The United Nations
● The world witnessed two devastating wars in the 20th
century.
● The First World War broke out in 1914 and continued till
1918. Millions of people were killed, wounded, maimed,
crippled and rendered homeless.
● The horror and tragedy of the First World War led to a
universal desire for peace.
● It was felt that some international organization should be
created to prevent future wars. Out of this desire was born the
League of Nations.
● The primary aim of the League of Nations was to preserve
peace and promote international cooperation. The League of
Nations failed to maintain peace and the Second World War
broke out in 1939.
● The outbreak of the Second World War revealed to the world
the weaknesses of the League of Nations.
● It was felt that a much stronger international organisation
should be created, if the world was to have peace. The Second
World War which broke out in 1939 came to an end in 1945.
❖ Membership of the United Nations was to be opened to all
peace- loving states. Representatives of fifty nations met at San
Francisco to sign the Atlantic Charter. Poland signed it later
and became one of the original 51 member states.
❖ The United Nations officially came into existence on 24 October,
1945. The Charter had been ratified by the five big powers
Britain, China, France, the Soviet Union, and the United States
and by a majority of the other signatories.
❖ The 24th of October is celebrated as United Nations Day.
Today, the organization has 192 members.
❖ The headquarters of the United Nations is located in New York,
USA. The organization has six official languages- English,
French, Spanish, Russian, Chinese and Arabic. Its flag bears its
emblem, a map of the world encircled by two bent olive branches.
OBJECTIVES OF UNO
(1) To maintain international peace and security.
(2) To develop friendly relations among nations on the basis of
equality and the principle of self-determination.
(3) To promote human rights and fundamental freedom for the
people of the world.
(4) To foster worldwide cooperation in solving economic, social,
cultural and humanitarian problems.
(5) To serve as a centre where various nations can coordinate their
activities towards the attainment of the objectives of the United
Nations.
(6) To save succeeding generations from the scourge of war.
ORGANS OF UNO
1. The General Assembly,
2. The Economic and Social Council,
3. The Trusteeship Council,
4. The Security Council,
5. The International Court of Justice and
6. The Secretariat.
1. The General Assembly:
✔ The General Assembly is the largest organ of the UN.
✔ All members of the UN are members of the General
Assembly.
✔ Each state can send up to five representatives but is entitled to
one vote in the Assembly. This ensures that all the member
states have equal status.
✔ The General Assembly meets once a year for three months.
But special sessions may be held during times of crisis. At the
beginning of every session, the Assembly elects a new
President.
The functions of the General Assembly are as follows:
1. It can discuss any matter affecting international peace and
security.
2.It admits new members to the UN on the recommendation of the
Security Council.
3. It makes recommendations for peaceful settlements of disputes.
4. It passes the budget of the UN.
5. It makes recommendations for “collective measures, including
the use of armed forces”, in case the Security Council is unable to
take a decision during a crisis.
6. It elects the members of the Economic and Social Council and the
Trusteeship Council.
7. It elects the members of the International Court of Justice
with the help of Security Council.
8. It elects the non-permanent members of the Security Council.
9. In recent years the General Assembly has increased its power
through a resolution called Uniting for Peace Resolution.
Decisions are taken in the General Assembly by a simple majority
vote. In some important cases a two-thirds majority vote is required
for taking a decision.
2. The Economic and Social Council:
The Economic and Social Council consists of 54 members elected by
the General Assembly for a three-year term.
The ECOSOC discusses major economic and social issues. It is
mainly concerned with the management of the UN’s social, economic,
cultural and humanitarian activities.
Its main functions are as follows:
1. It promotes economic and social progress.
2. It solves problems relating to health, illiteracy, unemployment,
etc.
3. It coordinates the functions of the agencies of the UN like the
International Monetary Fund (IMF), the International Labour
Organization (ILO), the Food and Agricultural Organization
(FAO), the World Health Organization (WHO), the United
Nations Educational Scientific and Cultural Organization
(UNESCO), International Children’s Fund (UNICEF), etc.
3. The Trusteeship Council:
The Trusteeship Council was set up immediately after the Second
World War. It was set up to ensure the proper administration and
development of those areas of the world that were under foreign
rule. The Council was also to take steps to help them attain self-
government. By 1994, all Trust Territories had attained
self-government. The Council will now meet only if required to do
so.
4. The Security Council:
The Security Council is the most important and effective organ of
the UN. It is the executive wing of the UN. The Security Council
consists of 15 members. Five of them are permanent members,
namely Britain, China, France, Russia and the USA. The ten
non-permanent members are elected by the General Assembly for a
term of two years.
Each member has one vote. Decisions are taken by a majority vote of
at least nine members including the five permanent members. Each
permanent member has the power to reject or veto a decision. This
means a negative vote by any one of the permanent members would
lead to a cancellation of the resolution. The Council is powerless to
act if there is such a veto by any permanent member although it may
be supported by all other permanent members.
The Security Council has the basic responsibility of maintaining
peace and security in the world. The Security Council meets once a
month but in the event of an emergency, a meeting may be held
whenever required.
Functions of the Security Council:
1. It maintains international peace and security in the world.
2. It investigates international disputes and recommend appropriate
methods of settling them.
3. It calls on member states to apply economic sanctions against the
aggressor and thus to put pressure on the guilty state to stop
aggression.
4. It takes military action against the aggressor, if required.
5. The International Court of Justice:
The International Court of Justice, located in The Hague,
Netherlands, is the principal judicial organ of the United Nations.
The Court consists of 15 Judges from different countries elected by
the General Assembly and the Security Council. They are elected
for a nine-year term. No two judges can be citizens of the same
country.
Functions of the International Court of Justice:
(1) To settle disputes brought to it by member nations.
(2) To provide legal advice to any organ of the UN on request.
6. The Secretariat:
The Secretariat is the principal administrative department of the
UN. It is headed by the Secretary-General appointed by the
General Assembly on the recommendation of the Security Council
for a term of five years. He can be re-elected.
The staff of the Secretariat is appointed by the Secretary-General.
They are chosen from among the 192 member countries. The
Secretary- General holds a key position in the administration of the
affairs of the UN. He organises conferences, oversees peacekeeping
operations, drafts reports on economic and social trends, prepares
studies on human rights, mediates in international disputes and
prepares budget estimates.
It is to be noted that the United Nations can achieve success only if
the member states cooperate with it. All member countries must
abide by the policies and programmes of the United Nations, if the
latter is to succeed as a peace-keeping organisation.
