Mr Ban Ki-moon, Show Your Strong Leadership

UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon outlined a series of actions he believes the global community must take over the next five years to build “the future we want”.

Mr Ban presented five imperatives and they are sustainable development, preventing and mitigating conflicts, human rights abuses and the impacts of natural disasters, building a safer and more secure world, supporting countries in transition and working to engage the talents of women and young people.

Opinion is divided. Some praise those imperatives while others express concern. People from Asia in particular, including the Middle East, Southeast Asia and East Asia point out that so far, Western powers have influenced the status or direction of United Nations.

Refugees should be a top priority

It is emphasized that the United Nations should take overall responsibility for heavy casualties in disputed territories or battlefields and also the member countries should make it mandatory to provide legal protection for refugees.

 Ashraf Dali, President of the Asia Journalist Association Middle East Chapter and Editor of Al Arabi Magazine said, “Looking closely to those children who left school and whose parents may not be still alive, who could guarantee the future for them?”  

Nasir Aijaz, Editor of Pakistan Press International said, “People of Pakistan are facing terrorism by the Taliban (so-called Muslim militants) as they target civilian population by bomb blasts on one side and the Mafia on the other. UN has to look into such issues.”

The whole world is still unfair 

There are also claims that Ban Ki-moon’s initiatives cannot be successful without efforts from member countries. Ashraf Dali gives an example of Cameroon. He said, “A European family annually wastes almost 100kg of edible food. While families in Cameroon, as an example, are not able to but the expensive fruits they grow. The food policies must be controlled and the UN members should take steps forward to guarantee a just distribution of food.”

Nasir Aijaz said, “Polio and other killer diseases prevail everywhere in Pakistan… A vast portion of funds is eaten away by the NGOs and corrupt officials… The vaccination staff is not paid salaries for many months and they are staging demonstrations and sit-in.”

The hoped-for strong leadership

Yang Xingming, a university student from Suzhou, China said, “Many diplomats complain that Ban Ki-moon takes care of big country’s mood too much. He should appoint strong-minded person to important positions and then, show strong UN leadership.

Zheng Xinyu, another university student from Beijing, China said, “In his second term, Ban pledged to continue leading the UN ‘as a harmonizer and as a bridge-builder’. But he needs to go beyond his role as a global bridge-builder.”  

 Lee Sang-hyun EnjoyMiracle@theasian.asia