Another area of mixed success that the UN has experienced since the end
of the Cold War is the pioneering of human rights. The significant increase in
membership since 1990 has led to a proportionate increase in Non-Aligned
states who could collectively exert more control within the UN General Assembly. 18 One way this has proven its value is in the push from non-aligned
states to expanded and enforce human rights globally. One example of this push
is the formation of the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights in
1993, an office which allows the UN to have greater control how it can fund fights
against slavery, poverty, persecution, racism, and numerous other breaches of
human rights which have grown in prominence since the end of the Cold War.
While this has not resulted in complete success in guaranteeing human rights to all, it can still be viewed as a positive step and a partial success. 19 LGBTQ+ rights
have also been championed with some success by the UN since the end of the
Cold War. Despite numerous UN member states opposing greater rights for LGBTQ+ peoples, often due to claimed religious or conservative social views, 20 the organization has successfully passed resolutions which have contributed to improved rights for LGBTQ+ individuals across the world. 21 Again, while success
in this area has not been absolute, it has demonstrated that the UN does have
some power over its member states and has had success in improving rights for
individuals in multiple ways. Finally, the improvement of rights has been seen
through the UN’s specialised agencies. The World Health Organization has
significantly increased its fight against the spread of disease in the previous thirty years, notably achieving a fifty percent decrease in AID-related deaths 22 , as well
18 Kennedy, p. 192 19 Kennedy, p. 204
20 Staur and Harris, p. 141 21 Staur and Harris, p. 143 22 Population Council, ‘ A United Nations Update on the Global AIDS Epidemic ,’ Population and Development Review , 44.1 (2018), 189-191 (p. 189)
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