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McCully's harsh criticism of United Nations

Author
Felix Marwick,
Publish Date
Wed, 5 Apr 2017, 5:45AM
Foreign Minister Murray McCully addressed Parliament last night (Photo / NZME)
Foreign Minister Murray McCully addressed Parliament last night (Photo / NZME)

McCully's harsh criticism of United Nations

Author
Felix Marwick,
Publish Date
Wed, 5 Apr 2017, 5:45AM

The New Zealand government has made a deliberate effort not to commit Kiwi troops to United Nations peacekeeping efforts overseas, departing foreign minister Murray McCully has revealed.

McCully outlined the approach in an official address given at Parliament last night in which repeated his view that the UN system is seriously broken, highlighting the fact that 80 percent of foreign aid, worth billions of dollars, is going to victims of violent conflict while the UN is spending just a fraction on preventing emerging conflicts.

"The UN can no longer afford the consequences of its inability to prevent or resolve conflict," he said.

McCully said the significant reason behind the resistance to joining UN deployments was because the UN has failed to see the need to change.

The foreign minister was highly critical of the way the UN has treated peacekeepers, citing an incident in 2014 where 45 Fijian peacekeepers were taken hostage in the Golan Heights, and a 2013 case where a New Zealand peacekeeper was taken captive in the same area

He said he's been reticent about picking up any further peacekeeping responsibilities "until the UN does us the service of being prepared to put in place the sort of professionalism and the sort of safety mechanisms that we'd expect with regard to New Zealand servicepeople."

New Zealand was a non-permanent member of the United Nations Security Council in 2015-2016.

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