Mediation activities of the UN: Mediation is an activity undertaken by a country or an organisation or individual to help resolve a problem.

The United Nations has played the role of mediator in dozens of conflicts, sometimes successfully and other times not so successfully.

Examples:

(i) The UN Security Council sent mediators in the 1950s to solve the Kashmir problem amicably but the efforts were not fruitful.

(ii) The Cuban Missile crisis of 1962 is a good example where the Secretary General U Thant's mediation helped to avoid direct military confrontation between the United States and the former Soviet Union.

(iii) In 1987, the United Nations successfully mediated to get an accord signed for the withdrawal of Soviet troops from Afghanistan.

(iv) Similar mediation was undertaken successfully on the Cambodia problem in 1991. There are nearly two dozen UN mediators presently helping resolution of problems in Somalia, Cyprus, Western Sahara, etc.

(v) The United Nations also helped in fact finding or impartial investigations into border violations, use of banned weapons, and other complaints. With regards to the Arab-Israeli conflict, the United Nations suggested in 1967 an outline for a settlement that recognised the rights of both Israel and Palestine to live in secure boundaries.

(vi) At times, the judicial organ, the World Court also contributed to peace through its judgements on complaints brought before it by countries.

(vii) For example in 2003 the Court ruled against Israel's construction of a wall in occupied Palestinian territories as illegal and provocative.

(viii) The General Assembly later called upon Israelis to adhere to the Court's opinion. Let us hope that Israel heeds the advice.