The UN Charter is outdated and unfit for purpose

United Nations, born from the ashes of a genocide, is facing its reckoning at the hands of a genocide perpetrated by the very State it once sought to protect. Without substantial restructuring, it risks becoming a relic of a bygone era. 

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FROM signing the Peace of Westphalia in 1648 to the United Nations (UN) Charter in 1945, the world has come a long way in its struggle to establish an organisation subordinated to no Earthly authority that upholds dignity and keeps a check on the untrampled exercise of sovereign power over territories.

It was tasked with promoting and upholding peace, security and democratic values around the world. No doubt, that is a lofty task for any organisation to undertake and every organisation falls short of the aims it sets out to achieve which is why the bars are set that high.

But there has been no real attempt by the UN to ever achieve these ideals. It was bound to fail from its very inception as the ideals and the articles have always been in direct conflict with each other.

The structural imbalance between ideals and the mechanisms of power within the UN has never been more evident than in the context of the ongoing crisis in Gaza. This crisis highlights the fundamental issue: an institution designed to protect peace often finds its hands tied, not because of practical obstacles, but due to an inherent imbalance in its framework.

The preamble to the UN Charter opens with "We the people" and is based on the Westphalian principle that all States are equal in international law. It calls for equal representation of all people through States and is open to membership for all States that accept the obligations contained in the charter. But as Salil Shetty has asked, "Where are the voices of the people in the decision-making?