Over the years, not only has the United Nations solved conflicts but has also catered to humanitarian crises, a number of which have been successful. The Polio Eradication Initiative led by WHO in India has been one of the most effective health campaigns carried out by WHO. In 2009, India had the highest number of polio cases in the world. This public health emergency was especially challenging to tackle due to India’s population density, poverty rate and poor sanitation. Given the rising cases of polio and the challenges the Indian government was faced with, the WHO’s intervention in 2010 made a lasting impact. 

 In the procedure of eliminating Polio, the WHO introduced bivalent oral polio vaccines, the implementation of which was excellently supported by the Indian government. The prompt response to this led to a nationwide inoculation drive and polio vaccines became a must and were being heavily implemented in every state through micro-planning. Despite the complexities of reaching out to every section of the society in a diverse country like India and refusal of getting vaccinated the UN subsidiary in amalgamation with the Indian government led to a sharp fall in the numbers of reported polio cases. 

Although the UN has made crucial contributions towards the betterment of certain aspects, it has, however, failed to prevent war in some instances and has had counterproductive peacekeeping missions. The Democratic Republic of Congo has been victim to the UN’s inefficiency and sub-par performance during the peacekeeping mission set out by the UN for the DRC. 

In 1999 the UN started operation MONUC and sent peacekeeping forces to Congo due to its civil war and the rising threat to human rights it posed. The Congolese Civil War gained traction from its neighbouring states, but the most vital role was played by the Rwandan Army. to counter the same Congo and the UN pledged to remove insurgents in return for the withdrawal of Rwandan troops. In spite of this Rwanda did not comply since they felt the pledge was not upheld and went on to order the UN to withdraw its peacekeeping forces. 

Shockingly, the UN complied and withdrew its forces from the region. Resultantly, the Rwandan Army’s militaristic involvement in Congo increased and caches of weapons in the DRC were found in the following year. Rooting from the UN’s very explicit inaction and resistance towards changing the status quo, this mission by the United Nations is considered one of the most consequential and colossal failures of the organisation. 

Regardless of its performance, the UN has undoubtedly played a key role in shaping world order and contributing to changing the balance of power. Over the years IGO’s have become a platform for states to posture themselves in the international arena and flex their muscles. While the realist beliefs refute the importance of non-state actors and any means of power that is not militaristic or economic in nature, there has been a steady growth in the investments made in the United Nations due to its magnitude. 

China being one of the most prominent states to visibly express their interest in investing and following through has definitely added to its soft power and sphere of influence. China is now the second-largest contributor in financial investments in the form of troops to the UN amongst G77 countries. In 2015 Xi Jinping pledged to supply 8,000 peacekeepers and after withholding that pledge, they committed to a 10 year $1 billion China-UN Peace and Development Fund for peacekeeping operations.

China’s sudden involvement and constant support towards the UN, financially, is no coincidence. By gradually becoming a salient aspect of the mechanism and functioning of the United Nations, China has gained an upper hand in all the conflicts and human rights violations attached to it. Taiwan’s position as a state and not being recognised as a nation-state by the United Nations, now seems far from happening due to the UN’s dependency on China for financial aid. 

2020 being the UN’s 75th anniversary and still being a major stakeholder in the system of states and their functioning, the aforementioned arguments and cases are a pure reflection of the United Nations work over the years and paints a clear picture of its performance and potential actions in the future. 

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