Yesterday, the 66th General Assembly opened at United Nations Headquarters. On this occasion, internet users were invited to get in touch with Ban Ki-moon, Secretary-General, via social networks. They were more than 5,000 to ask questions on Facebook, Twitter and Weibo.
In live from New York, the Secretary-General answered a dozen questions, and reasserted UN principles (solidarity, peace-keeping, etc.) « Creating an organization that would be more efficient and effective is our big challenge and our main goal » he added. Questioned via Facebook about the UN involvement in supplying food aid in Somalia, Ban Ki-moon recalled the viewers that the UN, in Somalia or wherever it is needed, plays a fundamental role in supporting the local population, which suffers from natural disasters as floods or droughts.
On Twitter, the Red Helmets Foundation (
@casquesrouges) got involved in the event. The three questions asked concerned the creation of a new humanitarian governance headed by the UN :
- - Pooling resources is a mandatory condition to improve humanitarian actions’ efficiency. When will we get the Red Helmets?
- - Isn’t a fast-reacting UN force essential for a better efficiency of humanitarian associations’ teams?
- - More than 375 millions victims from natural disasters foreseen for the single year 2015 (about 250 in 2011). When will we witness the creation of an international humanitarian force, able to react instantly?
The Red Helmets Foundation will follow with deep attention this new General Assembly. We can hope that leaders from every country in the world shall remember the tsunami and the last earthquakes in Japan or Haiti, in order to take the decisions that should be taken. Only this awareness would enable the creation of a UN international humanitarian force that the Red Helmets Foundation calls for.
