The council, endowed to protect human rights, has failed consistently to enforce humanitarian standards worldwide and hold nations accountable for the infringement of these standards. Members of this council serve three-year terms but have included serial human rights violators in the past.

The UN peacekeeping mission in Somalia failed due to a lack of communication with the government and repeated attacks on UN officers, resulting in substantial civilian casualties. The genocide in Rwanda occurred despite the presence of UN peacekeeping officers.

Since 1948, the UN has helped end conflicts and foster reconciliation by conducting successful peacekeeping operations in dozens of countries, including Cambodia, El Salvador, Guatemala, Mozambique, Namibia and Tajikistan.

Often cited points of criticism include: a perceived lack of the body's efficacy (including a total lack of efficacy in both pre-emptive measures and de-escalation of existing conflicts which have ranged from social disputes to all-out wars), antisemitism, appeasement, collusion, promotion of globalism, inaction, abuse ...