Ten Challenges for the un in 2021-2022

Ten Challenges for the UN in 2021-2022 
Crisis Group Special Briefing N°6, 13 September 2021 
Page 19 
 
in Myanmar in August, and UN Special Envoy Christine Schraner Burgener has tried 
to use the disease as an entry point for talks with the junta.
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The military authorities 
have not yet responded to these overtures. 
Looking ahead, even if the global supply of vaccines improves, there is a risk that 
the World Health Organization and national health authorities will struggle to dis-
tribute them in conflict zones. New variants could very well emerge in these areas as a 
result. While the Security Council’s discussion in February may have been premature, 
Council members and the Secretariat should continue planning to support vaccina-
tion campaigns in volatile areas in 2022. The UN could adjust peace operation man-
dates to back up such efforts (as peacekeepers have done in response to ebola) or deploy 
mediation advisers to assist health workers. 
While waiting for vaccine supplies to improve, the Security Council could appoint 
a temporary informal expert group to discuss these options, and the Secretary-General 
might appoint a personal envoy to drive cross-UN planning on the challenges ahead. 
Overall, such specific initiatives are a very small part of the greater global effort to 
contain COVID-19, but the Security Council still has space to help ease the pandemic’s 
impact on vulnerable populations. 
IV.
Conclusion 
Even if the UN’s members can find common ground on the challenges listed here, 
multilateral security diplomacy is likely to remain difficult in the year ahead. The geo-
political tensions complicating UN action will persist, and even if the U.S., China and 
Russia can cooperate on some matters, the overall trajectory of their relations is likely 
to remain negative. Yet the UN is valuable in this turbulent period precisely because 
it still offers a vehicle for divided powers to contain conflicts and mitigate the suffering 
they create despite their strategic differences. Despite its apparent irrelevance in many 
crises, the UN system still plays a crucial part in managing an unstable international 
environment.