A Vision for Building a Better World
The world has been changing. Some say it is in tumult. Globalization continues and different forms of resistance are in play. The international community has been strong in adopting agendas, but not as strong in delivering them. Therefore, I believe we have to ask ourse lves, What is it we are doing wrong? Or is this really the first time we are trying to synchronize our global-development efforts, and we need time to work it out? Complex challenges such as contemporary and protracted conflicts, dire humanitarian situations, migration/refugee flows, the spread of international terrorism and violent extremism require an effective, efficient and more relevant UN system. The UN requires strong leadership that will make it fit for said purpose, and to rebuild trust in the Organization. We also need fresh faces within the System to ensure that needed change happens.

At the same time, I truly believe that the role of the next Secretary-General will not be to reinvent the wheel, but to ensure to optimize delivering on agreed-upon agendas, including through mobilizing collective wisdom to make a more effective, efficient and relevant UN. To make ever more value for the money invested in it. However, all this will sound like platitudes, too elusive and vague if we do not come up with certain proposals on how to perform better.

In my vision, we need a more robust position in the Deputy Secretary-General, who should have a leading role in dealing with regional and sub-regional arrangements, as well as in the field of mediation and prevention. If elected, I would appoint a female DSG, in an effort to ensure gender parity. I also believe we need to show further commitment to Africa and the developing world by basing the DSG in Nairobi, as one of the UN’s headquarters. With reference to peace and security, more efficiency and effectiveness can be brought about by setting up the UN Peace Operations Group, closely supervised by the SG and DSG within the Chief Executives Coordination Board, which also has to be strengthened. This modification can make a difference in supplying the Security Council and the Peace Building Commission with necessary and improved insight, enabling better decision-making and improved coordination. A special tribunal to hold UN peacekeepers accountable for human rights violations, like the sexual abuse uncovered in the Central African Republic, should be considered. By doing all that we can to start true implementation of the peace architecture recommendations.

Turning to the development agenda, the SDGs are great work, but an even greater opportunity for the UN. In order to avoid duplication, it is critical to define leading UN AFPs (agencies, funds or programs) for each SDG in a cluster-shaped structure. Cooperation must be strengthened with multilateral partners and the private sector. Regional Economic Commissions should be important players in establishing Regional Fora for Sustainable Development, consisting of different stakeholders. The UN Development Group should be transformed into a UN Sustainable Development Group, co-chaired by the UNDP Chief Administrator and the Human Rights High Commissioner, thus ensuring a new generation of UNDAFs to fully reflect the complementary Agendas related to development and human rights. We need to use the potential of outstanding individuals from different life spheres to bring SDGs closer to the ordinary people. We should not keep the UN detached from young people, thus an Office for Youth should be established. Additionally, the fact that human rights permeate the whole 2030 Agenda but are at the same time in the core of the peace operation gives that pillar a very prominent role. Therefore, necessary budget reforms need to address a frequent mismatch between the mandates, expectations and core budget appropriations. With only 3.5% of the core budget and a growing need, there has to be a process of identifying duplications and economies in order to strengthen the work of the OHCHR.

All the above will still sound hollow unless the SG undertakes a deep review of the current budget in line with the need to prepare to deliver on the vast agenda agreed upon globally in 2015. An independent panel from all the regions should be established to ensure fresh external views. The core budget needs to recognize all the SDGs through appropriate program budgeting in order to mirror adequately the cluster-shaped structure of AFPs responsible for the implementation. This is an important tool to mobilize resources for multi-sector implementation of the Agenda, as it should serve as a lever to attract and better coordinate other donors’ funds.

The last thing we need is to see the UN becoming irrelevant. If elected, my role and the role of the future UN administration will be to invest best efforts to reflect the needs of the ever-changing world. Nothing lasts forever but the certainty of change. Therefore, we have to work to build a better world for future generations. That is why my vision is about ensuring an effective and efficient UN system in addressing existing and emerging challenges by extending partnerships and strengthening coordination. We need to reinvent multilateralism through the principles of responsibility, inclusiveness and engagement.

This post is part of a series produced by The Huffington Post regarding the selection and appointment of the next Secretary-General of the United Nations. A new Secretary-General will take office on January 1, 2017, and each of the declared candidates for the position was invited to participate in this blog series. The President of the General Assembly noted that, this year, the selection process will have more transparency than ever before. The declared candidates for the position are listed by the UN here. To see all the posts in the series, visit here.

In this article reflects on the writer's opinion on the appointment of the next Secretary-General and his personal opinions on how the United Nations can improve our world. in addition, the writers expresses his opinion on how the UN should focus and more policies on Africa and should appoint a female Secretary-General. Overall, there are several biases that are expressed in this article, for example, the idea on how there should be UN headquarters in Nairobi in order to improve the situation in Africa and etc. In conclusion, I believe all the opinions that are stated in this article are reasonable, I believe the policies that the writer expresses could improve our world that is economically and socially struggling. 

Igor, Luksic. "Huffington Post" 9 May. 2016. A Vision for Building a Better World. 9 May. 2016.

<http://www.huffingtonpost.com/igor-luksic/a-vision-for-building-a-better-world_b_9842542.html>

The Biggest Companies in America Are Being Handed $27 for Every $1 They Pay in Taxes
By Tess Owen
April 14, 2016 | 1:00 am

If you're a United States citizen who is pained by doing your taxes, April can be the cruelest month of the year. Maybe you dread deciphering the tax code or doing paperwork — or perhaps you're frustrated by the realization that you're subsidizing public services beyond your means while your city's infrastructure is falling apart.

These aren't things that some of the country's biggest corporations really need to worry about.

Oxfam America took a close look at the way large, profitable companies use offshore tax havens and other methods to slash their corporate tax rates in the US rather than pay taxes where the majority of their business takes place.

The report, "Broken at the Top," found that the 50 largest companies in the US have $1.4 trillion hidden in tax havens while at the same time receiving trillions of dollars in tax payer-funded loans and subsidies. The tax practices of these corporate behemoths cost Americans an estimated $111 billion per year and cost developing countries another $100 billion a year.

Apple, the world's second-largest company, was the company with the greatest amount stored abroad — $181 billion in three subsidiaries. Next in Oxfam's league table was General Electric, with $119 billion stored in 118 tax haven subsidiaries, followed by Microsoft which had $108 billion kept overseas.

According to a Pew Research Poll from 2013, only 6 percent of Americans think it is morally acceptable for people not to report all their income on their taxes while 64 percent reported being very bothered by the idea that corporations weren't paying their fair share in federal taxes.


The impact of falling tax revenue goes beyond a question of ethics, however.

The US House of Representatives is currently considering a budget plan that would slash even more federal funding for food stamps by over $150 billion over the next decade, for example, taking food assistance benefits away from about three million of the country's poorest and most vulnerable citizens. Major cuts to public health funding have also left health departments ill equipped to deal with the growing threat posed by the Zika virus.

Budget cuts have led local governments to cut corners with their spending, which can cause infrastructure like roads and bridges to crumble and pose a threat to their citizens.

Oxfam's findings come in the wake of the Panama Papers leak, which revealed how the rich and powerful have used the Panamanian law firm Mossack Fonseca to establish offshore arrangements in order to avoid paying taxes in their own countries.

The organization estimates that $7.6 trillion is currently stashed in offshore tax havens. That's more than the German and British economies combined, and roughly a 10th of the total world GDP in 2014.

"As Americans rush to finalize tax returns, multinational corporations that benefit from trillions in taxpayer-funded support are dodging billions in taxes," Raymond C. Offenheiser, Oxfam America's president, said in a statement. "The vast sums large companies stash in tax havens should be fighting poverty and rebuilding America's infrastructure, not hidden offshore in Panama, Bahamas, or the Cayman Islands."

"When corporations don't pay their fair share of taxes, governments — rich and poor — are forced to cut services or make up the shortfall from working families and small businesses," he added. "Neither is acceptable."

The Oxfam report found that between 2008 and 2014, the 50 largest US companies — which include Disney, Walmart, American Express, Alphabet (Google), AT&T, Bank of America, Pepsi, and so on — collectively received $27 in federal loans, loan guarantees and bailouts for every $1 they coughed up in federal taxes. Between 2008 and 2014, they collectively received more than $11.2 trillion in tax-payer funded help.

In 2008, the world economy was hit with the biggest crisis since the Great Depression of the 1930s. US households lost on average nearly $5,800 in income due to reduced economic growth during the acute stage of the financial crisis, from September 2008 to the end of 2009.

The federal government shelled out about $2,050 for each household on average within that span to help mitigate the impact of the financial crisis. Meanwhile, according to the Oxfam report, America's biggest companies enjoyed the lion's share of US taxpayer funded support, receiving $11 trillion in federal loans, guarantees, and bailout assistance between 2008 and 2014.

In 1952, corporate income taxes contributed to 33 percent of the US federal budget. Today corporate income taxes cover just 9 percent of the budget.

But the era of rampant corporate tax evasion might be coming to an end. Bringing corporate profits back onshore has been an issue that has seen bipartisan support during the 2016 presidential campaign. Where the candidates differ is how exactly they should do that.

The current federal tax rate on corporate taxable income can be as high as 39 percent — the third-highest rate in the world. To lure corporations back to American shores, Republican frontrunner Donald Trump proposes lowering that tax rate to 15 percent. Democratic candidates Hillary Clinton and Bernie Sanders have both pledged to raise tax rates and close the loopholes that have made tax dodging possible.

On April 4, the Obama administration unveiled aggressive new rules to curb tax inversions — corporate mergers that are meant to relocate a company's tax exposure abroad.

The maneuver typically involves a US corporation buying a smaller company in a country with a lower income tax rate, and then shifting its headquarters to the foreign country. The new rules will dramatically shake up the world of corporate finance and have tax lawyers working for corporate firms scrambling to find other loopholes.

The new guidelines were credited with the collapse of the corporate merger of pharmaceutical companies Pfizer and Allergan, which would have allowed Pfizer to avoid paying $35 billion in US taxes.

Obama called for international tax reform on the heels of the Panama Paper revelations.

"The problem is that a lot of this stuff is legal," he said.

Few weeks ago 11million documents have been leaked exposing leaders, major companies, many wealthy individuals. The 2 terabytes of information that was leaked is called the panama papers which listed a large amount of wealthy indicduals and corporation and their offshore bank accounts which helped them to avoid taxes. looking at the statistics of the money that was hidden in theses offshore accounts, have shown corruption not only in the corporation but also involved in politics also. currently it is estimated that $7.6 trillion is currently stashed in offshore tax havens, Which is more than the German and British economies combined, and roughly a 10th of the total world GDP in 2014. Overall, this article gives out statistics and numbers on how much major compnies like Microsoft, Google, Apple, and etc have been avoiding taxes but hiding their money and profits through offshore accounts in Panama. When it comes the authors perspective or the articles opinion, there isn't much side parting but the statistics show and the numbers show that the article is against offshore bank accounts and the indivduals and corporations that are not being taxed fairly. Overall, when it comes to my opinion on this issue, I believe avoiding taxes is morally wrong although I have never been wealthy enough to understand the opposite side; I believe everyone should pay a fair amount when it comes to taxes. 

 Owen, Tess. "Vice News."  14 April. 2016. The Biggest Companies in America Are Being Handed $27 for Every $1 They Pay in Taxes. 2 May. 2016. <https://news.vice.com/article/top-50-us-companies-get-27-from-the-government-for-every-1-they-pay-in-taxes>