The United Nations Organisation
Chapter – 18
Table of Contents
Introduction
- The United Nations (UN) consists of a central system located in New York, Specialized Agencies (e.g., WHO, ILO), and Programmes and Funds (e.g., UNICEF, UNDP).
- Created after World War II, the UN reflected hopes for a just and peaceful global community.
- The UN is the only global institution with universal membership and a mandate encompassing security, economic and social development, human rights, and the environment.
- The UN was created by states for states, with unresolved questions about the relationship between state sovereigntyand the protection of people’s needs and interests.
- Sovereignty and limits of UN action have been key issues since the founding of the UN.
- Since its creation, the UN has expanded its activities to address conditions within states, improved its capacity in economic and social work, and gained a higher moral status.
- The UN now addresses global security threats, including inter-state conflict, threats by non-state actors, and internal political, economic, and social conditions.
- Despite the growth in its activities, there are questions about the relevance and effectiveness of the UN.
- The 2003 Iraq war highlighted issues with UN Security Council authorization, leading to criticism of the UN and a crisis in international relations.
- The aftermath of the invasion and questions about the legitimacy of the war, which lacked UN sanction, showed that the UN holds important moral status in international society.
- The chapter will cover the main organs of the UN, the changing role of the UN in peace and security, and economic and social development.
A brief history of the United Nations and its principal organs
- The United Nations was established on 24 October 1945 by 51 countries after initiatives from governments that led the war against Germany and Japan.
- By 2006, the UN had 192 members, nearly every state in the world.
- Member states agreed to accept the obligations of the United Nations Charter, an international treaty setting out basic principles of international relations.
- The UN Charter had four purposes:
- To maintain international peace and security.
- To develop friendly relations among nations.
- To cooperate in solving international problems and promoting human rights.
- To be a centre for harmonizing actions of nations.
- At the UN, all member states (large and small, rich and poor, with differing political views and social systems) have a voice and a vote.
- The UN Charter referred to the needs and interests of peoples as well as states.
- The UN was created to address problems of its predecessor, the League of Nations, which failed to prevent future wars due to its lack of effective power.
- The League of Nations (established after World War I) lacked a clear division of responsibilities between the League Council and the League Assembly, both of which could only make recommendations, not binding resolutions, and required unanimous consent.
- In the League, there was no mechanism for coordinating military or economic actions against miscreant states, contributing to its weakness.
- Key states, such as the United States, were not members of the League.
- By the Second World War, the League had failed to address acts of aggression.
- The United Nations structure was designed to avoid issues faced by the League of Nations.
- The UN has six main organs:
- Security Council
- General Assembly
- Secretariat
- Economic and Social Council
- Trusteeship Council
- International Court of Justice.