10月15日VOA聽力：結合國建立70周年
The United Nations was born out of the ashes ofWorld War II and the failures of its predecessor,the League of Nations.
At a conference in San Francisco in 1945, theorganization’s charter was drawn up, seeking tofoster a more peaceful world and promote anddevelop human rights.
President Harry Truman told delegates there were many who doubted they could succeedbecause of their differences.
But these differences were all forgotten in one unshakable unity of determination to find a wayto end war.
That October, the United Nations was officially established after 29 of its first 50 memberstates ratified the charter. Today, there are 193 member states.
Michael Doyle, a former advisor to Secretary-General Kofi Annan, says the organization got offto a rocky start.
During the Cold War, the split between the Soviet Union and the U.S. created an institutionthat was at loggerheads with itself. It could only work in the margins in peacekeeping, andthose particular conflicts where the U.S. and Soviets wanted to take it off their own rivalryand let it work on the side.
U.N. peacekeeping was born during this period. Growing from a couple thousand “blue helmets”addressing the Suez Crisis in 1956, to more than 100,000 soldiers and police today,peacekeepers protect civilians and aid workers in some of the world’s most dangerous troublespots.
The U.N. also delivers humanitarian assistance to victims of war and disasters, and tries toprevent and resolve conflicts. More recently, it has taken on climate change and eradicatingextreme poverty.
The world is changing and the U.N. has to change and adapt with it. We cannot be static.
Eight men have led the U.N. since 1945. Next year, a new secretary-general will be elected.Many say it is time for a woman.
There also are calls for organizational reform, particularly in the Security Council, where fivecountries hold veto power.
The one thing everyone can agree about is that the Security Council, as it was framed in 1945,no longer represents the power structure of the year 2015.
Doyle says emerging powers want a seat at the table, and elected council members want morerespect.
The absence of a larger role of India, of Brazil, of Japan, of Germany and one could go on issignificant. There are times at which the elected 10 feel like, as they call themselves, touristsrather than players.
To stay relevant the U.N must evolve.
However, unless there are some major shakeups, some major structural reforms, that theinstitution will become more and more marginal, it will become more of a historical relic.
But many observers agree it is difficult to imagine today’s world without the United Nations.
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