The Humpty Dumpty Institute's 16th Congressional Staff Delegation to United Nations Headquarters

Freshman Staffers

The Humpty Dumpty Institute (HDI) sponsored its 16th Congressional Staff Visit to United Nations Headquarters on October 21, 2005. The bipartisan delegation comprised of twenty congressional staff from the U.S. House and Senate (most of whom represented Freshmen offices) and afforded each participant an unprecedented opportunity to meet with senior decision-makers at the U.S. Mission and at the United Nations to discuss issues critical to the U.S.-U.N. relationship behind closed doors.

The range of topics discussed included U.S. priorities at the United Nations, U.N. peacekeeping, U.N. reform and management initiatives, outcomes from the September 2005 World Summit, the Millennium Development Goals, and the role of the U.N. and affiliated agencies in providing emergency humanitarian relief. Three major themes dominated the day-long series of briefings:

1. When discussing the United Nations, greater efforts should be made to distinguish between the actions of one Member-State, the Security Council, the General Assembly, and the U.N. Secretariat.
2. Any attempt to withhold U.S. dues to the United Nations will dramatically affect the ability of the United States to play a leadership role at the United Nations on the discussion of U.N. reform.
3. Security, development and management reform are themes whose individual successes are clearly linked to each other.

• Full Project Report
• Schedule
• Participants