About The Better World Campaign
About the Better World Campaign
BWC is a project of the Better World Fund, created with support from entrepreneur and philanthropist Ted Turner as part of his historic $1 billion gift in 1998 to support UN causes.
Launched in 1999, BWC has helped build support for:
- Repayment of $926 million in U.S. debt to the UN, under the Helms-Biden agreement. The last of three payments was made by the U.S. in September 2002.
- Repayment of $721 million more in U.S. peacekeeping debt to the UN in 2009; this payment erased all arrears accumulated during the decade.
- U.S. participation in the Human Rights Council in 2009 and U.S. re-entry into the UN Educational, Scientific, and Cultural Organization in 2003.
- Constructive U.S. engagement in UN reform from 2005-10, which led to the creation of the Democracy Fund, Peacebuilding Commission, Ethics Office, Human Rights Council, and UN Women, improvements in UN management, and the development of the Global Field Support Strategy.
- Almost $100 million in 2010 additional funding for the UN peacekeeping mission in Haiti (MINUSTAH) so that peacekeepers could continue providing security and securing the delivery of humanitarian assistance after the devastating earthquake.
2012 Agenda
In 2012, BWC will build support for U.S. policies that reinforce and renew U.S. engagement in the UN and educate people about the real benefits the U.S. receives through our relationships with the UN. We will work with the Administration and Congress on the range of issues listed below, so the UN can effectively address the global challenges of the 21st century:
- Payment of our nation’s UN regular budget and peacekeeping dues on time, in full, and without conditions, the removal of the Congressionally imposed arbitrary peacekeeping cap, and the reversal of the U.S. policy of paying dues one year late;
- Greater support for UN peacekeeping operations in places such as Haiti and South Sudan and U.S. assistance in managing the historic number of missions by working with the UN to develop its capabilities in logistics, training, doctrine, and management expertise;
- Increased awareness about the work being performed by UN specialized agencies around the world and support for fully funding their crucial mandates;
- Constructive engagement on structural and management reforms at the UN and the continued implementation of ongoing reforms;
- Continued U.S. participation in the UN Human Rights Council;
- Advancement of the Millennium Development Goals;
- Senate passage of key international agreements that we have signed but not yet ratified, including the UN Convention on the Law of the Sea, the Convention on the Elimination of Discrimination Against Women, and the Comprehensive Nuclear-Test-Ban Treaty.
