3. Translate the following questions into English and check your partner’s answers:

1. Каковы цели ООН?

• to maintain international peace and security;

• to develop friendly relations among nations;

• to achieve international co-operation in solving international problems of an economic, social, cultural, or humanitarian character, and in promoting and encouraging respect for human rights and for fundamental freedoms;

• to be a centre for harmonizing the actions of nations in the attainment of these common ends.

2. В соответствии с какими принципами действует ООН?

• the sovereign equality of all its Members;

• fulfilment of the Charter obligations;

• the settlement of international disputes by peaceful means;

• non-use of force and threat against other states;

• assistance in any action it takes in accordance with the Charter;

• ensuring that states which are not Members of the United Nations act in accordance with these Principles

1. Какая страна может быть членом ООН?

-- Membership in the United Nations is open to all peace-loving states which accept the obligations contained in the Charter and are able and willing to carry out these obligations.

2. Какие государства считаются первоначальными членами ООН?

-- The original Members of the United Nations shall be the states which, having participated in the United Nations Conference on International Organization at San Francisco, or having previously signed the Declaration by United Nations of 1 January 1942, sign and ratify the Charter.

3. Рекомендации какого органа ООН необходимы для принятия страны в ООН Генеральной Ассамблеей?

-- The admission of other states to membership in the United Nations will be effected upon the recommendation of the Security Council.

4. В каких случаях членство страны в ООН может быть приостановлено, либо страна может быть исключена из ООН?

-- A state may be suspended if the Security Council is taking enforcement action against it; expelled if it persistently violates the Principles contained in the Charter.

5. Каковы официальные языки Генеральной Ассамблеи?

-- Arabic, Chinese, English, French, Russian and Spanish

6. Одинаковы ли официальные языки для всех органов ООН?

-- No, they are not

7. Каковы официальные языки совета безопасности?

-- Chinese, English, French, Russian and Spanish

1. Сколько представителей может иметь каждая страна в Генеральной Ассамблее?

The General Assembly shall consist of all the Members of the United Nations. Each Member shall have not more than five representatives in the General Assembly. Each state decides the way in which it chooses its representatives.

2. Как часто созываются сессии Генеральной Ассамблеи?

In recent years, the Assembly has been in session throughout the year.

3. Through how many main committees does the General Assembly deal with its work?

Because of the great number of questions which the Assembly is called upon to consider, the Assembly allocates most questions to its six Main Committees:

-First Committee--Disarmament and International Security Committee

-Second Committee--Economic and Financial Committee

-Third Committee--Social, Humanitarian and Cultural Committee

-Fourth Committee--Special Political and Decolonization Committee

-Fifth Committee--Administrative and Budgetary Committee

-Sixth Committee--Legal Committee

There is also a General Committee, composed of the President and 21 Vice-Presidents of the Assembly and the chairmen of the six Main Committees and a Credentials Committee. The Credentials Committee consists of nine members appointed by the Assembly on the proposal of the President at each session who reports to the Assembly on the credentials of representatives

1. Каковы функции Генеральной Ассамблеи?

• to consider and make recommendations on cooperation in the maintenance of international peace and security, including disarmament and arms regulation;

• to discuss any question relating to international peace and security and, except where a dispute or situation is being discussed by the Security Council, to make recommendations on it;

• to discuss and, with the same exception, make recommendations on any question within the scope of the Charter or affecting the powers and functions of any organ of the United Nations;;

• to initiate studies and make recommendations to promote international political cooperation, the development and codification of international law; the realization of human rights and fundamental freedoms for all, and international collaboration in economic, social, cultural, educational and health fields;

2. Какие еще функции выполняет Генеральная Ассамблея?

• to make recommendations for the peaceful settlement of any situation, regardless of origin, which might impair friendly relations among nations;

• to receive and consider reports from the Security Council and other United Nations organs;

• to consider and approve the United Nations budget and to apportion the contributions among Members;

• to elect the non-permanent members of the Security Council, the members of the Economic and Social Council and those members of the Trusteeship Council that are elected;

• to elect jointly with the Security Council the Judges of the International Court of Justice; and, on the recommendation of the Security Council, to appoint the Secretary-General

3. Как проходит голосование в комитетах и подкомитетах?

1. What is the Security Council composed of?

-- of 5 permanent members – China; France; the USA; Russia; The UK

2. Enumerate functions of the UN Security Council

• 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

3. How are the matters decided in the Security Council?

-- Voting in the Security Council on all matters other than questions of procedure is by an affirmative vote of at least nine members.

4. What is known as the "veto"?

-- the rule of “great Power unanimity”

5. Who can participate in the discussion of matters brought to the Security Council?

-- Any Member of the United Nations, which is not a member of the Security Council may participate in the discussion of any question brought before the Security Council whenever the latter considers that the interests of that Member are specially affected. Both members and non-members are invited to take part in the Council’s discussions when they are parties being considered by the Council.

6. Who heads the Secretariat?

--the Secretary General

7. How is the Secretary General appointed?

-- he is appointed by the General Assembly on the recommendation of the Security Council for a five- year, renewable term

8. What are the duties of the Secretariat?

-- They are as varied as the problems dealt with by the United Nations:

- to administer peacekeeping operations

- to mediate international disputes

- to survey economic and social trends

- to prepare studies on human rights and sustainable development.

- to inform the world's communications media about the work of the United Nations

-to organize international conferences on issues of worldwide concern

- to and interpret speeches and translate documents into the Organization's official languages.

9. Who are staff members responsible to?

-- the UN alone

10. What does CEO stand for?

-- Chief Executive Officer

11. What is the Secretary General empowered to do?

- to "bring to the attention of the Security Council any matter which in his opinion may threaten the maintenance of international peace and security"

12. Can be it said that the Secretary General's work is a complicated one? Why?

- yes; The Secretary-General would fail if he did not take careful account of the concerns of Member States, but he must also uphold the values and moral authority of the United Nations, and speak and act for peace, even at the risk, from time to time, of challenging or disagreeing with those same Member States

13. What is the difference between good offices and mediation?

-- good offices means that a third party offers a location for discussions among disputants but does not participate in the actual negotiations

-- mediation implies that a third party proposes a nonbinding solution to a controversy between two other states

1. When and where did the Millennium Summit take place?

-- it was held at UN Headquarters in New York from 6 to 8 September 2000.

2. Who attended the summit? How was it dubbed?

-- 100 heads of States, 47 heads of Government, three Crown Princes, five Vice­ Presidents and three Deputy Prime Ministers

-- the largest gathering in history

3. What values were identified during the Summit?

Freedom; Equality; Solidarity; Tolerance; Respect for nature; Shared responsibility

4. What problems are awaiting their settlement?

-- measures in the realm of peace and disarmament; to counter drug problem; eliminations of WMD; reduction of poverty; environmental problems; strengthening of the rule of law; strengthening of the UN

5. What timetable was set for fighting poverty?

Halving the number of people in extreme poverty (by the year 2015); Ensuring universal primary education for boys and girls (by 2015); Reducing maternal mortality (by three quarters by 2015); Halting the spread of НIV/ AIDS (by 2015); Improving the lives of at least 100 million slum dwellers (by 2020).

1. What UN bodies participate in programmes concerning environmental aspect? Have you heard about them before?

-- UNEP (the United Nations Environmental Program); UNESCO (the United Nations Educational Scientific and Cultural Organization); WMO (the World Meteorological Organization)

2. What is known as the Earth Summit? When and where did it Earth Summit take place?

-- Conference on Environment and Development; it took place in Rio de Janeiro, in 1992

3. What documents were signed at this summit?

-- Agenda 21; the Convention on Climate Change; the Convention on Biological Diversity

4. What was the Convention on Climate Change aimed at?

-- it targets industrial and other emissions of greenhouse gases, such as carbon dioxide

5. Enumerate the main goals of Convention on Biological Diversity

-- The conservation of biodiversity; the sustainable use of the components of biodiversity; sharing the benefits arising from the commercial and other utilization of genetic resources in а fair and equitable way.

6. Why was the meeting in Kyoto in 1997 held? Who sponsored it?

-- to address the problems of global warming and to push matters along; it was sponsored by the UN

7. What is the essence of the Kyoto Protocol?

-- it addresses global warming caused by human action

8. Why do some counties reject to ratify the Kyoto Protocol?

-- it can mean potential loss of economic growth

9. How can one account for complexity of implementation of the Kyoto Protocol?

-- enormous challenges posed by the control of greenhouse gas emissions; diverse political and economic interests are to be balanced in order to reach an agreement;

10. How can costs on its implementation be reduced?

-- through "no regret" strategy

11. What is the essence of mechanisms proposed by the Kyoto Protocol?

-- countries that find it par­ticularly expensive to reduce emissions at home can pay for cheaper emissions cuts else­where

1. According to the UN Charter peacekeeping was initially regarded as one of the tools to be employed by the UN, wasn't it?

-- no it wasn't

2. What basis peacekeeping evolved on?

--Peacekeeping originated and evolved on а largely ad hoc basis. Each operation has been tailor-made to meet the demands of а specific conflict

3. What do Chapters VI and VII define?

-- Ch VI outlines specific means which countries may use to settle disputes: negotia­tions, inquiry, mediation, conciliation, arbitration, judicial settlement, resort to regional institutions or arrangements or other peaceful means;

-- Ch VII provides for enforcement action by UN member states, including the use of armed force or other collective measures for dealing with threats to peace

4. Who are peacekeepers?

-- peacekeepers are people helping the parties to а conflict to resolve their dif­ferences peacefully

5. What are the objectives of peacekeeping (peacekeepers)? Is their role necessarily confined to maintaining the truce?

-- to restore and main­tain peace; to monitor ceasefires; separate hostile forces; to maintain buffer zones

-- No

6. Speak about the first peacekeeping operation

-- in 1947, the United Nations adopted а plan to divide Palestine and create а Jewish, and аn Arab State. On 15 May 1948, the British administrative power formally ended its control over Palestine, and within 24 hours the State of Israel was proclaimed. Fierce hostilities broke out immediately between the Arab and Jewish communities. Count Bernadotte of Sweden, who was appointed by the United Nations to mediate the conflict, was able to negotiate а ceasefire.

7. How does a peacekeeping operation start?

-- Peacekeeping operations are normally set up by the Security Council, the UN organ with primary responsibility for maintaining international peace and security. The Council decides the operation's size, its overall objectives and its time frame. As the United Nations has no military or civilian police force of its own, member states decide whether to par­ticipate in а mission and, if so, what personnel and equipment they are willing to offer. Under the present structure, it can take considerable time for the actual forces to be authorized and reach their destination.

8. What is a traditional understanding of peacekeeping?

-- The traditional concept of UN peacekeeping, as it was first developed, was to deploy in а "buffer zone" separating fighting forces

9. Why did the traditional understanding of peacekeeping change through years?

-- It changed because of the nature of conflicts has changed in recent years

10. What are the problems peacekeepers encounter?

-- necessity to tackle a variety of problems; events can have internal roots, but their consequences can become international; destabilizing refugee flows; danger posed by factions pursuing each other across the boarders;

11. What are the contemporary problems the UN has to tackle?

-- to help to maintain ceasefires and to disarm and demobilize combatants; to assist the parties to build or strengthen vital institutions and processes and respect for human rights, to provide internal monitoring of elections following electoral reform; to provide humanitarian assis­tance; and to lay the groundwork for longer-term economic growth and development through interim administration

12. Are all the operations successful?

-- No they aren't

13. What are the reasons for failures?

-- Delays in the deployment of forces; the small number of military standby arrangements that are in а high state of readi­ness; the difficulty of recruiting qualified civil personnel for missions, such as police officers, judges or people to run correctional institutions to focus only on law ­enforcement needs.

14. How does the UN try to cope with modern challenges?

-- it has been seeking to build а reliable system in which trained and equipped troops are available immediately after the Security Council's decision to establish an operation; "standby" arrangements

1. What types of weapons are of specific concern to the UN? Why is it so?

-- small arms and light weapons

2. Why was hope for peace replaced by fear? Would you have shared this fear if you have lived at that time? Why?

-- relations among states, and particularly among the Security Council's permanent members deteriorated; this undermined the system of collective security

3. How did the situation change after the Cold War?

-- there were concluded the following treaties: а comprehensive nuclear test-ban-treaty; а convention banning land­mines; a convention banning production, use оf stockpiling of chemical weapons; numbers of nuclear weapons almost halved; and world military expendi­ture declined by some 30 per cent between 1990 and 1998.

4. What does the word "disarmament" imply?

-- "disarmament" is а process of reducing the size of and expenditures оn armed forces, dismantling and destroying weapons,

5. What is one of the main problems of security?

-- а widening gap between а state's military strength and its economic base; no state can ultimately ensure its own secu­rity at the cost of another state's security, real or perceived

6. What are the primary goals of the UN as far as disarmament is concerned?

-- to eliminate the danger of war; to implement measures to halt and reverse the arms race, clearing the path towards lasting peace

7. How can lasting peace be achieved?

-- joint actions by states to tackle non-military threats to security, coupled with efforts towards disarmament, improve prospects for а more secure world

8. Can disarmament contribute to security? Why?

-- yes, it can; it helps progressively eliminate the capacity to produce new weapons, and release military personnel and integrate them into civilian life

9. Who is in charge of considering international security?

-- the General Assembly

10. What do Disarmament Commission ?

-- it provides an annual forum for discussion of specific disarmament issues

11. What are the activities of Department for Disarmament Affairs?

-- it provides substantive and organizational support to the bodies concerned with disarmament and to expert groups carrying out specific studies; prepares reports and undertakes research; implements а disarmament information programme launched in 1982; it is also responsible for three regional centers for peace and disarmament in Africa, Asia, and Latin America and the Caribbean

12. Enumerate the main elements of a new disarmament agenda? Which of them seem the most important for you personally?

-- Deeper cuts in existing nuclear arsenals; preventing arms race in outer space; eliminating battlefield nuclear weapons, and encouraging all nuclear-weapon coun­tries to endorse а no-first-use policy; halting the production of all un-safeguarded weapons-usable nuclear materials; ensuring universal membership in the Non-Proliferation Treaty, the Chemical Weapons Convention, the Biological Weapons Convention and entry into force of the Comprehensive Nuclear-Test-Ban Treaty; promoting "disarmament for development"; pursuing а "culture of prevention" rather than а "culture of reaction";

strengthening the United Nations to promote ре асе and security; promoting greater transparency of data about military expenditure and arms trade.

13. Comment on the words by Julius Nyerere. Do you agree with him?

--

1. Why does the UN need reforms?

-- to meet the challenges of the world constantly changed by the process of globalization ; to make all bodies of the UN more relevant to modern times

2. Is the word "reform" a simple notion?

--"Reform" is always a loaded word because its meaning is often so subjective and because any significant change will affect power relationships and the status of particular member-state

3. What are calls for reform fed by?

-- they are fed by concern that the Secretariat, the agencies, and other parts of the UN system could be much more effective, efficient, and accountable than they; by allegations that the bureaucracy has been a juicy career plum for a small group of administrators who put their interests ahead of those of the organization; the UN response to calls for reform has too often been knee-jerk and has not tried to address the significant problems that exist within the bureaucracy.

4. Are the principles of the Charter relevant nowadays? Has anything changed since 1946?

-- yes, they are; the way we deliver on the aims and objectives written in the Charter has to move with the times

5. What kind of renewal does the UN need?

-- to make it more people-oriented; а more results-based organization; more effective and efficient;

6. "The UN is flawed but indispensable institution that we have two choices with: weaken it by undermining it or trying to strengthen it by getting it to correct its flaws". Comment on.

--

7. What does strengthening of the UN depend on?

-- it depends оn governments and especially оn their will­ingness to work with others (the private sector, non-governmental organizations and multilateral agencies) to find consensus solutions

8. Why would it be difficult to meet contemporary challenges without the UN?

-- there is no other organization that could substitute the UN

9. How can the goals of the reforms be achieved?

-- to act as a catalyst to stimulate actions by the others; to exploit the technologies, i.e. information technologies

10. What are the areas where reforms must be carried out?

-- Identifying core strengths; Networking for change; Making digital connections.; Advancing the quiet revolution

11. Why is it important to place people at the centre of the Organization? And what does it mean?

-- it was founded to meet the needs of people; it means focusing on how аnу given programme benefits the people who are the intended target;

12. What kind of a UN does Kofi Annan would like to create?

-- an organization with renewed confidence of member-states in the relevance and effectiveness of the Organization and revitalized spirit and commitment of its staff".

13. What were the current reports devoted to?

-- they deal with the management of the Secretariat and confirms that the UN needs a significant investment in how it recruits, develops and retains its people, how it procures goods and sources services, and how it manages and accounts for the taxpayer funds of all member-states in its overall pursuit of efficiency and results

14. How are the results of the reforms evaluated? Are they enough?

-- restructuring is under way and a lot has been done in order to improve its work and contribute to its effectiveness and efficiency; no they aren't, still some objectives haven't been achieved yet