The United Nations is an international organisation established in San Francisco in 1945. It was born after the devastation of the World War II to provide a forum for its members to express their views, to host negotiations for governments to find areas of agreement and solve problems together and to take action on the issues confronting humanity, such as peace and security, climate change, sustainable development, human rights, disarmament, terrorism, humanitarian and health emergencies, gender equality, governance, food production, and more.
Members
The UN comprises 193 member states. South Sudan is the newest member (joined in July 2011). There are three countries that are not members of the UN. They are Kosovo (not recognised by enough UN members), Taiwan (place was taken by China in 1971) and Vatican (religious reasons). Potential members are recommended by the Security Council and admitted by a two-thirds majority vote in the General Assembly.
Structure
The UN has six main bodies– General Assembly, Security Council, Economic and Social Council, International Court of Justice, Trusteeship Council and Secretariat. Five are based at its main headquarters in New York, USA whereas the ICJ is at The Hague, in the Netherlands.
Security Council: It has five permanent member nations: China, France, Russia, the UK and the US. Ten other countries have temporary membership on a rotating basis. Non-permanent members elected for two-year terms by the General Assembly (with end of term date):
2018: Bolivia, Ethiopia, Kazakhstan, Netherlands, Sweden,
2019: Côte d’Ivoire, Equatorial Guinea, Kuwait, Peru, Poland.
Economic and Social Council: It spearheads the UN’s economic, social, humanitarian and cultural activities and oversees the work of commissions which deal with human rights, population growth, technology and drugs, among other issues. Its 54 members are elected by the General Assembly.
International Court of Justice (World Court): The court is the main judicial body of the UN, tasked with settling legal disputes submitted to it by states. HQ: Dutch city of The Hague.
Secretariat: It undertakes the day-to-day work of the UN, administering the programmes and policies of the organisation. The work includes research, translation and media relations. It has about 9,000 Secretariat staff, from 170 countries.
Trusteeship Council: It suspended its activities in 1994 when the last of the UN's trust territories, Palau in the south Pacific, became independent. The council, made up of the five permanent Security Council members, agreed in 1994 to meet 'as occasion required'.
UN Funding
UN is run on the contributions made by member nations. The General Assembly approves the regular budget and determines the assessment for each member based on the relative capacity of each country to pay, as measured by its gross national income (GNI), with adjustments for external debt and low per capita income. US is the top contributor.
UN Peacekeeping Forces
The UN Peacekeeping Forces (often referred to as Blue Berets or Blue Helmets) include soldiers, police officers, and civilian personnel. They are employed to maintain or re-establish peace in an area of armed conflict, engage in conflicts between states as well as in struggles within states. The UN Peacekeeping Forces were awarded the 1988 Nobel Prize for Peace.
United Nations University
Established in 1973, the United Nations University is the academic and research arm of the UN. HQ: Tokyo, Japan, with diplomatic status as a UN institution.
United Nations Development Programme: Works in nearly 170 countries and territories to eradicate poverty, reduce inequalities and build resilience so that countries can sustain progress and achieve the Sustainable Development Goals.
United Nations Children's Fund: To provide humanitarian and development assistance to children and mothers.
United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees: To protect refugees worldwide and facilitates their return home or resettlement.
World Food Programme: To eradicate hunger and malnutrition. It is the world’s largest humanitarian agency. Every year, WFP feeds almost 80 million people in around 75 countries.
United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime: Helps member states fight drugs, crime and terrorism.
United Nations Population Fund: To deliver a world where every pregnancy is wanted, every birth is safe, and every young person's potential is fulfilled.
United Nations Conference on Trade and Development: Responsible for dealing with development issues, particularly international trade – the main driver of development.
United Nations Environment Programme: To act as a catalyst, advocate, educator and facilitator to promote the wise use and sustainable development of the global environment.
United Nations Relief and Works Agency: To help in the area of education, health care, relief and social services, camp infrastructure and improvement, microfinance and emergency assistance, during armed conflict. It has contributed to the welfare and human development of Palestine refugees.
UN Women: To ensure gender equality and women’s empowerment.
UN-Habitat: To promote socially and environmentally sustainable human settlements development and the achievement of adequate shelter for all.
UN Specialised Agencies
They are autonomous organisations working with the UN through negotiated agreements. They were created by the UN to meet emerging needs.
World Bank: To focus on poverty reduction and the improvement of living standards worldwide by providing low-interest loans, interest-free credit, and grants to developing countries for education, health, infrastructure, and communications, among other things. It works in over 100 countries.
International Monetary Fund: To foster economic growth and employment by providing temporary financial assistance to countries. Currently it has $28 billion in outstanding loans to 74 nations.
World Health Organisation: To help people across the world attain the highest possible level of health.
United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization: To focus on everything, from teacher training to helping improve education worldwide to protecting important historical and cultural sites around the world.
International Labour Organisation: To promote international labour rights based on international standards on the freedom to associate, collective bargaining, the abolition of forced labour, equality of opportunity and treatment.
Food and Agriculture Organisation: It leads international efforts to fight hunger.
International Fund for Agricultural Development: To focus on rural poverty reduction, working with poor rural populations in developing countries to eliminate poverty, hunger and malnutrition.
International Maritime Organisation: To create a shipping regulatory framework, address safety and environmental concerns, legal matters, technical cooperation, security, and efficiency.
World Meteorological Organisation: To facilitate the free international exchange of meteorological data and use it in aviation, shipping, security, and agriculture, among other things.
World Intellectual Property Organisation: To protect intellectual property throughout the world through international treaties.
International Civil Aviation Organisation: To develop standards for global air transport and assist its member states in sharing the world’s skies to their socio-economic benefit.
International Telecommunication Union: To connect all the world's people, protect and support everyone's fundamental right to communicate.
UNs Industrial Development Organisation: To promote industrial development for poverty reduction, inclusive globalisation and environmental sustainability.
Universal Postal Union: To ensure a truly universal network of up-to-date products and services.
World Tourism Organisation: To promote responsible, sustainable and universally accessible tourism.
Other Entities
UNAIDS: It is co-sponsored by ten UN system agencies: UNHCR, UNICEF, WFP, UNDP, UNFPA, UNODC, the ILO, UNESCO, WHO and the World Bank. It aims to stop and reverse the spread of HIV/AIDS.
United Nations Office for Disaster Reduction: To serve as the focal point in the UNs system for disaster reduction.
United Nations Office for Project Services: To successfully implement its partners' peacebuilding, humanitarian and development projects globally.
Related Organisations
International Atomic Energy Agency: To work with its member states and multiple partners worldwide to promote the safe, secure and peaceful use of nuclear technologies.
International Organisation for Migration: To assist in management of migration, promote international cooperation on migration issues, assist in the search for practical solutions to migration problems and provide humanitarian assistance to migrants in need.
World Trade Organisation: To negotiate trade agreements, and a place where member governments try to sort out bilateral trade problems.
Organisation for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons: The implementing body of the Chemical Weapons Convention (CWC). It aims to help member states create a world free of chemical weapons.