They Don’t Need No UNMIN Education

Why Does the UNMIN Feel It Needs to Market Its Failure to Nepali Children?

(Courtesy: Mr. Ripley)

Process is an important component of modern society. Software projects, once developed on an ad hoc basis, now follow rigid procedural techniques that go way beyond writing computer code.

Specialists from configuration managers, software architects, testers, and knowledge experts – all working under a sanctioned development protocol have cut out the heroics and borderline alchemy of the past. This has led to better products – despite all the burdens that process imposes.

Politics, and in particular democratic politics, also entails various interests to participate in processes that require a repertoire that includes persuasion, compromise, trust, and on occasion, threats and other forms of “leverage.”

But if process is a necessity of modern institutional practices to achieve an end– then the institution that epitomizes failure of process is reflected by the United Nations General Assembly and the United Nations in general. The late United States Senator Patrick Moynihan described the United Nations as a “theater of the absurd, a decomposing corpse, and an insane asylum.”

Even in the areas where the world retains some confidence in the UN, the record is spotty; the most recent scandal being that the United Nations over the years has inflated the number of HIV infections by almost 50 percent to inflate funding needs.

So it’s appalling to see that the UNMIN, an institution that has yet to demonstrate any metric of credible success, inflicting a “mock” session of the UN General Assembly Process for secondary school children in Chitwan.

One can be sure the children participated voluntarily – after all, anyone with a budget to provide a “free” lunch or the capability to menace Nepali schoolchildren can secure their participation. Just ask the political parties and Maoists who have brought in truck-loads of children to support their political agenda.

What honest academic or worldly insights, about the United Nations or the peace process could the UNMIN impart on these kids other than their self-serving interests to prolong their Mission?

What the peace process and autocratic leadership under the Ranas, the Shahs and the Maoists have taught us is that we need our children to think more independently – not herded together to participate in group-think exercises that characterizes the General Assembly or the existing UNMIN-led peace process. Nepali children had enough of that under different masters.

Perhaps, if the UNMIN has a surplus budget, it can educate the children by building them a library where they can explore history and political experiences of other countries on their own.

Maybe there, they might read about how the early Greeks first invented the rudimentary structures of democracy – including early thoughts on republicanism. Or, they might explore how security is a fundamental need for humans as Hobbes postulated and that we readily become “nasty and brutish” without law and order. Perhaps, they can compare and contrast the record of socialism and capitalism and that “Democratic Republic” does not necessarily mean a country is “democratic” or a true “republic.”

They might read of how Churchill refused to negotiate with Hitler, correctly understanding elemental evil and courageously (and shrewdly) overcoming the Nazis. Or maybe, they will also learn on their own how the United Nations, founded with the intention to find a solution to wars and suffering, has become an un-reformable institution.

They may even explore Shakespeare which might help them to understand their political leaders better.

Nepali children will learn more about true intellectual inquiry, rationalism, historical context, and self-criticism on their their OWN if the UNMIN is successful in freeing the country of extortion, of intimidation. Most importantly, they might even respect the UN someday if Ian

Martin and his team can demonstrate independent thinking, integrity, and courage – even if it’s not in their mandate.

Related Posts:

What UNMIN Should Do to Manage Nepal's Peace Process
http://nepaliperspectives.blogspot.com/2007/11/courtesy-krishna-hari-pushkar-un-is.html

What has UNMIN Accomplished in Nepal?
http://nepaliperspectives.blogspot.com/2007/09/what-has-unmin-accomplished-in-nepal.html

UNMIN's "Consulting" Mentality Not Conducive to Nepal's "Stakeholder" Needs http://nepaliperspectives.blogspot.com/2007/07/unmins-consulting-menta