The tsunamis provide an opportunity for the UN to reclaim the high ground that it lost recently. Battered by the Iraqi “oil for food” scandal, which, at the least, demonstrated mismanagement, and misdeeds by officials ranging from former Dutch Prime Minister Ruud Lubbers (now High Commissioner for Refugees), who faces allegations of sexual harassment, to rapes committed by UN peacekeeping troops in Congo, the UN has a chance to rehabilitate its reputation by managing the relief effort effectively.