The Background
The two World Wars caused such untold horror and damage to the lives and properties of people that soon everybody realized the futility of wars. They wanted to stop wars at any cost. They knew that this could only happen if all the countries of the world worked together towards peace. In 1943, the leaders of Britain, China, The USA and the USSR met in Moscow and made plans to set up a new international body to replace the defunct Leagues of Nation.
The New World Body
In 1945 the leaders of fifty countries met at the Opera House in San Francisco and signed the Charter of the United Nations Organization. The Charter declared that the members of the UNO were determined to prevent another war and aimed to work for peace and make justice available to everyone.
The United Nations Organization was born on 24 October 1945. It is headquartered in Manhattan, New York since 1952. Today there are more than 160 nations members. The newest entrant is the disputed country of Palestine, which got temporary membership in 2013 amidst objections from Israel and the US.
The Bodies of the UNO
The UNO has six different bodies:
- The General Assembly
- The Security Council
- The Secretariat
- The Trusteeship Council
- The International Court of Justice
- The Economic and Social Council
The General Assembly – The General Assembly is like a World Parliament which meets every year in the month of September to discuss, debate and solve international problems. Each member countries of the UNO send five representatives to the General Assembly, but each country has one vote.
The Security Council – It has fifteen representatives, of these five are permanent. USA, Britain, Russia, France and China are the permanent members, while the rest ten seats are rotated among the members. These are selected for two years during the meeting of the General Assembly. The Security Council has the right to make decisions that all governments have to accept.
The Secretariat – It is the office where daily administrative decisions are taken. It is headed by the Secretary General which is the top most position of the UNO. The Secretary General is chosen by the General Assembly on the recommendations of the Security Council. Mr. Ban Ki Moon is the present Secretary General, who succeeded Mr. Kofi Anan.
The Trusteeship Council – It was mainly formed to handle the trust states, who were to be given independence but only when they were thought to be ready for it. The Trusteeship Council stopped working in 1994 (October 1) after the last remaining trust state became independent.
The international Court of Justice – It handles the disputes between the member nations. It is situated at Hague in Holland and has bench of fifteen judges elected by the Security Council from among the member nations.
The Economic and Social Council – It looks after the work of the special agencies of the UNO. The UNO has many Special Agencies like the ILO, the WHO, the UNESCO, the UNICEF, the FAO and the UNDP.
The ILO or the International Labor Organization looks after the welfare of the workers and labors. It studies the working conditions in industries all over the world and make recommendations to improve them.
The WHO or the World Health Organization helps to fight diseases all over the world. It has helped wipe out small pox, malaria and polio from the world. It also helps countries that are hit by natural calamities. It is headquartered at Geneva, Switzerland.
The UNESCO or the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organizations works at removing illiteracy and promote cultural relations between the member nations. It is headquartered at Paris, France.
The UNICEF or the United Nations Children Emergency Fund arranges for healthcare, basic training and also food for the children. It was basically started for the orphan children who had lost their families to the Second World War in 1946 at New Your, USA. You must have seen the UNICEF cards which are a source of funds for UNICEF’s child plans.
The FAO or the Food and Agricultural Organization helps the poorer nations to produce more food and become self-sufficient. It is headquartered in Rome, Italy.
The UNDP or the United Nation Development Program is a group of important agencies that work on environment, population, development etc.
The UNO has so far been successful in avoiding another world war and has solved some of the minor issues like apartheid, but it has not met with success In many areas. It has been unable to deal with terrorism, nuclear and chemical weapons proliferation, the Israel-Palestine issue, etc.
No comments:
Post a Comment