During the time period of World war II, representatives from 26 different nations plighted their governments together in order to continue their battle against the Axis powers. Franklin D. Roosevelt- the president of the United States at that time, named this alliance the United Nations. It was initially utilized in the Declaration by United Nations on the first of January, 1942. Primarily, states had gathered and developed an international organization in order to collaborate on certain topics or matters. Some examples of these organizations were the International Telecommunication Union and the Universal Postal Union. In 1989, an International peace conference took place in which the issue of settling worldwide disputes and predicaments was confronted. In this conference, dealing with crises in a peaceful and mature way rather than settling scores with warfare was discussed.
The League of Nations was the forerunner of the United Nations. It was responsible for kindred affairs during World War I. The league of nations eventually desisted its efforts of uniting the world’s nations after failing to prevent World War II. In 1945, delegates from 50 different countries gathered in the state of San Francisco to appoint the United Nations Charter. The meeting was held at the United Nations Conference on International Organization and the representatives contemplated on the basis of suggestions made by the delegates of the Soviet Union, China, the United Kingdom, and the United States of America from August to October, 1944. On June 26th, 1945 the charter was finally signed by the delegates from the 50 countries. Also, Poland, which was not included in the conference, signed it soon after and become one of the 51 original member states. The United Nations became official on October 24th, 1945 after the charter was approved by several member states. It has been up and running since then and is one of the best ways for nations to remain connected worldwide.
The prime ambition of the United Nations is to associate the nations of the world in terms of justice, human dignity, and eudemonia. It gives countries the contingency to balance worldwide mutual dependence and global concernment when dealing with international issues or interests. The UN pledges to assure global peace and safety. It also deals with economic progress and development, environmental stability, animal care, and educational matters.
There are currently 193 members that are part of the UN including Canada, the United States, China, the Netherlands, and Australia. Three nations that are not part of this organization are Taiwan, Kosovo, and Vatican City; each for their own specific reasons.
The United Nations headquarters are located in Ney York, United States. This is where the largest and most important international discussions take place.
In order to keep the UN running, there are six main parts to it. These are the general assembly, the security council, the economic and social council, the trusteeship council, the international court of justice, and the secretariat. The general assembly consists of all member nations of the UN. They debate and give suggestions on topics that are within the boundaries of the charter. They also accede regulations administering the authority of the secretariat, handle the United Nations’ budget, and determine the amount of money each member nation must provide to help fund the organization. The economic and social council is made up of only 54 member nations, none of which are permanent. Its purpose is to deal with chief and large-scale economic and social issues. It also accustoms guidelines of the United Nations and its other specialized departments. The Security council is made up of five permanent member nations which are the United States, the Russian Federation, the United Kingdom, France, and China. Its purpose is to manage global peace and security. The trusteeship council assists the general assembly in watching over the administration of territories beneath the trusteeship and is made up of the five permanent member nations from the security council. The international court of justice consists of fifteen judges and has two important jobs. It settles altercations alleged by nations for an ultimate decision and gives guidance to other United Nations agencies. Finally, The secretariat is controlled by the secretary-general who is essentially the main man of the UN. The staff of the secretariat are to be international and only serve the interests of the organization.
The United Nations has many agencies within itself. A few are more important than the others because they contribute to the world the most. For example, UNESCO advocates joint efforts amongst nations through education, science, culture, and communication. UNICEF aids the governments of developing countries and improves the education and health of mothers and children. The United Nations’ world food program feeds approximately 104 million people a year in countries that require help and the UN high commissioner on refugees aids emigrants that have just left their countries. Lastly, the UN population fund deals with mother and child health, family preparation, and prevention of STDs.
Sirima B from yahoo answers feels that the United Nations are a dissatisfactory organization. Her reasons for this are that its security council essentially controls the entire organization and its members were the victors of World War II. From what she last heard, the United Nations is supposed to attain world peace and resolve conflicts civilly, not with warfare. Also, she said that the decisions made in this organization are never fair to everyone and some conflicts taken into account end up remaining unsolved. According to her, the United Nations’ inadequacy creates new conflicts aside from the ones that already must be dealt with and they haven’t really done anything to help the environment or the poor like they promised. All in all, Sirima feels that the United Nations does not live up to its great expectations.
In my opinion, the United Nations is a commendable organization. It has done a lot to help make the world a better place and although it has its faults, it is a relatively positive administration. There are many things this organization has done for the better of us all which is why we should be grateful to have it around. For example, it supplies aid to refugees and protects children worldwide. Its history of peacekeeping really shows that the UN knows how to solve problems efficiently and effectively and their forth bringing of invisible issues lets everyone know exactly what’s going on around the world. Judging from these examples, you can tell that the UN has played a huge role in our world’s development. If it wasn’t for this organization, most of the things we have today wouldn’t be around. Without an administration such as this, several more wars could have occurred, innocent people could have died, and the world’s nations could be estranged for decades to come. As you can see, the United Nations may not be perfect, but it is the closest thing we are ever going to get to unity among us all.
