Organs: Security Council:: Functions

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INTRODUCTION :

The United Nations (UN) is an intergovernmental organization tasked to promote international


co-operation and to create and maintain international order. A replacement for the ineffective
League of Nations, the organization was established on 24 October 1945 after World War II with
the aim of preventing another such conflict. At its founding, the UN had 51 member states; there
are now 193. The headquarters of the UN is in Manhattan, New York City, and is subject to
extraterritoriality. Further main offices are situated in Geneva, Nairobi, and Vienna. The
organization is financed by assessed and voluntary contributions from its member states. Its
objectives include maintaining international peace and security, promoting human rights,
fostering social and economic development, protecting the environment, and providing
humanitarian aid in cases of famine, natural disaster, and armed conflict. The UN is the largest,
most familiar, most internationally represented and most powerful intergovernmental
organization in the world.[3]

The UN Charter was drafted at a conference between April–June 1945 in San Francisco, and was
signed on 26 June 1945 at the conclusion of the conference;[4][5] this charter took effect on 24
October 1945, and the UN began operation. The UN's mission to preserve world peace was
complicated in its early decades by the Cold War between the United States and Soviet Union
and their respective allies. The organization participated in major actions in Korea and the
Congo, as well as approving the creation of the Israeli state in 1947. The organization's
membership grew significantly following widespread decolonization in the 1960s, and by the
1970s its budget for economic and social development programmes far outstripped its spending
on peacekeeping. After the end of the Cold War, the UN took on major military and
peacekeeping missions across the world with varying degrees of success.

(https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_Nations#History)

ORGANS:
SECURITY COUNCIL:
Functions:
Under the United Nations Charter, the functions and powers of the Security Council are:

 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.

(http://www.un.org/en/sc/about/functions.shtml)

Composition:

First from book then,

Permanent and Non-Permanent Members

The Council is composed of 15 Members:

 five permanent members: China, France, Russian Federation, the United Kingdom, and
the United States,
 and ten non-permanent members elected for two-year terms by the General Assembly
(with end of term date):
o Bolivia (2018)
o Côte d’Ivoire (2019)
o Equatorial Guinea (2019)
o Ethiopia (2018)
o Kazakhstan (2018)
o Kuwait (2019)
o Netherlands (2018)
o Peru (2019)
o Poland (2019)
o Sweden (2018)

Non-Council Member States

More than 60 United Nations Member States have never been Members of the Security Council.

A State which is a Member of the United Nations but not of the Security Council may
participate, without a vote, in its discussions when the Council considers that country's interests
are affected. Both Members and non-members of the United Nations, if they are parties to a
dispute being considered by the Council, may be invited to take part, without a vote, in the
Council's discussions; the Council sets the conditions for participation by a non-member State.
(http://www.un.org/en/sc/members/)

General assembly :
FUNCTIONS:

According to the Charter of the United Nations, the General Assembly may:

 Consider and make recommendations on the general principles of cooperation for


maintaining international peace and security, including disarmament;
 Discuss any question relating to international peace and security and, except where a
dispute or situation is currently being discussed by the Security Council, make
recommendations on it;
 Discuss, with the same exception, and make recommendations on any questions within
the scope of the Charter or affecting the powers and functions of any organ of the United
Nations;
 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, and international collaboration in the economic, social,
humanitarian, cultural, educational and health fields;
 Make recommendations for the peaceful settlement of any situation that might impair
friendly relations among nations;
 Receive and consider reports from the Security Council and other United Nations organs;
 Consider and approve the United Nations budget and establish the financial assessments
of Member States;
 Elect the non-permanent members of the Security Council and the members of other
United Nations councils and organs and, on the recommendation of the Security Council,
appoint the Secretary-General.

(http://www.un.org/ga/about/background.shtml)

COMPOSITION:

 The General Assembly comprises of all members of the UN.


 Each member has an equal status irrespective of its size, power or importance.
 Each member shall have up to 5 representatives in the General Assembly.

The six main committees are:

●First Committee (Disarmament and International Security Committee)is concerned


withdisarmament and related international security questions;

●Second Committee (Economic and Financial Committee)is concerned with economic


questions;
●Third Committee (Social, Humanitarian and Cultural Committee)deals with social and
humanitarian issues;

●Fourth Committee (Special Political and Decolonization Committee)deals with a variety


of political subjects not dealt with by the First Committee, as well as with decolonization;

●Fifth Committee (Administrative and Budgetary Committee)deals with the


administration and budget of the United Nations; and

●Sixth Committee (Legal Committee)deals with international legal matters

(https://www.scribd.com/document/99021145/General-Assembly-Composition)

International court of justice :


Functions:
From book

Composition:
From book

SPECIALIZED AGENCIES:
UNICEF:
The United Nations Children's Fund [3] (UNICEF /ˈjuːnɪsɛf/)[4] is a United Nations (UN) program
headquartered in New York City that provides humanitarian and developmental assistance to
children and mothers in developing countries. It is a member of the United Nations
Development Group.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/UNICEF

FUNCTIONS :
FROM BOOK

UNESCO:
The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO;[2] French:
Organisation des Nations unies pour l'éducation, la science et la culture) is a specialized agency
of the United Nations (UN) based in Paris. Its declared purpose is to contribute to peace and
security by promoting international collaboration through educational, scientific, and cultural
reforms in order to increase universal respect for justice, the rule of law, and human rights along
with fundamental freedom proclaimed in the United Nations Charter.[1] It is the successor of the
League of Nations' International Committee on Intellectual Cooperation.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/UNESCO

FUNCTIONS:
FROM BOOK

WHO:
The World Health Organization (WHO) is a specialized agency of the United Nations that is concerned
with international public health. It was established on 7 April 1948, and is headquartered in Geneva,
Switzerland. The WHO is a member of the United Nations Development Group. Its predecessor, the
Health Organization, was an agency of the League of Nations.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/World_Health_Organization

FUNCTIONS:
FROM BOOK

CONCLUSION:
UN peacekeeping missions operate in the most dangerous and difficult environments in the
world, dealing with conflicts – or their aftermath – which others cannot or will not address. We
can achieve what others can’t, but success is never guaranteed.

We have, built up an impressive record of peacekeeping achievements over more than 60 years
of our existence, including winning the Nobel Peace Prize.

Since 1948, the UN has helped end conflicts and foster reconciliation by conducting successful
peacekeeping operations in dozens of countries, including Cambodia, El Salvador, Guatemala,
Mozambique, Namibia and Tajikistan.
UN peacekeeping has also made a real difference in other places with recently completed or on-
going operations such as Sierra Leone, Burundi, Côte d’Ivoire, Timor-Leste, Liberia, Haiti and
Kosovo. By providing basic security guarantees and responding to crises, these UN operations
have supported political transitions and helped buttress fragile new state institutions. They have
helped countries to close the chapter of conflict and open a path to normal development, even if
major peacebuilding challenges remain.

In other instances, however, UN peacekeeping – and the response by the international


community as a whole – have been challenged and found wanting, for instance in Somalia,
Rwanda and the former Yugoslavia in the early 1990s. These setbacks provided important
lessons for the international community when deciding how and when to deploy and support UN
peacekeeping as a tool to restore and maintain international peace and security.

http://www.convinceme.net/battles/659/UN--Success-or-Failure.html

case 2 of negative

case 1 of positive

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