THE UNITED NATIONS ORGANIZATION
The 20th century witnessed two world wars which were highly destructive. These wars shook the conscience of the people of the world and highlighted the need for peace and co-operation among nations. The first attempt towards achieving this aim of world peace was in the form of League of Nations after the First World War. But it failed to prevent another war. The search for peace culminated in the formation of U.N. after World War II. So the U.N. founded on October 24, 1945, by the various nations of the world to make the world a safer and better place.
Now, there are 189 members of the U.N. The official languages are Chinese, French, English, Russian, Spanish and Arabic. The UN financed by the contribution from its member states.
The U.N. constitutes of the following organs. The General Assembly, The Security Council, The Economic and Social Council, The Trusteeship Council, The International Court of Justice and the Secretariat.
The General Assembly is the centerpiece of the UN and consists of all members of the world organization. It is the discussion body of the U.N. while each member can send five delegates and five alternates to the Assembly but only one vote. The Assembly is regularly convened once a year and holds special sessions whenever necessary.
To maintain international peace and security is the primary purpose of Security Council. It has fifteen members- US, Britain, China, France and Russia are permanent members, vested with veto power. The others are elected by the General Assembly. Security Council recommends negotiations and mediation to settle disputes peacefully.
Economic and social council works on Economic, social, cultural and humanitarian issues. The council comprises of the representatives from fifty four member states having one vote, elected from General Assembly. At least two regular sessions of the council are held every year. The trusteeship council prepares people for self government or independence. Membership consists of the permanent members of Security Council and those nations. It supervises the administration of various territories governed by nations designated by the UN as-trustees.
The International court of Justice, established by the UN charter to settle international disputes legally is made up of fifteen judges, elected by the General Assembly and the Security Council for a term of nine years. All the disputes are decided by the majority vote of the judges present. The court is permanently in sessions at Hague in the Netherlands.
The secretariat is headed by the Secretary General who is appointed on the recommendation of the Security Council for a term of five years and is the chief administrative officer of UN. He presides as the Secretary General, or authorizes disputes to do so, over all meetings of the General Assembly.
How far the UN has been successful in achieving the goals is a debatable question. The UN should try to become for more effective than it is today by acting as a center for harmonizing the interests of nations.