United+Nations

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The United Nations is a large organization that was founded in 1945 after the Second World War to try and keep peace amongst the world. It took a lot of hard work, discussion, votes and improvising to create a group this large who is committed to maintaining international peace and security through being “in tune” with the global issue that affect us today, while still trying to keep in touch with what could possibly happen tomorrow. There are 51 member countries and 192 member states. The UN employs over 40,000 workers in every different part of the planet who are working towards different peace keeping and humanitarian efforts. Currently there are 16 peacekeeping operations across the globe.
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The UN includes many different bodies all having different goals to reach peace. The main bodies include general assembly, social and economic council, international court of justice, Security Council, trusteeship council, secretariat and the repertory of practice of United Nations organs. Each body has a main office where many people work to organize and keep things running smoothly. It takes a lot to keep tabs on what is going on all over the globe. There are people who continuously work towards finding out new stories and need for humanitarian aid. When a crisis occurs the UN gets there as quickly; they have access to help from all of the member countries, which allows them to reach the scene of a crisis in record time. The UN main office is located in New York City, USA with the exception on the International Court of Justice, which is located

The General Assembly is a group who has many abilities along the lines of UN policies and laws; as well they make major decisions that govern the whole group. They have the ability to discuss changes to the UN Charter, which very few have the ability to do. The General Assembly includes 6 committees;  Disarmament and International Security Committee ( concerned with disarmament and related international security questions ), Economic and Financial Committee ( concerned with economic questions), Social, Humanitarian and Cultural Committee ( deals with social and humanitarian issues) , Special Political and Decolonization Committee ( deals with a variety of political subjects not dealt with by the First Committee, as well as with decolonization) , Administrative and Budgetary Committee ( deals with the administration and budget of the United Nations) and the Legal Committee ( deals with international legal matters). The secretariat for the General Assembly is currently, Mr. Shaaban M. Shaaban.

The Social and Economic Council was established under the United Nations Charter as the principal organ to coordinate economic, social, and related work of the 14 UN specialized agencies, functional commissions and five regional commissions. The Council also receives reports from 11 UN funds and programs. They are responsible for raising standard of living, providing funding to those below the standard of living, promoting higher standards of living, employment and education opportunities and finding solutions to the worlds social, economic and health issues. They are currently playing quite a large role in the H1N1 Virus breakout crisis. The president of this council is Sylvie Lucas.

The Security Council has primary responsibility, under the Charter, for the maintenance of international peace and security. It is so organized as to be able to function continuously, and a representative of each of its members must be present at all times at United Nations Headquarters. The president of the council rotates monthly according to the alphabet. This ensures new and fresh thinking by the council and encourages the whole council to takes leadership responsibility. The functions and powers of the Security Council include tasks such as maintaining international peace and security according to the UN goals, investigate any dispute as well as to take military action against any aggressor. There is a UN Security Council president assigned to look after the specific needs of each member country.

The international Court of Justice was founded in 1945 and began steady work in April of 1946. It is the only one of the six bodies that is not located in New York, USA. The International Court of Justice is located in the Netherlands. The court is made up of 15 judges who are voted in on 9-year terms by members of the General Assembly as well as the Security Council. The election of the judges is held in New York as well. Judges have the ability to get re-elected. An election is usually held every 3-4 years, although if a judge is to pass away or resign in their term of service, a special election is held nearly immediately, as there must always be 15 judges serving in this department.

The Trusteeship Council is authorized to examine and discuss reports from the Administering Authority on the political, economic, social and educational advancement of the peoples of Trust Territories and, in consultation with the Administering Authority, to examine petitions from and undertake periodic and other special missions to Trust Territories.

The Secretariat Council is in charge of carrying out the actual missions. They are stationed all over the world. The duties of the secretariat council include tasks that range from carrying out peacekeeping missions, preparing studies on humanity and human rights, mediating international disputes and preparing surveys on sustainable development. Currently there are over 40,000 members of this council who are located world wide. Presidency is voted in on a 3 year basis and presidents have the ability to be re-elected by the council.

To most people, the UN is a very mysterious group set up to aid people around the world and very few people understand what their real purpose is. “ The purposes of the United Nations, as set forth in the Charter, are to maintain international peace and security; to develop friendly relations among nations based on respect for the principle of equal rights and self-determination of peoples; to cooperate in solving international economic, social, cultural and humanitarian problems and in promoting respect for human rights and fundamental freedoms; and to be a centre for harmonizing the actions of nations in attaining these ends.” Even myself, I have had my doubts about the purpose of the UN, sometimes they are aiding people who do not want there help, which can become a challenging war, with countless lost lives. I think missions like the Afghanistan mission, are very hard tasks that will never be solved. People from those countries who ask for assistance should be helped, but we should not be trying to change the way an entire country is functioned because it is only going to result in a costly war. I disagree with the war in Afghanistan. Too many soldiers have died in a war that is literally solving no problem at all. The UN does an amazing job of working in places like Africa to give communities well water and healthy food in the time of a crisis. When hurricane Katrina’s mighty force struck New Orleans, USA the UN was huge in the recovery of the citizens as well as the recovery and rebuild of the cities and towns. When disaster strikes, we would be lost without the UN. I think each and every one of us should have some sort of role in helping with UN projects. If we each played even a minor role in helping out I think many things would run much smoother and more effective. I would someday like to volunteer as a helper in a UN mission. While reading on their website I came to find out that a person can apply to volunteer over seas or at home to help out with UN missions. Volunteers are not allowed to participate in dangerous violent missions but they are allowed to participate in volunteering missions across the globe. I think this is a great thing.

The UN has been a significant player in world peace keeping throughout the years past. They have assisted different conflicts such as the Korean and Vietnam war. They were strictly there to keep peace, not add to the conflict. When in Vietnam, many member coutries who had to go to war were unsure of why they were there. One of the consequences to being involved in the UN is that even if your country wants to have no part in a particular war or conflict, if the UN is sent in then you, as a member country must participate. That is the one major down fall to being a part of the UN. The bigest positive of the UN is that even if a member country has very little supplies, weapons, food or self help during a crisis, if the UN is called in, help from all member countries will be there to assist when needed. Like when Katrina hit in New Orleans. The people who were affected were left with nothing; no homes, vehicles or food. The UN was there immediately with healthy, able bodied people who were working together to get people to safety and to immediately begin on the rebuilding of the city.

I think people should appreciate all that the UN does across the globe. They are truly there for the people even if sometimes it is questionable, they are still there for the people at heart. They are involved in other things such as the ecomomic battles, the battle for reneawble energy and the struggle to reduce climate change. They are partners with scientists and officials from across the globe, working together for renewable energy sources, cures for diseases and 100% world peace. I think with a lot of work and many years of practice we may someday achieve these things.

The UN plays a huge role in significance in todays society. They are working on missions across the globe to help the well-being of world peace. I think we would be lost without the UN to help us along the way. The UN inspires people to become more helpful in there community and the world as a whole.

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[] If you would like to watch video of different UN Trials and Missions click on the sites below: [] [] []