PYQ Vault · Paper 2 · The United Nations
What measures have been undertaken by the United Nations for its reforms?
How the answer moves
The flow snapshot — the routes in, the body, the counter-view and the routes out.
Flow snapshot — how the answer moves
Intro routes
Rk! reform has been steady but uneven.. change came where the P5 did not have to consent; stalled where they did R2_ restructuring debate running since the Council's Heads of Government met, 31 January 1992 → aim: a more democratic, effective, responsive UN → measures follow that aim
Body flow
enlargement first: membership 51 (1945) → 193, mostly 1960s decolonisation → UNSC non-permanent seats 6 → 10 (1963) → negotiations on working methods/representation continue → system broadened: UNDP, UNICEF, WFP → development track: Kofi Annan's coherence reforms (1990s) → 2030 Agenda + SDGs replace MDGs → rights track: Human Rights Council replaces Commission on Human Rights (2006) → latest: Guterres's three-area restructuring (development system / peace and security architecture / management) → political and peacebuilding affairs split from peace operations
Counter-view
the core is untouched → 2005 World Summit Outcome Document sought a representative Council, no unanimity → Charter amendment needs two-thirds of the Assembly + two-thirds of the Council including every permanent member → Weiss: entrenched interests block reform
Conclusion routes
R!) machinery reformed; Council composition and the veto await political agreement R2) reform incremental and glacial → direction clear (a Council reflecting contemporary power), but major-power rivalry keeps it slow
Model answer
Handwritten, in the form it would be written in the examination hall.
