Gallup released the latest installment in a long-runinng series of polls that take the temperature of Americans' attitude toward the United Nations. On the basic question of job performance, the United Nations has yet to recover from the sharp drop it experienced in the run up to the Iraq war, when a large majority of Americans thought the UN was acting against American interests and trying to prevent the war. Still, as the poll showes, most Americans want the United Nations to have a robust role in setting global policies.
You can view the entire poll here.
As mentioned yesterday, Special Envoys of the United Nations and African Union will travel to Sudan next week to meet with Government officials and Darfur rebels. Today, acting United States ambassador to the United Nations Alejandro Wolff helped ramp up the pressure on Sudan by announcing that Secretary General Ban Ki-moon will address the Council based on the envoys' recommendations.
The United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) has announced that approximately $85 million will be used to fund programs in 15 countries for under-funded emergencies.
"While each of these allocations represents but a fraction of the overall requirements in the individual emergencies, as a whole they help us pursue principled humanitarian action in which those who require aid the most are identified based strictly on need and assisted accordingly," said Margareta Wahlstrom, Acting United Nations Emergency Relief Coordinator. More
Writing in The Hill's Congress Blog, Representative Tom Lantos, Chair of the House Committee on International Relations, expresses disappointment that the new White House budget request shortchanges the United Nations.
"We face a $130 million shortfall in the account used to pay U.S. dues to the United Nations. For the first time since the historic agreement brokered by Senators Joe Biden and Jesse Helms to pay off old U.S. debt the United Nations, we will once again be in arrears."
Lantos then couches his criticisms of the budget in National Security terms. You can view his entire post here. It is well worth a read.