Wilson School professor Michael Doyle, on public service leave as U.N. assistant secretary general, gave an update yesterday on the United Nation's goals for the new millennium.
Doyle, who focuses on U.N. relations with the United States and cooperation with business and civil groups, did not remark on Iraq.
The United States is pressuring the U.N. Security Council to adopt a second resolution to declare Iraq in "material breach" of a November 2002 resolution.
An overcapacity crowd attended the lecture, titled "New Model U.N.? The Millennium Goals and Partnership Strategy," held in Robertson Bowl 001 and sponsored by the Lichtenstein Institute for Self-Determination.
The U.N. millennium summit of September 2000, shifted the organization's focus, Doyle said, from states to people.
Setting goals such as reducing poverty and fighting AIDS, the summit resulted in a "global public commitment made by states on behalf of all of us," he said.
Doyle will retire from the United Nations in April and return to the University, where he said he may teach a course on imperialism.
Limited progress
The United Nations has made some progress in achieving the goals of the 2000 summit but still has much more work to do, Doyle said.
Since the summit, the 191 U.N. member states have agreed to "millennium development goals," with a target achievement year of 2015: cutting poverty and hunger in half; educating children through primary school; promoting gender equality; reducing child mortality; improving maternal health; fighting HIV, AIDS and other diseases; protecting the environment; and creating a global partnership for economic development.
Doyle said the "Global Compact," by coordinating the United Nations, businesses, labor groups and nongovernmental organizations, will help stimulate the economies of poor countries.
Seven hundred companies have signed up, he said.
"We know where the money is," he said.
Working with rich countries, the United Nations will try to offer "trade, aid and debt reduction" for poor countries demonstrating "good governance," he said.
Other questions
HIV and AIDS are the biggest impediments in many countries and education is the best way to fight those epidemics, he said.
President Bush has said the current debate over Iraq could determine the future of the United Nations.
"I believe when it's all said and done, free nations will not allow the United Nations to fade into history as an ineffective, irrelevant debating society," the president said last Thursday. "I'm optimistic that free nations will show backbone and courage in the face of true threats to peace and freedom."
But Doyle only noted that in the case of "Global Compact," the United Nations is monitoring the United States to ensure it fulfills its commitments.
Doyle, the author of an influential 1986 book on imperialism, "Empires," was asked whether the United States is an empire.
"I look forward," he said, "to answering those questions when I return to academia."
Read More
GSG approves audit, delays budget approval after ‘insufferable’ meeting
Nikki HanThe final Graduate Student Government (GSG) meeting for the semester lasted more than an hour and a half when discussions over the proposed budget for the next year and a proposed Student Life Fee of $100 turned controversial.
The final Graduate Student Government (GSG) meeting for the semester lasted more than an hour and a half when discussions over the proposed budget for the next year and a proposed Student Life Fee of $100 turned controversial.
Effort to restore chapel’s pews slowly progresses
Ben GoldstonHead carpenter Jim Sullivan has been restoring the Chapel pews over the last year. The dry atmosphere of the Chapel has warped the wooden pews over the years.
Head carpenter Jim Sullivan has been restoring the Chapel pews over the last year. The dry atmosphere of the Chapel has warped the wooden pews over the years.
Metals, molecules, and medicine: chemical biology’s influence on health and sustainability
Aanya KaseraChemistry professor Chris Chang’s lab studies the chemical biology of the elements, specifically examining the roles that copper, iron, and zinc play in biology across all kingdoms of life.
Chemistry professor Chris Chang’s lab studies the chemical biology of the elements, specifically examining the roles that copper, iron, and zinc play in biology across all kingdoms of life.