United Nations Background

The name "United Nations", coined by United States President Franklin D. Roosevelt
was first used in the Declaration by United Nations of 1 January 1942, during the
Second World War, when representatives of 26 nations pledged their Governments to
continue fighting together against the Axis Powers.
The forerunner of the United Nations was the League of Nations, an organization
conceived in similar circumstances during the first World War, and established in 1919
under the Treaty of Versailles "to promote international cooperation and to achieve peace
and security." The League of Nations ceased its activities after failing to prevent the
Second World War.
In 1945, representatives of 50 countries met in San Francisco at the United Nations
Conference on International Organization to draw up the United Nations Charter. Those
delegates deliberated on the basis of proposals worked out by the representatives of
China, the Soviet Union, the United Kingdom and the United States at Dumbarton Oaks,
United States in August-October 1944. The Charter was signed on 26 June 1945 by the
representatives of the 50 countries. Poland, which was not represented at the Conference,
signed it later and became one of the original 51 Member States. The Federal Republic of
Germany and the German Democratic Republic were admitted to membership in the
United Nations on 18 September 1973. At the moment, the UN has 193 member states.
The Holy See and the State of Palestine participate as observers in the sessions and the
work of the General Assembly. Moreover, the European Union is also an observer of the
General Assembly sessions and due to its institutional setup the EU speaks unilaterally
for its Member States in such areas as agriculture, fisheries and trade.
The United Nations officially came into existence on 24 October 1945, when the Charter
had been ratified by China, France, the Soviet Union, the United Kingdom, the United
States and by a majority of other signatories. United Nations Day is celebrated on 24
October each year.

The Aims of the United Nations:

To keep peace throughout the world.

To develop friendly relations between nations.
To work together to help people live better lives, to eliminate
poverty, disease and illiteracy in the world, to stop
environmental destruction and to encourage respect for each
other's rights and freedoms.
To be a centre for harmonizing the actions of nations to achieve
these goals.

The Principles of the United Nations:

All Member States have sovereign equality.

All Member States must obey the Charter.
Countries must try to settle their differences by peaceful means.
Countries must avoid using force or threatening to use force.
The UN may not interfere in the domestic affairs of any country.
Countries should try to assist the United Nations.

UN Main Bodies:

UN Main Bodies:

Peacekeeping and Security:

The UN, after approval by the Security Council, sends peacekeepers to regions where
armed conflict has recently ceased or paused to enforce the terms of peace agreements
and to discourage combatants from resuming hostilities. Since the UN does not maintain
its own military, peacekeeping forces are voluntarily provided by member states of the
UN. The peacekeeping force as a whole received the Nobel Peace Prize in 1988.
E.g.: UN peacemaking and peacekeeping have been instrumental in resolving protracted conflicts
in Central America. In 1989, in Nicaragua, the peace effort led to voluntary demobilization of the
resistance movement, whose members turned in their weapons to the UN. In 1990, a UN mission
observed Nicaragua's elections the first UN-observed elections in an independent country.

Development
The UN is involved in supporting development, e.g. by the formulation of the
Millennium Development Goals. The UN Development Programme (UNDP) is the
largest multilateral source of grant technical assistance in the world. The UNDP annually
publishes the Human Development Index (HDI), a comparative measure ranking
countries by poverty, literacy, education, life expectancy, and other factors.

Humanitarian Affairs
In conjunction with other organizations such as the Red Cross, the UN provides food,
drinking water, shelter and other humanitarian services to populaces suffering from
famine, displaced by war, or afflicted by other disasters. Major humanitarian branches of
the UN are the World Food Programme (which helps feed more than 100 million people a
year in 80 countries), the office of the High Commissioner for Refugees with projects in
over 116 countries, as well as peacekeeping projects in over 24 countries.

Human Rights
The Universal Declaration of Human Rights, proclaimed by the General Assembly in
1948, sets out basic rights and freedoms to which all women and men are entitled
among them the right to life, liberty and nationality; to freedom of thought, conscience
and religion; the right to work and to be educated; the right to food and housing; and the
right to take part in government.
Responsible bodies: The High Commissioner for Human Rights and The Human Rights
Council

International Law
The UN Charter specifically calls on the United Nations to undertake the progressive
codification and development of international law. As a result, over 500 treaties and
conventions have been validated by member states and have become binding. E.g.: The
Convention on the Law of the Sea, The Convention against Illicit Traffic in Narcotic
Drugs, The Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of Genocide.