Doha: The United Nations (UN) is the most representative international organization around the globe, with 193 member states since its founding in 1945 after the end of World War II. Its main goal was preventing the recurrence of war, promoting international peace and security and sustainable development, protecting human rights, upholding international law and providing humanitarian assistance.
The UN is based on a founding charter that was approved during a historic meeting of about 50 countries in San Francisco State, US, on April 25, 1945, in addition to two countries that have observer status, in which the Holy See enjoys sovereignty over Vatican City, and the State of Palestine.
Amid the last century, the UN developed to keep pace with international changes, and its membership expanded, especially in the late 1960s, when dozens of countries gained their independence from the colonial era. The organization opened several regional branches in a number of countries, including Switzerland, Kenya, Austria
and the Netherlands, to serve as headquarters for some of its organizations and institutions specialized in international affairs.
Since the organization’s founding, member states have signed the UN Charter on June 26, 1945, which has become a reference for its work and tasks. The Charter has been amended three times in 1963, 1965 and 1973.
The Charter defines the obligations of member states and establishes the basic organs and procedures of the organization, codifying the main principles of international relations, from the sovereign equality of states to the prohibition of the use of force in ways inconsistent with the purposes of the UN.
The Charter seeks to improve the living standards of peoples, address related economic, social and health issues, and promote universal respect for human rights and fundamental freedoms for all without distinction as to race, gender, language or religion.
During the 1970s and 1980s, the organization witnessed a state of political polarization driven by a wave of inter
nal debates between two prominent camps on the international scene, led by the US and the former Soviet Union.
This conflict created the term “Cold War,” which reflected the mutual interventions between the two camps in different parts of the world. With the onset of the 1990s, the world witnessed major separatist repercussions, most notably the disintegration of the Soviet Union and Yugoslavia, which led to the outbreak of national and ethnic wars in parts of Europe and Africa.
Despite the UN’s intervention in these conflicts, its efforts were not sufficient to contain these conflicts, causing the death of many people. As a result, the UN faced a wave if criticism about its role and the effectiveness of its missions and soldiers in conflict areas.
The United Nations consists of six main bodies, which are: the UN General Assembly (UNGA), UN Security Council (UNSC), UN Economic and Social Council (ECOSOC), UN Trusteeship Council, UN International Court of Justice (ICJ) and the UN General Secretariat. It als
o has specialized agencies, funds and programs such as the World Bank Group (WBG), the World Health Organization (WHO), and the World Food Program (WFP), UN Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) and UN International Children’s Emergency Fund (UNICEF), along with a range of non-governmental organizations involved with its work. In November 1994, the Trusteeship Council was suspended, a month after the independence of Palau, the last remaining Trust Territory of the UN.
Four of its principal organs are based at UN Headquarters in New York City, while the ICJ is based in The Hague, and the other principal agencies are based at the UN offices in Geneva, Vienna and Nairobi. The organization’s publications are published in the six official languages used in intergovernmental meetings and documents: Arabic, Chinese, English, French, Russian and Spanish.
The UNSC is the most important organ of the international organization, considering that it is responsible for maintaining international peace
and security. It also adopts binding resolutions that member states have agreed to implement under the provisions of Article 25 of the Charter, and it includes 15 members, including 5 permanent members with veto power, and 10 members elected for a rotating term.
The UNSC is supposed to take the initiative in determining the existence of a threat to peace or an act of aggression, call on the parties of the conflicts to settle the dispute by peaceful means and recommend methods of accommodation or terms of settlement, In some cases, the UNSC may resort to imposing sanctions or having to use force to maintain or restore international peace and security.
The ECOSOC is responsible for cooperation among countries in economic and social matters, and coordinates cooperation among the many specialized agencies of the UN. It has 54 member states, elected by the UNGA to serve successive three-year terms.
The highest office in the organization is based in the UN Secretariat, which is responsible for carrying out the d
ay-to-day work, and includes tens of thousands of international civil servants around the globe, and is headed by the UN Secretary-General and assisted by the Deputy Secretary-General.
The duties of the Secretariat include providing the information and facilities required by UN bodies for their meetings, through the guidance of the Security Council, the General Assembly, the Economic and Social Council and other bodies.
The Secretary-General acts as the de facto spokesperson and head of the UN. The UN Charter refers to the position of the Secretary-General as the chief administrative officer of the organization, as Article 99 of it states that the Secretary-General may bring to the attention of the Security Council any matter which in their opinion may threaten the maintenance of international peace and security.
The Secretary-General of the United Nations is appointed by the General Assembly on the recommendation of the Security Council for a renewable five-year term. The position is currently held by Ant
onio Guterres, former Prime Minister of Portugal, who began his first five-year term on Jan. 1, 2017, and was re-elected on June, 8, 2021 for a new term. He is the ninth Secretary-General to hold this position.
Guterres’s predecessors begin with the Norwegian politician Trygve Halvdan Lie (1946-1952), who is the first UN Secretary-General to hold the position, followed by Dag Hammarskjold (1953-1961) from Sweden, then U Thant (1961-1971) from Myanmar -formerly known as Burma- after whom Austrian Kurt Waldheim (1972-1981) filled the position, followed by the Peruvian Javier Perez de Cuellar (1982-1991). The Egyptian Boutros Boutros-Ghali (1992-1996) then holds the position, followed by the Ghanaian Kofi Annan (1997-2006), and finally the Korean Ban Ki-moon (2007-2016), who is the last person to hold the position before Guterres.
Based in The Hague, the International Court of Justice (ICJ) was established in 1945. ICJ is considered the principal judicial organ of the UN. Its main function is to settle dispute
s between states, and to handle cases related to war crimes, violations of state sovereignty and crimes of ethnic cleansing. The international court can also be called upon to provide advisory opinions on matters of international law.
The decisions of the ICJ are binding on the parties and constitute (along with its advisory opinions) sources of international law. It consists of 15 judges elected by the General Assembly and Security Council for a nine-year term, and each judge must be from a different country.
The International Criminal Court’s (ICC) provisions were adopted by the Rome Statute of July 17, 1998, approved by 120 countries, and considered as a basis for establishing a permanent international criminal court. The statute, however, entered into force on April 11, 2002, and the court was legally established on July 1, 2002.
ICC is supposed to stop human rights violations by investigating crimes of genocide, war crimes and crimes against humanity.
On the other hand, UN International Children’s Em
ergency Fund (UNICEF) was established on Dec. 11, 1946, and its job is protecting the rights of children and promoting their welfare. UNICEF is also supposed to achieve development, education, health and protection for children all over the world, and focus in particular on children’s issues such as education, health, nutrition and child protection from displacement, violence and child exploitation, and it is active in about 190 countries and territories.
Founded in 1945, the UN Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) focuses on improving education, promoting science, culture and communication, and specializes in history, civilizations and heritage. It is supposed to protect the world’s cultural heritage and promote cultural cooperation between countries, as well as different cultures and sustainable development.
In addition to its main bodies, the UN Charter mandates it to establish independent specialized agencies to work with the UN through a coordination mechanism of the Economic and
Social Council, each of which is integrated into the UN system under Article 57 of the Charter. There are 15 specialized agencies performing various functions, namely the International Labour Organization (ILO), the International Telecommunication Union (ITU), World Health Organization (WHO), World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO), World Meteorological Organization (WMO), and many others.
The International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC), which was founded in 1863 and granted observer status at the UN in October 1990, is considered as one of the most important international organizations. The ICRC is supposed to seek and preserve a degree of humanity in the midst of wars, and it is guided by international humanitarian law, of which the Geneva Conventions form the cornerstone.
The UN and its agencies are linked in coordination with some global bodies, such as the World Trade Organization (WTO) and the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) which operate independently of the UN but maintain form
al partnership agreements.
Source: Qatar News Agency
