The United Nations Organization

Dear Readers, In this article I covered detailed information about The United Nations Organization, the official languages of the UN, Members of the UN organization, Organs of the UN, Secretary Generals of the UN which are important GK for all Competitive examination.

United Nations is an international organization. It was founded on 24 October 1945 by 51 countries After the Second World War to maintaining international peace and security, developing friendly relations among nations, and promoting social progress, better living standards, and human rights. It is the World’s largest international organization.

United Nations has different the United Nations organizations with different United Nations Headquarters for different working purposes.

• Headquarters: New York City
• Official Languages: Arabic, English, French, Chinese, Russian, Spanish
• Membership: 193 member states, 2 observer states
• Establishment: 24 October 1945
• Flag: White UN emblem (2 bent olive branches open at the top, and in between them is the map of the world) on a light blue background.
• It was adopted on 20 Oct 1947.
• Website: www.un.org

Key-points About United Nations:

• United Nations Charter was signed in San Francisco on June 26, 1945.
• This Charter was formed at Dumbarton Oaks, Washington DC Conference by USSR, UK, US, and China.
• The name United Nations was given by US President Roosevelt at the instance.
• Formally United Nations came into existence on Oct 24, 1945.
• The first regular session was held in London in Jan 1946 and Trygve Le (Norway) was elected the first Secretary-General.
• At First Avenue Headquarters located at UN Plaza, New York City, US. It is the 17-acre tract of land donated by John D. Rockefeller. The building is 39 stores.

The official languages of the UN are-

1. English,
2. French,
3. Chinese,
4. Russian,
5. Arabic and
6. Spanish,

The working languages are-

1. English
2. French

Admission of Members: Members of the united nations organization

• On the recommendation of the Security Council, New members are admitted to the General Assembly.
• The present membership of the UN is 193. South Sudan, the latest member, joined in 2011.

The UN has 4 main purposes

1. Security,
2. Justice,
3. Welfare and
4. Human Rights.

Structure of UN: ORGANS OF THE UNITED NATIONS

United Nations has six principle organs. These are-

1. UN General Assembly
2. UN Security Council
3. UN Economic and Social Council
4. UN Trusteeship Council
5. International Court of Justice
6. UN Secretariat

United nations organization general assembly

1.UN General Assembly (UNGA, GA, AG)

• Formation: 1945
• Head Quarter- New York.
• The General Assembly is the main representative organ of the United Nations.
• General Assembly Consists of all member states of the UN. Each member nation can send 5 delegates but each nation has only one vote.
• The General Assembly regular session beginning in September each year.
• The first session of the UN General Assembly was on 10 January 1946 in the Westminster Central Hall in London and 51 nations participated in this session.
• It is also called the town meeting of the world.
• The Assembly can take actions on political, economic, humanitarian, social and legal which have affected the lives of people throughout the world.
• Each country has one vote.

2.UN Security Council (UNSC)

• Formation: 1946
• Head Quarter- New York.
• It is the executive body of the UN. United Nations consists of a total of 15 members, 5 members are permanent and the remaining 10 members are non-permanent.
• UN permanent members are China, France, Russia, UK and USA .
• From the member states, The non-permanent members are elected by the General Assembly for 2 years.
• The permanent members have got veto power. Any matter supported by the majority of the members fails to be carried through if a negative vote is cast by any of the permanent members.
• It has primary responsibility for the maintenance of international peace and security.
• Its first session was held on 17 January 1946 at Church House, Westminster, London.
• The headquarters of the UN Security Council is in New York.

3.UN Economic & Social Council (ECOSOC)

• Formation: 1945
• Head Quarter- New York.
• This organ (also called ECOSOC) consists of 54 representatives of the member countries elected by a two-third majority of the General Assembly.
• Its main function is to achieve international co-operation by solving international problems of an economic, social, cultural and humanitarian character.
• Every year One-third of this council elected for a period of three years and equal numbers retire annually.
• It is responsible for coordinating the economic, social and related work of 14 UN specialized agencies, their functional commissions, and five regional commissions.
• The ECOSOC has 54 members. each year in July, it holds one 4 week session.
• Since 1998, it has also held a meeting each April with finance ministers heading key committees of the world bank and the International Monetary Fund (IMF).
• The headquarters of the UN Economic and Social Council is in New York.

4.UN Trusteeship Council

• Formation: 1945
• Head Quarter- New York.
• This organ consists of 14 members, 5 are the permanent members of the security council.
• The function Of this organ is to provide for an international trusteeship system to safeguard the interests of inhabitants of territories.
• The trust territories- most of them former mandates of the League of Nations or territories taken from nations defeated at the end of World War II – have all now attained self- government of independence, either as separate nations or by joining neighboring independent countries.
• The headquarters of UN Trusteeship Council is at New York

5. International Court of Justice (ICJ)

• Established: 1945
• Location (HQ): The Hague, Netherlands
• Country: Worldwide, 193 State Parties
• It is the principal judicial organ of the United Nations (UN)
• The headquarters of the International Court of Justice in Hague, Netherlands.
•  The Court consists of 15 judges. The judges of the court are elected by the General Assembly along with the Security Council for a nine-year term.
• Out of 15 Judges, 3 are from Africa, 2 are from Latin America, 3 are from Asia, 5 are from Western Europe & other States and 2 are from Eastern Europe.

Four Indian Judges have so far been appointed in ICJ :

1. Sir Benegal Rau (1952-53),
2. Nagendra Singh (1985-88),
3. S.Pathak (1989-91)
4. Dalveer Bhandari (2012-18)

• The Court’s role is to settle, in accordance with international law, legal disputes submitted to it by states and to give advisory opinions on legal questions referred to it by authorized United Nations organs and specialized agencies.
• Its official languages are English and French.

6. UN Secretariat:

• Formation: 1945
• Head Quarter- New York.
• This organ of the United Nations is the chief administrative Office which coordinates and supervises the activities of the UN.
• It provides studies, information, and facilities needed by United Nations bodies for their meetings. It also carries out tasks as directed by the Security Council, the General assembly, the economics and social council, and other UN bodies.
• This Secretariat is headed by a Secretary-General who is appointed by the General Assembly on the recommendation of the Security Council.
• Secretary-General of the UN is elected for five years and eligible for re-election.
• The Secretary-General is appointed by the General Assembly, after being recommended by the Security Council, where the permanent members have veto power.
• It’s headquarters in New York, the Secretariat functions through duty stations in Addis Ababa, Bangkok, Beirut, Nairobi, Santiago, and Vienna, in addition to York offices all over the world.

Secretary Generals oF United nations are :