The UN has failed in ending human miseries or in checking income disparities or in preventing the concentration of economic and political power in the hands of few countries. UN conferences create an illusion of helping the deprived while little is actually done. More people are living in abject poverty than ever before, more are languishing in slums, more are inhaling polluted air and more are drinking unsafe water. For them, freedom from want, freedom from fear, freedom of expression or protection of human rights are just empty slogans.