Members: Afghanistan, Albania, Algeria, Andorra, Angola, Antigua and Barbuda, Argentina

11 September 2008

BACKGROUND NOTE ON THE UNITED NATIONS

Prepared by the Department of International Affairs

Secretariat for External Relations

United Nations

Established in 1945

The United Nations (UN) was established in 1945 under the Bretton Woods Agreements as a substitute for the League of Nations (est.1919). The failure of the League of Nations to prevent the outbreak of World War II led to the creation of a renewed international organization, the United Nations, with a universal membership. This organization was designed to maintain world peace and promote cooperation among nations.

The purposes of the United Nations, as set forth in its Charter, are to maintain international peace and security; to develop friendly relations among nations; 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.

The six principal organs and agencies of the United Nations are the:

General Assembly,Security Council, Economic and Social Council, Trusteeship Council, International Court of Justice and UN Secretariat. The United Nations family, however, is much largerand encompasses the following 15 agencies, as well as several programs and bodies.

The UN is comprised of 192 member states. These member states are listed in the annex to this note. Five countries are members of the Permanent Council – the People’s Republic of China, France, Russia, theUnited Kingdom and theUnited States. Permanent Council members have the right of veto and can therefore block any proposal brought before the Council.

The main sources of funding for the United Nations are the contributions of Member States, which are assessed on a scale approved by the General Assembly. The fundamental criterion on which the scale of assessments is based is the capacity of countries to pay. This is determined by considering their relative shares of total gross national product, adjusted to take into account a number of factors, including their per capita incomes. The UN budget for the two years 2000-2001 was $2,535 million.

Under the previous Secretary General Kofi Anan, the UN member states agreed in 2000 to end poverty by 2015. This ambitious plan was named as the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs). The MDGs are to: I) Eradicate Extreme Poverty & Hunger; II) Achieve Universal Primary Education; III) Promote Gender Equality & Empower Women; IV) Reduce Child Mortality; V) Improve Maternal Health; VI) Combat HIV/AIDS, Malaria and Other Diseases; VII) Ensure Environmental Sustainability; VIII) Develop a Global Partnership for Development.

In his address to the General Assembly in July 2008, the current UN Secretary General, Ban Ki-moon, highlighted the importance of meeting the MDGs and tackling current global issues: “The three critical challenges to our shared humanity and in fact to our way of life – realizing the Millennium Development Goals, addressing climate change, and responding to the global food and energy crisis – are interrelated and global in nature. And so they require a global response, through global partnerships. We cannot afford to fail or betray the hopes of those tens of millions of vulnerable. This crisis is not a short-term issue – it will require the sustained attention of governments, donors, international and regional organizations, civil society and the private sector for years to come.”

Members

In 1945, when the United Nations (UN) was established as the cornerstone of the postwar international system, the organization only had 51 member states. Currently, the UN has 192 member states and is the largest international organization in the world. All independent nations and sovereign territories have the right to be a member of the United Nations. However, Taiwan was excluded in 1971, when the People’s Republic of China was admitted.

History

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.
In 1899, the first International Peace Conference was held in The Hague to elaborate instruments for settling crises peacefully, preventing wars and codifying rules of warfare. It adopted the Convention for the Pacific Settlement of International Disputes and established the Permanent Court of Arbitration, which began work in 1902.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 International Labour Organization was also created under the Treaty of Versailles as an affiliated agency of the League. The League of Nations ceased its activities after failing to achieve universal membership and 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 at Dumbarton Oaks on the basis of proposals worked out by the representatives of the victorious nations, namely China, the Soviet Union, the United Kingdom and the United States, in August-October 1944. The Charter was signed on 26 June 1945 by 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 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 a majority of other signatories. United Nations Day is celebrated on October 24theach year.

Mission/Objectives

The purposes of the United Nations, as set forth in its Charter of 1945, are: to maintain international peace and security; to develop friendly relations among nations; 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.

Amendments to Articles 23, 27 and 61 of the Charter were adopted by the General Assembly on 17 December 1963 and came into force on 31 August 1965. A further amendment to Article 61 was adopted by the General Assembly on 20 December 1971, and came into force on 24 September 1973. An amendment to Article 109, adopted by the General Assembly on 20 December 1965, came into force on 12 June 1968.

The amendment to Article 23 enlarges the membership of the Security Council from eleven to fifteen. The amended Article 27 provides that decisions of the Security Council on procedural matters shall be made by an affirmative vote of nine members (formerly seven) and on all other matters by an affirmative vote of nine members (formerly seven), including the concurring votes of the five permanent members of the Security Council. The amendment to Article 61, which entered into force on 31 August 1965, enlarged the membership of the Economic and Social Council from eighteen to twenty-seven. The subsequent amendment to that Article, which entered into force on 24 September 1973, further increased the membership of the Council from twenty-seven to fifty-four.

The amendment to Article 109, which relates to the first paragraph of that Article, provides that a General Conference of Member States for the purpose of reviewing the Charter may be held at a date and place to be fixed by a two-thirds vote of the members of the General Assembly and by a vote of any nine members (formerly seven) of the Security Council. Paragraph 3 of Article 109, which deals with the consideration of a possible review conference during the tenth regular session of the General Assembly, has been retained in its original form in its reference to a "vote, of any seven members of the Security Council", the paragraph having been acted upon in 1955 by the General Assembly, at its tenth regular session, and by the Security Council.

Structure

The six principal organs of the United Nations are the: General Assembly,Security Council, Economic and Social Council, Trusteeship Council, International Court of Justice and Secretariat. The United Nations family, however, is much larger, encompassing 15 agencies and several programmes and bodies.

I)General Assembly: Established in 1945 under the Charter of the United Nations, the General Assembly occupies a central position as the chief deliberative, policy-making and representative organ of the United Nations. Comprising all 192 Members of the United Nations, it provides a forum for multilateral discussion of the full spectrum of international issues covered by the Charter. It also plays a significant role in the process of standard-setting and the codification of international law. The Assembly meets in regular session intensively from September to December each year, and thereafter as required.

II)Security Council: is comprised by three standing committees: I) Security Council Committee of Experts; II) Security Council Committee on Admission of New Members; III) Security Council Committee on Council meetings away from Headquarters. Each committee includes representatives of all Security Council member States. The functions and powers of the Security Council are: to maintain international peace and security in accordance with the principles and purposes of the United Nations; to investigate any dispute or situation which might lead to international friction; to recommend methods of adjusting such disputes or the terms of settlement; to formulate plans for the establishment of a system to regulate armaments; to determine the existence of a threat to the peace or act of aggression and to recommend what action should be taken; to call on Members to apply economic sanctions and other measures not involving the use of force to prevent or stop aggression; to take military action against an aggressor; to recommend the admission of new Members; to exercise the trusteeship functions of the United Nations in "strategic areas"; to recommend to the General Assembly the appointment of the Secretary-General and, together with the Assembly, to elect the Judges of the International Court of Justice.

III)ECOSOC: was established under the United Nations Charteras 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 programmes. The Economic and Social Council (ECOSOC) serves as the central forum for discussing international economic and social issues, and for formulating policy recommendations addressed to MemberStates and the United Nations system. It is responsible for: promoting higher standards of living, full employment, and economic and social progress; identifying solutions to international economic, social and health problems; facilitating international cultural and educational cooperation; and encouraging universal respect for human rights and fundamental freedoms. It has the power to make or initiate studies and reports on these issues. It also has the power to assist the preparations and organization of major international conferences in the economic and social and related fields and to facilitate a coordinated follow-up to these conferences. With its broad mandate the Council's purview extends to over 70 per cent of the human and financial resources of the entire UN system.

IV)Trusteeship Council: in setting up an International Trusteeship System, the Charter established the Trusteeship Council as one of the main organs of the United Nations and assigned to it the task of supervising the administration of TrustTerritories placed under the Trusteeship System. Major goals of the System were to promote the advancement of the inhabitants of TrustTerritories and their progressive development towards self-government or independence. The Trusteeship Council is made up of the five permanent members of the Security Council --China, France, Russian Federation, United Kingdom and United States. Under the Charter, 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 TrustTerritories and, in consultation with the Administering Authority, to examine petitions from and undertake periodic and other special missions to TrustTerritories.

V)The Secretariat: services the other principal organs of the United Nations and administers the programmes and policies laid down by them. At its head is the Secretary-General, who is appointed by the General Assembly on the recommendation of the Security Council for a five- year, renewable term. The duties carried out by the Secretariat are as varied as the problems dealt with by the United Nations. These range from administering peacekeeping operations to mediating international disputes, from surveying economic and social trends and problems to preparing studies on human rights and sustainable development. Secretariat staff also informs the world's communications media about the work of the United Nations; organize international conferences on issues of worldwide concern; and interpret speeches and translate documents into the Organization's official languages. The Secretariat has a staff of about 8,900 under the regular budget drawn from some 170 countries. As international civil servants, staff members and the Secretary-General answer to the United Nations alone for their activities, and take an oath not to seek or receive instructions from any Government or outside authority. Under the Charter, each MemberState undertakes to respect the exclusively international character of the responsibilities of the Secretary-General and the staff and to refrain from seeking to influence them improperly in the discharge of their duties. The United Nations, while headquartered in New York, maintains a significant presence in Addis Ababa, Bangkok, Beirut, Geneva, Nairobi, Santiago and Vienna, and has offices all over the world.

VI)The International Court of Justice (ICJ): is the principal judicial organ of the United Nations(UN). It was established in June 1945 by the Charter of the United Nations and began work in April 1946.The seat of the Court is at the PeacePalace in The Hague (Netherlands). Of the six principal organs of the United Nations, it is the only one not located in New York (United States of America).The Court’s role is to settle, in accordance with international law, legal disputes submitted to it by States and to give advisory opinions on legal questions referred to it by authorized United Nations organs and specialized agencies. The Court is composed of 15 judges, who are elected for terms of office of nine years by the United Nations General Assembly and the Security Council. It is assisted by a Registry, its administrative organ. Its official languages are English and French.

Peacekeeping Operations

The United Nations was founded, in the words of its Charter, in order “to save succeeding generations from the scourge of war.” Meeting this challenge is the most important function of the Organization, and, to a very significant degree, the yardstick by which it is judged by the peoples it exists to serve.

United Nations peace operations entail three principal activities: conflict prevention and peacemaking; peacekeeping; and peacebuilding. Long-term conflict prevention addresses the structural sources of conflict in order to build a solid foundation for peace. Peacemaking addresses conflicts in progress, attempting to bring them to a halt, using the tools of diplomacy and mediation. These activities are, by definition, mostly of a low-profile nature, and their quiet successes may even go unnoticed altogether by the public at large.

Peacebuilding is a term of more recent origin that defines UN activities to establish the foundations of peace and provide the tools for building on those foundations. Peacebuilding includes, but is not limited to, reintegrating former combatants into civilian society, security sector reform, strengthening the rule of law, improving respect for human rights, providing technical assistance for democratic development and promoting conflict resolution and reconciliation techniques.

In operational and financial terms, however, the United Nations' largest and most visible engagement in peace operations is peacekeeping. Peacekeeping, a UN endeavour born almost six decades ago, has evolved rapidly in the past 15 years qualitatively and quantitatively. In the first 40 years of the UN's history, for example, only 13 peacekeeping operations were set up. In the 20 years since then, 47 missions have been deployed.

The context and models have also changed: peacekeeping began with a primarily military model of observing ceasefires and separating combatants after inter-State wars. Today, peacekeeping has evolved and expanded into an integrated system of many elements, military, police and civilian personnel, working together to build peace in the dangerous aftermath of conflict. Since the end of the Cold War, United Nations peacekeeping has often combined with peacebuilding in complex multidimensional operations deployed into settings of intra-State conflict.

Currently, there are ten UN Peacekeeping operations around the world. These peacekeeping operations include: I) UN Interim Administration Mission in Kosovo (Since 1999); II) UN Organization Mission in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (Since 1999); III) UN Mission in Ethiopia and Eritrea (Since 2000); IV) UN Mission in Liberia (Since 2003); V) UN Operation in Cote d’ Ivorie (Since 2004); VI) UN Stabilization Mission in Haiti (Since 2004); VII) UN Mission in the Sudan (2005); VIII) United Nations Integrated Mission in Timor-Leste (2006); IX) African Union/United Nations Hybrid Operation in Darfur (Since 2007); X) United Nations Mission in the Central African Republic and Chad (Since 2007).