Origin of UNO
The problems faced by various nations, collapse of League of
Nations and outbreak of World War II made thinkers realise that there was a
need for a strong and powerful world body to look after world affairs.
Delegates from 51 nations met at San Francisco (USA) in 1945
to frame the basic charter of UNO. Thus. UNO officially came into existence on
24th October 1945. Every year on this date (24 Oct) United Nations
Day is celebrated all over the world.
Aims and objectives of UNO
The aims and objectives of the UNO are as follows:
Maintenance of international peace and security
Development of friendly relations among nations
Promotion of international cooperation in solving social,
cultural and humanitarian problems
Promotion and encouragement of respect for human rights without
distinction of race, sex, language or religion.
UNO maintains peace and security in the world by:
Bringing about agreement between opposing nations
Sending investigation teams to troubled areas
Gets agreements to reduce armaments
Prevents genocide (racial problems) by appealing members to
follow the Universal Declaration of Human Rights
Organisations of the UNO
There are 6 main organs of the UNO. They are:
The General Assembly
The Security Council
The Economic & Social Council (ECOSOC)
The Trusteeship Council
The International Court of Justice
The Secretariat.
The General Assembly
It is the legislative body of the UNO and is made up of
representatives of all member nations. It meets once a year in September.
Functions:
Discusses international problems
Elects members to Security Council, ECOSOC and International
Court of Justice
Admits nations as members
Approves budget of UN
Elects non permanent members of ECOSOC, Trusteeship Council
and Judges of International Court of Justice
The Security Council
It is the executive body of the UNO. It consists of 15
members. The 5 permanent members are USA, England, France, Russia and China.
The 10 non permanent member are elected by the General
Assembly for a period of two years.
Functions:
It settles disputes among nations through negotiations or
judicial settlement. If fighting breaks out it has the power to take action.
It submits annual/special reports to General Assembly
It recommends (suggests) new member admission and suspension
of nations that violate the UN Charter.
Participates in election of judges of International Court of
Justice.
The Economic and Social Council (ECOSOC)
It is made up of representatives from 54 member states. 18
members are elected for 3 years. The aim of ECOSOC is to solve international
economic, social, educational, health and cultural problems. It was established
to encourage, promote and respect Human Rights and freedom. It deals with
matters such as human rights, population, economy, employment, status of women,
transport and communication and control of narcotic drug traffic.
Trusteeship Council
The main objective of the council was advancement of
political, economic, social and educational life of people with a view to
develop self government in trust territories. Membership is made up of :
Countries which administered trust territories
Permanent members of Security council who did not administer
trust territories
Other members elected by General Assembly for three years
Functions:
It considers reports submitted by administering nations.
It accepts and examines petitions from the people of the
trust territories
It sends an investigation committee to inquire into the
complaints of the people of the trust territories
It submits to the General Assembly an annual progress report
It exercises supervision over the administration of trust
territories.
The International Court of Justice
It is an important organ of UNO. Its headquarters are at
Hague (Holland). It consists of 15 judges elected by General Assembly and
Security Council for 9 years. It examines all international cases and settles
legal disputes between member states. It gives advice to UN organs on legal
questions and matters. Decisions in the court are taken by majority votes.
The Secretariat
It operates from UN headquarters at New York, USA. It is an
administrative body and is headed by Secretary General who is elected for five
years.
Functions
It drafts, translates and provides minutes. It gives
information to delegates about UN Decisions.
Secretary General is an important post and he/she has to
create a climate suitable for international peace. The first Secretary General
of the UNO was Trygvie Lie of Norway.
Specialized Agencies of the UNO
These are self governing international organisations. They
deal with worldwide problems like agriculture, communication, health, etc. some
examples of specialized agencies of UNO are:
World Health Organization (WHO) – It aims at promoting
health, works for eliminating diseases and encourages medical research.
Headquarters: Geneva
United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural
Organization (UNESCO) – encourages educational, scientific and cultural
progress to increase understanding among nations. Headquarters: Paris
United Nation Childrens Fund (UNICEF) – is concerned with
the promotion of all round welfare of children all over the world. Headquaters:
Washington DC
FUNCTIONS OF THE UNO
Maintaining peace and settlement of disputes
The primary function of the United Nations is to maintain
international peace and security. Any state, whether it is a member of the UN
or not, may bring any dispute or situation that endangers international peace
and security to the attention of the Security Council or the General Assembly.
The General Assembly can discuss any questions relating to the maintenance of
international peace and security and make recommendations. Actions to maintain
international peace and security often took the form of peace keeping missions
where UN troops were placed in situations of conflict to remove tensions. The
UN troops remain neutral and use force only for self defense purposes. UN
peacekeeping forces are called ‘blue helmets’. They supervised elections in
many parts of the world, encouraged peace negotiations and distributed food.
Examples:
Kashmir: Kashmir lying between India and Pakistan was
claimed by both states. In 1948 the UN had negotiated a ceasefire after
fighting broke out between India and Pakistan. The UN policed the ceasefire
line between the two zones for 16 years. When Pakistani troops invaded the
Indian zone in 1965, a short war broke out. But once again the UN intervened.
The original dispute still remained though, and in the 1990s there seemed
little hope of the UN or any other agency finding a permanent solution.
Iran Iraq War: The UN was successful in bringing an end to
the long drawn out war between Iran and Iraq (1980-88)
Iraq’s Invasion of Kuwait: Saddam Hussein of Iraq sent his
troops to invade and capture the tiny rich neighboring state of Kuwait in
August 1990. The UN Security Council warned him to withdraw or face the
consequences. When he refused, a large UN force was sent to Saudi Arabia. Iraqi
troops were driven out and Kuwait was liberated.
Arms Control and Disarmament
The founders of the UN hoped that maintenance of
international peace and security would lead to the control and reduction of
weapons.
The General Assembly in 1961 adopted a resolution declaring
the use of nuclear or thermo nuclear weapons against international law. The
Nuclear Weapons Test Ban Treaty was signed in August 1963 by Soviet Union,
Britain and United States. This agreement prohibited nuclear tests or
explosions in the atmosphere, in outer space and under water.
In June 1968, the General Assembly approved the Treaty on
the Non Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons, which banned the spread of nuclear
weapons from nuclear to non nuclear powers.
The UN has been active in trying to eliminate weapons of
mass destruction of a variety of types. In 1970, the General Assembly approved
a treaty banning the placement of weapon of mass destruction of on the sea bed.
In 1971, it approved a convention prohibiting manufacture
and use of biological weapons.
In 1993, the Chemical Weapons Convention, prohibiting the
development, production and use of chemical weapons and providing for their
destruction was proposed by the UN.
Economic Welfare and cooperation.
The organs of UNO are responsible for promoting economic
welfare and cooperation in less developed countries. E.g. UN Development
Program (UNDP).
The General Assembly established the US Conference on Trade
and Development (UNCTAD) to address the issues of developing countries. It
provided lower tariff rates for some exports of poorer countries and discussed
questions related to shipping, insurance, etc.
Social welfare and Cooperation
The UN is concerned with issues of human rights, including
rights of women and children, refugee resettlement and narcotics control. Some
of its greatest successes have been in the area of improving health and welfare
of the world’s population. E.g. UNICEF which looks after the welfare of
children and UNEP which looks into environmental projects like saving water,
etc.
Deocolonization and the Trust Territories
The UN has been concerned with people living in non self
governing territories and tried to facilitate the transition to independence of
former colonies. The General Assembly adopted a resolution called the
Declaration on the Granting of Independence to Colonial Countries and Peoples.
It condemned the subjugation of people to domination and exploitation and
declared that power should be transferred ot the people in the colonies.
The trusteeship system was established on the principle that
colonial territories taken away from defeated enemies should not be annexed by
any victorious nation but should be administered by trust power under
international supervision.
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