This is a summary of the presentation of Dr. Afsar Rathor, Vice President, Coalition of Faith-Based Organizations; Former UN Diplomat, in the webinar entitled "Re-imagining the United Nations for a New Era of Peace" organised by the International Association of Academicians for Peace (IAAP) Europe and Middle East (EUME) on 28 July 2026.
Drawing on nearly thirty years of service with the United Nations in some of the world's most devastating conflicts—including Bosnia, Rwanda, Somalia and Haiti—Dr. Afsar Rathor argued that the United Nations does not primarily suffer from a failure of ideals, but from a failure of political will. The UN Charter remains sound, he contended, but the Organization must be renewed so that it can effectively protect human life in today's increasingly complex global environment.
At the heart of his speech were deeply personal experiences from Bosnia and Rwanda. He recalled being unable to answer a young Bosnian girl's question as to why the UN had failed to protect her family, and described risking his own life to save a Tutsi boy during the Rwandan genocide, only to be investigated for exceeding his mandate. These experiences convinced him that peacekeeping must never again be constrained by mandates that prevent intervention while civilians are being massacred.
Dr. Rathor stressed that responsibility for the UN's failures lies not with its staff or peacekeepers, whose courage he praised, but with Member States—particularly the Security Council—which have too often failed to provide clear mandates, political unity, adequate funding and timely decisions. At the same time, he emphasized that the answer is not a weaker United Nations but a stronger and more effective one, since today's global challenges—from armed conflict to climate change, pandemics and artificial intelligence—cannot be solved by individual nations acting alone.
A Five-Point Agenda for UN Renewal
Dr. Rathor proposed five major institutional reforms.
1. Reform Peacekeeping Mandates
Peacekeeping missions should move from observing conflicts to actively protecting civilians. Every UN mandate should contain an explicit obligation to protect civilians facing imminent danger, making civilian protection the primary objective rather than a secondary task. Commanders in the field should have sufficient authority to act immediately instead of waiting for political approval while lives are at risk.
2. Restrict the Use of the Security Council Veto
The veto, originally intended to preserve international stability, has become a source of paralysis. Dr. Rathor proposed that vetoes should not be permitted in cases involving genocide, war crimes or crimes against humanity. He also suggested limiting each permanent member to two vetoes on the same issue, after which the General Assembly should be empowered to override the veto, thereby reducing deadlock while preserving the Security Council's central role.
3. Ensure Sustainable Financing
Effective peacekeeping requires reliable funding. Dr. Rathor argued that Member States that fail to pay their assessed contributions should face automatic consequences, including suspension of voting rights, exclusion from peacekeeping decisions, or financial penalties. Given that UN peacekeeping represents only a tiny fraction of global military expenditure, he maintained that adequate financing is both affordable and a shared international responsibility.
4. Make the Responsibility to Protect Operational
While endorsing the Responsibility to Protect (R2P) principle, Dr. Rathor argued that it has remained largely theoretical because of political deadlock. He proposed establishing a permanent UN Responsibility to Protect Commission with authority to monitor potential mass atrocities, conduct independent investigations, and convene emergency sessions of the General Assembly under the "Uniting for Peace" mechanism whenever the Security Council is unable to act.
5. Better Protect Peacekeepers
Recognizing the sacrifices made by nearly 5,000 peacekeepers who have died in service, Dr. Rathor called for a comprehensive Peacekeeper Protection and Accountability Framework. This would include enhanced human rights and trauma-informed training, stronger investigations into attacks against peacekeepers, and improved accountability mechanisms to ensure crimes against UN personnel do not go unpunished.
Integrating Moral and Spiritual Leadership
Beyond institutional reforms, Dr. Rathor argued that renewal must also address what he called the "soul" of the United Nations. Since most of humanity identifies with a religious tradition, he maintained that moral and spiritual leadership should play a greater role in global governance.
In this context, he introduced Rev. Dr. Sun Myung Moon's 2000 proposal for renewing the United Nations from within. He highlighted four principal recommendations:
- establishing a bicameral UN that would complement the General Assembly with a council of respected religious, cultural and educational leaders;
- creating UN-administered Peace Zones in conflict regions;
- appointing Religious Ambassadors to work alongside national diplomatic representatives; and
- establishing an official UN Day honouring the family as the foundation of peace.
According to Dr. Rathor, Rev. Moon's vision recognizes that lasting peace requires both effective political institutions and moral or spiritual guidance, since external peace ultimately depends upon the transformation of the human heart.
Conclusion
Dr. Rathor concluded by calling not merely for reform but for a renewal of the United Nations' original purpose. He urged Member States to provide peacekeepers with stronger mandates, adequate resources and the political backing necessary to prevent future atrocities. A renewed United Nations, he argued, must move from paralysis to purpose, from reaction to prevention, and from political division to shared responsibility. Only then can the Organization fulfil its founding promise of protecting humanity and delivering lasting peace.
After completion of University education in engineering and management, he joined the United Nations working for the UN Department for Peacekeeping in the war hit conflict areas of Africa, Middle East, South America and Balkan countries and later for the UN Industrial Development Organization. After serving the UN for more than thirty years, he left to dedicate himself, as a volunteer, for implementing projects funded by NGOs in the fields of peace, conflict/disaster and project management, interfaith harmony, poverty alleviation, women empowerment, education, environment as well as tourism development in developing countries. He is the President of LIOS-SOIL Organization (LIOS), an Austrian based NGO to propose solutions for escalating issues of loss of fertile topsoil, land erosion, desertification, environment and water resources as well as to promote Regenerative Agricultural Management methods.