The United Nations (UN) was founded after world war two as an organization of independent states with the following objectives;
a) To promote and maintain international peace and security and prevent the occurrence of another world war.
b) To foster friendly relations among nations of the world.
c) To promote respect for fundamental human rights and freedoms.
d) To promote social progress and better living standards of the people.
e) To protect the interests of minority groups such as women and children.
f) To promote economic growth among member states who are working towards reconstructing the world economy that was destroyed by the World War 2.
g) To replace the league of nations which had collapsed before the outbreak of world war 2
Formation of the United Nations
The signing of the Allied declaration in London on 12th June 1941 marked the first step in the formation of the UN. On 14th August 1941, Franklin Delano Roosevelt of USA and
Winston Churchill of Britain, meeting in USA, proposed a set of principles for international collaboration in maintaining peace and security. This was the Atlantic Charter. The charter pledged respect for human Freedom, Allowed all nations the freedom to choose the form of government they preferred and provided that no territory should change hands after war without consent of its people.
On 1st January 1942, representatives of Allied nations meeting in Washington signed the ‘Declaration by United Nations’ and proclaimed support for the Atlantic Charter. This
marked the first official use of the term ‘United Nations’ as suggested by President
Roosevelt in reference to the 26 nations.
The first Blueprint of the UN was prepared at a conference held at Dumbarton Oaks Estate, Washington from 21st September to 7th October 1944. Representatives of USSR, USA, UK and China agreed on the aims, structure and functions of a world organization. On 11th February 1945, the Yalta Conference held by US president Roosevelt, UK PM Churchill and Russian PM Stalin declared the resolve to establish an international organization to maintain peace and security.
On 25th April 1945, the United Nations Conference on International Organization began in San Francisco, USA attended by delegates from 50 nations. It drew a 111-Article Charter which was adopted on 25th June 1945.
The UN began its official functions on 24th October 1945 after ratification of the charter by USSR, USA, Britain, China and France.
Organization of the UN.
Membership to the UN is open to all peace-loving nations that accept the obligations of the charter. By 1945, only 51 states had signed the charter. Kenya Joined on 16th December 1963. By April 2003 membership had grown to 191 states.
To help in its operation, the general assembly has the following committees;
The political and security committee, the special political committee, the economic and financial committee, the committee on social ,humanitarian and cultural issues, the
trusteeship committee , the administration/budget committee and the legal affairs
committee.
1) The Security Council
It has 15 members from 15 countries. Ten of these are non-permanent. It also has five permanent members namely china, France, USA, Russia and UK.
Its main function is to maintain world peace and security.
3) Economic and Social Council
Its membership is 54. 18 are elected each year for a term of three years.
Its function is to coordinate the economic and social work of UN and its specialized agencies. E.g. in trade, status of women. Population, science and technology.
4) Trusteeship Council
It inherited the work of the Mandates Commission of the former League of Nations. It had responsibility over the territories under colonial rule-. - To promote social, economic, political and educational advancement of the inhabitants of the trust territories.
Consists of five permanent members and six additional ones appointed by the General Assembly.
4) The Secretariat
The head of the secretariat is the secretary general. It has its headquarters in New York. Its staff members come from 139 countries. Its work covers all areas outlined in the UN
Charter.
5) The International Court Of Justice
It has its headquarters at Hague.
d) It lacks an effective machinery to affect its decisions. It also lacks a standing army to
implement and effect its resolutions.
e) The permanent members with veto powers often adopt policies that promote their own national interests at the expense of the collective interests of most countries in the world.
f) Loyalty to other organizations. UN members are also members of other organizations; the interests of these organizations are not in accord with those of the UN.
g) Ideological disputes among member states have hampered the work of UN in promoting world peace. This was manifested in the cold war period.
h) The arms race. The UN has found it difficult to achieve world peace because of the
arms race in different parts of the world. The arms race generates and sustains conflict rather than peace.
i) Differences in economic development levels of member states militate against co-operation.
j) The increased occurrence of natural disasters such as famine, floods and epidemics
has created an unexpected demand for economic resources. This automatically the
UN’s resources.
a) To promote and maintain international peace and security and prevent the occurrence of another world war.
b) To foster friendly relations among nations of the world.
c) To promote respect for fundamental human rights and freedoms.
d) To promote social progress and better living standards of the people.
e) To protect the interests of minority groups such as women and children.
f) To promote economic growth among member states who are working towards reconstructing the world economy that was destroyed by the World War 2.
g) To replace the league of nations which had collapsed before the outbreak of world war 2
Formation of the United Nations
The signing of the Allied declaration in London on 12th June 1941 marked the first step in the formation of the UN. On 14th August 1941, Franklin Delano Roosevelt of USA and
Winston Churchill of Britain, meeting in USA, proposed a set of principles for international collaboration in maintaining peace and security. This was the Atlantic Charter. The charter pledged respect for human Freedom, Allowed all nations the freedom to choose the form of government they preferred and provided that no territory should change hands after war without consent of its people.
On 1st January 1942, representatives of Allied nations meeting in Washington signed the ‘Declaration by United Nations’ and proclaimed support for the Atlantic Charter. This
marked the first official use of the term ‘United Nations’ as suggested by President
Roosevelt in reference to the 26 nations.
The first Blueprint of the UN was prepared at a conference held at Dumbarton Oaks Estate, Washington from 21st September to 7th October 1944. Representatives of USSR, USA, UK and China agreed on the aims, structure and functions of a world organization. On 11th February 1945, the Yalta Conference held by US president Roosevelt, UK PM Churchill and Russian PM Stalin declared the resolve to establish an international organization to maintain peace and security.
On 25th April 1945, the United Nations Conference on International Organization began in San Francisco, USA attended by delegates from 50 nations. It drew a 111-Article Charter which was adopted on 25th June 1945.
The UN began its official functions on 24th October 1945 after ratification of the charter by USSR, USA, Britain, China and France.
Organization of the UN.
Membership to the UN is open to all peace-loving nations that accept the obligations of the charter. By 1945, only 51 states had signed the charter. Kenya Joined on 16th December 1963. By April 2003 membership had grown to 191 states.
To achieve its aims, the UN spelt out in its charter the following principles;
a) It is based on the sovereign equality of all its members.
b) All member states must fulfil, in good faith, their charter obligations.
c) All member states must settle international disputes by peaceful means and
without endangering peace, security and justice.
d) They must refrain, in their international relations, from the threat or use of force
against others.
e) They must give the United Nations every assistance to any action it takes in
accordance with the charter, and shall not assist states against which the United Nations is taking preventive or enforcement action.
f) The United Nations must ensure that states which are not members act in accordance with these principles insofar as necessary for maintenance of international peace and security.
The UN structure comprises six principal organs as follows;
1) The General Assembly
This is the main deliberative organ of the UN, but which cannot enforce action on members. It comprises all member states.
a) It is based on the sovereign equality of all its members.
b) All member states must fulfil, in good faith, their charter obligations.
c) All member states must settle international disputes by peaceful means and
without endangering peace, security and justice.
d) They must refrain, in their international relations, from the threat or use of force
against others.
e) They must give the United Nations every assistance to any action it takes in
accordance with the charter, and shall not assist states against which the United Nations is taking preventive or enforcement action.
f) The United Nations must ensure that states which are not members act in accordance with these principles insofar as necessary for maintenance of international peace and security.
The UN structure comprises six principal organs as follows;
1) The General Assembly
This is the main deliberative organ of the UN, but which cannot enforce action on members. It comprises all member states.
To help in its operation, the general assembly has the following committees;
The political and security committee, the special political committee, the economic and financial committee, the committee on social ,humanitarian and cultural issues, the
trusteeship committee , the administration/budget committee and the legal affairs
committee.
1) The Security Council
It has 15 members from 15 countries. Ten of these are non-permanent. It also has five permanent members namely china, France, USA, Russia and UK.
Its main function is to maintain world peace and security.
3) Economic and Social Council
Its membership is 54. 18 are elected each year for a term of three years.
Its function is to coordinate the economic and social work of UN and its specialized agencies. E.g. in trade, status of women. Population, science and technology.
4) Trusteeship Council
It inherited the work of the Mandates Commission of the former League of Nations. It had responsibility over the territories under colonial rule-. - To promote social, economic, political and educational advancement of the inhabitants of the trust territories.
Consists of five permanent members and six additional ones appointed by the General Assembly.
4) The Secretariat
The head of the secretariat is the secretary general. It has its headquarters in New York. Its staff members come from 139 countries. Its work covers all areas outlined in the UN
Charter.
5) The International Court Of Justice
It has its headquarters at Hague.
It is the principal judicial body of the UN.
It gives advisory opinions on legal questions.
It has 15 judges.
6) Specialized Agencies
These are separate specialized agencies which are autonomous organizations related to the UN by special agreements.
Past Secretary Generals of the United Nations Organization since its inception.
a) Trygve lie of Norway (1946-1953).
b) Dag Hammarskjöld of Sweden (1953-1961)
c) U Thant of Burma (1961-1971)
d) Kurt Waldheim of Austria (1972-1982)
e) Javier Perez de Cueller of Peru (1982-1991)
f) Boutros Ghali Boutros. Of Egypt (1992-1996)
g) Kofi Annan of Ghana (1997-2000)
h) Ban Ki Moon.(2000 - 2016)
6) Specialized Agencies
These are separate specialized agencies which are autonomous organizations related to the UN by special agreements.
Past Secretary Generals of the United Nations Organization since its inception.
a) Trygve lie of Norway (1946-1953).
b) Dag Hammarskjöld of Sweden (1953-1961)
c) U Thant of Burma (1961-1971)
d) Kurt Waldheim of Austria (1972-1982)
e) Javier Perez de Cueller of Peru (1982-1991)
f) Boutros Ghali Boutros. Of Egypt (1992-1996)
g) Kofi Annan of Ghana (1997-2000)
h) Ban Ki Moon.(2000 - 2016)
i) António Guterres (2017 - to present)
Achievements of the United Nations Organization
a) The organization has succeeded in keeping peace amid the threats of nuclear war
and seemingly endless regional conflicts in the world. UNO has developed more than 35 peacekeeping missions and observer nations.
b) The UN specialized agencies are engaged in a vast array of social work, affecting
positively, every aspect of people’s lives around the world. E.g., child survival and
development, environmental protection, medical research, agricultural development, education etc.
c) The organization has helped in promoting democracy around the world. It has enabled people in more than 45 countries to participate in free and fair elections, e.g. in Namibia, Cambodia, El Salvador, Eritrea, Mozambique, South Africa etc.
d) The UNO has promoted development of skills and potentials vital for all aspects of
development. The UNDP, in close co-operation with over 170 member states and the UN agencies designs and implements projects for agriculture, industry, education and environment.
e) It has helped in promotion of Human Rights. Since the adoption of the universal declaration of human rights in 1948, the UN has helped to enact more than 80 agreements on political, civil, economic, social and cultural rights.
f) It has played a vital role in environmental protection. ‘The Earth Summit’, the UN
Conference On Environment and Development held in Rio De Janeiro in 1992, resulted in treaties on biodiversity and climate change
g) Promoting self-determination and independence. The organization has brought about independence of 80 countries that are now among its member states.
h) Providing humanitarian aid to victims of conflicts. More than 30 million refugees fleeing war, famine or persecution have received aid from the UN high commission for refugees since 1951.
Problems facing the United Nations Organization in its operation.
a) National sovereignty. Many countries disregard the UN resolutions in favour of their sovereignty.
b) It is unable to stop aggressions and conflicts between individual countries when super powers are involved.
c) Lacks sufficient funds to carry out its work efficiently. E.g it has not always been able
to send enough peacekeeping forces due to lack of sufficient funds.
Achievements of the United Nations Organization
a) The organization has succeeded in keeping peace amid the threats of nuclear war
and seemingly endless regional conflicts in the world. UNO has developed more than 35 peacekeeping missions and observer nations.
b) The UN specialized agencies are engaged in a vast array of social work, affecting
positively, every aspect of people’s lives around the world. E.g., child survival and
development, environmental protection, medical research, agricultural development, education etc.
c) The organization has helped in promoting democracy around the world. It has enabled people in more than 45 countries to participate in free and fair elections, e.g. in Namibia, Cambodia, El Salvador, Eritrea, Mozambique, South Africa etc.
d) The UNO has promoted development of skills and potentials vital for all aspects of
development. The UNDP, in close co-operation with over 170 member states and the UN agencies designs and implements projects for agriculture, industry, education and environment.
e) It has helped in promotion of Human Rights. Since the adoption of the universal declaration of human rights in 1948, the UN has helped to enact more than 80 agreements on political, civil, economic, social and cultural rights.
f) It has played a vital role in environmental protection. ‘The Earth Summit’, the UN
Conference On Environment and Development held in Rio De Janeiro in 1992, resulted in treaties on biodiversity and climate change
g) Promoting self-determination and independence. The organization has brought about independence of 80 countries that are now among its member states.
h) Providing humanitarian aid to victims of conflicts. More than 30 million refugees fleeing war, famine or persecution have received aid from the UN high commission for refugees since 1951.
Problems facing the United Nations Organization in its operation.
a) National sovereignty. Many countries disregard the UN resolutions in favour of their sovereignty.
b) It is unable to stop aggressions and conflicts between individual countries when super powers are involved.
c) Lacks sufficient funds to carry out its work efficiently. E.g it has not always been able
to send enough peacekeeping forces due to lack of sufficient funds.
d) It lacks an effective machinery to affect its decisions. It also lacks a standing army to
implement and effect its resolutions.
e) The permanent members with veto powers often adopt policies that promote their own national interests at the expense of the collective interests of most countries in the world.
f) Loyalty to other organizations. UN members are also members of other organizations; the interests of these organizations are not in accord with those of the UN.
g) Ideological disputes among member states have hampered the work of UN in promoting world peace. This was manifested in the cold war period.
h) The arms race. The UN has found it difficult to achieve world peace because of the
arms race in different parts of the world. The arms race generates and sustains conflict rather than peace.
i) Differences in economic development levels of member states militate against co-operation.
j) The increased occurrence of natural disasters such as famine, floods and epidemics
has created an unexpected demand for economic resources. This automatically the
UN’s resources.
