RIYADH: The UN’s credibility has been battered by paralysis at the Security Council, the war in Gaza, and accusations of inaction.
Stephane Dujarric, spokesperson for UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres, admits the body’s failures have damaged “Brand UN.” While he insists reforms are on the agenda, he stresses that the world organization is not a single monolith.
Appearing on the Arab News current affairs program “Frankly Speaking,” during the UN General Assembly’s High-level Week in New York City, Dujarric acknowledged the perception of dysfunction.
“The credibility of the Security Council has taken a lot of hits recently,” he told “Frankly Speaking” host Katie Jensen.
“We’ve seen a lack of unity on the part of the Security Council, not just on Gaza, but on Ukraine, on Syria when the Assad regime was in power, on Sudan. And that does hurt the UN brand in that sense, you are correct.”
Yet, he cautioned against treating the UN as a single actor. “It is not an organization under a unified command,” he said. “If the United Nations could speak with one voice, it would not be the United Nations we have today.”
The question of Gaza and whether Israel’s military campaign constitutes genocide has brought these contradictions into sharp relief. A UN Commission of Inquiry issued a landmark report on September 16 using the term, but Guterres has himself avoided using it.
Dujarric explained why. “The secretary-general himself does not have the authority to declare something a genocide or not,” he said. “That is, as far as we are concerned, and not just for Antonio Guterres, for every secretary-general, up to a judicial body.”
“We should not be focused on semantics and on words. We are focused on the situation on the ground, regardless of whether or not you call it a genocide, what we do know is that civilians continue to be targeted and killed every day.
“People are under the state of famine in parts of Gaza and not enough aid is getting in. That’s the reality.”
Pressed on whether words matter, especially when Jewish scholars of the Holocaust are using the term, Dujarric rejected the idea that silence equates to complicity. “I mean, anyone who calls the secretary-general silent on Gaza, frankly, hasn’t been listening,” he said.
He noted that Guterres has paid a price for his language already. “You’re talking about a man who has been declared persona non grata in Israel because of the words he’s been using to describe the situation in Gaza,” he said.
“I think he has been a highly vocal advocate in terms of what is going on in Gaza. And he has been a very strong leader in ensuring that the men and women of the UN stay in Gaza to help the people.”
Another flashpoint is the wave of states now announcing formal recognition of the State of Palestine, including the UK and France. Some critics, including US President Donald Trump, say doing so rewards Hamas for the Oct. 7, 2023, attack on Israel.
Dujarric dismissed the idea. “I don’t really understand that argument, frankly, because Hamas’ goal is not a two-state solution. I don’t see that in the Hamas Charter or in the rhetoric from Hamas,” he said.
“So again, it’s not a gift to Hamas. On the contrary, it is recognizing the rights of the Palestinian people to have their state just as the Israelis have a right to have their state. And in fact, recognizing the two-state solution is a statement against extremists.”
Outrage over Israel’s conduct in Gaza has revived prospects for the two-state solution, with Ƶ and France arranging a UN summit pledging time-bound steps for an independent Palestinian state alongside Israel with no role for Hamas in its leadership.
While Israel and the US remain opposed, most world leaders now see two states as the only path to peace and regional stability after the Gaza war.
Dujarric was unequivocal that statehood is a Palestinian right. “Let’s put it frankly, it’s not a gift to the Palestinian people, but the right that they have to have a state, just like the Israelis have a right to have a state,” he said.
While diplomatic wrangling at the Security Council dominates, Dujarric said the daily humanitarian work that UN staff continue to undertake in Gaza and the West Bank remains critical.
“Even if there’s a deadlock in the Security Council, it doesn’t mean that our own people are not in Gaza trying to exploit the little humanitarian space they’re being given to try to help the people of Gaza,” he said.
Dujarric said the UN Relief and Works Agency remains at the forefront of that response, despite attacks on its reputation and a squeeze on its funds after Israel accused members of its staff in Gaza of participating in the Oct. 7, 2023, attack.
“We have UNRWA who is helping and supporting the Palestinian Authority. We will continue to do whatever we can,” he said.
However, he did stress that illegal Israeli settlement expansion, including the government’s approval for the new E1 settlement east of Jerusalem that will effectively bisect the West Bank, was creating new “facts on the ground” that would undermine hope of a Palestinian state.
The dysfunction of the Security Council, dominated by the veto power of its five permanent members, China, France, Russia, the UK, and the US, has prompted renewed calls for reform. Dujarric agreed that the system no longer reflects today’s realities.
“We need a reform of the Security Council because … the Security Council is the beating heart of the UN in terms of peace and security,” he said. “It remains a reflection of the world of 1945. The fact that it continues that way keeps hurting the UN brand globally.”
While he admitted reform remains distant, he said momentum is building. “The membership is much more engaged in it now than it was from where I stood more than 10 years ago. So there is movement,” he said.
“The secretary-general has been advocating very strongly for an African seat. The fact that Africa is the only continent that is not represented on the Security Council is abhorrent.”
“Some critics suggest that Guterres, frustrated by repeated US vetoes on Gaza ceasefire resolutions, should resign in protest. Dujarric dismissed this outright.
“I think resigning, for the secretary-general to resign, would be a gift for those people who find him a little too annoying. So he has absolutely no plans to resign. He’s determined not to give up,” he said.
Instead, Guterres will continue to push on every possible diplomatic front, including quiet back-channel talks.
“He has been very much in contact with the Qataris, the mediators. He stays in contact with the Egyptians. We’ve been using a lot of back channels and we will continue to push for a ceasefire to get humanitarian aid in, to see an end to the conflict and to see the hostages released,” he said.
Asked if the UN has become powerless, unable to fulfill its founding promise after the Second World War of “never again,” Dujarric acknowledged failings, but defended Guterres’ resolve.
“I think the Security Council has not lived up to its promises in terms of being the focus of stopping wars and of peace and security,” he said.
“We have to keep the promise of an end to conflict alive. The secretary-general will continue to advocate for it and not only advocate for it but to work for it through different means. And he will do so until the very last day of his mandate.”
For Dujarric, the UN’s future credibility depends not only on the secretary-general’s persistence, but on whether member states are willing to modernize the system they created.
“Member states need to find a way to adapt their own organization, the UN, the one they created, to make it more effective, to make it more credible and to make it more representative of the world of 2025.”
