My Science School

The United Nations I run by its Secretariat. The programme and policies laid down by the other UN bodies are administered by the Secretariat. The UN Secretariat is headed by the Secretary-General, one of the most powerful positions in world politics.

The duties carried out by the Secretariat range from peacekeeping to mediating international disputes. For ensuring its smooth functioning, the Secretariat has employed over 9000 employees from 170 countries, who have sworn loyalty to the UN. There is a wide range of job positions in the Secretariat, from secretaries and scientists to translators and truck drivers!

The Secretariat staff informs the world media about the works of the UN. They also organize international conferences on issues of worldwide concern. They are also involved in interpreting speeches and translating documents into the official languages of the UN.

Apart from New York, the Secretariat has offices in Geneva, Bangkok, Nairobi, Santiago, Vienna and Addis Ababa.

 

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The UN Security Council has five permanent members- the United States, China, Russia, France and the United Kingdom. The permanent membership of these countries was granted by the UN Charter.

These countries were Allies during the Second World War (they were on the winning side.) These countries also possessed nuclear weapons and the world’s most powerful armies. The permanent members also have the power to veto a resolution. This power allows these members to prevent the adoption of any decision regardless of its international support.

There have been discussions about granting permanent membership to other members. The frequently suggested candidates for this were India, Brazil, Germany and Japan.

 

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The responsibility of maintaining international peace and security lies with the UN Security Council. The real power to make decisions for the world lies with the Security Council.

It is the Security Council takes the decision about providing membership to the nations. It also encourages the members to take action against those who break the rules of the United Nations. The Security Council is the only body of the UN that can call for military action.

There are a total of fifteen members in the Security Council. Apart from the five permanent members, the UN General Assembly elects ten members to serve a two-year term. The meetings of the Security Council can happen anytime around the year and anytime of the day or night.

 

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The sessions of the General Assembly are presided over by its president. This is a position voted by the members of the General Assembly.

Some of the largest and powerful countries of the world including China, Japan, Russia, the US, France, and the UK have never held presidency. This is because of the global status of their power. In addition to this, the UN Secretary-General should not come from the five permanent member states.

The president of the General Assembly is usually selected from different geographic areas such as Africa, Asia-Pacific, Latin America and the Caribbean, Eastern Europe, Western Europe and other states. Tijjani Muhammed –Bande of Nigeria currently serves as the president of the UN General Assembly.

 

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You all know about the Indian Parliament. In the Parliament, all elected members get equal representation. The UN General Assembly can be seen as the world’s parliament.

All the member nations have equal representation in the General Assembly. The General Assembly meets every year from September to December. It also meets at other times to discuss other serious issues like terrorism, child labour, or the conservation of the environment. Every nation has one vote in the General Assembly regardless of its size, population, or national income.

To pass resolutions on important matters, it is necessary to win two-thirds of the votes of the members. However, the General Assembly alone cannot make important decisions. It can only recommend that actions to other important bodies like the Security Council.

 

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There are six principal offices that ensure the smooth functioning of the United Nations-the General Assembly, the Security Council, the Secretariat, the International Court of Justice and the Trusteeship Council. These offices support and promote the ideas mentioned in the UN Charter. The UN General Assembly is the central body of the United Nations. Out of the six principal organs, four are located in Turtle Bay in New York.

The International Court of Justice is situated in the Hague and the Trusteeship Council was suspended in 1994. Other UN offices are spread across the world.

 

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It happened in 1946. The Soviet Union used the power to veto for the first time in the history of the United Nations. This was during the Cold War.

In a nutshell, the Cold War was the rivalry between the Soviet Union and the United States after the Second World War. The Soviet Union was a communist regime while the US had capitalist interests.

There were dozens of conflicts, some big, some small and the UN was not completely successful in preventing wars. Both the Soviet Union and the US used veto to block the other’s suggestions about various policies. By 1953, the Soviet Union had used veto more than 50 times!

 

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You might have heard of things like ‘the power to veto’. The Latin word veto means ‘I forbid’. Now you might get means.

In simple words, veto is the power to say ‘no’ to any decision. Te five permanent members of the UN Security Council have the power to veto. No major decisions would be made if any of the five members vetoes a proposal. There is an interesting story behind the introduction of veto in the UN.

When it was founded, the founding members decided that the Security Council would be the most powerful organ of the UN. However, a lot of fear lurked beneath this decision.

The Soviet Union especially believed that the US would get the Council to pass resolutions against the interests of their Republic. This might also lead to a nation gaining absolute power over everything. To avoid this from happening, it was decided that any resolution could be passed only if all the permanent members of the Council agreed to it. Thus, veto was introduced.

 

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The UN is a huge organisation that needs effective leaders. The head of the UN is responsible for running the UN and this is vested upon the Secretary-General. Being the head of the UN is not an easy task.

The UN Secretary – General is a peace-maker. He or she needs to be a good administrator, a diplomat, and an able spokesperson all at the same time. The Secretary-General should be efficient enough to make the voice of the unprivileged heard.

The Secretary-General is appointed by the General Assembly and serves a maximum of two four-year terms. The UN had made it a point that the Secretary-Generals should not come from the countries linked with major powers. The first Secretary-General of the UN was from Norway and his name was Trygve Halvdan Lie.

 

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One would not be wrong to say that the United Nations looks after the world. Such an organisation needs a lot of money for smooth and efficient functioning. You might have membership in some club. As club members, you would have to contribute money for the functioning of the club. Similarly, the UN draws funds through membership.

The UN receives annual funding from the governments of its 193 members. Each member contributes according to its ability to pay. Factors like national income, level of debt and population are taken into consideration to decide a country’s annual contribution.

So naturally, wealthier nations contribute more than the poor nations. For instance, in 2006, Liberia had to contribute 0.001 per cent of the regular budget while France had to pay 6 per cent.

 

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We have been talking a lot about how the UN strives for establishing world peace. But is peace the only concern of the United Nations? The UN Charter clearly sets out the objectives of the organisation. They are as follows:

• To maintain international peace and security


• To develop friendly relations among nations


• To cooperate internationally in solving international economic, social, cultural and humanitarian problems and in promoting respect for human rights and fundamental freedoms


• To be a centre for harmonizing the actions of nations in attaining these common ends

The UN has many specialized agencies like the UNESCO and programmes like the World Food Programme that help it to achieve these objectives.

 

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The United Nations has six different languages. They are English, Chinese, French, Arabic, Russian and Spanish. These six languages are used in the meetings and documents of the United Nations. But why does the UN have so many official languages?

UN is an international organisation with its members speaking different languages. This should not be a barrier for effective communication. So, it is natural for it to have more than one official language.

Using different languages enables effective communication between the culturally and linguistically diverse members. Apart from the official languages, all the speeches are translated other languages as well.

 

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New York holds the United Nations. It is situated in Turtle Bay. Sometimes, the name Turtle Bay is used for the headquarters of the UN. Turtle Bay has served as the headquarters of the UN since 1952. The UN headquarters was designed by a team of architects led by Wallace Harrison.

Though situated in the US, Turtle Bay does not come under US administration. It is completely under the administration of the UN. But, it acknowledges many of the US federal laws.

The headquarters is the home of the General Assembly and the Security Council. In addition to Turtle Bay, the UN has three regional headquarters in Geneva, Vienna and Nairobi. These offices do not hold the seats of any major organs, but they represent the interests of the UN and aid in diplomatic activities.

 

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In 1945, the UN had only 51 members including the five permanent member states. Over the years, there has been an increase in the number of members by four times. The UN now has 193 members. All the 193 members have a seat and equal representation in the General Assembly.

There are two reasons for the increase in the membership of the UN. Countries like the Soviet Union and Yugoslavia split up to form more independent states. The Soviet Union split to form fifteen independent countries. In addition to this, the end of the European colonial empires led to the formation of new countries.

The number of members increased as more countries were created. For instance, in 1960, when the European empires began to lose their power in Africa, many independent countries were formed like Cameroon, Congo, Madagascar, Mali, Nigeria, Benn and Gabon. All these countries joined the UN.

 

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We know about membership in clubs and supermarkets. Similarly, the United Nations too offers membership to all the peace loving countries. But, the process is not as simple as getting a club membership.

By taking membership, the members agree to abide by the principles of the UN. There is a body of the UN known as the General Assembly. The General Assembly is responsible for taking new members after discussing with the Security Council.

To get membership, a country or a government has to submit an application to the Secretary General. This application will be considered by the Security Council. This application should be approved by nine to fifteen members. Moreover, the application will be rejected if any of the permanent members vote against it.

If the Security Council approves the application, it will be presented in the General Assembly for consideration. The application should gain a majority of two-thirds of the vote. If the application gets through all these hurdles, the country or the government will be admitted as a new number state.

 

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