MAJORITY OF AMERICAN VOTERS HAVE FAVOURABLE OPINION OF UNITED NATIONS

Press Release
SG/2050

MAJORITY OF AMERICAN VOTERS HAVE FAVOURABLE OPINION OF UNITED NATIONS

Seven in 10 (70.2 per cent) American voters have a favourable opinion of the United Nations, according to a poll of 1003 likely voters conducted from 10 to 13 December at the request of the Office of Secretary-General Kofi Annan. The poll, which was conducted by Zogby International, a polling and market research organization, also revealed that one in four American voters (27 per cent) has an unfavourable opinion of the Organization, while 2.9 per cent are not sure.

Other findings of the poll show that majorities of all sub-groups -- 70 per cent of whom identified themselves as born-again Christians -- have a favourable or somewhat favourable opinion of the United Nations. That includes 57.3 per cent of Republican voters, 72.5 per cent of independent voters and 69.3 per cent of voters living in the south.

John Zogby, President and CEO of Zogby International, told correspondents at a United Nations Headquarters press briefing today that: "United States voters seem to like the United Nations and want the United States Government to support it. Despite taking hits from United States critics over matters of administration and social policies like contraception, voter support appears to be very strong."

A majority of Americans (61.6 per cent), according to Mr. Zogby, want the United States to pay the $1.4 billion in back dues it owes the Organization, while 27 per cent are opposed to doing so, and 11 per cent are not sure. Majorities of all sub-groups favour paying the back dues, and there is almost identical agreement among men and women -- 61 and 63 per cent respectively. Mr. Zogby noted that 54 per cent of those identified as born-again Christians agree that the United States should pay.

Also revealed in the poll is that 57 per cent of American voters believe that the United Nations is effective in keeping the peace, promoting human rights and helping developing countries climb out of poverty, while 32 per cent of those polled agree that the United Nations is a bloated bureaucracy which weakens United States' sovereignty and costs tax-payers too much.

According to Mr. Zogby, the poll also discovered that 51 per cent of those polled can name something other than peacekeeping among United Nations activities -- the most popular response being the United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF), followed by humanitarian aid in general. Forty-nine per cent of those polled were unable to name anything other than peacekeeping.

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