Founding of the United Nations - Essay Example

The United Nations Introductions: The United General Assembly began its first deliberations in London on January 10, 1946. This was the result of the concern of the world at the devastation and human misery caused by the Second World, and the subsequent discussions on how to prevent a repetition of such occurrences. Negotiations of the United Nations Charter had taken place in 1945 at San Francisco and the creation of the United Nations emanated from that. This first session of the United General Assembly thus represented the acceptance of the requirement for a general and universal international organization, along with a number of specialized agencies, and non-governmental agencies by the international community. Founding of the United Nations: Fifty nations were present to negotiate the formulation by which the United Nations would be constituted and function at San Francisco in 1945. On the basis of these negotiations on June 26, 1945 the United Nations Charter was signed by these Nations to pave the way for the founding of the United Nations. This was an extraordinary achievement for the Second World War had not fully ended. By this Charter the United Nations was set up consisting of the principal organs of the General Assembly, the Security Council, the Secretariat, the International Court of Justice, the Economic and Social Council, and the Trusteeship Council, with a several other specialized agencies and non-governmental agencies to enable the United Nations to fulfill its role in a wide range of responsibilities assigned to it. (1) The General Assembly: The General Assembly is the meeting place of the different nations to enable discussions of common problems. It is convened at certain intervals. It provides a forum for the member nations, which number 192, to express their views on issues of concern in the world. Its decision making powers are small, as it lacks the capacity to enforce it, but its decision have a strong moral authority that influence the decision making in the Security Council. (2). The Security Council: The Security Council is the chief body for keeping peace, and such us the most visible principal organ to the people of the world. Through this the efficacy of the United Nations is reflected by the efficiency of the Security Council in maintaining peace and harmony in the world. To provide for teeth to its role in enforcing peace in the world the Security Council has been provided with means to gather armed forces. Decisions are taken at the Security Council, which consists of fifteen members. These fifteen members consist of five permanent members in the United States of America, Britain, China, Russia, and France, and ten non-permanent members that are elected on a rotational basis. The five permanent members have the extra power of veto, whereby action on the decisions taken by the Security Council can be negated, in case it finds the decision not suitable. Two major problems have occurred in the functioning of the Security Council. The first pertains to the provision of teeth for its operations. In theory it has the right to constitute such a force and maintain it, or call for adequate contributions from the member nations to this force. In practice this has not been the case. The United Nations has become dependant on the member states willing to contribute their armed forces, the composition of the armed forces, the logistics involved, and the problem of command and control. This has led to the inefficient armed interventions, or inaction in violent events that need control in many parts of the world today. The second problem is the issue of the number of permanent members and the veto powers. At the time of the constitution of the United Nations the five permanent nations represented the major powers of the world and the victors in the Second World War. Nearly six decades have elapsed. Economic and military power equations have shifted, and so have the ambitions of the regional powers and member states. There is a growing sentiment that the Security Council no longer is a reflective body of the world and needs to be expanded to take in more permanent as well as non-permanent members. Unless these two issues are resolved it is highly unlikely that the Security Council would be as effective as was expected as the time of the formation of the United Nations. (3). The Secretariat: The Secretariat provides the necessary and essential basis for the preparation and implementation of decisions and resolutions that are taken through the governing bodies of the United Nations, consisting of the General Assembly, the Security Council, and the Economic and Social Council. It is a permanent body of the United Nations and through this permanency caters for institutional memory, research capacity, collection and dissemination of information, and diplomatic action. It has legal and political expertise, linguistic strengths and is the organ through which the United Nations maintains relations with member states and other organizations. The Secretariat is headed by the UN Secretary General, who is a political appointee, and is appointed by the General Assembly based on the recommendations of the Security Council. There is a drawback in this. Any permanent member of the Security can prevent the appointment of a person as the Secretary General, through the use of its veto power, and influence the appointment of a person more favorable to its political views. (4). The Economic and Social Council: The United Nations has been ascribed an economic and social role. Within the United Nations system it is the Economic and Social Council (ESOC) that oversees the functioning several international institutions associated with the economic and social responsibilities of the United Nations. These international institutions consist are of two kinds. The first are the specialized agencies in the form of the World Health Organization (WHO), the International Labor Organization (ILO), and the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) that look after responsibilities as their name suggests. The second kind constitutes the funds and programs, which include the United Nations Development Program (UNDP), the United Nations Fund for Population Activities (UNFPA, the World Food Program (WFP), and the United Nations International Children’s Emergency Fund (UNICEF). (5). The Trusteeship Council: The Trusteeship council was formed in 1947 with the ultimate goal of providing guidance to those entities placed under its responsibility to attain full statehood. In short the Trusteeship council was to work effectively to cause its demise. Though not responsible for it, the Trusteeship council is credit with the demise of colonialism, and with the demise of colonialism, the Trusteeship Council has no effective role to play in the United Nations (6). The International Court of Justice The international Court of Justice performs two functions. It consolidates the understanding of international law and promotes the peaceful resolution to disputes through arbitration and judicial settlement. A significant contribution of the International Court of Justice is the clarification of international law and several issues regarding the same. It has also played a role in the upholding of human rights. (7). Analysis of the United Nation: There a strong criticisms on the competence of the United Nations and its effectiveness. There are occasions when it has failed to act, or overacted and failed in the objectives in the missions undertaken. (8) Criticisms that target the United Nations bring to mind the opinion of a British diplomat with several year of experience interaction with the United Nations. He wrote “The United Nations is a mirror of the world around it, if the reflection is ugly; the organization is not to be blamed”. (9)Thus criticisms on the functioning and efficiency of the United Nations are in effect criticisms at the way the nations of the world conduct themselves. Works Cited 1. Groom, A. J. R. “GETTING TO ‘GO’: THE BIRTH OF THE UNITED NATIONS SYSTEM”. The United Nations at the Millennium: The Principal Organs. Eds. Paul Taylor & A. J. R. Groom. London: Continuum, 2000, 1-20. 2. Luard Evan. The United Nations: How it Works and What it Does. Second Edition. London. MacMillan, 1994. 3. Dedring, Juergen. “THE SECURITY COUNCIL”. The United Nations at the Millennium: The Principal Organs. Eds. Paul Taylor & A. J. R. Groom. London: Continuum, 2000, 61-98. 4. Beigber, Yves. “THE UNITED NATIONS SECRETARIAT: REFORM IN PROGRESS”. The United Nations at the Millennium: The Principal Organs. Eds. Paul Taylor & A. J. R. Groom. London: Continuum, 2000, 196-223. 5. Taylor, Paul. “MANAGING THE ECONOMIC AND SOCIAL ACTIVITIES OF THE UNITED NATIONS SYSTEM: DEVELOPING THE ROLE OF ECOSOC”. The United Nations at the Millennium: The Principal Organs. Eds. Paul Taylor & A. J. R. Groom. London: Continuum, 2000, 100-141. 6. Groom, A. J. R “THE TRUSTEESHIP COUNCIL: A SUCCESSFUL DEMISE”. The United Nations at the Millennium: The Principal Organs. Eds. Paul Taylor & A. J. R. Groom. London: Continuum, 2000, 142-176. 7. Ramcharan, B.G. “THE INTERNATIONAL COURT OF JUSTICE”. The United Nations at the Millennium: The Principal Organs. Eds. Paul Taylor & A. J. R. Groom. London: Continuum, 2000, 177-195. 8. White, N.D. The Law of International Organizations. Manchester; Manchester University Press, 1996. 9. Archer, Clive. International Organizations. Second Edition. London. Routledge, 1992, p. 27. Read More