Following the June 2005 release of the Task Force on the United Nations report, panelists Hills, Feulner, Thornburgh, and Florini discussed actionable recommendations to ensure effectiveness, integrity, transparency, and accountability in the UN system.  Key findings and recommendations included:

  • Creating an Independent Oversight Board with audit powers to prevent the occurrence of another Oil-for-Food scandal
  • Appointing a very senior official to manage daily operations of the Secretariat, similar to the role of a Chief Operating Officer
  • Empowering the Secretary General with the ability to replace his or her top officials

Speakers

  • The Honorable Roderick M. Hills
    Founder and Chairman, Hills Program on Governance, CSIS; Member, Task Force on the United Nations
  • Dr. Edwin J. Feulner
    President, The Heritage Foundation; Member, Task Force on the United Nations
  • The Honorable Richard Thornburgh
    Former Under Secretary General, UN; Former U.S. Attorney General
  • Dr. Ann Florini
    Senior Fellow, The Brookings Institution; Coordinating Expert, Task Force On The United Nations
  • Also present as respondent...
    Christopher Bancroft Burnam
    Under Secretary General for Management, UN
  • Gary Matthews, U.S. Institute of Peace, Moderator
  • Task Force Experts from CSIS, the Council on Foreign Relations, and the Heritage Foundation will also be in attendance.

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Latest Publications

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Amid International Silence, Guinea’s Coup Regime Imperils Transition

Amid International Silence, Guinea’s Coup Regime Imperils Transition

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Over the past three years, the Sahel and West Africa have seen an alarming number of military coups. With the region’s stability and security hanging in the balance, the international community has promoted peaceful democratic transitions (and found early success in Gabon). Meanwhile, coup regimes in countries like Burkina Faso, Mali and Niger — which recently formed the Alliance of Sahel States (AES) — have sought closer cooperation with China and Russia, prompting concern and dismay from supporters of democracy. Often lost in all this tumult is Guinea, which saw its own coup d’état in September 2021. Unlike some of its counterparts, the Guinean military has managed to avoid the attention, engagement or scrutiny of the West as it continues to entrench itself in power.

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What an ICC Case on Mali Means for Prosecuting Taliban Gender Crimes

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Since the Taliban took power in August 2021, the situation for Afghan women and girls has dramatically deteriorated. Yet there has been little international action, as many in the international community lament the lack of legal, and other, avenues to hold the Taliban accountable for these draconian measures. However, a recent case at the International Criminal Court (ICC) may provide a legal roadmap to prosecute the Taliban.

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