United Nations Organisation
Essay No. 01
After the First World War the League of Nations was formed by the effort of President Wilson of United States of America, in order to preserve peace in the world with its headquarters at Geneva in Switzerland. All the members of the league undertook not to wage war with other nations.
The League of Nations not only settled disputes between nations and preserved peace but also helped weaker nations to solve their political and economical problems. But the league failed to achieve its objects and ultimately the Second World War broke out.
Similarly, after the Second World War fifty-one nations of the world met at Sanfrancisco in 1945 and drafted the charter of the United Nations Organisation and this charter was accepted by all the member nations and the U.N.O. was born on 24th October 1945.
The object of the U.N.O. was to maintain world peace and to prevent wars between nations. It also aimed at helping backward nations in cultural, economic and industrial fields. It wanted to safeguard the fundamental rights of the human beings.
The General Council of the U. N. O. consists of all member nations and it meets every year to discuss and resolve general problems.
The UNESCO is another active wing of the U. N. 0, which as the name implies looks after the living conditions viz., food, housing, health and education of the backward nations. The UNESCO is an abbreviation for the United Nations Educational Scientific and Cultural Organisation. Apart from these, there are specialised agencies of the U.N.O.6 serving dutifully under the U.N.0 viz., Food and Agricultural Organisation (FAO), international Labour Organisation (IL0)., World Bank (WB) and the World Health Organisation (WHO).
With its limited capacity the UNO strives hard to maintain peace and settle disputes amidst nations. Who can forget the timely role played by UNO in Indonesia, Suez Canal and Korea that prevented the inevitable world war? The timely intervention between Israel and the Arabs and in Conga and Cypress cannot be lost sight off.
The United Nations Organisation cannot be said to be without drawbacks. The big powers in the world by exercising the power of veto, at times throw the UNO into confusion and powerless. The rivalry between the big powers is beyond the control of the UNO and its powers. Hence there are momentums rocking of the foundation at times when the interest of the big powers are challenged.
But still. it is an accepted fact that in spite of these bickering the UNO has survived its time and ideal unlike the League of Nations. The chief executive of the UNO is the Secretary-General.
Essay No. 02
The United Nation Organisation
The League of Nations was formed after the First World War and the United Nation Organisation was formed after the Second World War. The U.N.O. came into being on October 24, 1945.
The main functions of the U.N. is to maintain peace and security in the world, to affirm faith in fundamental human rights, to establish conditions under which treaties can be respected and to promote social progress and good life for people world over.
At present, around 190 countries are the members of the UNO. For seeking membership of the ON, the country must profess peace and should be willing to accept the rules of the UN Charter. Then the UN judges the country’s ability to carry out the aims of U.N Charter. UN Security Council recommends the membership of the fresh entrant. And finally, the membership is confirmed by the U.N. General Assembly by a majority of vote.
The UN comprises of six major organs-The General Assembly, the Security Council, the Secretariat, the Trusteeship Council, the Social and Economic Council and the International Court of Justice.
The General Assembly is the most important and the largest organ of the U.N. It comprises of all the members of the United Nations. The Assembly meets at regular intervals and the annual session is held in Washington. It can discuss any matter falling within the scope of the U.N. Charter. The responsibility for the maintenance of international peace lies with the Security Council. Security Council has five permanent and ten nonpermanent members. These non permanent members are elected by the General Assembly for a term of two years and they are not eligible for immediate re-election.
The UN in its history was faced with lot of problems like that of Palestine, Korea, Arab-Israel, Iran conflict, Indonesia, Greece etc. but it solved the problems commendably.
On the social and economic front the UN has achieved tremendous success through its agencies like WHO, UNICEF and UNESCO, which have contributed a lot towards the development in the area of health, child welfare, educational and cultural development of the developing countries
The funds towards the UN are provided by the World Bank and the countries which are member of UNO.
It would be unfair to blame UN for failures on the political front because at times the five, permanent members of Security Council do not have same views and this creates rift and then these countries use their veto powers which prevents reaching the solution acceptable to all.
Recently, the USA and the U.K. did not take approval of Security Council in their military action against Iraq while the whole world watched it silently.
Yet world has become a safe and peaceful place to live because of the efforts of U.N., as it has surely very much minimised the chances of a full scale war.
Essay No. 03
The U.N.O.
The United Nations was founded as a successor to the League of Nations, which was widely considered to have been ineffective in its role as an international governing body, in that it had been unable to prevent World War II. The idea for the UN was espoused in declaration signed at the wartime allied conferences in Moscow, Cairo, and Tehran in 1943. From August to October 1944 representatives of France, the Republic of China, the United Kingdom, the United States, and the Soviet Union met to elaborate the plans at the Dumbarton Oaks Estate in Washington, D.C. Those and later talks produced proposals outlining the purposes of the organization, its membership and organs, and arrangements to maintain international peace and security and international economic and social cooperation. And so the UNO was born.
The United Nations Charter outlines the rules for membership:
1 Membership in the United Nations is open to all other peace-loving states which accept the obligations contained in the present charter and, in the judgment of the Organization, and are able and willing to carry out these obligations.
2 The admission of any such state to membership in the United Nations will be effected by a decision of the General Assembly upon the recommendation of the Security Council.
The Group of 77 at the UN is a loose coalition of developing nations, designed to promote its members’ collective economic interests and create an enhanced joint negotiating capacity in the United Nations. There were 77 founding members of the organization, but the organization has since expanded to 130 member countries. The United Nations headquarters is a golden rectangle building in New York City. The UN is financed from assessed and voluntary contributions from member states. Under the Charter, the official languages are Chinese, English, French, Russian, and Spanish. Later the Arabic language was added as a language of the General Assembly, the Security Council and the Economic and Social Council.
The United Nations system is based on five principal organs the General Assembly, the Security Council, the Economic and Social Council (ECOSOC), the Secretariat. and the International Court of Justice.
1 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 under a president elected from among the member states.
2 The Security Council is charged with maintaining peace and security among countries. While other organs of the United Nations can only make ‘recommendations’ to member governments, the Security Council has the power to make binding decisions that member governments have agreed to carry out.
3 The Economic and Social Council (ECOSOC) assists the General Assembly in promoting international economic and social cooperation and development.
4 The United Nations Secretariat is headed Secretary-General, assisted by a staff of international civil servants worldwide. It provides studies, information, and facilities needed by United Nations bodies for their meetings.
5 The International Court of Justice (ICJ), located in The Hague, Netherlands, is the primary judicial organ of the United Nations. Some of its other working bodies are UNESCO, WHO, to name a few.
The UN helps in maintaining peace amongst the nations in the world. It regularly seeks help from willing nations and its members to send peace keeping forces to war struck countries and help restore civic peace there. It constantly makes efforts to avoid another world war, by helping nations reach a mutual understanding. Improving social life and removal of poverty are some prime points on the UN’s agenda. It has, is, and shall continue to maintain world peace.
