The%20United%20Nations

1
The United Nations

• https//www.youtube.com/user/unitednations
• https//www.youtube.com/watch?vbHmXZXsABm0featur
  erelated

2
Topics for Discussion

• History
• Purpose
• Structure
• Organizations
• Peacekeeping
• NGOs
• Issues
• http//www.youtube.com/watch?v0baMsmuR29Q
• http//www.un.org/en/

3
History

• 1899-International Peace Conference- (Hague)
  instrumented strategies for settling crisis
  peacefully-established the Permanent Court of
  Arbitration 1902
• League of Nations 1919-Woodrow Wilson and his
  Fourteen Points speech established the LON under
  the Treaty of Versailles to promote
  international cooperation and to achieve peace
  and security ended WWI

4
History

• January 1 1942-Franklin D. Roosevelt named the
  United Nations in the Declaration of the United
  Nations speech where 26 nations pledged to fight
  together against the Axis powers

5
History

• August to October 1944, Dumbarton Oaks Washington
  DC-Representatives from China, USSR, GB, and the
  US met to develop the first plans for the
  structure of an
• international
• organization

6
History

• Yalta Summit-February 1945-The framework for the
  UN was expanded and formalized
• April to June 1945-San Francisco Conference-UN
  charter was signed by 50 countries-(needed
  ratification of 26 countries
• before it became official)
• October 24- UN day

7
Purpose

• To keep peace throughout the world
• To develop friendly relations between nations
• To work together to help people live better
  lives, to eliminate poverty, disease and
  illiteracy, to stop environmental destruction and
  to encourage respect for each others rights and
  freedoms
• To be a center for helping nations
• achieve these aims
• http//www.youtube.com/watch?vevVmysydR-kfeature
  related
• http//www.choices.edu/resources/scholars_un_lesso
  ns.php

8
Structure 6 Main Organs

• General Assembly
• The Security Council
• The Economic and Social Council
• The Trusteeship Council
• The Secretariat
• The International Court of Justice
• East Timor becomes the 191st
• country June 2002
• Kosovo 192 members
• South Sudan 193

9
(No Transcript)
10
The General Assembly

• 193 member states meet as a parliament of
  nations to consider the worlds problems
• Each state has one vote
• Key issues are decided by 2/3 majority
• Other matters-simple majority
• Consensus is the new trend

11
The General Assembly

• Cannot force action by any state
• Recommendations indicate world opinion and
  represent the moral authority of the community of
  nations
• SessionSeptember to December
• May hold special or emergency sessions
• When not meeting, work is carried out by its 6
  main committees (Disarmament and International
  Security)

12
The Security Council

• Maintains international peace and security
• May convene whenever peace is threatened
• All member states are obligated to carry out the
  Councils decisions
• 15 council members 5 permanent (USA, GB, France,
  China, and Russia) 10 are elected by the General
  Assembly for two-year terms
• Decisions require 9 yes votes
• Except for procedural matters, a decision cannot
  be taken if there is a no vote from a permanent
  member
• http//www.choices.edu/resources/scholars_un_lesso
  ns.php

13
The Security Council

• Explores non-violent solutions (mediation)
• In the event of violence, the Council tries to
  secure a ceasefire
• The Council can take measures to enforce its
  decisions
• Impose sanctions or order arms embargos
• http//www.un.org/Depts/Cartographic/map/dpko/D_P_
  A.pdf

14
The Economic and Social Council

• Under the authority of the General Assembly
• Coordinates the economic and social work of the
  UN and family organizations
• Forum for discussing international economic and
  social issues
• Fosters international cooperation and development
• Consults with Non-Governmental Organizations
  (NGOs) and is a link to civil society
• http//www.youtube.com/watch?vHUuWGB_xeGo

15
The Economic and Social Council

• Meets throughout the year, major session in July
• 54 members, elected by the GA for 3 year terms
• Subsidiary bodies (Commission on Human Rights)
  meet regularly and report to ECOSOC
• Women from Burkino Faso terrace
• the soil to control erosion

16
The Trusteeship Council

• Established to provide international supervision
  for 11 Trust Territories administered by the
  Member States
• Ensured that adequate steps were taken to prepare
  the territories for self-government or
  independence
• 1994-all trust territories attained self-rule
• 1956 THE INTERNATIONAL TRUSTEESHIP
  SYSTEM

17
The International Court of Justice

• Also known as the World Court
• 15 Judges elected by the GA and Security Council
• Decides disputes between countries
• Participation is voluntary, but must comply if
  the state agrees to participate
• Located at the Hague, Netherlands

18
The Secretariat

• Carries out the substantive and administrative
  work of the UN as directed by the GA, SC and
  other organs
• Regular Staff of 7,500. 7,500 special employees.
  All drawn from 170 countries
• Offices around the world
• Ban Ki- Moon -current secretary

19
Secretary-General Ban Ki-Moon

• On 1 January 2007, Ban Ki-moon of the Republic of
  Korea became the eighth Secretary-General of the
  United Nations, bringing to his post 37 years of
  service both in Government and on the global
  stage.
• http//www.un.org/sg/biography.shtml

20
Organizations

• The family of organizations is made up of the UN
  programmes and funds (UNICEF etc) and
  specialized agencies
• Have their own governing bodies and budgets and
  set their own guidelines
• Do the work for the UN
• UNESCO - the United Nations Educational,
  Scientific and Cultural Organization was born on
  November 16, 1945. For this specialized UN
  agency, it is not enough to build classrooms in
  devastated countries or to publish scientific
  breakthroughs. Education, Social and Natural
  Science, Culture and Communication are the means
  to a far more ambitious goal
• to build peace in the minds of men.

21
Organizations
22
Organizations

• The World Bank
• 1944
• 184 member countries
• Issues 19.5 Billion in loans
• Borrows money (issue bonds) and gets
  contributions
• Loans money to countries for educational,
  economic, and industrial projects

23
Organizations

• International Monetary Fund (IMF)
• 1945
• 184 member countries
• Promotes the world economy-The central
  institution of the international monetary system
• A fund that can be tapped by members needing
  temporary financing to address balance of payment
  problems
• Lender of last resort

24
Organizations

• Critics of the WB and IMF
• Force poor countries to prioritize debt repayment
  over human need
• 1.2 Billion profit-where did it go? The wealthy
  West
• Structural adjustment policies forced on
  countries in order to qualify for loans-free
  market and liberalisation
• Policies are appropriate for industrialized
  countries, not developing ones
• The developing countries then are controlled by
  the wealthy countries. The wealthy countries do
  not always consider the needs of the developing
  countries
• http//www.youtube.com/watch?vevVmysydR-kfeature
  related

25
Peacekeeping

• Purpose The Department of Peacekeeping
  Operations (DPKO) is dedicated to assisting the
  member states and the Secretary-General in their
  efforts to maintain international peace and
  security.
• Each operation has specific mandated tasks, but
  all have similarities
• Alleviate human suffering
• Create conditions and build institutions for
  self-sustaining peace
• Act as a third party with a direct impact on the
  political/peace process

26
Peacekeeping

• http//www.un.org/en/peacekeeping/operations/curre
  nt.shtml
• Angola Cambodia
  Croatia
• (UNAVEM) (UNTAC)
  (UNTAC)
• Haiti Liberia
  Macedonia Rwanda
• (UNSMIH) (UNMIL) (UNPREDEP)
  (UNAMIR)

27
Non-Governmental Organizations (NGOs)

• A non-governmental organization (NGO) is any
  non-profit, voluntary citizens' group which is
  organized on a local, national or international
  level. Task-oriented and driven by people with a
  common interest, NGOs perform a variety of
  services and humanitarian functions, bring
  citizens' concerns to Governments, monitor
  policies and encourage political participation at
  the community level. Some are organized around
  specific issues, such as human rights, the
  environment or health.
• Criteria
• Share the ideals of the UN charter
• Operate solely on a not-for-profit basis
• May reach a large or specialized audience, such
  as educators, media, policy makers and businesses
• Have the means to conduct effective information
  programmes about UN activities

28
NGOs

• Médecins Sans Frontières (also known as Doctors
  Without Borders or MSF) delivers emergency aid to
  victims of armed conflict, epidemics, and natural
  and man-made disasters, and to others who lack
  health care due to social or geographical
  isolation.
• Amnesty International (AI) is a worldwide
  movement of people who campaign for
  internationally recognized human rights. AI's
  vision is of a world in which every person enjoys
  all of the human rights enshrined in the
  Universal Declaration of Human Rights and other
  international human rights standards.Investigatio
  ns must be carried out into the thousands of
  "disappearances" and other crimes against
  humanity committed in Algeria during the last
  decade.

29
Millennium Goals

• http//www.un.org/millenniumgoals/
• What are the Millennium Goals?
• Each group will create a multimedia presentation
  to explain one of the millennium goals to the
  rest of the class. Please use examples to
  illustrate the millennium goal.

30
Just a few Issues..

• Africa Education
  Landmine
• Elections Iraq
  Victim
• Climate Change Terrorism
• Demining Water
• Disarmamnet International Law
• Drugs and Crime Human Rights
• South AfricaApartheid
  
• 
  Villagers in Sudan

31
The United Nations

• Choose an ongoing peacekeeping mission and
  identify Location, Reason for the conflict,
  NGOs located there, How long has the UN been in
  the region? Is the UN effective as peacekeepers
  in the region?
• Choose a NGO. Describe its mission and where
  they are located.
• Choose a global issue located on the UN agenda.
  What is going on there? Which groups are there
  to help solve the problems?

32
(No Transcript)