The United Nations (UN), also known as the United Nations (UN), is currently the largest and most important international organization on the planet.
Founded on October 24, 1945 at the end of World War II, it had the support and approval of 51 member countries, which signed the Charter of the United Nations and pledged to have this global government association as a facilitator and guarantor in the processes of dialogue, peace, international law, human rights and other issues of a universal nature.
He currently has 193 member countries and six official languages, as well as a general secretary who acts as representative and conductor, a position held since 2007 by the South Korean Ban Ki-moon. Its headquarters are in New York, in the United States, and its second headquarters are in Geneva, Switzerland.
Principal organs of the UN
The United Nations Organization has different organization levels that allow focused discussion on issues and aspects of international interest, and that by means of a voting system they can decide the intervention of an international coalition in a region of the world in conflict, the joint pronouncement on some matter, or press to achieve goals of collective well-being with a view to a future world project.
These main organs are:
- The general assembly. Main body of the Organization that contemplates the participation and debate of the 193 member countries, each with one vote. It is led by an assembly president elected for each session, and vitally important matters are discussed, such as the recognition of new members or the fundamental problems of humanity.
- The Security Council. Made up of five permanent members with veto power: China, Russia, the United States, France and the United Kingdom, considered the most militarily relevant countries in the world, and another ten non-permanent members, whose membership is for two years and are elected by the Assembly. General. This body has the duty to ensure peace and regulate war actions and international relations.
- The Economic and Social Council. 54 member countries participate in this council, together with representatives of academic and business sectors, as well as more than 3,000 Non-Governmental Organizations (NGOs), with the purpose of attending to global discussions related to migration, hunger, health, etc. .
- The Trusteeship Council. This body has a very specific role, which is to ensure the correct management of the trust territories, that is, positions under tutelage to guarantee a development that eventually leads to self-government or independence. It is made up of only the five permanent members of the Security Council: China, Russia, the United States, the United Kingdom and France.
- The International Court of Justice. Headquartered in The Hague, it is the judicial arm of the UN, destined to deal with judicial disputes between the various States, as well as to evaluate cases of crimes that are too heinous or of too wide an area of effect to be tried by a national court. Ordinary. It is made up of 15 magistrates elected by the General Assembly and the Security Council for nine-year terms.
- The Secretary. This is the administrative body of the UN, which provides services to the other bodies and has almost 41,000 officials worldwide, solving all kinds of problems and situations of interest to the Organization. It is headed by the Secretary General, elected by the General Assembly for five-year terms, in accordance with the recommendations of the Security Council.
Examples of UN objectives
- Maintain peace and security among member countries. This implies mediating in cases of dispute, offering legal protection in international matters and serving as a repressive body, through a system of vetoes and sanctions of an economic and moral nature, to prevent the escalation of conflicts that leads to war and, worse still, to massacres like those experienced by humanity in the twentieth century. The UN has been widely criticized for its impotence in the face of international interventions from the most powerful countries that make up its Security Council, as happened with the North American invasions in Libya and Iraq at the beginning of the 21st century.
- Foster friendly relations between nations. This is attempted by carrying out education plans and projects for tolerance, for the acceptance of the migrant and of human differences, which makes it a good faith ambassador in disputes between countries. In fact, the UN is closely linked to the Olympic committee that carries out the Olympics and has cultural representation and visibility in the great events and human shows on the planet.
- Provide humanitarian support to those in need and combat extreme inequality. Numerous are the UN campaigns that provide medicines and medical assistance to abandoned or marginalized populations, food and emergency supplies to depressed regions or devastated by armed conflicts or by climatic accidents.
- Overcome hunger, poverty, illiteracy and inequality. Through international sustainable development plans that promote priority attention to urgent issues in health, education, quality of life or other unprofitable or humanitarian issues whose neglect makes the world a less fair place. Such plans usually involve closer collaboration between the world’s wealthy sectors and the most disadvantaged.
- Intervene militarily to protect vulnerable populations. For this, the UN has an international military force, called “the blue helmets” due to the color of their uniform. Said army does not respond, in theory, to the needs of any specific country, but rather fulfills a neutral role as an observer, mediator and guarantor of justice and peace in critical scenarios in which it is forced to intervene, such as countries under tyranny. or civil wars.
- Attend critical global events. Especially in terms of health (pandemics, uncontrollable outbreaks such as Ebola in Africa in 2014), mass migrations (such as the Syrian refugee crisis following the war) and other issues whose resolution concerns the international community as a whole or civil sectors not covered by a recognized government or nationality.
- Alert about pollution and ensure a sustainable model. The UN is increasingly interested in matters relating to climate change and ecological development models, making visible the human need to stop pollution and destruction of the global ecosystem, as well as to plan a future of health, prosperity and peace in the long term and not only in immediate terms.