The United Nations

Where the fun never starts!!!

Creation of the United Nations In 1945, representatives of 50 countries met in San

Francisco at the United Nations Conference on International Organization to draw up the United Nations Charter. Those delegates deliberated on the basis of proposals worked out by the representatives of China, the Soviet Union, the United Kingdom and the United States at Dumbarton Oaks, United States, in August-October 1944. The Charter was signed on 26 June 1945 by the representatives of the 50 countries. Poland, which was not represented at the Conference, signed it later and became one of the original 51 member states.

United Nations Day

The United Nations officially came into existence on 24 October 1945, when the Charter had been ratified by China, France, the Soviet Union, the United Kingdom, the United States and a majority of other signatories. United Nations Day is celebrated on 24 October each year.

International Court of Justice

General Assembly

Economic and Social Council

Security Council

Trusteeship Council

Secretariat

The United Nations

The General Assembly The GA meets in the

New York headquarters each year from the third Tuesday in September until mid-December.

A special session or emergency session may be called at the request of the Security Council (9 votes), or a majority of member nations.

The General AssemblyCommittees First Committee:

disarmament and related international security matters

Special Political Committee: political questions not dealt with by the First Committee

The General AssemblyCommitees Second Committee: economic and

financial matters Third Committee: social,

humanitarian and cultural matters Fourth Committee: decolonization

matters Fifth Committee: administrative

and budgetary matters Sixth Committee: legal matters

General Assembly Voting Procedures Voting within the committees is by

simple majority. A two-thirds majority of present and

voting members is required on decisions such as election of members to the Security Council; admission, suspension, and expulsion of member nations; and budgetary matters.

Voting Procedures Cont.

Other questions require a simple majority.

Although members may have up to five representatives present during a meeting of the General Assembly, each member country has only one vote on all issues.

Security Council

Security Council Holds the primary

responsibility in the United Nations for maintaining peace and security among all members and non-member nations.

Security Council (when a dispute takes place)

Usually recommends that the parties involved try to settle it by peaceful means.

If unsuccessful, the Council may undertake an investigation and begin to resolve the situation.

Cont.

If dispute is not settled peacefully, it may issue a cease-fire directive to help contain fighting and prevent wider hostilities.

The Security Council may send peace-keeping forces to areas of dispute to attempt to reduce hostilities.

Cont.

As a last resort, the Council may decide to use their right to impose enforcement measures such as trade embargos, military action, and even to recommend suspension or expulsion from the United Nations.

Security Council (Structure)

Cont. The Security Council consists of

fifteen members, five of whom are permanent. The five permanent members are China, France, the Russian Federation, the United Kingdom, and the United States. The 10 non-permanent members are elected by the General Assembly for two-year terms. No elected member can serve two consecutive terms.

Voting Procedural matters (such as calling a

special session), requires votes from nine of the fifteen members.

All other matters require that the votes of each of the five permanent Council Members (unless they have chosen to abstain) be included in the nine votes required for an affirmative decision.

Cont.

A permanent member may abstain if it does not support a decision, yet chooses not to block it through a veto. This is the only area within the structure of the United Nations organization where the desires of one member country can control the actions of the entire organization.

Three Permanent Committees

Committee of Experts: studies and advises the Council on procedural and technical matters

Committee on the Admission of New Members

Committee on Council Meetings away from Headquarters

Operations The Security Council operates

continuously throughout the year: it can be called into session quickly in times of crises.

A representative of each member country appointed to the Council must be present at the United Nations Headquarters in New York at all times.

Economic and Social Council

Economic and Social Council (ECOSOC)

Coordinates the economic and social work for the United Nations and sixteen specialized agencies which report directly to the ECOSOC.

The Council is responsible for initiating social and economic studies and making recommendations to the General Assembly, to member countries, and to concerned specialized agencies.

Cont. The Council consists of fifty-four members

who are elected by the General Assembly, with each member serving a three-year term. Each year eighteen new members are elected to replace eighteen who have completed their three-year term.

Members of the ECSOC may be re-elected to serve consecutive terms.

All members have one vote and voting is by simple majority.

Cont. Regular sessions are held by the ECSOC

each year. One is held in New York and the other in

Geneva. This is the body that handles matters of

great concern to the least developed countries-economic development.

The one UN body where NGOs can have a voice.

Trusteeship Council Suspended operation on Nov. 1, 1994. Was originally created to supervise

the administration of Trust Territories placed under the Trusteeship System.

Pushed to help former territories to self-government and independence.

Made up of the 5 permanent Security Council members.

International Court of Justice

The principal judicial organ of the United Nations.

Legal matters involving both member nations and non-member nations may be taken to the International Court of Justice it both sides agree, to seek an impartial advisory opinion on the settlement of a dispute.

Cont. Not all issues are brought to the Court and

the Court does not have the jurisdiction to decide all disputes.

Typical legal disputes that might be brought to the Court include questions of territorial and fishing boundaries.

If a country agrees to submit a case to the World Court and then does not comply with a decision made by the Court, the Court may take the matter to the Security Council.

Cont. The Security Council can decide on measures

to be taken to enforce the Court’s decision. Members of the International Court of Justice

are elected by the General Assembly and the Security Council according to their qualifications without consideration of equal geographical representation.

The membership includes fifteen judges who are elected to serve nine-year terms. Judges may be re-elected to serve consecutive terms and voting is by a simple majority.

Secretariat The Secretariat performs the day-to-day

administrative functions of the United Nations.

At the head of the Secretariat is the Secretary General, who is elected by the General Assembly on the recommendation of the Security Council. The Secretary General is elected to serve a five-year term and may be re-elected to serve consecutive terms.

Secretary General

The Secretary General has made it a priority to get nations to resolve disputes peacefully and is often personally involved in quiet diplomacy to avoid war.

The work of the Secretariat Administering peace-keeping operations; Organizing international conferences on

matters of world-wide concern; Studying world economic and social trends and

problems; Preparing studies on general and specific

issues concerning human rights; Interpreting speeches and translating

documents; and Supplying communication for the media with

world-wide concerning the operations of the United Nations.