After the World War II, an international body called the United Nations was set up to keep peace and prevent war, and to build a better world by dealing with problems which can only be solved through international cooperation. Today it has 184 member countries.
The Charter of United Nations was signed at San Francisco Conference on June 26, 1945 by representatives of 51 nations. The Charter came into force on October 24, 1945 when the governments of India, France, and the United Kingdom, the Soviet Union and the United States and a majority of other states had ratified it. The name, United Nations, was adopted at the suggestion of President Roosevelt of U.S.A. and the preamble to the Charter was largely the work of Field Marshal Smuts.
According to the Charter the U.N. has four chief purposes. The first is to maintain peace by settling disputes peacefully or by taking steps to stop aggression (armed attack). The second is to develop friendly relations among nations, based on the equal rights of people and their own choices of government. The third is to achieve international co-operation in solving economic, social, cultural and humanitarian problems. And the fourth is to serve as a centre where the actions of nations can be combined to attain these aims.
The U.N. is divided into six main groups: The first is the General Assembly (GA). It is the policy making body of the UN. All UN members are represented in the General Assembly each with one vote. It meets once a year. It fixes the budget. It also elects members on the recommendation of the Security Council, elects the judges of the International Court of Justice, appoints the Secretary General on the recommendations of the Security Council.
The second is the Security Council (SC) which is responsible for the maintenance of peace. It consists of 15 members and each member has one representative and one vote. There are five permanent members and ten non-permanent members. China, France, Great Britain, the Soviet Union and the United States are its permanent members and have special voting power called Veto Power. It means that the Security Council cannot take a policy decision if any of these countries says ‘no’.
The non-permanent members are elected for a two year term by a two-thirds majority of the General Assembly. Retiring members are not eligible for immediate re-election.
The third is the Economic and Social Council (ECOSOC) with 27 members. Its job is to promote the welfare of people and to further human rights and fundamental freedoms.
The fourth is the Trusteeship Council (TC). It supervises the welfare of administered territories and helps them to achieve self government.
The fifth is the International Court of Justice (ICJ) which settles international legal issues or legal disputes between nations. It is the principal judicial organ of the United Nations. The Court sits at The Hague (Netherlands).
The sixth is the Secretariat, the administrative office of the UN. Its chief executive is the Secretary-General. He is appointed for a five year term by the General Assembly on the recommendations of the Security Council. He may be re-appointed.
The United Nations headquarters are in New York. It has its own flag. The official languages of the UNO are English, French, Chinese, Russian, Arabic and Spanish. The working languages are English and French only. The UN has a large number of specialized agencies like International Labour Organization (ILO), Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO), United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO), World Health Organization (WHO), International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) etc. The Head-quarters of ILO, FAO, UNESCO, WHO, IAEA are in Rome, Paris, Geneva, and Vienna respectively. Other prominent UN agencies are United Nation’s International Children’s Emergency Fund (UNICEF), World Meteorological Organization (WMO), International Monetary Fund (IMF), World Bank or International Bank for Reconstruction and Development (IBRD). Their Headquarters are at Paris, Geneva, Washington respectively.
It is an organization which not only provides peace and security to the world but is also meant to look into various welfare and cultural aspects of life.