United Nations: A Crisis of Credibility
In January, UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres revealed the startling news that the United Nations faces “imminent financial collapse” arising from the failure of member nations to pay their dues. The financial crisis reflects a growing belief that the UN has failed to meet its most basic obligations. The UN has become “more politicized, less principled, and increasingly disconnected from its founding mission,” according to Hillel Neuer of UN Watch.
Much of the problem lies with the failure of the United Nations to uphold its own principles, such as statements that affirm the need for gender equality:
- UN Charter — Preamble reaffirms the necessity for “equal rights of men and women.”
- Universal Declaration of Human Rights — Article 2: “Everyone is entitled to all the rights and freedoms set forth in this Declaration, without distinction of any kind, such as race, colour, [or] sex,…”
- Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women — Many articles frame women’s rights “on a basis of equality with men.”
Extensive analyses by the International Council for Men and Boys reveal numerous severe disparities affecting men. These disparities have been documented at both the global level and in over 50 countries around the world.
But UN programs consistently prioritize women over men, creating a “crisis of credibility.” For example, men die five years sooner than women. But according to Grok:
- “Unlike men’s health, women’s health receives more dedicated global attention via targeted strategies and observances.”
- “UN men’s health work lacks the scale of dedicated funding seen in women’s health (e.g., no equivalents to multi-billion Sexual and Reproductive Health and Rights
/maternal strategies).”
AI Comparisons of UN Programs for Men and Women
Following are AI analyses of UN sex-specific programs and campaigns (to be completed):
- Education
- Health
- Boys
- False Allegations
- Victims of Violence
- Parenting
- Criminal System
- Partner Abuse
- Homelessness
- Workplace
- Adoption and Reproductive Rights
- Media Porrayals
How Does the UN Justify Its Neglect of Men?
True equality cannot exist if programs systematically exclude or disadvantage one sex over the other sex. But the United Nations makes two categories of claims that seek to justify this neglect of men:
- Claiming women, but not men, have faced “historical” and “structural” discrimination that justifies the current neglect of men’s issues.
- Other UN reports, such as “Men, Masculinities and Humanitarian Settings” make the claim that the problem lies with men themselves, especially their “harmful masculinity norms” and “patriarchal attitudes.”