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The
United Nations (UN) is an international organization
whose stated aims are to facilitate cooperation
in international law, international security,
economic development, social progress and human
rights issues. The United Nations was founded
in 1945 to replace the League of Nations, in the
hope that it would intervene in conflicts between
nations and thereby avoid war.
There
are now 192 United Nations member states, including
almost every recognized independent state. From
its headquarters in New York City, the UN and
its specialized agencies decide on substantive
and administrative issues in regular meetings
held throughout the year. The organization is
divided into administrative bodies, primarily:
* The General Assembly, the main deliberative
organ;
* The Security Council (decides certain resolutions
for peace and security);
* The Economic and Social Council (assists in
promoting international economic and social cooperation
and development);
* The Secretariat (provides studies, information,
and facilities needed by the UN);
* The International Court of Justice (ICJ), the
primary judicial organ.
Additional
bodies deal with the governance of all other UN
System agencies, such as the World Health Organization
(WHO) and United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF).
The UN's most visible public figure is the Secretary-General.
The current Secretary-General is Ban Ki-moon of
South Korea, who assumed the post on 1 January
2007.
The
UN is financed from assessed and voluntary contributions
from member states and has six official languages:
Arabic, Chinese, English, French, Russian and
Spanish.
Aims
The
stated aims of the United Nations are to maintain
international peace and security, to safeguard
human rights, to provide a mechanism for international
law, and to promote social and economic progress,
improve living standards, and fight diseases.[1]
It provides the opportunity for countries to balance
global interdependence and national interests
when addressing international problems. Toward
these ends it ratified a Universal Declaration
of Human Rights in 1948.
The
organization occupies itself at present in the
fields of economic development, world health,
the state of the environment, the health of animals,
education, and refugee work. The organization
also discusses and deliberates global conflicts,
wars, disarmament and peace efforts.
History
Main article: History of the United Nations
For more details on the United Nation's predecessor
organization, see League of Nations.
The
United Nations was founded as a successor to the
League of Nations, which was widely considered
to have been ineffective in its role as an international
governing body, in that it had been unable to
prevent World War II. Some argue that the UN's
major advantage over the League of Nations is
its ability to maintain and deploy its member
nations' armed forces as peace keepers. Others
see such "peace keeping" as a euphemism
for war and domination of weak and poor countries
by the wealthy and powerful nations of the world.
The
term "United Nations" (which appears
in stanza 35 of Canto III of Byron's Childe Harold's
Pilgrimage) was decided by Franklin D. Roosevelt
and Winston Churchill during World War II, to
refer to the Allies. Its first formal use was
in the 1 January 1942 Declaration by the United
Nations, which committed the Allies to the principles
of the Atlantic Charter and pledged them not to
seek a separate peace with the Axis powers. Thereafter,
the Allies used the term "United Nations
Fighting Forces" to refer to their alliance.
The
idea for the UN was espoused in declarations signed
at the wartime Allied conferences in Moscow, Cairo,
and Tehran in 1943 . From August to October 1944,
representatives of France, the Republic of China,
the United Kingdom, the United States, and the
Soviet Union met to elaborate the plans at the
Dumbarton Oaks Estate in Washington, D.C. Those
and later talks produced proposals outlining the
purposes of the organization, its membership and
organs, and arrangements to maintain international
peace and security and international economic
and social cooperation.
On
25 April 1945, the UN Conference on International
Organization began in San Francisco. In addition
to the governments, a number of non-governmental
organizations were invited to assist in drafting
the charter. The 50 nations represented at the
conference signed the Charter of the United Nations
two months later on 26 June. Poland had not been
represented at the conference, but a place had
been reserved for it among the original signatories,
and it added its name later. The UN came into
existence on 24 October 1945, after the Charter
had been ratified by the five permanent members
of the UN Security Council— the Republic
of China, France, the Soviet Union, the United
Kingdom, and the United States—and by a
majority of the other 46 signatories. That these
countries are the permanent members of the Security
Council, and have veto power on any Security Council
resolution, reflects that they are the main victors
of World War II or their successor states: the
People's Republic of China replaced the Republic
of China in 1971 and Russia replaced the Soviet
Union in 1991.
Initially,
the body was known as the United Nations Organization,
or UNO. However, by the 1950s, English speakers
were referring to it as the United Nations, or
the UN.
Membership
Main article: United Nations member states
With
the addition of Montenegro on 28 June 2006, there
are 192 United Nations member states, including
virtually all internationally-recognized independent
states.
The
United Nations Charter outlines the rules for
membership:
1. Membership in the United Nations is open to
all other peace-loving states which accept the
obligations contained in the present Charter and,
in the judgment of the Organization, are able
and willing to carry out these obligations.
2. The admission of any such state to membership
in the United Nations will be effected by a decision
of the General Assembly upon the recommendation
of the Security Council.
—United
Nations Charter, Chapter 2, Article 4, http://www.un.org/aboutun/charter
Group
of 77 (G77)
The
Group of 77 at the UN is a loose coalition of
developing nations, designed to promote its members'
collective economic interests and create an enhanced
joint negotiating capacity in the United Nations.
There were 77 founding members of the organization,
but the organization has since expanded to 130
member countries. The group was founded on 15
June 1964 by the "Joint Declaration of the
Seventy-Seven Countries" issued at the United
Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD).
The first major meeting was in Algiers in 1967,
where the Charter of Algiers was adopted and the
basis for permanent institutional structures was
begun.
Headquarters
The
United Nations headquarters is a golden rectangled
building in New York City. It is located in the
Turtle Bay neighborhood, on the east side of Midtown
Manhattan, on spacious grounds overlooking the
East River. Though the building is in New York
City, the land is occupied by the United Nations
Headquarters is considered international territory.
FDR Drive passes underneath the Conference Building
of the complex. There are also major UN agencies
in Geneva, The Hague, Vienna, Montreal, Copenhagen,
Bonn, and elsewhere.
Financing
Major contributors to the regular UN budget for
2006 United States (22%)
Japan (19.47%)
Germany (8.66%)
United Kingdom (6.13%)
France (6.03%)
Italy (4.89%)
Canada (2.81%)
Spain (2.52%)
China (2.05%)
Mexico (1.88%)
The
UN is financed from assessed and voluntary contributions
from member states. The regular two-year budgets
of the UN and its specialized agencies are funded
by assessments. The General Assembly approves
the regular budget and determines the assessment
for each member. This is broadly based on the
relative capacity of each country to pay, as measured
by their Gross National Income (GNI), with adjustments
for external debt and low per capita income.
The
Assembly has established the principle that the
UN should not be overly dependent on any one member
to finance its operations. Thus, there is a 'ceiling'
rate, setting the maximum amount any member is
assessed for the regular budget. In December 2000,
the Assembly revised the scale of assessments
to reflect current global circumstances. As part
of that revision, the regular budget ceiling was
reduced from 25% to 22%. The U.S. is the only
member that meets the ceiling. In addition to
a ceiling rate, the minimum amount assessed to
any member nation (or 'floor' rate) is set at
0.001% of the UN budget. Also, for the least developed
countries (LDC), a ceiling rate of 0.01% is applied.
The
current operating budget is estimated at $4.19
billion Some member nations are overdue on their
payments, most notably the United States.
Special
UN programmes not included in the regular budget
(such as UNICEF and UNDP) are financed by voluntary
contributions from member governments. Most of
this is financial contributions, but some is in
the form of agricultural commodities donated for
afflicted populations.
Languages
Under
the Charter, the official languages are Chinese,
English, French, Russian, and Spanish. Later the
Arabic language was added as a language of the
General Assembly, the Security Council and the
Economic and Social Council. Five of the official
languages were chosen when the UN was founded
(the languages of the permanent members of the
Security Council, plus Spanish, which was the
official language of the largest number of nations
at the time). Arabic was added in 1973; the number
of Arabic-speaking member states had increased
substantially since 1945, and the 1973 oil crisis
provided the catalyst for the addition. The Secretariat
uses two working languages, English and French.
The
UN standard for English language documents (United
Nations Editorial Manual) follows British usage
and Oxford spelling. The UN standard for Chinese
(Standard Mandarin) changed when the Republic
of China (Taiwan) was succeeded by the People's
Republic of China in 1971. From 1945 until 1971
traditional characters were used, and since 1972
simplified characters have been used.
Organizational structure
Main article: United Nations System
The
United Nations system is based on five principal
organs (formerly six - the Trusteeship Council
suspended operations in 1994); the General Assembly,
the Security Council, the Economic and Social
Council (ECOSOC), the Secretariat, and the International
Court of Justice (ICJ).
Main
article: United Nations General Assembly
The
General Assembly is the main deliberative organ
of the United Nations. It is composed of all United
Nations member states and meets in regular yearly
sessions under a president elected from among
the member states. At the start of each session
all members have the opportunity to address the
assembly over a two-week period. Traditionally,
the Secretary-General makes the first statement,
followed by the president of the assembly. The
first session was convened on 10 January 1946
in the Westminster Central Hall in London and
included representatives of 51 nations.
When
the General Assembly votes on important questions,
a two-thirds majority of those present and voting
is required. Examples of important questions include:
recommendations on peace and security; election
of members to organs; admission, suspension, and
expulsion of members; and, budgetary matters.
All other questions are decided by majority vote.
Each member country has one vote. Apart from approval
of budgetary matters, resolutions are not binding
on the members. The Assembly may make recommendations
on any matters within the scope of the UN, except
matters of peace and security that are under Security
Council consideration. The one state, one vote
power structure theoretically allows states comprising
just eight percent of the world population to
pass a resolution by a two-thirds vote.
Security
Council
The
UN Security Council is charged with maintaining
peace and security among countries. While other
organs of the United Nations only make recommendations
to member governments, the Security Council has
the power to make decisions that member governments
must carry out under the United Nations Charter.
The decisions of the Council are known as United
Nations Security Council Resolutions.
The
Security Council is made up of 15 member states,
consisting of five ermanent seats and ten temporary
seats. The permanent five are China, France, Russia,
the United Kingdom and the United States. These
members hold veto power over substantive but not
procedural resolutions allowing a permanent member
to block adoption but not to block the debate
of a resolution unacceptable to it. The ten temporary
seats are held for two-year terms with member
states voted in by the UN General Assembly on
a regional basis. The presidency of the Security
Council is rotated alphabetically each month.
The
Security Council has been criticised for being
unable to act in a clear and decisive way when
confronted with a crisis.
Economic and Social Council
United Nations Economic and Social Council
The
Economic and Social Council (ECOSOC) assists the
General Assembly in promoting international economic
and social cooperation and development. ECOSOC
has 54 members, all of whom are elected by the
General Assembly for a three-year term. The president
is elected for a one-year term and chosen amongst
the small or middle powers represented on ECOSOC.
ECOSOC meets once a year in July for a four-week
session. Since 1998, it has held another meeting
each April with finance ministers heading key
committees of the World Bank and the International
Monetary Fund (IMF). Viewed separate from the
specialized bodies it coordinates, ECOSOC's functions
include information gathering, advising member
nations, and making recommendations. In addition,
ECOSOC is well-positioned to provide policy coherence
and coordinate the overlapping functions of the
UN’s subsidiary bodies and it is in these
roles that it is most active.
Secretariat
United Nations Secretariat
The
United Nations Secretariat is headed by the Secretary-General,
assisted by a staff of international civil servants
worldwide. It provides studies, information, and
facilities needed by United Nations bodies for
their meetings. It also carries out tasks as directed
by the UN Security Council, the UN General Assembly,
the UN Economic and Social Council, and other
UN bodies. The United Nations Charter provides
that the staff be chosen by application of the
"highest standards of efficiency, competence,
and integrity," with due regard for the importance
of recruiting on a wide geographical basis.
The
Charter provides that the staff shall not seek
or receive instructions from any authority other
than the UN. Each UN member country is enjoined
to respect the international character of the
Secretariat and not seek to influence its staff.
The Secretary-General alone is responsible for
staff selection.
The
Secretary-General's duties include helping resolve
international disputes, administering peacekeeping
operations, organizing international conferences,
gathering information on the implementation of
Security Council decisions, and consulting with
member governments regarding various initiatives.
Key Secretariat offices in this area include the
Office of the Coordinator of Humanitarian Affairs
and the Department of Peacekeeping Operations.
The Secretary-General may bring to the attention
of the Security Council any matter that, in his
or her opinion, may threaten international peace
and security.
International Court of Justice
The
International Court of Justice (ICJ), located
in The Hague, Netherlands, is the primary judicial
organ of the United Nations. Established in 1945
by the United Nations Charter, the Court began
work in 1946 as the successor to the Permanent
Court of International Justice. The Statute of
the International Court of Justice, similar to
that of its predecessor, is the main constitutional
document constituting and regulating the Court.
It
is based in the Peace Palace in The Hague, Netherlands,
sharing the building with the Hague Academy of
International Law, a private centre for the study
of international law. Several of the Court's current
judges are either alumni or former faculty members
of the Academy. Its purpose is to adjudicate disputes
among states. The court has heard cases related
to war crimes, illegal state interference and
ethnic cleansing, among others, and continues
to hear cases.
A
related court, the International Criminal Court
(ICC), began operating in 2002 through international
discussions initiated by the General Assembly.
It is the first permanent international court
charged with trying those who commit the most
serious crimes under international law, including
war crimes and genocide. The ICC is functionally
independent of the UN in terms of personnel and
financing, but some meetings of the ICC governing
body, the Assembly of States Parties to the Rome
Statute, are held at the UN. There is a "relationship
agreement" between the ICC and the UN that
governs how the two institutions regard each other
legally.]
Secretary General
Ban Ki-moon, the UN's Secretary-General.
Main article: Secretary-General of the United
Nations
The
Secretary-General of the United Nations is the
head of the Secretariat, one of the principal
organs of the United Nations, and acts as the
de facto spokesman and leader of the United Nations.
Selection
The
UN Charter provides little guidance for the selection
of the Secretary General. The Charter states that
"the Secretary-General shall be appointed
by the General Assembly upon the recommendation
of the Security Council". Over the years
the process has changed, but always requires bartering
and negotiation on the part of the five veto holding
members of the Security Council.
In
practice, a few details have remained consistent
:
* the Secretary-General is appointed for a renewable
five year term
* no Secretary-General has served more than two
terms
* candidates are selected using geographic rotation
* no candidate has been elected from the country
of a permanent member of the Security Council
* the General Assembly has never rejected a candidate
recommended by the ecurity Council
Peace
and security
The
1945 UN Charter envisaged a system of regulation
that would ensure "the least diversion for
armaments of the world's human and economic resources".
The advent of nuclear weapons came only weeks
after the signing of the Charter and provided
immediate impetus to concepts of arms limitation
and disarmament. In fact, the first resolution
of the first meeting of the General Assembly (24
January 1946) was entitled "The Establishment
of a Commission to Deal with the Problems Raised
by the Discovery of Atomic Energy" and called
upon the commission to make specific proposals
for "the elimination from national armaments
of atomic weapons and of all other major weapons
adaptable to mass destruction."
Disarmament
Main article: General Assembly First Committee
The
UN has established several forums to address multilateral
disarmament issues. The principal ones are the
First Committee of the General Assembly, the UN
Disarmament Commission, and the Conference on
Disarmament. Items on the agenda include consideration
of the possible merits of a nuclear test ban,
outer-space arms control, efforts to ban chemical
weapons and land mines, nuclear and conventional
disarmament, nuclear-weapon-free zones, reduction
of military budgets, and measures to strengthen
international security.
[edit]
Peacekeeping
UN peacekeeping missions. Dark blue indicates
current missions, while light blue represents
former missions.
UN peacekeeping missions. Dark blue indicates
current missions, while light blue represents
former missions.
Main articles: Peacekeeping and List of UN peacekeeping
missions
UN
peacekeepers are sent to regions where armed conflict
has recently ceased (or paused) to enforce the
terms of peace agreements and to discourage combatants
from resuming hostilities. Since the UN does not
maintain its own military, peacekeeping forces
are voluntarily provided by member states of the
UN. All UN peacekeeping operations must be approved
by the Security Council.
Peacekeepers in the Democratic Republic of the
Congo
Peacekeepers in the Democratic Republic of the
Congo
The
founders of the UN had envisaged that the UN would
act to prevent conflicts between nations and make
future wars impossible. Those hopes have not been
fully realized. During the Cold War (from about
1945 until 1991), the division of the world into
hostile camps made peacekeeping agreement extremely
difficult. Following the end of the Cold War,
there were renewed calls for the UN to become
the agency for achieving world peace, as there
are several dozen ongoing conflicts that continue
to rage around the globe. However, the breakup
of the Soviet Union also left the U.S. in a unique
position of global dominance, creating a variety
of new challenges for the UN.
UN peacekeeping light armed mechanised vehicle
in Bovington tank museum, Dorset
UN peacekeeping light armed mechanised vehicle
in Bovington tank museum, Dorset
The
UN Peace-Keeping Forces (called the Blue Helmets)
received the 1988 Nobel Prize for Peace. In 2001,
the UN and Secretary General Kofi Annan won the
Nobel Peace Prize "for their work for a better
organized and more peaceful world." [16]
The UN maintains a series of United Nations Medals
awarded to military service members who enforce
UN accords. The first such decoration issued was
the United Nations Service Medal, awarded to UN
forces who participated in the Korean War. The
NATO Medal is designed on a similar concept and
both are considered international decorations
instead of military decorations.
[edit]
Assessments
A
large share of UN expenditures addresses the core
UN mission of peace and security. The peacekeeping
budget for the 2005-2006 fiscal year is approximately
$5 billion (compared to approximately $1.5 billion
for the UN core budget over the same period),
with some 70,000 troops deployed in 17 missions
around the world.[citation needed]
UN
peace operations are funded by assessments, using
a formula derived from the regular funding scale,
but including a weighted surcharge for the five
permanent Security Council members, who must approve
all peacekeeping operations. This surcharge serves
to offset discounted peacekeeping assessment rates
for less developed countries. In December 2000,
the UN revised the assessment rate scale for the
regular budget and for peacekeeping. The peacekeeping
scale is designed to be revised every six months.
[edit]
Successes in security issues
The
Human Security Report 2005,[17] produced by the
Human Security Centre at the University of British
Columbia with support from several governments
and foundations, documented a dramatic, but largely
unrecognized, decline in the number of wars, genocides
and human rights abuses since the end of the Cold
War. Statistics include:
* a 40% drop in violent conflict;
* an 80% drop in the most deadly conflicts; and
* an 80% drop in genocide and politicide.
The
report argued that international activism —
mostly spearheaded by the UN — has been
the main cause of the post–Cold War decline
in armed conflict, though the report indicated
the evidence for this contention is mostly circumstantial.
In
the area of Peacekeeping, successes include:
* The US Government Accountability Office concluded
that UN Peacekeeping is half as expensive as funding
a U.S. force.[18]
* A 2005 RAND Corp study found the UN to be successful
in two out of three peacekeeping efforts. It also
compared UN nation-building efforts to those of
the U.S., and found that of eight UN cases, seven
are at peace, whereas of eight U.S. cases, four
are at peace.[19]
[edit]
Failures in security issues
In
many cases UN members have shown reluctance to
achieve or enforce Security Council resolutions.
Such failures stem from the UN's intergovernmental
nature — in many respects it is an association
of 192 member states who must reach consensus,
not an independent organization.
Other
serious security failures include:
* Failure to prevent the 1994 Rwandan genocide,
which resulted in the killings of nearly a million
people, due to the refusal of security council
members to approve any military action.[20]
* Failure by MONUC (UNSC Resolution 1291) to effectively
intervene during the Second Congo War, which claimed
nearly five million people in the Democratic Republic
of Congo (DRC), 1998-2002, and in carrying out
and distributing humanitarian aid.[citation needed]
* Failure to intervene in the 1995 Srebrenica
massacre: despite the fact that the UN designated
Srebrenica a "safe haven" for refugees
and assigned 600 Dutch peacekeepers to protect
it, the peacekeeping force was not authorised
to use force.[citation needed]
* Failure to successfully deliver food to starving
people in Somalia; the food was instead usually
seized by local warlords. A U.S./UN attempt to
apprehend the warlords seizing these shipments
resulted in the 1993 Battle of Mogadishu.[citation
needed]
* Failure to implement provisions of United Nations
Security Council Resolutions related to the Israeli-Palestinian
conflict.[citation needed]
* Failed to prevent or help sufficiently in the
area of Darfur genocide: a crisis still exists
in that area.
[edit]
Peace enforcement
Main article: Peace enforcement
The
U.N. has not only acted to keep the peace but
also intervened in armed conflicts, the first
of which was the Korean War (1950-1953), or more
recently the intervention in Kosovo in 1999. [21]
Human rights and Humanitarian Assistance
Further information: 1956 UN Supplementary Convention
on the Abolition of Slavery and Convention on
the Rights of the Child
The
pursuit of human rights was a central reason for
creating the UN. World War II atrocities and genocide
led to a ready consensus that the new organization
must work to prevent any similar tragedies in
the future. An early objective was creating a
legal framework for considering and acting on
complaints about human rights violations.
The
UN Charter obliges all member nations to promote
"universal respect for, and observance of,
human rights" and to take "joint and
separate action" to that end. The Universal
Declaration of Human Rights, though not legally
binding, was adopted by the General Assembly in
1948 as a common standard of achievement for all.
The Assembly regularly takes up human rights issues.
The
UN and its agencies are central in upholding and
implementing the principles enshrined in the Universal
Declaration of Human Rights. A case in point is
support by the UN for countries in transition
to democracy. Technical assistance in providing
free and fair elections, improving judicial structures,
drafting constitutions, training human rights
officials, and transforming armed movements into
political parties have contributed significantly
to democratization worldwide. The UN has helped
run elections in countries with little democratic
history, including recently in Afghanistan and
East Timor.
The
UN is also a forum to support the right of women
to participate fully in the political, economic,
and social life of their countries. The UN contributes
to raising consciousness of the concept of human
rights through its covenants and its attention
to specific abuses through its General Assembly,
Security Council resolutions, or International
Court of Justice rulings.
Human
Rights Council
Main article: United Nations Human Rights Council
United
Nations Human Rights Council Logo
United Nations Human Rights Council Logo
The
purpose of the Human Rights Council is to address
human rights violations. The Council is the successor
to the United Nations Commission on Human Rights,
which was often criticised for the high-profile
positions it gave to member states that did not
guarantee the human rights of their own citizens.[22]
The
United Nations General Assembly established the
Human Rights Council on 15 March 2006.[23] The
council has 47 members distributed by region,
which each serve three year terms, and may not
serve three consecutive terms. [24] A candidate
to the body must be approved by a majority of
the General Assembly. In addition, the council
has strict rules for membership, including a universal
human rights review. While some members with questionable
human rights records have been elected, it is
fewer than before with the increased focus on
each member state's human rights record. [25]
[edit] Indigenous rights issues
On
September 17th 2007 the United Nations General
Assembly adopted a declaration outlining the rights
of some 370 million indigenous peoples around
the world.[1]
Following
two decades of debate, the "United Nations
Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples"
was approved. The Declaration outlines the individual
and collective rights to culture, language, education,
identity, employment and health, thereby addressing
post-colonical issues which had confronted Indigenous
peoples for centuries. The Declaration aims to
maintain, strengthen and encourage the growth
of Indigenous institutions, cultures and traditions.
It also prohibits discrimination against Indigenous
peoples and promotes their active participation
in matters which concern their past, present and
future. [2]
The
Declaration was approved when 143 Member States
voted in its favour. 11 Member States abstained
and 4 voted against the text: Australia, Canada,
New Zealand and the United States of America.
[edit]
Treaty bodies
Main article: Human rights treaty bodies
The
United Nations-linked human rights treaty bodies
are committees of independent experts that monitor
implementation of the core international human
rights treaties. There are now seven UN-linked
human rights treaty bodies, including the Human
Rights Committee and the Committee on the Elimination
of Discrimination against Women. Secretariat services
are provided regarding six of those (excluding
the latter) by the Office of the UN High Commissioner
for Human Rights.
[edit]
Humanitarian assistance
In
conjunction with other organizations such as the
Red Cross, the UN provides food, drinking water,
shelter and other humanitarian services to populaces
suffering from famine, displaced by war, or afflicted
by other disasters. Major humanitarian branches
of the UN are the World Food Programme (which
helps feed more than 100 million people a year
in 80 countries), the office of the High Commissioner
for Refugees with projects in over 116 countries,
as well as peacekeeping projects in over 24 countries.
At
times, UN relief workers have been subject to
attacks.
[edit]
Social and Economic Development
The
UN is involved in supporting development, e.g.
by the formulation of the Millennium Development
Goals. The UN Development Programme (UNDP) is
the largest multilateral source of grant technical
assistance in the world. Organizations—like
the World Health Organization (WHO), UNAIDS, and
the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and
Malaria—are leading institutions in the
battle against diseases around the world, especially
in poor countries. The UN Population Fund is a
major provider of reproductive services. It has
helped reduce infant and maternal mortality in
100 countries.
The
UN also promotes human development through various
related agencies. The World Bank and International
Monetary Fund (IMF), for example, are independent,
specialized agencies and observers within the
UN framework, according to a 1947 agreement. They
were initially formed as separate from the UN
through the Bretton Woods Agreement in 1944.[26]
The
UN annually publishes the Human Development Index
(HDI), a comparative measure ranking countries
by poverty, literacy, education, life expectancy,
and other factors.
[edit]
Millennium Development Goals
The
Millennium Development Goals are eight goals that
all 192 United Nations member states have agreed
to try to achieve by the year 2015 . [27] The
United Nations Millennium Declaration, signed
in September 2000, commits the states to:
1. eradicate extreme poverty and hunger;
2. achieve universal primary education;
3. promote gender equality and empower women;
4. reduce child mortality;
5. improve maternal health;
6. combat HIV/AIDS, malaria, and other diseases;
7. ensure environmental sustainability; and
8. develop a global partnership for development.
[edit]
Reform
Main articles: Reform of the United Nations, United
Nations Parliamentary Assembly, and Reform of
the United Nations Security Council
Since
its founding, there have been many calls for reform
of the United Nations. But there is little clarity,
let alone consensus, about how to reform it. Some
want the UN to play a greater or more effective
role in world affairs, others want its role reduced
to humanitarian work. There have also been numerous
calls for the UN Security Council's membership
to be increased to reflect the current geo-political
state, for different ways of electing the UN's
Secretary-General, and for a United Nations Parliamentary
Assembly.
Reform programme
An
official reform programme was begun by United
Nations Secretary-General Kofi Annan soon after
starting his first term in 1997. Reforms mentioned
include changing the permanent membership of the
Security Council (which currently reflects the
power relations of 1945); making the bureaucracy
more transparent, accountable and efficient; making
the UN more democratic; and imposing an international
tariff on arms manufacturers worldwide.
In
September 2005, the UN convened a World Summit
that brought together the heads of most member
states, calling the summit "a once-in-a-generation
opportunity to take bold decisions in the areas
of development, security, human rights and reform
of the United Nations".[28] Kofi Annan had
proposed that the summit agree on a global "grand
bargain" to reform the UN, revamping international
systems for peace and security, human rights and
development, to make them capable of addressing
the extraordinary challenges facing the UN in
the 21st century.
World
leaders agreed on a compromise text , including
the following notable items:
* the creation of a Peacebuilding Commission to
provide a central mechanism to help countries
emerging from conflict;
* an agreement that the international community
has the right to step in when national governments
fail to fulfill their responsibility to protect
their citizens from atrocious crimes;
* a Human Rights Council (established in 2006);
* an agreement to devote more resources to UN's
Office of Internal Oversight Services (OIOS);
* several agreements to spend billions more on
achieving the Millennium Development Goals;
* a clear and unambiguous condemnation of terrorism
"in all its forms and manifestations";
* a democracy fund;
* an agreement to wind up the Trusteeship Council
due to the completion of its mission.
[edit]
Management Reform
The
UN has been accused of bureaucratic inefficiency
and waste. During the 1990s the United States,
currently the largest contributor to the UN, gave
this inefficiency as a reason for withholding
their dues. The repayment of the dues was made
conditional on a major reforms initiative. In
1994 the Office of Internal Oversight Services
(OIOS) was established by the General Assembly
to serve as an efficiency watchdog.[30] Further
management reforms have been proposed through
the World Summit, including changes to the OIOS,
the establishment of an ethics office, and a review
of UN mandates that are older than five years.
The
Office of Internal Oversight Services is being
restructured to more clearly define its scope
and mandate. It will receive more resources. In
addition, to improve the oversight and auditing
capabilities of the General Assembly, an Independent
Audit Advisory Committee (IAAC) is being created.
In June 2007, the Fifth Committee created a draft
resolution for the terms of reference of this
committee.[31] [32]
An
ethics office was established in 2006, responsible
for administering new financial disclosure and
whistleblower protection policies. Working with
the OIOS, the ethics office also plans to implement
a policy to avoid fraud and corruption. [33]
The
Secretariat is in the process of reviewing all
UN mandate that are more than five years old.
The review is intended to determine which duplicative
or unnecessary programmes should be eliminated.
Not all member states are in agreement as to which
of the over 7000 mandates should be reviewed.
The dispute centres on whether mandates that have
been renewed should be examined. As of September
2007, the process is ongoing.[34]
[edit]
Personnel policy
The
UN and its agencies are immune to the laws of
the countries where they operate, safeguarding
UN's impartiality with regard to the host and
member countries. This independence allows agencies
to implement human resources policies that may
even be contrary to the laws of a host - or a
member country.
Despite
their independence in matters of human resources
policy, UN agencies voluntarily apply the laws
of member states regarding same-sex marriages,
allowing decisions about the status of employees
in a same-sex partnership to be based on nationality.
They recognize same-sex marriages only if the
employees are citizens of countries that recognize
the marriage. Some agencies provide limited benefits
to domestic partners of their staff.
Specialized
Organizations
There
are many UN organizations and agencies that function
to work on particular issues.
International Atomic Energy Agency
Main article: International Atomic Energy Agency
The
International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) is an
intergovernmental forum for scientific and technical
cooperation in the field of nuclear technology.
It seeks to promote the peaceful use of nuclear
energy and to inhibit its use for military purposes.
The IAEA was set up as an autonomous organization
in 29 July 1957. Prior to this, in 1953, U.S.
President Dwight D. Eisenhower envisioned the
creation of this international body to control
and develop the use of atomic energy, in his "Atoms
for Peace" speech before the UN General Assembly.
[3] The organization and its Director General,
Mohamed ElBaradei, were jointly awarded the Nobel
Peace Prize announced on 7 October 2005. Its current
membership is 144 countries. [4]
International Civil Aviation Organization
Main article: International Civil Aviation Organization
The
International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO)
was founded in 1947. It codifies the principles
and techniques of international air navigation
and fosters the planning and development of international
air transport to ensure safe and orderly growth.
Its headquarters are located in the Quartier International
of Montreal, Canada.
The
ICAO Council adopts standards and recommended
practices concerning air navigation, prevention
of unlawful interference, and facilitation of
border-crossing procedures for international civil
aviation. In addition, the ICAO defines the protocols
for air accident investigation followed by transport
safety authorities in countries signatory to the
Convention on International Civil Aviation, commonly
known as the Chicago Convention.
[edit]
International Fund for Agricultural Development
Main article: International Fund for Agricultural
Development
The
International Fund for Agricultural Development
(IFAD) was established as an international financial
institution in 1977, as one of the major outcomes
of the 1974 World Food Conference and a response
to the situation in the Sahel. IFAD is dedicated
to eradicating rural poverty in developing countries.
International Labour Organization
Main article: International Labour Organization
The
International Labour Organization (ILO) deals
with labour issues. Its headquarters are in Geneva,
Switzerland. Founded in 1919, it was formed through
the negotiations of the Treaty of Versailles,
and was initially an agency of the League of Nations.
It became a member of the UN system after the
demise of the League and the formation of the
UN at the end of World War II. Its Constitution,
as amended to date, includes the Declaration of
Philadelphia on the aims and purposes of the Organization.
Its secretariat is known as the International
Labour Office.
International Maritime Organization
Main article: International Maritime Organization
The
International Maritime Organization (IMO), formerly
known as the Inter-Governmental Maritime Consultative
Organization (IMCO), was established in 1948 through
the United Nations to coordinate international
maritime safety and related practices. However
the IMO did not enter into full force until 1958.
Headquartered
in London, U.K., the IMO promotes cooperation
among governments and the shipping industry to
improve maritime safety and to prevent marine
pollution. IMO is governed by an Assembly of members
and is financially administered by a Council of
members elected from the Assembly. The work of
IMO is conducted through five committees and these
are supported by technical sub-committees. Member
organizations of the UN organizational family
may bserve the proceedings of the IMO. Observer
status may be granted to qualified non-governmental
organizations.
The
IMO is supported by a permanent secretariat of
employees who are representative of its members.
The secretariat is composed of a Secretary-General
who is periodically elected by the Assembly, and
various divisions including, inter alia, marine
safety, environmental protection, and a conference
section.
International Telecommunication Union
ITU flag
ITU flagMain
article: International Telecommunication Union
The
International Telecommunication Union (ITU) was
established to standardize and regulate international
radio and telecommunications. It was founded as
the International Telegraph Union in Paris on
17 May 1865. Its main tasks include standardization,
allocation of the radio spectrum, and organizing
interconnection arrangements between different
countries to allow international phone calls —
in which regard it performs for telecommunications
a similar function to what the UPU performs for
postal services. It has its headquarters in Geneva,
Switzerland, next to the main United Nations campus.
Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO)
Main article: Food and Agriculture Organization
The
Food and Agriculture Organization of the United
Nations leads international efforts to defeat
hunger. Serving both developed and developing
countries, FAO acts as a neutral forum where all
nations meet as equals to negotiate agreements
and debate policy. FAO's mandate is to raise levels
of nutrition, improve agricultural productivity,
better the lives of rural populations and contribute
to the growth of the world economy.
United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural
Organization (UNESCO)
Main article: UNESCO
UNESCO
(United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural
Organization) is a specialized agency of the United
Nations established in 1945. Its stated purpose
is to contribute to peace and security by promoting
international collaboration through education,
science, and culture in order to further universal
respect for justice, the rule of law, and the
human rights and fundamental freedoms proclaimed
in the UN Charter.
United Nations Industrial Development Organization
(UNIDO)
Main article: United Nations Industrial Development
Organization
The
United Nations Industrial Development Organization
(UNIDO), French/Spanish acronym ONUDI, is a specialized
agency in the United Nations system, headquartered
in Vienna, Austria. The Organization's primary
objective is the promotion and acceleration of
industrial development in developing countries
and countries with economies in transition.
Universal Postal Union (UPU)
Main article: Universal Postal Union
The
Universal Postal Union (UPU, French: Union postale
universelle) coordinates postal policies between
member nations, and hence the world-wide postal
system. Each member country agrees to the same
set of terms for conducting international postal
duties. Universal Postal Union's headquarters
are located in Berne.
World Bank
Main article: World Bank
The
World Bank (the Bank), a part of the World Bank
Group (WBG), makes loans to developing countries
for development programmes with the stated goal
of reducing poverty. The World Bank differs from
the World Bank Group in that the former only comprises
the International Bank for Reconstruction and
Development and the International Development
Association, while the latter incorporates these
entities in addition to three others.
]
World Health Organization (WHO)
WHO flag
WHO flag
Main article: World Health Organization
The
World Health Organization (WHO) acts as a coordinating
authority on international public health. Established
on 7 April 1948, and headquartered in Geneva,
Switzerland, the agency inherited the mandate
and resources of its predecessor, the Health Organization,
which had been an agency of the League of Nations.
[edit]
World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO)
Main article: World Intellectual Property Organization
The
World Intellectual Property Organisation (WIPO)
(French: Organisation mondiale de la propriété
intellectuelle or OMPI) is a specialized agency
of the United Nations created in 1967 and headquartered
in Geneva, Switzerland. Its purpose is to encourage
creative activity and to promote the protection
of intellectual property throughout the world.
The organisation administers several treaties
concerning the protection of intellectual property
rights.
World Meteorological Organization (WMO)
World Meteorological Organization
The
World Meteorological Organization (WMO) originated
from the International eteorological Organization
(IMO), which was founded in 1873. Established
in 1950, WMO became the specialized agency of
the United Nations for meteorology (weather and
climate), operational hydrology and related geophysical
sciences. It has its headquarters in Geneva, Switzerland.
Other
activities
Conferences
and International Observances are other activities
of UN. The UN has also focused considerable attention
on decolonisation and supporting the new states
that have arisen as a result.
[
Conferences
The Berlin born polar bear Knut will be the official
mascot animal for the Conference on Biological
Diversity to be held in Bonn 2008. He is the symbol
figure of global climate change.
The Berlin born polar bear Knut will be the official
mascot animal for the Conference on Biological
Diversity to be held in Bonn 2008. He is the symbol
figure of global climate change.
When
an issue is considered particularly important,
the General Assembly may convene an international
conference to focus global attention and build
a consensus for consolidated action. Examples
include:
* International Conference on Assistance to Refugees
in Africa (ICARA 2) 1984;
* The UN Conference on Environment and Development
(the 1992 Earth Summit)in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil
discussed issues including climate change, biological
diversity, and sustainable development and led
to the creation of the UN Commission on Sustainable
Development;
* The International Conference on Population and
Development, held in Cairo, Egypt in 1994, approved
a programme of action to address the critical
challenges between population and sustainable
development over the next 20 years;
* The Fourth World Conference on Women, held in
Beijing, China in 1995, sought to accelerate implementation
of the historic agreements reached at the Third
World Conference on Women;
* The Second UN Conference on Human Settlements
(Habitat II), convened in 996 in Istanbul, Turkey,
considered the challenges of human settlement
development and management in the 21st century;
and
* In 1998, the General Assembly called a conference
to establish an International Criminal Court (ICC),
where it adopted the "Rome Statute".
The ICC became operational in 2002 and began its
first case in 2006.[35]
[edit]
UN International Observances
The
UN declares and coordinates international observances,
periods of time to observe some issue of international
interest or concern. Using the symbolism of the
UN, a specially designed logo for the year, and
the infrastructure of the UN System, various days
and years have become catalysts to advancing key
issues of concern on a global scale. For example,
World Tuberculosis Day, Earth Day and International
Year of Deserts and Desertification ].
Controversy and criticism
There
has been controversy and criticism of the UN organization
and its activities since nearly its inception.
In the United States, an early opponent of the
UN was the John Birch Society, an anti-Communist
organization that in 1959 began a "get US
out of the UN" campaign, charging that the
UN's aim was a "One World Government".
In later decades, criticism of the UN entered
the political mainstream to a greater extent.
In 1967, Richard Nixon, while running for President
of the United States, criticized the UN as "obsolete
and inadequate" for dealing with present
crises like the Cold War.[36] Jeanne Kirkpatrick,
who was appointed by President Ronald Reagan to
be United States Ambassador to the United Nations,
wrote in a 1983 opinion piece in The New York
Times that the process of discussions at the Security
Council "more closely resembles a mugging"
of the United States "than either a political
debate or an effort at problem solving."[37]
In a February 2003 speech, soon before the United
States invasion of Iraq (which he had been unable
to get UN approval for), U.S. President George
W. Bush said, "free nations will not allow
the United Nations to fade into history as an
ineffective, irrelevant debating society."[38]
In 2005, Bush appointed John R. Bolton to the
position of Acting U.S. Ambassador to the U.N.;
Bolton had made several tatements critical of
the UN, including saying, in 1994, "There
is no such thing as the United Nations. There
is only the international community, which can
only be led by the only remaining superpower,
which is the United States."
Security Council criticism
There
has been criticism of the Security Council, e.g.
for being unable to act in a clear and decisive
way when confronted with a crisis. The veto power
of the five permanent members has been cited as
the cause of this problem. Under the "Uniting
for Peace" resolution, adopted by the General
Assembly in November 1950, the assembly may take
action if the Security Council, because of lack
of unanimity of its permanent members, fails to
act where there appears to be a threat to international
peace, breach of the peace, or act of aggression.
The makeup of the security council dates back
to the end of World War II, and this division
of powers no longer represents the state of the
world. Critics question the effectiveness and
relevance of the Security Council because enforcement
relies on the member nations and there usually
are no consequences for violating a Security Council
resolution.
Inaction on genocide and human rights
The
UN has been accused of ignoring the plight of
people across the world, especially in parts of
Asia, the Middle East and Africa. Current examples
include the UN's inaction toward the Sudanese
government in Darfur,.
The
United Nations Commission on Human Rights, which
existed from 1946 to 2006, received heavy criticism
for letting countries with their own long histories
of human-rights criticisms, such as Cuba and the
Sudan, become members of the commission; see United
Nations Commission on Human Rights#Criticism.
The commission's successor, the United Nations
Human Rights Council, has faced criticism for
focusing the majority of its own criticism on
Israel, nearly to the exclusion of any other country.
This criticism of the Human Rights Council has
been echoed by Secretaries-General Kofi Annan
and Ban Ki-moon themselves, along with U.S. President
George W. Bush; see also United Nations Human
Rights Council#Council's position on Israel.Oil-for-Food
Programme
See also: Oil-for-Food Programme
The
Oil-for-Food Programme was established by the
UN in 1996 to allow Iraq to sell oil on the world
market in exchange for food, medicine, and other
humanitarian needs of ordinary Iraqi citizens
who were affected by international economic sanctions,
without allowing the Iraqi government to rebuild
its military in the wake of the first Gulf War.
Over $65 billion worth of Iraqi oil was sold on
the world market. Officially, about $46 billion
was used for humanitarian needs. Additional revenue
paid for Gulf War reparations through a Compensation
Fund, UN administrative and operational costs
for the Programme ( 2.2%), and the weapons inspection
programme (0.8%).
The
programme was discontinued in late 2003 amidst
allegations of widespread abuse and corruption.
Benon Sevan, the former director, was suspended
and then resigned from the UN, as an interim progress
report of a UN-sponsored investigation concluded
that Sevan had accepted bribes from the Iraqi
regime, and recommended that his UN immunity be
lifted to allow for a criminal investigation.
Beyond Sevan, Kojo Annan was alleged to have illegally
procured Oil-for-Food contracts on behalf of the
Swiss company Cotecna. India's foreign minister,
Natwar Singh, was removed from office because
of his role in the scandal. And the Cole Inquiry
investigated whether the Australian Wheat Board
breached any laws with its contracts with Iraq.
Other controversies
Other
controversy of UN include:
* UN ambulance caught on tape transporting armed
Palestinians forces in 1994.
* Allegations of sexual abuse by UN peacekeepers
during UN peacekeeping missions in Congo, Haiti,
Liberia and Sudan. (Credit:
Wikipedia).
Website
United
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