The United Nations

The United Nations is an international organization designed to make the enforcement of international law, security, economic development, social progress, and human rights easier for countries around the world. The United Nations includes 193 member countries and its main headquarters are located in New York City.

History and Principles of the United Nations

Prior to the United Nations (UN), the League of Nations was the international organization responsible for ensuring peace and cooperation between world nations.

It was founded in 1919 "to promote international cooperation and to achieve peace and security." At its height, the League of Nations had 58 members and was considered successful. In the 1930s its success waned as the Axis Powers (Germany, Italy, and Japan) gained influence, eventually leading to the start of World War II in 1939.

The term "United Nations" was then coined in 1942 by Winston Churchill and Franklin D. Roosevelt in the Declaration by United Nations. This declaration was made to officially state the cooperation of the Allies (Great Britain, the United States, and the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics) and other nations during World War II.

The UN as it is known today however was not officially founded until 1945 when the Charter of the United Nations was drafted at the UN Conference on International Organization in San Francisco, California. The conference was attended by 50 nations and several non-governmental organizations - all of which signed the Charter. The UN officially came into existence on October 24, 1945 after ratification of the Charter.

The principles of the UN as explained in the Charter are to save future generations from war, reaffirm human rights, and establish equal rights for all persons. In addition it also aims to promote justice, freedom, and social progress for the peoples of all of its member states.

Organization of the United Nations Today

In order to handle the complex task of getting its member states to cooperate most efficiently, the UN today is divided into five branches. The first is the UN General Assembly. This is the main decision-making and representative assembly in the UN and is responsible for upholding the principles of the UN through its policies and recommendations.

It is composed of all member states, is headed by a president elected from the member states, and meets from September to December each year.

The UN Security Council is another branch in the organization of the UN and is the most powerful of all the branches. It has power to authorize the deployment UN member states' militaries, can mandate a cease-fire during conflicts, and can enforce penalties on countries if they do not comply with given mandates. It is composed of five permanent members and ten rotating members.

The next branch of the UN is the International Court of Justice, located in The Hague, Netherlands. This branch is responsible for the judicial matters of the UN. The Economic and Social Council is a branch that assists the General Assembly in promoting economic and social development as well as cooperation of member states. Finally, the Secretariat is the branch UN headed by the Secretary General. Its main responsibility is providing studies, information, and other data when needed by other UN branches for their meetings.

United Nations Membership

Today, almost every fully recognized independent states are member states in the UN. As outlined in the UN Charter, to become a member of the UN a state must accept both peace and all obligations outlined in Charter and be willing to carry out any action to satisfy those obligations. The final decision on admission to the UN is carried out by the General Assembly after recommendation by the Security Council.

Functions of the United Nations Today

As it was in the past, the main function of the UN today is to maintain peace and security for all of its member states. Though the UN does not maintain its own military, it does have peacekeeping forces which are supplied by its member states. On approval of the UN Security Council, these peacekeepers are often sent to regions where armed conflict has recently ended to discourage combatants from resuming fighting. In 1988, the peacekeeping force won a Nobel Peace Prize for its actions.

In addition to maintaining peace, the UN aims to protect human rights and provide humanitarian assistance when needed. In 1948, the General Assembly adopted the Universal Declaration of Human Rights as a standard for its human rights operations. The UN currently provides technical assistance in elections, helps to improve judicial structures and draft constitutions, trains human rights officials, and provides food, drinking water, shelter, and other humanitarian services to peoples displaced by famine, war, and natural disaster.

Finally, the UN plays an integral part in social and economic development through its UN Development Program. This is the largest source of technical grant assistance in the world. In addition, the World Health Organization, UNAIDS, The Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis, and Malaria, the UN Population Fund, and the World Bank Group to name a few play an essential role in this aspect of the UN as well. The UN also annually publishes the Human Development Index to rank countries in terms of poverty, literacy, education, and life expectancy.

For the future, the UN has established what it calls its Millennium Development Goals. Most of its member states and various international organizations have all agreed to achieve these goals relating to reducing poverty, child mortality, fighting diseases and epidemics, and developing a global partnership in terms of international development by 2015. Some member states have achieved a number of the agreement's goals while others have reached none. However, the UN has been successful over the years and only the future can tell how the true realization of these goals will play out.