1. United Nations
Global Issues

2. THE UNITED NATIONS
1. How UN came into existence.
2. Atlantic Charter.
3. Declaration by United Nations.
4. United Nations Day.
5. Aim of UN
6. Who/ What/ Where of UN
7. Organs of UN
8. Achievements
9. India in UN

3. THE UNITED NATIONS
 20th century witnessed two destructive
war.
 1914-1918: World War I
 Need of international organization for
peace.
 League of Nations was born.
 Primary Aim

4. THE UNITED NATIONS
 1939 – 45 World War II
 Most terrible. Towns cities were razed to
ground.
 In this war atom bombs were used for
the first time.

5. THE UNITED NATIONS
 During the course of war efforts were
made to establish an international
Organization.
 In the year 1941 British PM and US
President met aboard battleship
somewhere in Atlantic Ocean. This
declaration came to be known as Atlantic
Charter. They agreed that after war
mankind must have some guaranteed
basic rights.

6. THE UNITED NATIONS
 Four basic freedom :-
1. The freedom from want.
2. Freedom of speech.
3. Freedom of religious belief.
4. Freedom from fear.

7. United Nations Day
 1945 conference at Yalta in Russia.
 Membership was open to all peace loving
states.
 1945 : In April, 50 nations met at San
Francisco and on 26 June last day of
conference UN Charter was signed.
 24 Oct. Charter came into force and this
day was known as United Nation Day.

8. How the UN Works
 Established on 24 October 1945
 51 countries were committed to preserving
peace through international cooperation
 UN Membership: 192 countries
 States agree to accept obligations of the
UN Charter, an international treaty that sets out
basic principles

9. How the UN Works
 According to the Charter the UN has 5
basic principles:
1. Maintain international peace and security
2. Develop friendly relations among nations
3. Cooperate in solving international problems
and promote respect for human rights
4. Be the center for harmonizing the actions of
nations
5. Save succeeding generations and humanity
from war.

10. How the UN Works
 The UN is not a world government
 It does not make laws
 Large or small, rich or poor, and with
differing political views and social
systems:
• All member states have a voice
• All member states have a vote

11. W’s of UN
 Membership:
1. Peace loving nations. Ready to accept UN
charter.
2. Admission made by General Assembly on
recommendation of Security Council.
3. Members can be expelled by General
Assembly on recommendation of Security
Council.

12. W’s of UN
 Language:
1. French and English are commonly
used language.
2. Official languages are E.F.R.C.A.S.
3. Speeches of delegates are translated
in all these languages.

13. W’s of UN
 Finance:
 Contribution of member state.
 Rich states contributes more then the
poor states.

14. W’s of UN
 Headquarters :
 Official HQ is in N.Y. 39 storey building.

15.  Flag:

16. Main Bodies
 General Assembly (New York)
 Security Council (NY)
 Economic and Social Council (NY)
 Trusteeship Council (NY)
 Secretariat (NY)
 International Court of Justice (Netherlands)

17. General Assembly
 The main deliberative organ of the UN
 Composed of all member states
 Each member has one vote.
 Decisions on important issues require two
thirds majority vote
• Peace and Security
• Admissions of new members
• Budget matters
 Decisions on other issues: simple majority

18. Functions and Powers
 Maintain international peace and security
 Make recommendations to the Security council
 Promote international political cooperation
 Promote human rights
 Over see international collaboration in the
economic, social, humanitarian, cultural, and
educational and health fields

19. Functions and Powers
 Receive and consider reports from the Security
Council and other UN organs
 Consider and approve UN budget
 Establish financial assessments of Member
States
 Appoint Secretary General

20. Security Council
 Primary responsibility to maintain peace and
security
 A representative of each member must be
present at all times at the UN Headquarters
 15 Council Members (5 + 10)
 Five permanent members:
• China
• France
• Russian Federation
• United Kingdom
• United States
“Non Violence”

21. Security Council
 Permanent member enjoys veto power.
 The Council makes recommendations to the
General Assembly on:
• appointment of Secretary General
• admission of new Members to the UN

22. The composition of the Security Council
does not reflect present day realities
 Britain and France are members of the
Security Council only because they were
victors in World War 2. Should they still be
there?
 Similarly, Japan, the world’s second largest
economy is not a Security Council member.
 Efforts to expand Security Council
membership have failed because countries
cannot decide on how it should be done.
 Probable candidates: Japan, India, Brazil and
one African country (Nigeria?)

23. In more than 50 years, the UN Security
Council has only authorized military action in
the following cases
 Korea
 Somalia
 Bosnia
 Gulf War
 In all these cases different countries
have undertaken military action with
the permission of the UN. The UN
itself has not gone to war

24. Typical UN operations are peacekeeping not
war fighting
 These operations usually come into effect
once a war is over
 They monitor ceasefires, and help to maintain
a buffer between the warring parties
 The peacekeepers are there at the request of
the warring parties
 Their main role is to calm things and build
confidence among the warring parties
 Soldiers from different countries are assigned
to the UN, and are responsible to the United
Nations, not their own countries

25.  The UN has no military force of its own, and
is dependent on other countries to provide
military forces
 The UN Charter requires countries to maintain
a certain part of their forces for the use of the
UN. This has never been done
 Instead of representing the world, the UN is
often pushed into becoming an instrument of
its most powerful members

26. Economic and Social Council
 Council has 54 members
• Elected by the General Assembly
• Three year terms
 Serves as central forum for discussing
international economic and social issues

27. Economic and Social Council
 This Council is responsible for:
• Promoting higher standards of living
• Full employment
• Economic and social progress
• Identifying solutions to international economic,
social and health problems
• Facilitating international cultural and
educational cooperation
• Encourage universal respect for human rights
and fundamental freedoms

28. Trusteeship Council
 Set up immediately after II World War.
 Supervise administration of territory which were
under foreign rule ( Germany, Japan, Italy)
 Lead these territory towards self government or
independence.
 11 states were under these all have attended
independence.
 Now they meet if required.
 Suspended operation 1 Nov, 1994
 Palau: last remaining UN trust territory

29. International Court of Justice
 Hears cases involving legal disputes
among governments
 Clarifies questions of international law
 Interprets the UN Charter
 Composed of 15 judges, elected to office
for 9 year terms by UN GA&SC
 Official languages are English and French

30. International Court of Justice
 No two judges can be of the same
nationality.
 They can be re-elected.
 The court elects its President and Vice
President for 3 yrs. Can be re-elected.
 It acts only if both the parties agrees to
go.

31. Secretariat
 Main administrative organ.
 Head Secretary General.
 Carry out diverse day to day work of the
UN
 Survey economic and social trends
 Prepare studies on human rights and
sustainable development
 Inform the media about work of the UN

32. Secretariat
 Organize international conferences
 Interpret speeches
 Translate documents
 Staff 16000 under a regular budget
from some 170 countries
 Take oath not to seek or receive
instructions from any government

33. Specialized Agencies
 Linked to the UN but remain autonomous
(independent)
 ILO – International Labor Organization: improve
working conditions and employment agencies
 WHO – World Health Organization: solve health
problems, health education, immunizations
 The World Bank – provides loans and economic
assistance to nations
 WTO – World Trade Organization: oversees
world trade

34. India and the UN
 India is the original member of UN
 India has always supported its policies.
 Helped countries to gain freedom.
• Indonesia
• Libya
• Malaysia
• Tunisia
• Ghana
• Morocco
• Algeria
• Bangladesh

35. India and the UN
 Admit new members to UN
 Supported admission of China
 Always opposed racial discrimination.
 Leading role in conferences on
disarmament.
 Chairman for the supervision of the truce
in Indo-China.
 Arranged for the repatriation for the
prisoners of the war. (Korea)

36. India and the UN
 Despite the setting up of the UN, world is
split up into two power blocs and has
resulted in signing of many pacts.
 India tries to bridge the gap between
these two blocs and safeguarded
international peace.