The United Nations.

The United Nations was established on 24 October, 1945. Today nearly every nation in the world belongs to the UN: membership totals 193 countries.

When States become Members of the UN, they agree to accept the obligations of the UN Charter, an international treaty that sets out basic principles of international relations.

According to the Charter the UN has 4 purposes: 1) to maintain international peace and security; 2) to develop friendly relations among nations; 3) to cooperate in solving international problems and promoting respect for human rights; 4) to be a center for harmonizing the actions of nations.

The UN is not a world government and it does not make laws. At the UN, all Members States have a voice and a vote in this process.

The UN has 6 main organs. 5 of them – the General Assembly; the Security Council; the Economic and Social Council; the Trusteeship Council and the Secretariat – are based at UN Headquarters in New York. The 6^th, the International Court of Justice, is located at the Hague in the Netherlands. All UN Members States are represented in the General Assembly, which meets to consider the world’s most pressing problems. Each Members State has one vote.

The Assembly holds its annual regular session from September to December. At its sessions the Assembly is considered the great number of different topics, including globalization, AIDS, protection of the environment and consolidation of new democracies.

The UN Charter gives the Security Council primary responsibility for maintaining international peace and security. The Council may convene at any time whenever peace is threatened. Under the Charter, all Members States are obligated to carry out the Council’s decisions.

There are 15 Council members. 5 of these – China, France, the Russian Federation, the United Kingdom and the United States – are permanent members. The other 10 are elected by the General Assembly for two-year terms. Voting in the Security Council is different from voting in General Assembly. To pass an important resolution, 9 members of the Council must vote “yes” but if any of the 5 permanent members votes “no”, it is called a veto and the resolution doesn’t pass.

The Economic and Social Council coordinates the economic and social work of the UN and the UN family of organizations. ECOSOC is concerned with economic problems such as poverty, trade, environmental protection. It also concerned with social issues, such as populations, condition of women and children, narcotic drugs, crime, food and so on.

The Trusteeship Council was established as a part of the UN to help the people who lived in so called trust territories to choose their own form of government. Today, all trust territories, apart from Palestine, have either become independent or joined with other independent countries. As a result the Trusteeship Council no longer meets on regular basic.

The International Court of Justice, also known as the World Court, is the main judicial organ of the UN. Consisting of 15 judges the Court decides disputes between countries. Participation by states in a proceeding is voluntary. The Court also provides advisory opinions to the General Assembly and the Security Council upon request.

The Secretariat carries out the substantive and administrative work of the UN. The head of the Secretariat is the Secretary-General. He is assisted by all the members of the Secretariat who carry out the day-to-day work at the UN. The Secretariat includes researches, legal and political experts, editors, economists and other.

The UN system includes many international organizations, such as, the International Monetary Fund, the World Bank, the World Health Organization, the UN Children’s Funds and so on.