The United Nations

History Term coined by US President Franklin D. Roosevelt

Found in 1945 after Second World War

51 countries

Maintaining International peace & security

History

The United Nations is made up of 192 countries from around the World

Can take action on a wide range of issues, and provide a forum for its 193 Member States to

express their views

Purpose

To keep peace throughout the world

To develop friendly relations among nations

To help nations work together to improve the lives of poor people, to conquer hunger, disease and illiteracy, and to encourage respect for each other’s rights and

freedoms

To be a centre for harmonizing the actions of nations to achieve these goals

Need for UN

Stops governments mistreating people

Helps stop wars between countries

Looks after all the world's young people

UN Facts

• 192 member states• Un headquarters is situated in New York• The US has always been by far the largest single

contributor to the UN budget. • In June 2004 the US owed the UN just over $1 billion –

almost half the total $2.5 billion owed to the UN by its members.

• The budget for the UN's main operations is $2.5 billion a year.

• In theory, any member state that owes more than its two previous years’ assessments cannot vote in the General Assembly.

• The UN Secretariat worldwide employs some 15,000 people from 170 different countries

• Six official languages are used at the UN: Arabic, Chinese, English, French, Russian, and Spanish.

• The current secretary general is Ban Ki-moon of South Korea.

Structure

General Assembly Security Council

Economic & Social CouncilTrusteeship Council

International Court of Justice The Secretariat

Organisation Chart

Achievements

Food AidAid to Refugees

Protecting ChildrenPeacekeeping

Running ElectionsReproductive Health & Population Management

War Crimes ProsecutionFighting Aids

Bringing Invisible issues to forefront

Decide on the 5 most important conventions or agreements.

• Join with another group and by voting, decide on the 5 conventions you consider to be the most important.

• (10 minutes)

Setting the Convention is only the First Step.

• The UN faces many similar problems.• Each member country has a single vote.• The conventions are decided by the majority vote but when

all countries do not agree, keeping to them can be difficult!

Principles of the UN

• All Member States have sovereign equality. • All Member States must obey the Charter. • Countries must try to settle their differences by

peaceful means. • Countries must avoid using force or threatening

to use force. • The UN may not interfere in the domestic affairs

of any country. • Countries should try to assist the United Nations.

Aims /Objectives of the UN

• To keep peace throughout the world. • To develop friendly relations between nations. • To work together to help people live better

lives, to eliminate poverty, disease and illiteracy in the world, to stop environmental destruction and to encourage respect for each other's rights and freedoms.

• To be a centre for helping nations achieve these aims.

The Principal organs of the UN

General AssemblySecurity Council

Economic and Social CouncilInternational Court of Justice

SecretariatTrusteeship Council

Security Council

• 5 permanent members: China, France, Russia, UK and the United States

• 10 rotating members• Responsible for the

maintenance of international peace and security.

The Security Council has the responsibility to…

• to investigate any dispute or situation which might lead to international friction;

• to recommend methods of adjusting such disputes or the terms of settlement;

• to formulate plans for the establishment of a system to regulate armaments;

• to determine the existence of a threat to the peace or act of aggression and to recommend what action should be taken;

• to call on Members to apply economic sanctions and other measures not involving the use of force to prevent or stop aggression;

• to take military action against an aggressor; • to recommend the admission of new Members; • to exercise the trusteeship functions of the United Nations in "strategic

areas"; • to recommend to the General Assembly the appointment of the Secretary-

General and, together with the Assembly, to elect the Judges of the International Court of Justice.

General Assembly

• It occupies the central position as the chief deliberative, policy-making and representative organ of the United Nations.

• A forum for multilateral discussion on international issues between 192 Members of the United Nations

• It plays a significant role in the process of standard-setting and the codification of international law.

• The Assembly meets in regular session intensively from September to December each year, and thereafter as required.

Educational and Social Council• ECOSOC coordinates economic, social, and related work of the 14 UN

specialized agencies, functional commissions and five regional commissions.

• ECOSOC consults with academics, business sector representatives and more than 2,100 registered non-governmental organizations.

• It is responsible for: promoting higher standards of living, full employment, and economic and

social progress; identifying solutions to international economic, social and health

problems; facilitating international cultural and educational cooperation; and encouraging universal respect for human rights and fundamental

freedoms.

International Court of Justice• The International Court of Justice (ICJ) is the

principal judicial organ of the United Nations (UN).

• It was established in June 1945 by the Charter of the United Nations and began work in April 1946.

• The seat of the Court is at the Peace Palace in The Hague (Netherlands).

• The Court’s role is to settle, in accordance with international law, legal disputes submitted to it by States and to give advisory opinions on legal questions referred to it by authorized United Nations organs and specialized agencies.

• The Court is composed of 15 judges, who are elected for terms of office of nine years by the United Nations General Assembly and the Security Council.

• Its official languages are English and French.

Trusteeship Council• Responsible for supervising the administration of Trust Territories

placed under the Trusteeship System. • Major goals :

to promote the advancement of the inhabitants of Trust Territories and their progressive development towards self-government or independence.

• The aims of the Trusteeship System have been fulfilled to such an extent that all Trust Territories have attained self-government or independence, either as separate States or by joining neighbouring independent countries.

• The Council suspended operation on 1 November 1994, with the independence of Palau, the last remaining United Nations trust territory, on 1 October 1994.

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