Why Does The United Nations Exist, What Is It For?

Care to know the history of UN? You must have once heard the word United Nations (UN) and wondered what the organization stands for, its usefulness and how it came to be. The United Nations (UN) is the organization that always brings together world leaders.

We usually hear about it mainly in newspapers, not least because the UN is always commenting on the most diverse subjects that happen in countries, things that has to do with: health, politics, economics and so on.

Well, there are always some questions that we ask ourselves when we are faced with something that we do not know, as is the case. And several people have already asked themselves, “What is the United Nations for?“

If you are one of those people who already wanted to know what the UN really is and what its role in the world is, you are in the right place.

After thinking a little more about it, we at 9jatoday decided to seek the answer and bring it to you, our dear reader.

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So, check with us to follow this answer and take the time to share this story with your friends. Without further ado, let’s proceed.

What is the UN?

The United Nations is an intergovernmental organization and was created to replace the League of Nations.

It started after the Second World War, which left dozens of countries devastated and there was a need to maintain the peace and security of the world.

American President Franklin Roosevelt wrote and signed the United Nations Declaration with his adviser Harry Hopkins and British Prime Minister Winston Churchill and that was the first step in the creation of the UN.

Between April 25 and June 26, 1945, the Conference on the International Organization took place. Representatives from 50 countries were present. That year, on October 24, the UN officially came into existence.

In 1946, at the organization’s first meeting in London, it was decided that the headquarters would be in the United States, below is the history of the United Nations.

UN History

The history of the United Nations started at the end of World War II, Europe was destroyed and more than 45 million of its inhabitants had died as a result of the conflict.

The material and human costs of the project had proved to be extremely high and evidenced the need to create mechanisms to prevent a conflict of such proportions from occurring again.

With that in mind, at a meeting held in San Francisco, United States, on October 24, 1945, 51 states signed the charter of the United Nations, which would aim to guarantee peace and mediate conflicts between countries. The UN replaced the League of Nations, founded after the First World War.

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Although its main objective is to maintain peace, the UN has also started to support and develop a broad agenda, which includes the promotion of human rights and social and economic development, the protection of the environment and the promotion of humanitarian aid in cases of environmental disasters and armed conflicts.

The UN Under a Critical Eye

The United States, Russia, England, France and China are permanent members of the UN and they are responsible for financing a large part of the expenses of this organization.

Today, the UN is seen by critics as a real failure, mainly because the 5 permanent powers have practically all the power over it. The UN is an administrative body that has no legal force.

This means that she can give an opinion on countries’ legal issues, but that has no legal value. One of the strongest points of the organization is human rights, but unfortunately, it is unable to cope, we take for example the Syrian war, which could be prevented since the Organization was initially created with the aim of maintaining peace in the world.

After all, what is the UN for?

Before we conclude, it is necessary to know that the UN currently has more than 200 associated countries, its central structure is in New York, but it has other headquarters in Geneva, Vienna, Nairobi, Addis Ababa, Bangkok, Beirut and Santiago.

In addition, it has offices throughout much of the world and is always promoting meetings with world leaders.

Most of these leaders agree that the organization must be reformed, believing that it is not fulfilling its role and not living up to the original purpose. They believe that the organization “is of no use”.

What Is The Role Of UN?

• To maintain international peace and security;
• Develop friendly relations between nations;
• Carry out international cooperation to solve global problems of an economic, social, cultural and humanitarian nature, promoting respect for human rights and fundamental freedoms;
• To be a center destined to harmonize the action of the peoples in order to achieve common objectives.

The United Nations Bodies

The Organisation consists of six main bodies, according to the Charter. Are they:

1. General Assembly: It constitutes the main deliberative assembly of the organization, composed of all the Member States, chaired by a president elected from among the countries.

2. Security Council: Body responsible for ensuring peace and security between the Member States. Composed of 15 Member States. Five of them are permanent (United States, Russia, United Kingdom, France and China) and ten temporary members elected by the General Assembly every two years. It is the only UN body with decision-making power and, therefore, it is a duty to respect the decisions taken by it.

3. Economic and Social Council: Body responsible for assisting the General Assembly with regard to socio-economic cooperation and international development. Composed of 54 members elected by the General Assembly every three years.

4. Guardianship Council: Composed of 5 permanent members that make up the Security Council. Its activities have been suspended and meet only when there are situations that require its performance.

5. International Court of Justice: Also known as the International Court of Justice, it is considered as the main judicial body of the organization, whose objective is to try those who commit serious crimes under international law, such as wars and genocide. Composed of 15 members elected by the General Assembly and the Security Council, serving a nine-year term.

6. Secretariat: Body responsible for providing studies and information necessary for the organization to be able to hold its meetings, as well as direct the other bodies. The secretary-general is the organization’s main job.

The organization is also governed by principles that permeate the action of Member States, for example:

• Principle of sovereign equality for all its members;
• Members are obliged to comply with Charter commitments in good faith;
• Members must resolve their international conflicts peacefully, without threatening international peace, security and justice;
• All members shall assist the United Nations in any measure taken by it, in accordance with the provisions of the Charter.

Criticisms of the UN

Despite its commitment to ensuring peace in the world, the organization is accused of acting biased and being used to defend the political interests of the permanent members of the security council.

The case of the Syrian War is emblematic of the way in which the organization is ineffective in the defense of peace.

Although the country has been at war since 2011, the UN has not interfered in the conflict because of the impasse that exists in the security council between Russia and the United States about what measures should be taken in the region in conflict.

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As both countries are entitled to a veto on the security council, no action has yet been taken by the UN to interfere in the conflict.

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