“Through our multilateral diplomacy in general, and our engagement with the United Nations in particular, New Zealand seeks security, prosperity and the preservation of freedom, for itself and others.”
-NZ Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade
The United Nations is an international organisation that preceded the League of Nations (1920-1939). The UN was first established in October 1945 and had 51 founding members, including that of NZ. The member figure today is that of 192 and includes many of the world powers. It is comprised of the Security Council, General Assembly, Economic and Social Council, International Court of Justice, Secretariat and Trusteeship Council. The UN headquarters are in New York, with permanent missions in Geneva, Vienna. The International Court of Justice is located at the Hague. The UN’s charter illustrates the purposes for which it operates. These include the maintenance of international peace and security, as the UN Security Council has the ability to apply legally binding decisions and sanctions etc.
Although, NZ disagrees with the UNSC ability to veto, NZ has to date, supported the decisions of the UNSC. The UN also strives to achieve the co-operation and development of friendly relations between nations. Co-operation is the key factor that emerges with regards to the UN, and it uses this tool assist in solving international problems and the promotion of International Human Rights. It can be considered the centre for harmonizing the actions of nations. The UN Secretary General is currently Ban Li-Moon from the Republic of Korea. He was elected in 2006 following Kofi Annan (1997-2006).
“New Zealand remains unwavering in its support for the UN”
- Winston Peters
New Zealand has always been very committed to multilateralism, as a small state this has proved a necessity. Under the Clark government, Winston Peters the Minister of Foreign Affairs and Trade was recorded saying “NZ is committed to multilateralism - not some act of faith, but to multilateralism that really delivers. NZ’s goals with regards to the UN are based around the establishment of institutions. An example emerged under the Fraser Labour government, where Prime Minister Fraser chaired the committee which wrote the Trusteeship chapter of the UN Charter. NZ has always been very proactive with its role in the UN, and from the outset NZ has strived to protect and illuminate the interests of small states. Also, NZ brought the stage such issues as: ensuring strong security and peacekeeping provisions, the support of decolonisation and indigenous issues, as well as raising awareness of humanitarian and development. According to Patman, since 1945 NZ has agreed with all the major UN treaties as well as ratifying almost every UN Convention
“All NZ governments have been supporters of the United Nations”
-McCraw
Another role NZ has had in the UN in past years has been that of serving on The Security Council three times, in 1954-55, 1966 and 1993-94. The Security Council is responsible for international peace and security and also recognises the great powers status in world affairs, as the US, Russia, France, UK and China (P5) all hold permanent seats. They also have an ability, as previously mentioned, that NZ does not agree with. This is the power to veto, in other words, only one super power is needed to terminate a resolution, if they do not agree with it. This often leads to many significant conflicts not even seeing the Security Council as it is certain it wil be vetoed.
NZ belongs to the section of the UN entitled “Western Europe and others.” NZ lobbies as apart of CANZ (an informal grouping of Canada, Australia and NZ). This group promotes joint positions and shares work.
The UN proves to be that of a central feature of NZ foreign policy, which also illustrates many points about NZ, including its strong liberal internationalist approach. The UN and NZ work effectively together as the promotion of human rights and moral foreign policy fall highly on both lists.
New Zealand and the United Nations