My World

Step one: a comprehensive guide to the UN :

History:

The United Nations Organization was created in the awakening of the Second World War to gather countries around the world in order to create an international order able to guarantee peace and cooperation throughout the world. It was created as a heir to the League of Nations. The League of Nations was born right after the First World War to prevent this kind of war to happen again but it wasn’t successful because the Second World War burst as a sequel of the first, less than 21 years after the end of the Great War.

The UN Charter states that peace is the number one priority and its enforcement is one of the prerogatives of the UN.

Cooperation between countries and international friendship are amongst the priorities as a way to favor human rights. The defense of these rights consist in insuring fundamental freedoms, preventing discriminations and solving economic, social and humanitarian problems throughout the world.

Organization:

The UN is composed of 193 countries, who gather at the general assembly. Each country has one voice, with no regard for the number of inhabitants. Most of the votes are made at a majority of two thirds. The decisions are generally followed by a resolution, which is the name given to the decisions of the UN.

The Security Council is another part of the UN. It deals with the questions of international and internal security as the name indicates. There are 15 members in the Security Council: five of them are permanent (USA, United Kingdom, France, Russia and China) and ten are temporary. The Security Council can decide international intervention under the principle of interference ; in this case, Blue Helmets can be sent to intervene and defend Human Rights.

The UN also have a judiciary role through the International Penal Court and the International Justice Court. They have been modeled on the courts judging war criminals in Nurnberg and Tokyo after the Second World War.

The UN are also invested in the dynamics of development: through the UNPD (United Nations Program for Development), the UNICEF and so on. They have also elaborated a partnership with the WTO and other international institutions.

Limits:

Even if the goal of the UN is unanimous among the world population, the means of attaining it are sometimes too small. The Blue Helmets are reputed for their inefficiency. Another problem is the partiality of the UN: some countries, such as the USA, who host the UN, or the other permanent members of the Security Council, who have a veto right, are more powerful than other countries. They are able to put pressure on others or to create coalitions of voters which can weigh on decisions.