Static – World History – The United Nations Organizations – (1) | Focus – Mains

Notes for World History

AIM AND STRUCTURE


The United Nations Organisation came into existence in 1945 after the Second World War. It was formed to replace the League of Nations, which had proved incapable of restraining aggressive dictators like Hitler and Mussolini.


Aim of the UN

  • To preserve peace and eliminate war.
  • To remove the causes of conflict, especially in under-developed countries.
  • To safeguard the rights of all individual human beings and rights of peoples and nations.

Structure of the UN

There are seven main organs of the UN:

  • General Assembly:
    • This is the meeting together of the representatives from all the member nations.
    • Each member can send up to 5 representatives, though there is only one vote per nation.
    • It meets once year for about 3 months but special sessions can be called in times of crisis by the members themselves or by the Security Council.
    • Its function is to discuss and make decisions about international problems, to consider UN budget, to elect the Security Council members and to supervise the work of many other UN bodies.
    • Decisions by the UN do not need a unanimous vote as they did in the League Assembly.
  • Security Council
    • This sits in permanent session and its function is to deal with crises as they arise, if necessary by taking economic or military action against an aggressor.
    • The Council has 15 members – 5 of them permanent and the other 10 elected by the General Assembly for 2-year term.
    • Decision need at least 9 of the 15 members to vote in favour but these must include all 5 permanent members.
    • Any one of the permanent members can veto a decision and prevent any action being taken.
    • In order to secure some action in case of a veto by one of the permanent members, the General Assembly introduced the ‘ Uniting for Peace’ resolution according to which if the Security Council’s proposals were vetoed, the Assembly could meet within 24 hours and decide what action to take place.
  • International Court of justice
    • The International Court of Justice at The Hague has 15 judges, all of different nationalities, elected for 9 year terms by the Assembly and the Security Council jointly.
    • It adjudicates in disputes between states.
    • The Court can only operate successfully when both parties to a dispute agree to accept the verdict.
  • Secretariat
  • Trusteeship Council
  • Economic and Social Council
  • International Criminal Court

 

Leave a Reply