United Nations Organisation: History,Principles, Organs, Role, Functions & Importance

UNITED NATIONS ORGANISATIONS

Introduction

• The end of World War II gave rise to the United Nations Organization (UNO).Being formed in 24 October 1945; it replaced the ineffective League of Nations. As on its founding, it had 51 member countries and now it has 193 member states and 2 observer states. UNO is headquartered in New York, at Manhattan. As far as, its financing is concerned member states make voluntarily contributions.
• Official languages of UN are:
• Arabic,
• Chinese,
• English,
• French,
• Russian,
• Spanish
• United Nations Organization has 6 principle organs as:
• The General Assembly,
• The Security Council,
• The Economic and Social Council,
• The International Court of Justice,
• The Secretariat and
• The Trusteeship Council.

1. History, League of Nations and the UN

• Before the creation of UN, several international treaty organizations and conferences came, like International Committee of the Red Cross, TheHague Conventions of 1899 and 1907, etc. Following the huge loss of life in the World War I, the League of Nations was established to maintain harmony between countries.
• This organization had resolved some territorial disputes and created several international functionaries for areas such as aviation, opium control, postal mail, etc and some of them have become part of UN also.
• However, the It lacked representation of people from colonies which accounted to half the world’s population that time and participation from several major powers, which included the US, USSR, Japan and Germany. Also, it failed to act against theJapanese invasion of Manchuria (1931), the Second Italo-Ethiopian War (1935), the Japanese invasion of China (1937), and German expansions (under Adolf Hitler) that culminated in the Second World War.

III. Organs of UN

• The General Assembly: It resolves non-compulsory recommendations, makes decision on the admission of new members, and makes Election of the non-permanent members of the UNSC; all members of ECOSOC; the UN Secretary General and the fifteen judges of the International Court of Justice (ICJ). Each country has one vote
• The Security Council: It is responsible for the maintenance of international peace and security and has 15 members, out of which 10 are elected members and 5 members are veto power members.
• The Economic and Social Council: With a batch of 54 members, it takes responsiblity for maintaining co-operation between states as regards economic and social matters and coordinating co-operation between the UN’s numerous specialized agencies.
• The International Court of Justice: ICJ resolves disputes between states that recognize its jurisdiction.
• The Secretariat: Supports the otherUN bodies
• The Trusteeship Council: has become ineffective in present time.

1. The purposes, Function and Role of the United Nations

• To maintain International peace and security.
• To develop friendly relations among Nations.
• To cooperate in solving International social, economic, cultural and humanitarian problems and in promoting respect for human rights and fundamental freedoms.
• To protect Earth and Environment.

The main principles of the United Nations

• It is based on the sovereign equality of all its members.
• All members are to fulfill in faith their charter obligations.
• The United Nations can not intervene in matters which are essentially within the domestic jurisdiction of any state.
• They are to settle their international disputes by Peace.
• They are to give the United Nations every assistance in every action it takes in accordance with the charter.

They are to refrain from the threat or use of force against other state.

General Information

UN Headquaters: The permanent headquarters of the UN since 1952, is in New York, U.S.A at Manhattan. The first meeting of the General Assembly was held here in October 1952.
UN Flag :The white emblem of United Nations has a light blue background. The emblem consist of the World map projected from the North Pole and embraced in twin olive branches (symbol of Peace), The UN flag is not to be subordinated to any other flag of the world. –

UN Official Languages: 6 in number.

• Arabic,
• Chinese,
• English,
• French,
• Russian,
• Spanish

UN Finances: Contributions of member states constitute the main source of funds for the
regular budget. A state’s share is primarily determined by its total national income in relation to that of the member states.
Membership: Membership of the United Nations is open to all nations and members of UN are bound to accept the obligations of its charter and in the judgement of the organization are able and willing to carry out these obligations. These Members can be suspended or expelled by the General Assembly of UN on the recommendation of the Security Council of UN.

VII. Specialised Agencies Of UN

1. International Labour Organisation
   2. Food and Agriculture Organisation
   3. United Nations, Educational, Scientific And Cultural Organisation
   4. World Health Organisation
   5. World Bank
   6. International Monetary Fund
   7. International Civil Aviation Organisation
   8. Universal Postal Union
   9. International Telecommunication Union
   10. International Maritime Organisation
   11. World Meteorological Organisation
   12. World Intellectual Property Organisation
   13. International Fund for Agricultural Development
   14, Un Induirial Development Organisation
   15. International Atomic Energy Agency
2. World Trade Organisation

VIII. UN and Human Rights

• UDHR was adopted by un general assembly in 1948.
• It is the basis of two binding treaties, the 1966 international covenant on civil and political rights and international covenant on economic, social and cultural rights.
• UN has a subsidiary inter-governmental council, named as United Nations human rights council (UNHRC) for promoting and protecting human rights around the world.
• UNHRC is the successor of UN commission on human rights.
• It comprises of 47 member states.
• Term of membership, is 3 years.