THE UNITED NATIONS ORGANIZATION
The United Nations (UN) is an intergovernmental organization to promote international co-operation. A replacement for the ineffective League of Nations, the organization was established on 24 October 1945 after World War II in order to prevent another such conflict. At its founding, the UN had 51-member states; there are now 193. The headquarters of the United Nations is in Manhattan, New York City, USA.
Principal ORGANS of the United Nations
1. General Assembly.
The General Assembly is the main deliberative assembly of the United Nations. Composed of all United Nations member states, the assembly meets in regular yearly sessions, but emergency sessions can also be called. The assembly is led by a president, elected from among the member states on a rotating regional basis, and 21 vice-presidents.
2. Security Council.
The Security Council has the power to make binding decisions that member states have agreed to carry out. It is made up of fifteen-member states (15), consisting of five permanent members: - China, France, Russia, the United Kingdom, and the United States and ten non-permanent members—Angola (term ends 2016), Chad (2015), Chile (2015), Jordan (2015), Lithuania (2015), Malaysia (2016), New Zealand (2016), Nigeria (2015), Spain (2016), and Venezuela (2016).
Duties of the UN Security Council
1. To maintain international peace and security in accordance with the principles and purposes of the United Nations.
2. To investigate any dispute or situation which might lead to international friction.
3. To recommend methods of adjusting such disputes or the terms of settlement.
4. To call on Members to apply economic sanctions and other measures not involving the use of force to prevent or stop aggression.
5. To take military action against an aggressor.
6. To recommend the admission of new United Nations Members.
7. To exercise the trusteeship functions of the United Nations in "strategic areas “.
8. To formulate plans for the establishment of a system to regulate armaments.
9. To determine the existence of a threat to the peace or act of aggression and to recommend what action should be taken.
10. To recommend to the General Assembly the appointment of the Secretary-General.
11. Together with the Assembly, to elect the Judges of the International Court of Justice.
3. Secretariat.
The current Secretary-General is Mr. Antonio Manuel de Oliveira Guterres of Portugal. The Secretary-General acts as the de facto spokesperson and leader of the UN. The position is defined in the UN Charter as the organization's "chief administrative officer". The Secretary-General is appointed by the General Assembly, after being recommended by the Security Council, where the permanent members have veto power.
There are no specific criteria for the post, but over the years it has become accepted that the post shall be held for one or two terms of five years, that the post shall be appointed on the basis of geographical rotation, and that the Secretary-General shall not originate from one of the five permanent Security Council member states. The current Secretary-General is Antonio Guterres, who replaced Ban Ki Moon in 2017.
A list of UN General Secretary since 1946
1) Trygve Lie of Norway, from February 1946 to 10 November 1952. He resigned.
2) Dag Hammarskjöld of Sweden, from April 1953 to September 1961. Died in office.
3) U Thant of Burma from November 1961 to 31st December 1971.
4) Kurt Waldheim of Austria from the 1st January 1972 to 31st December 1981.
5) Javier Pérez de Cuéllar of Peru from the 1st January 1982 to 31st December 1991.
6) Boutros Boutros-Ghali of Egypt, from the 1st January 1992 to 31st December 1996.
7) Kofi Annan of Ghana from the 1st January 1997 to 31st December 2006.
8) Ban Ki-moon of South Korea from the 1st January 2007 to 31st December 2016.
9) Antonio Guteres of Portugal, from 1st January 2017 >>>>>>>>>>>
4. International Court of Justice.
The International Court of Justice (ICJ), located in The Hague, in the Netherlands, is the primary judicial organ of the UN. Established in 1945 by the UN Charter, the Court began work in 1946 as the successor to the Permanent Court of International Justice. The ICJ is composed of 15 judges who serve 9-year terms and are appointed by the General Assembly; every sitting judge must be from a different nation.
5. Economic and Social Council.
The Economic and Social Council (ECOSOC) assists the General Assembly in promoting international economic and social co-operation and development. ECOSOC has 54 members, which are elected by the General Assembly for a three-year term. The president is elected for a one-year term and chosen amongst the small or middle powers represented on ECOSOC. The council has one annual meeting in July, held in either New York or Geneva. Viewed as separate from the specialized bodies it co-ordinates, ECOSOC's functions include information gathering, advising member nations, and making recommendations.
6. UN Trusteeship Council.
For administering trust territories (currently inactive) Was originally designed to manage colonial possessions that were former League of Nations mandates; Has been inactive since 1994, when Palau, the last trust territory, attained independence.
Specialized agencies
The UN Charter stipulates that each primary organ of the UN can establish various specialized agencies to fulfil its duties. Some best-known agencies are the
1. The “IAE” International Atomic Energy Agency.
2. The ‘FAO’ Food and Agriculture Organization.
3. The UNESCO (United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization).
4. UNICEF “United Nations International Children and Education Fund”
5. The World Bank.
6. The World Health Organization (WHO).
7. The WFP World Food Program.
8. The UNHCR United Nations High Commission for Refugees.
9. FAO “Food and Agriculture Organization”.
10. IAEA “International Atomic Energy Agency”,
11. ICAO “International Civil Aviation Organization”,
12. IFAD “International Fund for Agricultural Development”.
13. ILO “International Labor Organization”,
14. IMO “International Maritime Organization”.
15. IMF “International Monetary Fund”.
16. ITU “International Telecommunication Union”.
17. UNIDO “United Nations Industrial Development Organization”.
18. UNWTO “World Tourism Organization”.
19. UPU “Universal Postal Union” ,
20 WBG “World Bank Group” ,
21. WFP “World Food Program”,
22. WHO “World Health Organization”,
23. WIPO “World Intellectual Property Organization”.
24. WMO “World Meteorological Organization.
THE OBJECTIVES OF THE UNITED NATIONS
1. Peacekeeping and security.
The UN, after approval by the Security Council, sends peacekeepers to regions where armed conflict has recently ceased or paused to enforce the terms of peace agreements and to discourage combatants from resuming hostilities. Since the UN does not maintain its own military, peacekeeping forces are voluntarily provided by member states of the UN. The forces, also called the "Blue Helmets", who enforce UN accord.
2. Human rights and humanitarian assistance.
The pursuit of human rights was a central reason for creating the UN. World War II atrocities and genocide led to a ready consensus that the new organization must work to prevent any similar tragedies in the future. An early objective was creating a legal framework for considering and acting on complaints about human rights violations. The UN Charter obliges all member nations to promote "universal respect for, and observance of, human rights" and to take "joint and separate action" to that end. The Universal Declaration of Human Rights, though not legally binding, was adopted by the General Assembly in 1948 as a common standard of achievement for all.
3. To attain Social and economic development.
This is done through the following Millennium Development Goals.
eradicate extreme poverty and hunger;
achieve universal primary education;
promote gender equality and empower women;
reduce child mortality;
improve maternal health;
combat HIV/AIDS, malaria, and other diseases;
ensure environmental sustainability; and
Develop a global partnership for development.
4. Establishing temporary Mandates.
The United Nations was/is also aimed at issuing documents giving an official instructions or commands. These mandates can be as little as researching and publishing a written report, or mounting a full-scale peacekeeping operation (usually the exclusive domain of the Security Council). Most mandates expire after a limited period and require renewal from the body, which set them up.
5. Rejuvenating the United Nations “Greening the blue”. Avoiding to repeat the former League of Nations mistakes.
The United Nations is also aiming at complying with the global changes for better. The error committed by the League of Nations should not be repeated. The UN's progress towards achieving this goal is communicated through the initiative Greening the Blue.
6. Fighting Colonialism {Defending, sovereignty}.
Over the lifetime of the UN, over 80 colonies have attained independence. The General Assembly adopted the Declaration on the Granting of Independence to Colonial Countries and Peoples in 1960 with no votes against but abstentions from all major colonial powers. Through the UN Committee on Decolonization, created in 1962, the UN has focused considerable attention on decolonization. It has also supported the new states that have arisen as a result of self-determination initiatives. The committee has overseen the decolonization of every country larger than 20,000 sq.km and removed them from the United Nations list of Non-Self-Governing Territories.
UNO ACHIEVEMENTS
The UNO as an Organization has succeeded in the following areas.
1. Food aid.
Food supply is always a significant issue. Especially in the 21st century, when the global population increases exponentially, the food problem becomes more vital and imperative. In that context, UN’s World Food Program has removed the pressure burdening the shoulders of many countries. The World Food Program is known as one of the most successful programs UN has ever ratified because of its enormous impacts on global community. Every year, the UN feeds 104 million people in 80 countries. They feed people in war zones, natural disasters, health emergencies and poor countries.
2. Aid to refugees.
UN High Commissioner on Refugees (UNHCR) is another success of the United Nations. Founded in 1949, UNHCR has helped 17 million asylum-seekers and refugees. The officers of UNHCR help the refugees directly, working to ensure governments meet their responsibilities to the expatriates. Two Nobel Peace Prizes in 1954 and 1981 are persuasive evidences for the success of UNHCR. Right now, UNHCR is facing a problematic financial issue, trying to protect and assist 700,000 people who had fled conflict in Syria, Mali, Sudan and the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC). It is truly the hope of millions of refugees all over the world.
3. Reproductive Health and Population Management.
The UN also specializes in mother and childhood health, family planning and the prevention of sexually transmitted diseases. The UN’s population fund is widely respected, and is credited with helping to drastically reduce infant and maternal mortality in over 100 countries. Besides that, the UN is also deeply concerned about the rapid increase of global population in the recent years.
4. Protecting Children.
Perhaps, many of us are too familiar with the phrase “UNICEF” because it is repeated myriad of times on the media. Yes, UNICEF (United Children’s Fund) is an agency belonging to United Nations whose headquarters are based in New York. This organization protects the rights of children everywhere in the world and works to enhance the living standards of children. With the significant contribution of UNICEF, the number of deaths for children under the age of 5 has declined from nearly 12 million in 1990 to 6.9 million in 2011.
5. Peacekeeping.
Currently, the UN has 16 active peacekeeping missions in hotspot like Syria, Kosovo, North Korea…International Peace is always the greatest concern of the UN because its main purpose is encouraging peaceful diplomatic relations between different countries around the world. With the intervention of the UN, many conflicts have been reconciled, saving the lives of many people. The contribution the UN has given to global peace is undeniable and therefore, peacekeeping should be regarded as one of the most successful task the UN has undertaken in its 72 years of history.
6. War Crimes Prosecution.
This is a fairly new line of business for the UN. The Tribunals it has set up for former Yugoslavia and Rwanda have had their share of delays and management problems but, all in all, they are respected, have developed an important case law on genocide and human rights and have provided a measure of justice that is taken very seriously by the people of affected regions. War crime, again, is such a controversial issue to be judged by an individual or even a single state.
7. Running Elections.
Incontrovertibly, free election is one of the most basic political rights of everybody around the world. But in fact, not everyone gets access to freedom of choice. The UN has fought continuously for the voting right of people in areas where the ideology of dictatorship or monarchy is still dominating. A great example of this is with Iraq.
8. Fighting AIDS.
The UN is the leader when it comes to the global battle against HIV/AIDS. Between the World Health Organization, UNAIDS, and the Global Fund to find Aid, the UN is at the heart of every aspect of dealing with this epidemic, from heightening awareness to raising funds to making sure appropriate programs for prevention and treatment are implemented.
9. Bringing invisible issues to the forefront.
Without the efforts of United Nations, we might never get access to the issues such as landmine victims, Marburg fever and Cholera sufferers, child soldiers, modern-day slavery and there are still more and more problematic issues which are less noticed or completely ignored by public.
UNO CHALLENGES
1. Global conflicts. Such as the Syria conflict, ISIS crisis in Iraq.
2. Terrorism threats through the increase of Radical groups such as ISIS, Al Qaeda.
3. Climate changes such as global warming.
4. Middle East Crisis. The conflict between Israel and Palestine.
5. Global Economic crisis such as growth of poverty in the world.
6. Diseases such as Ebola, HIV/AIDS etc.
7. Refugee’s crisis such as the refugees crossing the Mediterranean Sea to Europe.
8. Atomic energy crisis such as North Korea and Iran nuclear energy threats.
