Two United Nations

But this is just one tiny example of the reach of the UN. The UN does so many other things to benefit mankind. It facilitates the drafting of multilateral treaties (the UN cannot make treaties itself) on such diverse issues as banning landmines to Law of the Sea; from the Rights of the Child to the treaty that bans - or should - torture.

Through the leadership and front line work of UN workers, the world is close to eradicating polio worldwide. In calling this week for a final effort, Margaret Chan, World Health Organization director general, said that the number of people hit by the paralysing disease has been cut from 350,000 in 1988 to fewer than 2,000 in 2006.

We are used to seeing police at the scene of an accident, fire services at a house fire, or charitable organisations helping out in a crisis. We don’t blame the helpers for the situation they are attending. Not so with the UN. All too frequently when states fail or conflict renders a population at risk to UN is called on to pick up the pieces left behind by those who failed their responsibilities. All too often it is the UN that is blamed.

It is only fair to quote Mr Downer’s words at the transfer of the UN Information Centre to Canberra last October. He said, "Power in the United Nations doesn't rest with the UN. The UN is made up of its membership. It's as good or poor as its members are good or poor. It is as united and effective or as divided and ineffective as the member governments want it to be.

“So when people make judgments about the UN they're not really making judgments so much about the institution, but they're making judgments about the governments which make up that institution which determine the decisions its making”.

The reputation of the United Nations, good or bad, is a reflection of ourselves.