Case Study on United Nations Organisation

 After the bitter experience of two World Wars within a span of 25 years, the world leader realised necessity for establishing an organisation more powerful than the league of Nations. They held many conferences to discuss the nature and viability of such an organisation. The efforts finally took shape at San Fransisco on October 24, 1945 in the form of the United Nations Organisation.

REASONS FOR THE ESTABLISHMENT OF UN:-

# The destruction caused by two world wars.

# The failure of the League of Nations to prevent wars and maintain peace .

# The fear of third world war.

# The divison of the world into two power blocs led by the US and the USSR respectively.

# The invention of weapons of mass destruction like the atom bomb.

ORIGIN OF THE  UN:-

Even while the War was continuing, the leaders of Allied Governments like the US president Roosevelt and the British prime minister Winston Churchill realised  the potential danger of wars to the humanity. They held many discussions that finally led to the formation of the United Nations Organisation (UNO).

The text for UN charter was drafted at San Fransisco Conference held in June 1945.The charter was signed by 50 participating nations. The UN finally came into existence on October 24, 1945 when the Charter was ratified(मंजूर करना) by 29 nations including the 5 permanent members of the Security Council. Since then, October 24 is celebrated every year throughout the world as the United Nations Day.

THE OBJECTIVES OF THE UNITED NATIONS:-

The objectives for which the United Nations was established are enshrined(प्रतिष्ठापित) in the Preamble to the UN charter. The purpose of the United Nations was defined in Article 1 of the Charter as:

1. To maintain international peace and security.
2. To solve international problems of social, economic, cultural and humanitarian character.
3. To promote respect for human rights.
4. To employ international machinery for the promotion and advancement of all people.

 PRINCIPLES OF THE UNITED NATIONS:-

In order to fulfil the purposes for which UNO was established, the members shall act in accordance with the following priciples:

1. To respect the sovereign equality of all its members.
2. All members should fulfil in good faith the obligations assumed by them.
3. They should settle their international disputes by peaceful means.
4. They would refrain from the threat or use of force against any state.
5. They should give the United Nations every assistance in any actions takes place.
6. The organization should ensure that States which are not members of the United Nations act in accordance with these principles.
7. The United nations should not interfere in the internal affairs of any state.

HEADQUARTERS:-

All the organs of the United Nations are based in New York, USA, except the International Court of Justice which is located at The Hague in Netherlands.

FLAG:-

The UN flag is light blue in colour with the UN emblem in white in its centre.

OFFICIAL LANGUAGES:-

The official languages of the UN are Arabic, Chinese, English, French, Russian and Spanish. A speech made in any of these languages is translated into other five languages but documents are written only in the working languages - English and French.

INDIA- AN ORIGINAL MEMBER:-

India was one of the 50 members who took part in the San Fransisco conference. India was represented at this conference by Jawaharlal Nehru. As an original member of the UN, India has been in the forefront of all the UN Peace-keeping mission.

ORGANS OF THE UNITED NATIONS:-

The United Nations has six principal organs:

1. The General Assembly

2. The Security Council

3. The International Court of Justice

4. The Economic and Social Council

5. The Trusteeship Council

6. The Secretariat

These all organs were established in 1945 when UN was founded.

GENERAL ASSEMBLY:-

The General Assembly is the main deliberative, policy-making and representative organ of UNO. All 193 Member States of the UN are represented in the General Assembly, making it only UN body with Universal representation.Each year, in September, the full UN membership meets in the General Assembly Hall in New York for the annual General Assembly session, and general debate, which many heads of state attend and address. Decisions on important matters are made by 2/3rd majority. These matters include: the election of the non-permanent members of the Security Council, budgetary matters, admission of new members, the suspension and expulsion of members, decisions on important questions. The decisions on other questions are done by simple majority. The General Assembly, each year elects a GA President to serve a one-year term of office.

THE SECURITY COUNCIL:-

The Security Council is the executive body of the United Nations. It has primary responsibility, under the UN charter, for the maintenance of international peace and security. A representative of each of its members must be present at all times at the UN Headquarters. The council consists of 5 permanent members- China, France, Russia, Britain and the United States of America. And, 10 non-permanent member- Afro-Asian Countries(5), West European Countries(2), East European Countries(1) and Latin American Countries(2). The non-permanent members are elected by the General Assembly by a 2/3rd majority for a term of 2 years. Each Member has one vote. Under the Charter, all Member States are obligated to comply with Council decisions. The Security Council takes the lead in determining the existence of a threat to the peace or act of aggression. It calls upon the parties to a dispute to settle it by peaceful means and recommends methods of adjustment or terms of settlement. In some cases, the Security Council can resort to imposing sanctions or even authorize the use of force to maintain or restore international peace and security.  The Security Council has a Presidency, which rotates, and changes, every month.

INTERNATIONAL COURT OF JUSTICE:-

The International Court of Justice is the principal judicial organ of the United Nations. Its seat is at the Peace Palace in the Hague (Netherlands). It is the only one of the six principal organs of the United Nations not located in New York (United States of America). The court has a dual role- to settle, in accordance with International law, the legal disputes submitted to it by the States, and to give advisory opinions on legal questions referred to it by authorised UN organs and specialised agencies.

THE ECONOMIC AND SOCIAL COUNCIL(ECOSOC):-

The Economic and Social Council is the principal body for coordination, policy review, policy dialogue and recommendations on economic, social and environmental issues, as well as implementation of internationally agreed development goals. It is responsible for promoting higher standards of living, full employment and economic and social progress. It has 54 members elected by the General Assembly for overlapping three-year terms. It is the United Nations' central platform for reflection, debate, and innovative thinking on sustainable development.

TRUSTEESHIP COUNCIL:-

The Trusteeship Council was established in 1945 under the UN Charter to administer the 11 Trust Territories after the Second World War.These were former colonies or dependent territories.Since, the Council was created, many territories have become independent and are self-governing.The last Trust Territory to become independent was Palau in 1994.Hence, the Trusteeship Council suspended operations in 1994 and decided to meet as and when the occasion arises.

THE SECRETARIAT:-

It is the chief administrative office of the UN. It is composed of the Secretary-General, who is the chief administrative officer of the organisation, appointed by General Assembly. He/She has a five-year renewable tenure. The current and the 9th Secretary-General is a Portugese national, Antonio Guterres. Its main function is to co-ordinate and supervise the activities of the UN organ.

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