United Nations Organization[UNO]

The United Nations Organization (UNO) or simply United Nations (UN) is an international organization of countries whose purpose is to maintain peace and security all over the world. It tries to help countries settle disagreements by getting them to talk to each other, instead of going to war. It also provides a place where the representatives of countries can discuss all sorts of problems. Nearly all the countries of the world are now members of the UN.
The seeds of the United Nations were sown many years earlier by an organization similar to the UN, called the League of Nations, founded in 1919 after World War I. But the League of Nations failed in their objectives and the world had to suffer another World War in 1939. The reason for the League’s failure was that many powerful states, including the USA and Russia, remained outside the League. The United Nations was founded in 1945 at the end of World War II.
The organization has six principal organs: the General Assembly (the main deliberative assembly); the Security Council (for deciding certain resolutions for peace and security); the Economic and Social Council (for assisting in promoting international economic and social cooperation and development); the Secretariat (for providing studies, information, and facilities needed by the UN); the International Court of Justice (the
primary judicial organ); and the United Nations Trusteeship Council . Much of the work of the UN is carried
out by specialized agencies. These deal with matters such as food aid, agriculture, health, education and finance. Member countries help to pay for the work of these agencies according to how rich they are. Factors such as national income, population and level of debt are considered when calculating a nation’s contribution. Wealthier nations contribute significantly more than their poorer counterparts. The prominent UN system agencies include the World Health Organization (WHO), the UN Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO), the World Bank, the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) and United Nations International Children’s Emergency Fund (UNICEF).
Every member country of the UN has a seat in the General Assembly. Representatives discuss problems
such as disarmament, environmental pollution, world poverty etc., and occasionally pass resolutions. At the heart of UN is the Security Council. This is a body of selected member countries which takes decisions
on behalf of all the members when there is a crisis.
Since 1945 the UN Security Council has tried to deal with many conflicts. Sometimes it sends a military
force, made up of troops from different countries, to keep the peace between warring groups. While the
troops keep the warring groups apart, the Secretary-General and his staff try to get the groups’ representatives round a table to discuss possible solutions to their problems.
The UN’s most visible public figure is the Secretary-General. He carries out decisions of the Security Council and promotes the resolutions of the General Assembly. He also takes part in the peacekeeping work of the UN.
The organization has six official languages. They are Arabic, Chinese, English, French, Russian and
Spanish. The Secretariat uses two working languages; English and French.

Veto Power

The United Nations Security Council ‘Power of Veto’ refers to the veto power wielded solely by the
five permanent members of the United Nations Security Council (China, France, Russia, United Kingdom, and United States), enabling them to prevent the adoption of any ‘substantive’ draft Council resolution, regardless of the level of international support for the draft. The UN Security Council has 15 members. The five permanent members (also known as the P5 or Big 5) were drawn from the victorious powers of World War II. The purpose of the veto is to prevent any one country from becoming too powerful and having its own way in the Security Council.

UN Flag and Emblem

The current United Nations emblem was approved on 7th December, 1946. The design is “a map of the
world representing an azimuthal equidistant projection centered on the North Pole, inscribed in a wreath consisting of crossed conventionalized branches of the olive tree, in gold on a field of smoke-blue with all
water areas in white. The projection of the map extends to 60 degrees south latitude, and includes five concentric circles”. Olive branches symbolize peace. The world map depicts the area of concern to the
United Nations in achieving its main purpose, ie maintaining international peace and security. The official
emblem of the United Nations is white; centered on a light blue ground.

The Story of United Nations Headquarters

Standing on the eastern shore of Manhattan island, on the banks of New York City’s East River, the United
Nations Headquarters remains both a symbol of peace and a beacon of hope. To its 18 acres come representatives of the earth’s 6 billion people, to discuss and decide issues of peace, justice and economic and social well being.
The site of the UN Headquarters is owned by the United Nations. It is an international territory. No federal, state or local officer or official of the United States, whether administrative, judicial, military or police may enter UN Headquarters except with the consent of and under conditions agreed to by the Secretary-General of the Organization. On the site, the UN has its own fire fighting and security forces and its own post office branch, with special provision for UN stamps. The buildings as originally planned were estimated to cost nearly $85 million. At the direction of Secretary- General Trygve Lie, however, the designers cut the cost by $20 million, largely by reducing the height of the Secretariat Building from 45 to 39 storeys, by reducing the size of the conference areas and by utilizing an existing building on the site for the United Nations Library. The $65 million plan was approved by the General Assembly on 20th November, 1947. To finance construction, the United States Government made an interest free loan of $65 million to the United Nations. A cornerstone was laid at a dedication ceremony on 24th October,1949 (UN Day), by the first Secretary-General, Trygve Lie, in the presence of the President of the United States. The inscription on the cornerstone is “United Nations” in the five official languages used in 1949 (Chinese, English, French, Spanish, and Russian) with the date in Roman numerals

UN Secretary-Generals