Dear Learned Colleague,

A reporter at an international negotiation in the 1930s once quipped words to the effect: “On the surface it seems as though very little is happening. But underneath absolutely nothing is happening.”

We bring you a look beneath the surface of UN reform, a process in which much seems to be happening but it’s not what you might think. Stefano Gennarini, J.D. finds that changes meant to bring more transparency may also remove power from nations to protect pro-life and pro-family laws.

We wish you a blessed Christmastide!

Sincerely yours,

Susan Yoshihara, Ph.D.
Editor

Since 2017, members of the United Nations organization have been debating and adopting measures to reform the UN development system. The process, like many other UN reform efforts before it, is ostensibly meant to increase the efficiency and responsiveness of UN agencies and programs, but that is not the full picture.

Some aspects of UN development reform go beyond just increasing efficiency and responsiveness. They profoundly transform the UN development system itself. Changes thus far proposed and implemented shift power away from countries and into the hands of UN officials, moving away from a cooperation-based model for development to a more colonial-style top-down model for development. This power shift should concern socially conservative countries because the UN bureaucracy has been at the forefront of promoting abortion, comprehensive sexuality education, social acceptance of homosexuality, and other polices that are not internationally agreed. Read More >>>