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UNITED NATIONS ORGANISATION

Preprint · October 2021

DOI: 10.13140/RG.2.2.27498.85445

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By- Maryam Tanveer
INTRODUCTION

The United Nations officially succeeded in existence on 24

October 1945, when the UN Charter had been ratified by a
majority of the original 51 Member States. The day is now
celebrated each year around the world as United Nations Day.
The purpose of the United Nations is to bring all nations of
the world together to work for peace and development, based
on the principles of justice, human dignity and the
well-being of all people. It allows countries to balance global
interdependence and national interests when addressing
international problems.

There are currently 192 members of the United Nations. They

meet in the General Assembly, which is the closest thing to a
world parliament. Each country, large or small, rich or poor,
has a single vote, however, none of the decisions taken by the
Assembly is binding. Nevertheless, the Assembly's decisions
become resolutions that carry the weight of world
governmental opinion.
HISTORICAL EVALUATION OF UNITED NATIONS

The idea of the United Nations was born during World War II
(1939-1945). World leaders who had collaborated to end the
war felt a strong need for a mechanism that would help bring
peace and stop future wars. They realized that this was
possible only if all nations worked together through a global
organization. The United Nations was to be that
Organization.

A similar organization, the League of Nations, was set up in

1919, following World War I. Its main objective was to keep
world peace. However, not every country joined the League.
The United States, for example, was never a member. Others
that had joined later quit, and the League often failed to take
action. Though it did not succeed, the League ignited a
dream for a universal organization. The result was the United
Nations.

Few steps led to the declaration of the United Nations. These

are:-

The Atlantic Charter was a joint declaration issued during

World War II (1939-45) by the United States and Great Britain
that set out a vision for the postwar world. First announced
on August 14, 1941, a group of 26 Allied nations eventually
pledged their support by January 1942. Among its major
points were a nation’s right to choose its government, the
easing of trade restrictions and a plea for postwar
disarmament. The document is considered one of the first
key steps toward the establishment of the United Nations in
1945. From August 9 to August 12, 1941, U.S. President Franklin
D. Roosevelt (1882-1945) and British Prime Minister Winston
Churchill (1874-1965) met aboard naval ships in Placentia Bay,
off the southeast coast of Newfoundland, to confer on a range
of issues related to World War II. It was the first time the two
leaders had met as heads of their respective governments,
and at that point, the United States had not yet entered the
war (it would do so in December of that year following the
bombing of Pearl Harbor). They met under utmost secrecy,
evading all press to avoid the threat of being targeted by
German U-Boats or isolationists bent on pulling the U.S. into
war.

The Atlantic Charter included eight common principles.

Among them, the United States and Britain agreed not to
seek territorial gains from the war, and they opposed any
territorial changes made against the wishes of the people
concerned. The two countries also agreed to support the
restoration of self-government to those nations who had lost
it during the war. Additionally, the Atlantic Charter stated
that people should have the right to choose their form of
government. Other principles included access for all nations
to raw materials needed for economic prosperity and an
easing of trade restrictions. The document also called for
international cooperation to secure improved living and
working conditions for all; freedom of the seas; and for all
countries to abandon the use of force.

The United Nations Charter, Over the next few years, several
meetings took place to draft a post-war charter that would
decisively describe the roles of the United Nations.

The first Moscow Conference(1941), held in Moscow during

World War II. The United States was represented by Averell
Harriman and Lord Beaverbrook was represented by the
United Kingdom. They met with Joseph Stalin of the USSR to
give an alternative that those two allies would aid and
support the USSR to figure Nazi Germany.
Washington/Arcadia Conference (31 December 1941),
Two weeks after the United States entered World War II, the
Arcadia Conference (also known as the First Washington
Conference) was held in Washington, DC, from December 24,
1941, to January 14, 1942. Working together with senior
military leaders from the United States and Great Britain,
President Franklin D. Roosevelt and Prime Minister Winston
S. Churchill made the initial crucial decisions for the
combined war effort at this important meeting.

The Second Moscow Conference between the major Allies of

World War II took place from August 12, 1942, to August 17,
1942. Winston Churchill, Prime Minister of Great Britain,
Averell Harriman Special Representative of the United States,
and Soviet dictator Joseph Stalin. They discussed grand
strategy, planned the North Africa Campaign and discussed
the later landing and opening of a front in northern France.
Stalin and Churchill came to like each other.

The Third Moscow Conference between the major Allies of

World War II took place from October 18 to November 11, 1943,
at the Moscow Kremlin and Spiridonovka Palace.
The Third Moscow Conference was one of the first times in
which foreign ministers of the United States, the United
Kingdom, and the Soviet Union could meet and discuss
important global matters. Here, they discussed what
measures needed to be taken to shorten and end the war
with Germany and the Axial powers, as well as how to
effectively collaborate and cooperate peacefully through this
period marking the end of the war. The Moscow Declaration,
officially issued by the foreign ministers of United States
President Franklin Roosevelt, Prime Minister Winston
Churchill of the United Kingdom, and Premier Joseph Stalin
of the Soviet Union, defined how these issues would be dealt
with. It included four sections, Declaration of Four Nations
on General Security, Declaration Regarding Italy, Declaration
on Austria, and Declaration of German Atrocities.

The Cairo Conference, 1943, In November and December of

1943, U.S. President Franklin D. Roosevelt met with Chinese
President Chiang Kai-shek and British Prime Minister
Winston Churchill in Cairo, Egypt, to discuss the progress of
the war against Japan and the future of Asia. In addition to
discussions about logistics, they issued a press release that
cemented China's status as one of the four allied Great
Powers and agreed that territories were taken from China by
Japan, including Manchuria, Taiwan, and the Pescadores,
would be returned to the control of the Republic of China
after the conflict ended.

The Tehran Conference was a meeting between U.S.

President Franklin Delano Roosevelt, British Prime Minister
Winston Churchill, and Soviet Premier Joseph Stalin in
Tehran, Iran, between November 28 and December 1, 1943.
The conference focused on the next phases of the war against
the Axis powers in Europe and Asia. At Tehran, the three
Allied leaders also discussed important issues concerning the
fate of Eastern Europe and Germany in the postwar period.

The Bretton Woods Conference, officially known as the

United Nations Monetary and Financial Conference, was a
gathering of delegates from 44 nations that met from July 1 to
22, 1944 in Bretton Woods, New Hampshire, to agree upon a
series of new rules for the post-WWII international monetary
system. The two major accomplishments of the conference
were the creation of the International Monetary Fund (IMF)
and the International Bank for Reconstruction and
Development (IBRD).
Dum-barton Conference was held from 21 August to 7
October 1944 at an estate in the Georgetown area of
Washington, D.C. Four powers participated: the United
States, Great Britain, the Soviet Union, and China. Because of
Soviet neutrality in the Asian conflict, China only attended
beginning 29 September, the day the Russians departed. All
participants at Dum-barton Oaks agreed on the right of the
permanent Security Council members to exercise the veto to
prevent the UN from taking any action against themselves.
They nonetheless deferred for future consideration the stage
at which they might interpose their vetoes.

The Yalta Conference took place in a Russian resort town in

Crimea from February 4–11, 1945, during World War Two. At
Yalta, U.S. President Franklin D. Roosevelt, British Prime
Minister Winston Churchill, and Soviet Premier Joseph Stalin
made important decisions regarding the future progress of
the war and the postwar world. At Yalta, Roosevelt and
Churchill discussed with Stalin the conditions under which
the Soviet Union would enter the war against Japan and all
three agreed that, in exchange for potentially crucial Soviet
participation in the Pacific theatre, the Soviets would be
granted a sphere of influence in Manchuria following Japan’s
surrender. The Allied leaders also discussed the future of
Germany, Eastern Europe and the United Nations.

The name “United Nations” was suggested by the United

States, President Franklin D. Roosevelt. It was first officially
used in 1942 when representatives of 26 countries signed the
Declaration by the United Nations. As a tribute to President
Roosevelt, who died a few weeks before the signing of the
Charter. All those present at the San Francisco Conference
agreed to adopt the name “United Nations”.

The United Nations Headquarters is in New York City but the

land and buildings are international territories. The United
Nations has its flag, its own post office and its postage
stamps. Six official languages are used at the United Nations
- Arabic, Chinese, English, French, Russian and Spanish.
The senior officer of the United Nations Secretariat is the
Secretary-General. The United Nations was created after
World War II to provide an international forum that would
develop positive relationships between countries, promote
peace and security around the world and establish
international cooperation in solving international economic,
social, cultural, and humanitarian problems.
IDEAS AND OBJECTIVES OF UNITED NATIONS
ORGANISATIONS

The United Nations has four purposes: to maintain international

peace and security; to develop friendly relations among nations;
to cooperate in solving international problems and in promoting
respect for human rights; and to be a centre for harmonizing the
actions of nations. Cooperating in this effort are more than 30
affiliated organizations, known together as the UN system.

The United Nations is not a world government, and it does not

make laws. It does, however, provide the means to help resolve
international conflicts and formulate policies on matters
affecting all of us.

At the UN, all the Member States — large and small, rich and
poor, with differing political views and social systems — have a
voice and a vote in this process. The United Nations allows
countries to balance global interdependence and national
interests when addressing international problems.

The UN system works to promote respect for human rights,

reduce poverty, fight disease and protect the environment. The
United Nations leads international campaigns against drug
trafficking and terrorism.
Throughout the world, the UN and its agencies help expand food
production, assist refugees, lead the fight against AIDS and set
up programmes to clear landmines, among others.

PRINCIPLES OF UNITED NATIONS

Membership in the Organization, by the Charter of the United

Nations, “is open to all peace-loving States that accept the
obligations contained in the United Nations Charter and, in the
judgment of the Organization, can carry out these obligations”.
States are admitted to membership in the United Nations by
decision of the General Assembly upon the recommendation of
the Security Council.

The work of the United Nations is carried out almost all over the
world and is done by six main organs:

1. General Assembly
All members of the United Nations (currently 192) are
represented in the General Assembly. Each nation, rich or poor,
large or small, has one vote. Decisions on such issues as
international peace and security, admitting new members and
the UN budget are decided by a two-thirds majority. Other
matters are decided by a simple majority. In recent years, a
special effort has been made to reach decisions through
consensus, rather than by taking a formal vote. The General
Assembly’s regular session begins each year in September and
continues throughout the year. At the beginning of each regular
session, the Assembly holds a general debate at which Heads of
State or Government and others present views on a
wide-ranging agenda of issues of concern to the international
community, from war and terrorism to disease and poverty.

2. Security Council
While the General Assembly can discuss any world concern, the
Security Council has primary responsibility for questions of
peace and security. The Security Council has fifteen members.
Five are permanent members: China, France, the Russian
Federation, the United Kingdom and the United States. The other
ten non-permanent members are elected by the General
Assembly for two-year terms and are chosen based on
geographical representation.

3. Economic and Social Council

The Economic and Social Council is the forum to discuss

economic problems, such as trade, transport, economic
development, and social issues. It also helps countries reach an
agreement on how to improve education and health conditions
and to promote respect for and observance of universal human
rights and freedoms of people everywhere. The Council has 54
members, who serve for three-year terms. Voting in the Council
is by simple majority; each member has one vote. Each year, the
Council holds several short sessions about the organization of its
work, often including representatives of civil society. The
Economic and Social Council also holds an annual four-week
substantive session in July, alternating the venue between
Geneva and New York.

4. Trusteeship Council

In 1945, when the United Nations was established, there were

eleven territories (mostly in Africa and in the Pacific Ocean) that
were placed under international supervision. The major goals of
the Trusteeship System were to promote the advancement of the
inhabitants of Trust Territories and their progressive
development towards self-government or independence. The
Trusteeship Council is composed of the permanent members of
the Security Council (China, France, the Russian Federation, the
United Kingdom and the United States). Each member has one
vote, and decisions are made by a simple majority.

5. International Court of Justice

The International Court of Justice (ICJ) was established in 1945

and assumed its functions in 1946 as the main UN organ for
handing down legal judgments. Only countries, not individuals,
can take cases before the Court. Once a country agrees to let the
Court act on a case, it must agree to comply with the Court’s
decision. In addition, other organs of the UN may seek an
advisory opinion from the Court. As of June 2006, the ICJ had
delivered 92 judgments on disputes between states, including
cases on territorial boundaries, diplomatic relations, not
interfering in countries’ domestic affairs, and hostage-taking.

6. Secretariat

The Secretariat, headed by the Secretary-General, consists of an

international staff working at the United Nations Headquarters
in New York, and all over the world. It carries out the day-to-day
work of the Organization. Its duties are as varied as the problems
dealt with by the United Nations. These range from
administering peacekeeping operations to mediating
international disputes or surveying social and economic trends
and problems. The Secretariat is responsible for servicing the
other organs of the United Nations and administering the
programmes and policies laid down by them.

All these organs are based at UN Headquarters in New York,

except for the International Court of Justice, which is located at
The Hague, Netherlands. Related to the United Nations are 15
specialized agencies that coordinate their work with the UN but
are separate, autonomous organisations. They work in areas as
diverse as health, agriculture, telecom communications and
weather. In addition, there are 24 programmes, funds and other
bodies with responsibilities in specific fields. These bodies,
together with the UN proper and its specialized programmes,
compose the United Nations system.

CONCLUSION

Despite having many shortcomings, the UN has played a crucial

role in making this human society more civil, more peaceful and
secure in comparison to the time of its origin in the 2nd World
War. United Nations, being the world’s largest democratic body
of all nations, its responsibility towards humanity is very high in
terms of ba building ng democratic society, economic
development of people living in acute poverty, and preserving
the Earth’s Ecosystem in concern with Climate Change.
REFERENCES

Hanhimäki, Jussi M. (2015) The United Nations: A Very Short

Introduction., New York: Oxford University Press

Weiss, Thomas G. and Daws, Sam ed. (2007) The Oxford

Handbook on the United Nations, Oxford: OUP.

Claude, I. (1984) Swords into ploughshares: the progress and

problems of an international organisation. 4th New York:
Random House

Vijay Kumar Verma, United Nations and global conflicts

Chanchal Kumar and Sanjay Gupta - United Nations and

global conflicts

Official website of United Nations Organisation

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