a massive arrival of soy accelerated the crisis in the agricultural sector. As agriculture normally plays an important role in weak economies, companies try to make stricter policies for farmers in less developed countries. For example, certain seed, herbicide and insecticide companies make farmers sign longer contracts, w i t h t hem, rese rv i ng themselves the right to raise

their prices every year. According to some FAO surveys, countries that have massively adopted transgenic farming are clear examples of non-sustainable economies and it has been proven that transgenic farming does not help to reduce starvation.

To conclude, although we are far from losing biodiversity or even far from a crisis in the agricultural sector, it is clear that transgenic farming effects have not been correctly examined in the short and in the long term. New allergies and unexpected effects are the consequences. If one wants to legalize a transgenic seed in order to grow it, it has to pass a “sustainable equivalence” test. This means that the transgenic seed has to be compared with a conventional seed: if no important differences are detected, it is declared safe. The scientific community has criticized this procedure, as it is not a sufficiently thorough approach to the problem. We are in a dangerous situation where we are consuming a product whose effects have not been studied, because there are heavy economic interests behind it.

I would like to see responses from the authorities so that I will better know how I, as a consumer, can tell how transgenic products will affect me. If transgenic products are regularly sold in supermarkets I would like to believe that there are institutions, either national or regional, that will protect me from “questionable” food.

Pau Casas Spain

Questionable food – What are we really eating?



Can states do whatever they want within their borders? The concept of sovereignty, as formulated in the 17th century Treaty of Westphalia, states that what happens within state borders is a domestic matter.

It was later enshrined in Article 2(7) of the UN Charter: “Nothing should authorise intervention in matters essent ia l ly wi th in the domestic jurisdiction of any State”. Despite the fact that the Khmer Rouge rule murdered more than a million people, it was not perceived as the world’s concern. Moreover, Vietnam’s invasion to stop the Khmer Rouge was universally attacked, not applauded.

At the end of the Cold War, the prevailing assumption about non-intervention came under challenge. Intrastate wars replaced interstate wars. Moreover, Somalia in 1993, Rwanda in 1994, Srebrenica in 1995 and Kosovo in 1999 all underlined the need for a new humanitarian norm, so that the in ternat iona l community could respond to massacres and ethnic cleansing. In 2001, with the release of the International Commission on Intervention and State Sovereignty ( I C I S S ) r e p o r t , t h e Responsibility to Protect-standard was born.

“It has taken the world an insanely long time, centuries in fact, to come to terms conceptually with the idea that state sovereignty is not a license to kill – that there is something fundamentally and intolerably wrong about states murder ing or fo rc ib ly displacing large numbers of their own citizens, or standing by when others do so. With

Moving the licence to kill from Bond to a State-perspective the emergence of the Responsibility to Protect (R2P) concept and its endorsement by the World Summit of 2005, and subsequently by the Security Council, we seem to have at last passed that milestone.” according to Gareth Evans, co-chair of the ICISS.

There is a big difference between creating a standard and acting according to it. There are three stages in the Responsibility to Protect ‘life cycle’.

In the first stage, Kofi Annan , the Canadian government and others advocated for a new humani tar ian standard, saying that sovereignty should incorporate a state’s responsibility to protect its own citizens. To convince

opponents they used persuasion mechanisms and e s t a b l i s h e d n e w organizational platforms. Kofi Annan tried to launch a debate in the General Assembly while the Canadian government created a new commission, namely the ICISS with the specific task of

producing humanitarian guidelines. ICISS achieved a real breakthrough in the deadlocked discussions by changing the terminology from ‘the right to intervene’ to ‘the responsibility to protect’.

The second stage was identified by a transition. In particular, states contested alternative sources of authorization to the Security Council and the principles for military intervention. The High-level Panel i tself

rejected the authorization of military force outside the S e c u r i t y C o u n c i l . Nevertheless, the panel agreed globally with the ICISS on the principles for military intervention. So in the aftermath of the release of the report The Responsibility to Protect, different versions of the standard circulated.

In the last phase of the ‘life cycle’ of the Responsibility to Protect-standard, the norm must be implemented and inst i tut ional ized. The endorsement of the norm by world leaders at the September Summit in 2005 and the adopt ion of Resolution 1674 by the Security Council and applying it specifically to Darfur in August last year produced this effect. The World Summit did not mention alternative sources of authority and the precautionary principles about the use of force were not incorporated in the Outcome document. It was perhaps too weak as the late and insufficient answer of the international community to D a r f u r ’ s s l o w - m o t i o n genocide shows. If the Responsibility to Protect norm had been fully implemented, the international community would have come up with another and earlier response.

G a r e t h E v a n s a n d Mohamed Sahnoun, co-chairs of ICISS, wrote already in 2001: It is only a matter of time before reports emerge again from somewhere of massacres, mass starvation, rape, and ethnic cleansing. And then the question will arise again in the Security Council, in political capitals, and in the media: What do we do?

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Copyright: UN Photo library


Perhaps you think the UN is a huge bureaucratic machine made up of people who spend their time discussing instead of taking real action where and when it is needed. Maybe you consider the UN to be the only world organization with global membership, seeking to build a better and more equal world using all possible means. Between these two options I would choose the second. Why? Let me give three reasons. First, no organization can escape the tentacles of bureaucracy. If even NGOs need bureaucracy to act, how can we blame an organization that is formed by 192 member states, has six main organs, 15 agencies and several programmes and bodies and continues to expand itself in response to new challenges that arise everyday in international life? Second, it has created some of the most important legal documents that rule the relations between states today, sanctioning them for the threat or use of force, which helps to order our world, making it safer and more peaceful. Even though it has not avoided the advent of war, it surely refrains some leader’s war aspirations. It has also

c r e a t e d r e f e r e n c e p a p e r s concerning our daily lives, ranging f r o m a i r t r a f f i c t o i n t e r -communicat ions and to the fundamental Universal Declaration of Human Rights. Although some may argue that these instruments are not sufficiently effective, I believe that their existence is already a great accomplishment. Third, the United Nations has managed to unite states in a common platform to act together in some of the most important issues for humanity. The United Nations makes possible achievements like the Millennium Development Goals, which were agreed upon by 147 Heads of State and then approved by the General Assembly in order to set measurable objectives for the sustainable development of the world. Besides all that, the United Nations has proven able to adjust to the change of time, by reshaping and remodelling the range of instruments at its command, namely t h o s e c o n ce r n i n g t h e n e w challenges posed to international peace and security. Even if some of it does not work at its greatest potential, the United Nations has proven to have a central role in today’s world, since most of the

What do YOU think about the UN? IN MY VIEW

By: Daniela Costa

instruments that rule us and the states nowadays are the creation of the UN. The proposed reform of the United Nations, started by Kofi Annan, is nevertheless welcome in order to overcome some issues that remain from its creation in a post-world war context. Still, the United Nations is a living proof that, besides an international society, where the main goal of the state is to protect and project its national power, there is also a place for an international community, in which states actually cooperate with each other. Examples range from preserving historical sites and p r o m o t i n g a w a r e n e s s o f international issues, to human rights protection and peace and security maintenance. I think the United Nations works to make our world a better place. What do you think?

Daniela Costa, Portugal

Sudan, and to the cause of peace, and expressing its determination to work with the Government of Sudan, in full respect of its sovereignty, to assist in tackling the various problems in Darfur, Sudan.

This sentence guarantees the sovereignty of Sudan and thus convinced it to accept the 2006 Resolution.

It is worrying that the Resolution concerning Sudan, a state known to have misused its sovereignty several times before, incorporates the notion of

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This time around the international community must have the answers. In 2007, years after the start of the Sudanese atrocities, the Security Council finally authorized the deployment of a hybrid AU-UN force.

Despite the fact that the military can use force to protect civilians, the ‘sovereignty’ of Sudan takes precedence in the resolution: Reaffirming its strong commitment to the sovereignty, unity, independence and territorial integrity of

sovereignty without further clarification. Is it clear to Sudan that its sovereignty implies responsibility?

The international community has to pay careful attention that Sudan doesn’t again abuse the norm of sovereignty. Sovereignty implies responsibility and is not a license to kill.

Eva Haeverans Belgium


National resources – a burden or a blessing? Natural resources have always been linked to conflicts, both directly and indirectly. In both ways natural resources motivate and sustain violent conflicts.

In a direct way, control over valuable natural resources has generated several acute conflicts and the exploitation of primary products with high economic value provides means to finance violent activities. In an indirect way, we notice that poor countries, which depend largely on recourses, often tend to have a pattern of bad rule and weak economy.

The role of natural resources in maintaining and motivating conflicts is being increasingly recognized in strategies for the prevention of confl ic ts, resolving ongoing conflicts and peace building following settlements. The United Nations has been dealing with this issue since the outbreak of violent civil wars in different African countries like Angola, Sierra Leone and Liberia since the early nineties, leading to different groups of experts investigating the particularities and problems in the different countries.

Despite good intentions, this situation led to a set of decisions and expert-groups without any clear direction. In order to unify the different efforts that were being made with respect to conflict prevention and peace building, the UN Peace-Bui ld ing Commission was created in 2005. This Commission aims to fill the need for ‘an inter-governmental advisory body that would help countries in post-conflict peace building, recovery, reconstruction and development by bringing together the UN’s broad

Commission in assisting governments with ensuring that natural resources become an engine for susta inable development instead of a the cause of violent conflicts. Moreover, the Peace Building-Commission could start playing a role, together with institutions such as the World Bank, in reinforcing the capacity of governments in order to control the trade in their natural resources.

Despite the fact that natural resources are no longer considered pr imar i ly a sovereignty matter at the Security Council, there is still a legal debate on the topic. Qatar, while receiving some support from China, stated at the Security Council: ‘We do not agree with the fact that the Security Council enlarges its power by connecting natural resources with peace and security in order to execute its power over a country’s natural resources. The foundation of the political and economical independence of every state is based on the very fact that every state has the full and

capacities and experience in conflict prevention, mediation, peacekeeping and long-term development’. The creation of t h e P e a c e - B u i l d i n g Commission was a step in the right direction, but as long as the Commission remains an advisory body, no concrete and legally binding measures can be taken. According to the General Assembly resolution 1803 of December 1962, natural resources are ‘a matter of national sovereignity and no other country has the legal right to intervene in this respect’

The role of natural resources as a source of conflicts has been placed high on the international agenda since the Belgian Presidency of the UN Security Council in June 2007. By unanimously accepting the statement of the Security Council’s President, the in ternat ional communi ty regards natural resources in the first place as a security matter and no longer primarily a sovereignty matter. Since the Security Council has the legal ob l igat ion to ‘main ta in international peace and security’ it must, from now on, intervene when security problems are caused by the battle over natural resources.

The statement stresses the importance of ‘strengthening the effectiveness of the Security Council’s role in conflict prevention, particularly in Africa, and it reaffirmed its determination to take action against illegal exploitation and trafficking of natural resources and high-value commodities in areas where it contributes to the outbreak, escalation or continuation of armed conflicts’

The statement calls for an enlarged role for UN-experts and the UN Peace-Building

uncontestable right of self-determination and sovereignty over its own natural resources.’ It is clear that this is an ongoing debate.

No matter what way the debate may go, it is important to remember this remark by Samuel Outlule, the UN-ambassador of Botswana: ‘It is not the natural resources itself that are causing problems. Issues like the illegal trade of weapons, corruption and human greed are insuring that natural wealth causes harm in an indirect way to the population. The seeds of conflict will continue to spread when the majority of the population keeps on being excluded from the wealth that is being generated by the country’s own nat ional richness.’

Tupac Calfat, Belgium



I am a big fan of milk. I have milk with my cereal in the morning, in my coffee and in my tea. Rarely does a day pass in my life without milk.

The Guardian assured me last week that I am not alone with my fondness of milk. Indeed, the Guardian told me that Wen Jiabao, the Chinese premier “[has] a dream - a dream to be able to p r o v i de a l l C h i n e s e , especially our children, with half a litre of milk a day.” To reach this dream of his, China seeks to import a great deal of it from Europe, and Germany particularly.

As a European, this sounds great. Selling weapons to China has been a sensitive issue in the past, but there is nothing more harmless than milk, is there? Ever since I was a child I have been told it is good for you. As trade is widely hailed as being one of the main drivers of the world economy, selling milk sounds like a double-bonus. The Chinese get milk, we get money. In fact, the situation appears to be even better. Europe is more coordinated than it has ever been, thanks to the development of the European Union. Thus, when it comes to international trade, Europe is now able to act swiftly and efficiently to the ever-changing aspects of the global world economy. Right? Well, almost.

While the potential for the above outline to be true is certainly there, this is not the case. Wen Jiabao’s dream is making European consumers unhappy, European farmers frustrated and European commissioners busier. The reason is that milk prices are estimated to increase by 30-

Thus, our subsidies do not only monetarily cost us 1 billion dollars every day, but they also carry enormous humanitarian costs.

This makes you wonder, are w e W e s t e r n e r s r e a l l y interested in helping the third world develop? We tell them to liberalize their economies and adapt Western business practices, but then we effectively close the door on them. The same UN report I mentioned earlier tells us that we spend 1 billion dollars a year on aid for agriculture in poor countries. Do we have our aid projects to make us look and feel good, or are we sincerely interested in helping other people develop?

Whether or not we as Europeans are sincerely interested in helping other parts of the world develop, we need to stop and ask what our bureaucracy is accomplishing.

Continues on page 10

the European markets, CAP ensures that this access cannot be used to mount serious competit ion to European farmers.

The Un i ted Nat ions estimated in the 2005 Human Development Report that the Western world spends just under 1 billion US dollars to subsidize agriculture every day. The Guardian tells us that the American President Franklin Roosevelt introduced the “farm bill” in 1933 to help the small family-owned farms survive in the wake of the depression following the stock-market crash. In 2007, the purpose of these subsidies has changed dramatically. Instead of protecting the lives of small-sca le fa rmers , t hese subsidies are today protecting large-scale farms and severely impeding the development of small-scale farmers in the third world.

50 % across Europe as a result of China’s increased interest. To find the reason for this, we must enter the complex realm of Brussels bureaucracy.

The European Union has developed an intricate system known as the Common Agricultural Policy (CAP). It aims to administer the agriculture of Europe. At its disposal is almost half of the EU’s annual budget. The EU webs i te descr ibes the allocation of these funds as an “investment in competi- tiveness” to “reform Europe’s agriculture and ensure high quality.” The idea is that CAP will ensure good living standards for European farmers, maintain stable and low prices of food, while protecting and preserving European culture and way of life. That sounds great, but there are a few concerns.

One way this is done is by imposing strict quotas on the production of milk. This ensures that prices are kept stable, and that “unfair” competition does not occur. The perhaps most striking feature of this idea is that the quotas have not been revised for 23 years. The CAP administrators in Brussels still think it is 1984. As I am born in 1985, it means that my consumption of milk is not accounted for. While my own personal contribution to situation may be negligible, the one from 1.3 billion Chinese, and everyone born after 1984, may be worth considering.

The second problem is that by keeping consumer prices artificially low, it makes it very difficult for foreign producers to export products to Europe. While it is true that the EU does allow certain developing countries preferential access to

The untold story of a caffe latte



Continued from page 9

Can it be that the reason milk prices are increasing in Europe and China and that one of the reasons it is so hard for poor countries to develop has its origins in offices in Brussels and Washington, DC?

The stalled efforts of global negotiations show us that this is not just a European problem. It is a global issue. For economic purposes as well as humanitarian ones, agricultural subsidies and connected bureaucratic inefficiencies ought to be addressed.

The counter-argument at this point is usually that without subsidies many farmers would be unemployed. While few economists support this notion from a societal perspective, reducing subsidies would have some, at least initially, adverse

effects on rural areas. While I do not claim to be an expert on rural economics, I do wonder what kind of transitional projects could be created with 1 billion dollars. I am sure we would find a way to care for our farmers during the transition,

w h i l e s i m u l t a n e o u s l y removing a major barrier to our markets for third world countries.

There is a tendency to see CAP as a recognized problem, but one without a

solution. I think that is wrong. If we really want to allow the rest of the world to develop through trade like the Western world did, we surely have the power to do so. If we accept that CAP, quotas and similar arrangements are problems, then it necessarily follows that we the wealthy Westerners are, in fact, the problem. This is good news. If we are the problem, we are also the solution. Thus what we need is not more bureaucrats, but bold leaders who dare make a change. I am sure that the destitute farmers across the world, and perhaps even our own taxpayers, will appreciate the effort.

Johan Eldebo Sweden

IN MY VIEW

By: Sahar Arfazadeh Roudsari

People around the globe have always composed and listened to music. For them, and for me, music is a kind of therapy which gives pleasure and affects the soul in a deep way. Whether you listen to traditional, rock, rap, classic and contemporary music, the mental and s p i r i t u a l e f f e c t c a n n o t b e underestimated. Yet music has another, deeper and more powerful impact in the hands (and voices) of people.

Beats, lyrics and instruments have often been used as tools to spread important messages in order to make people act. The first time I heard the song “Changes” by American rap artist Tupac I was struck by the profound message contained in the lyrics: “Give the crack to the kids who the hell cares, one less hungry mouth on the welfare. First ship 'em dope & let 'em deal the brothers, give 'em guns step back watch 'em kill each other.” These words not only made me angry but inspired me to

do something. Tupac did not write these words for me. I was a high school girl in a small town outside Stockholm, not a kid from the poorer part of Los Angeles. However, the lyrics still had a deep impact and reminded me of the unfairness that exists in this world. He inspired me to try to make a difference.

Other musicians compose music with a specific purpose. Many young French people went to vote for the first time last year and gave Sarkozy a real fight on his way to the presidency. I personally believe that rap artists such as Da´ones, having written the song “Vôte ou crève" (Vote or die), made many disillusioned French citizens participate in the political process by using their most important right – namely their vote.

A couple of weeks ago, I was again reminded of the importance of music in mobilizing people. This time it was in Sierra Leone, where about fifteen well-

known local musicians were touring the countryside with peace-promoting concerts. In a country preparing for its second free elections since 2002, these musicians were promoting political tolerance and non-violence. At the same time, they were encouraging people to use their vote and become part of the democratic process. A large number of citizens did vote in these important elections and I believe that at least some of them were inspired by the music spread through these concerts.

For me, all these examples underpin the important argument that music is a strong force and that musicians have a very important tool in their hands. I am delighted to know that they are aware of this powerful way of spreading their message and are using it to promote democratic values and instill hope in millions of people. Sometimes all that is needed to make a change is a few lines of rap.

(W)rapping a country together


In the 1950s General Charles De Gaulle of France contemptibly referred to the United Nations as this “thing”. A lot of ground has been covered since then as shown by President Chirac’s affection for the United Nations in 2003.

French diplomacy is often criticized but follows its own logic. The country has always wanted to play a key role on the international stage. French diplomacy has been linked to the United Nations ever since its creation. Following the Second World War, the UN became the first international organization with a worldwide scope and mission of maintaining international peace and security.

The Franco-UN relations are special: peculiarity and ambivalence have charac-terized relations , according to author Thierry Tardy. France is one of the few middle-power states to be a permanent member of the Security Council. The country uses this privileged position to shine on the international stage. It is the only place where the country can still feel the “politique de grandeur” (worldwide policy) as recommended by De Gaulle. The relationship can also be seen as ambivalent due to the fact that from the French perspective, the UN serves as a place of expression, but is not considered a place of action in the way the European Union is.

There are three dimensions of French diplomacy at the UN. First, France likes to be seen as a counter-balance to the United States. The former French Prime Minister and UN ambassador, De Villepin, noted that France had to be the al ternat ive to the

France and the UN: from De Gaulle to Sarkozy

relations are not as tense as they were, even though France still seeks to be a counter-power to the US. The idea of the “French cockerel” pitted against “Uncle Sam” is an illusion. The new President Sarkozy is intent on trying to reconcile the two countries.

The appointment of Bernard Kouchner as Minister of Foreign Affairs is also significant for the UN and the international community. Kouchner served as UN Special Representative to Kosovo from 1999-2001. He was one of the very few French politicians to come out in favour of the US-led military intervention in Iraq, saying that he was against war but also against Saddam Hussein’s regime. Therefore the US offensive had the merit of over-throwing an “evil dictator”.

The visit of Kouchner to Iraq on June 20th is a step forward in Franco-UN-US relations. It is also an outstretched hand to the US at a time when its relations with the UK are tense concerning Iraq. France is therefore determined to follow this new direction with the US as well as the UN. The next months will surely be a turning point for French diplomacy. Kouchner recently stated: “One part of the fight against violence and for the restoration of peace and democracy in Iraq lies with the UN”. “France approves this path and we will assist in this direction.”

Claire Meyer France

especially for the African ones. This relationship can be understood in the light of history. It takes shape in the regular organization of Franco-African summits, bilateral agreements and French support for peace and democracy.

Recently, the Darfur crisis demonstrated the key role France played together with UK and the US in speeding up negotiations. Security Council Resolution 1769 allows 26,000 UN soldiers to enter the S u d a n e s e r e g i o n i n

cooperation with the African U n i o n . T h i s w a s a n unprecedented accomplish-ment.

The Middle East is also a preferred area for French diplomacy where the UN has continuously been active. France has, amongst other initiatives, participated in the development of the “Road map” adopted in Resolution 1515 on 19 November 2003. The strategic relationship with the Arab countries makes France a key partner for negotiations in this unstable region.

Finally, Franco-American

Manichean vision represented by the United States. In fact, the United Nations is the only organization where France and the US are on the same level. The UN plays a central role in legitimization, where its “world vocation” – another ambition of De Gaulle - can be expressed.

One of the most striking examples was the test of strength before the Iraq war. After UN Security Council resolution 1441, the US and the UK pushed for second resolution authorizing the

invasion of the country. France, Germany and Russia took the position that the UN inspection process should be allowed to be completed, and opposed a military intervention. This resulted in a diplomatic crisis, which led to the well known “freedom fries”. Apart from the renaming of the fries and the Roquefort embargo, tense international relations had a huge impact on the UN. It also affected transatlantic relations as demonstrated by the American rhetoric of “old Europe” and “new Europe.”

Second, France wants to be considered a voice for the d e v e l o p i n g c o u n t r i e s ,


Imagine a bunch of young people sitting in a big room filled with computers, reading newspapers, translating texts and discussing the latest comments made by the United Nations´ Secretary General Ban Ki-moon.

It is a Wednesday afternoon in August, the office is in Brussels and you can hear Spanish, Italian, Dutch, French, Swedish, Norwegian, Finnish, English, Flemish, and other languages being spoken. You might ask yourself why they are sitting there, working and discussing the UN during the month of vacation in Brussels? The first and most obvious answer is the horrible Belgium summer weather this year, having the rain ruining not only the whole of July but also August. With this weather no one minds being inside and working! The second and maybe more natural explanation is that this group of young people has applied and succeeded in becoming interns at the Untied Nations Regional Information Centre in Brussels. I am one of them.

The first day I walked into UNRIC I was both nervous and excited. I had applied to do an internship with the director who was an impressive woman from what I had learnt by reading and talking to others. Yet, upon arriving at UNRIC I realized she was not the only one to impress me. Coming from a multicultural background I had an everlasting dream to change the world and to use the United Nations as the tool for achieving this dream. I felt more like arriving to a family than to a work place. While the staff is impressive, the interns are really something special. The number of things I have learnt from other young, ambitious and clever people is impressive. I have debated a variety of different subjects on a daily basis. Many of these debates and discussions start with an article or editorial someone read during the day and end with a number of people giving their opinions and ideas, based on academic as well as personal experience.

In this multicultural environment, that truthfully reflects the way UN is constructed on a European level, we (the people of UNRIC…) have one thing in common: an interest for the UN. Occasionally you find a clash of culture

since our origins and the way “things are done” differ a lot. But in true UN-spirit we use peaceful means to bridge any gap arising from miscommunication or misunderstanding. Most of the time we enjoy the richness of our different backgrounds, and our common interest gives us a great base to build work relations and friendship on. All UNRIC interns are here to learn more about the UN system as well as better understand the challenges of working in an international environment. Some of us share my vision to change the world through the UN; others just want to change the world in any way possible.

There are many reasons why we came to Brussels. One of the main ones is that we want to be part of the UN while at the same time experience the capital of Europe. Being located next to EU institutions gives us a fantastic opportunity to learn from another important actor on the international stage. Attending conferences and debates arranged by NGO´s, the EU and opinion makers is strongly recommended by our supervisors and allows us to expand our views and understand the dynamic process and challenge of building a consensus on sensitive issues. In Brussels, the European way

merges well with that of the UN. Besides, the chocolate, the waffles and the beer in Brussels are better than in most places in the world.

In many places around the globe young people are sitting in offices, working and living the UN experience as interns. I am sure that they are learning a lot, discussing, taking advantage of being part of something bigger and are happy to belong to this family for a while. This experience is the beginning of something bigger for all of us and we are all aware of it. But for me the experience represents something much more useful than work experience and new friendships; it gives me hope. All the potential that I see in my colleagues and friends, all the ways they impress and motivate me, give me faith that the world can and is becoming a better place. So maybe, in the end, it does not matter if it rains in Brussels. I would probably be working just as much even if it was a sunny August day!

Sahar Arfazadeh Roudsari Sweden/Iran

The United Nations – my new family

These are some of our interns at the UNRIC in Brussels, July 2007. Back row from the left: Oscar, Anna, Pau, Louis, Tupac, Johan, Olivia. Front row from the left: Nicolas, Linda, Eva, Karin, Claire, Daniela, Tito.


Editors: Johan Eldebo and Sahar Arfazadeh Layout and design: Åsa Dahlvik Graphic illustrations: Olivia Jung

Writers: Louis Biasin, Pau Casas, Tupac Calfat, Daniela Costa, Eva Haeverans, Claire Meyer, Tito Tiberti.

1. How many members does the General Assembly have? 1. 192 2. 165 3. 202 2. Which resolutions passed at the UN are legally binding? 1. General Assembly and Security Council resolutions 2. SC only 3. GA only 4. None 3. What important matter does the GA have final authority over at the UN? 1. Peacekeeping operations 2. The budget 3. Judicial matters 4. In addition to the plenary, how many committees does the General Assembly have? 1. Three 2. Eight 3. Six 5. How many members does the Security Council have? 1. 20 2. 10 3. 15 6. Who has final authority over UN peacekeeping missions? 1. The Secretary-General 2. The General Assembly 3. The Security Council 7. Approximately how many employ-ees does the Secretariat have in New York? 1. 5000 2. 20,000 3. 70,000

8. Which court is one of the main organs of the United Nations? 1. The international Criminal Court 2. The International Court of Justice 3. Neither 9. What is the size of the Secre-tariat’s annual budget? 1. 50 billion dollars 2. 2 billion dollars 3. 200 billion dollars 10. Under Chapter VI of the Charter a UN military force is allowed to use force to: 1. Enforce peace in the area 2. Enforce peace and protect civilians 3. Protect themselves if attacked 11. How big is the UN’s standing army? 1. 1,000,000 soldiers 2. 50, 000 soldiers 3. There is none 12. How many times bigger is the Pentagon’s budget compared to the one of the UN Department of Peace-keeping Operations? 1. 12 times 2. 53 times 3. 84 times 13. How many official languages are used in the General Assembly? 1. Five 2. Two 3. Six 14. Salaries earned by UN staff members are: 1. Tax-free. 2. Higher than comparable positions at the EU, NATO and OECD. 3. Equal to those of US federal civil servants in comparable positions.

Twenty things your should know about the uN

Correct answers to the UN quiz: 1:1, 2:2, 3:2, 4:3, 5:3, 6:3, 7:1, 8:2, 9:2, 10:3, 11:3, 12:3, 13:3, 14:3, 15:3, 16:2, 17:3, 18:3, 19:1, 20:2

15. When and where was the Charter of the United Nations signed? 1. London, 1944 2. Yalta, 1946 3. San Francisco, 1945 16. The Security Council is designed by its Charter to handle matters con-cerning: 1. Intra-state issues only 2. International issues only 3. Both 17. How many times has the UN Charter been significantly changed since its adoption? 1. 3 times 2. 8 times 3. Once 18. How many refugees (international) are there in the world (Dec 2006)? 1. 3 million 2. 7 million 3. 10 million 19. How many UN peacekeeping missions are active as of June 2007? 1. 15 2. 50 3. 5 20. Who was the second Secretary-General of the United Nations? 1. Trygve Lie 2. Dag Hammarskjöld 3. Javier Pérez de Cuéllar For the correct answers: Please see below.

Thank you for reading Internal Voices. For more information about us, please visit us

online at our intern website accessible at www.unric.org

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