It is distressing, but not surprising, that the United Nations secretary general, Ban Ki-moon, succumbed to pressure from Saudi Arabia to erase a Saudi-led military coalition in Yemen from a list of armies that kill and maim children. What is surprising is that Mr. Ban made the incident public and declared that the sort of pressure he came under was unacceptable.

He was right to do so: Saudi Arabia stands doubly named and shamed — for supporting a coalition that contributed to most of the deaths and injuries to children in Yemen last year and for leaning on Mr. Ban by threatening to withhold financing from humanitarian operations in the Palestinian territories, South Sudan and Syria.

But for all its inefficiency, the United Nations provides a unique venue for nations to mingle and meet and, through its many agencies, one of the most effective global means of gathering and distributing development and medical aid, helping children around the world, protecting world heritage sites, supplying peacekeepers to separate warring armies and doing myriad other global missions.

For many people, the affair will not come as a shock. The United Nations has developed an unenviable reputation over the years for hypocrisy in its approach to human rights. The United Nations Human Rights Council is famous for the human-rights violators who have figured among its rotating membership, which currently includes Saudi Arabia.