Understanding the United Nations

To understand what the United Nations is, we can start by saying what it is not: neither a world government nor a law making institution. What it does do is provide an international framework for the resolution of conflicts. All UN member states have a voice and a vote in the decision making process.

The term United Nations was first used by US President Franklin Roosevelt during the Second World War in 1942 when representatives of 26 nations pledged that their governments would strive for world peace. On June 26, 1945 the United Nations as we know it today was founded following the San Francisco Conference where representatives of 50 states outlined the Charter of the United Nations that was to formally come into being on October 24 of the same year.

The UN Charter, that has been ratified by 192 nations, is a constituent treaty, meaning that all members are bound by its articles. It sets out the purposes, principles and powers of the United Nations and the rights and obligations of member states, in other words, the UN Charter draws up the principles of international relations, from the sovereign equality of states to the prohibition of the use of force to settle international disputes.

 

The UN System

The United Nations system is complex. It is made up of six main organs, a series of affiliated bodies and programmes and specialised agencies and independent institutions.

The main body of the UN system is made up of: the General Assembly, the Security Council, the Economic and Social council, the International Court of Justice and the Secretariat. In addition separate organizations, often subordinate to the principal organs, have been created to solve specialized tasks. These include the International Labour Organisation (ILO), the Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO), the UN Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organisation (UNESCO), the UN Children’s Fund (UNICEF) and the World Health Organisation (WHO). To find out more about the UN’s specialised agencies go to … www.unsystem.org.

The UN Charter sets out that the main aim of all UN organs is to maintain international peace and security, develop friendly relations between nations based on respect for the equal rights and self-determination of peoples and to achieve international cooperation in solving international problems.