UN

What countries make up the UN?

The UN was founded by 51 countries and currently has 193 member countries.

When was the UN created?

The UN It was created on October 24, 1945, when the United Nations Charter entered into force Signed in the American city of San Francisco on June 26, 1945. It was initially made up of 51 founding countries.

The UN was born after several conversations that began during the Second World Warl (1939-1945). Some outstanding moments were:

• The Atlantic Conference (August 1941), an encounter Among the British prime minister Winston Churchill and US president Franklin D. Roosevelt who resulted in the dissemination of the Atlantic Charter on August 14, 1941, which raised a series of common principles and objectives for the order of post -war,
• The Washington Conference (December 1941 and January 1942), which led to the signing of the United Nations Declaration on January 1, 1942, the first document that used the term “United Nations”,
• Dumbarton Oaks conference (September and October 1944), in which the representatives of the Allied powers (United States, the United Kingdom, the Soviet Union and China) agreed to the project of a new international organization and resolved that these four countries would be France would be the only permanent members of the Security Council,
• Yalta’s conference (February 1945), where the leaders of the United Kingdom, the United States and the Soviet Union resolved some points pending of the future organization and summoned a new meeting in San Francisco,
• The San Francisco Conference (April to June 1945), where the United Nations Charter was approved that gave rise to the UN.

The UN objective was to advance in the construction of an international order model that prevent new world wars and guarantee the safety of member countries. This international decision It was an answer to material and human disasters caused by World War II . With its creation, the UN He replaced the Nations Society that had been founded in 1919 for the same purpose after the First World War but had failed.

The UN founding countries

The 51 countries present at the UN Foundation in 1945 were:

What are the UN objectives?

The main objective of the UN is to maintain international peace and security, that is, to prevent wars and mediate politically and diplomatically in conflicts between nations. For that, It is based on the idea of ​​sovereign equality of all nations in the rejection of the use of force to resolve international disputes and in the collaboration of both the member countries and those that are not through opinions, suggestions, help or demands and multilateral pressures organized.

In addition, the UN declares as one of its main objectives The stimulus of respect for Human Rights Already fundamental freedoms, as well as international cooperation to solve economic, social, cultural, educational and humanitarian problems. It also has the ability to form judicial courts to judge crimes against humanity or war crimes.

UN history

The UN was created in 1945 . From the date of its creation, it reforms its mode of operation several times and created new organs and offices, as the world political landscape varied in complexity and needs. According to official figures, It has negotiated more than 560 multilateral treaties on different issues .

The UN was also subject to criticism and accusations of partiality or helplessness before world factual powers. This led to the creation of numerous internal organizations responsible for different aspects considered vital.

Throughout the History of the UN, international statements of importance were achieved, such as the Universal Declaration of Human Rights (1948) or the Declaration of the Rights of the Child (1959), among others. Courts were also formed for the conviction of crimes against humanity, such as the International Criminal Court for the former Yugoslavia (1993).

The UN resulted from 1991 numerous peace missions for military, civil and humanitarian purposes, among which those of Congo (1999), Liberia (2003), Ivory Coast (2004), Haiti (2004), Lebanon (2006) and Sudan del Sur (2011), mainly to put an end to civil wars. He also authorized the military participation of a coalition led by the United States in the Gulf War after the Iraqi invasion of Kuwait (1990-1991).

In 2001, the UN received the Nobel Peace Prize .

THE MAIN ORGANS OF THE UN

The main UN organs are:

• The General Assembly . Main deliberation organ of the organization, allows the debate among all member countries, under the direction of an assembly president who is elected annually for each session. It addresses issues of international importance such as the admission of new countries in the UN, ecological problems or the economy and the election of non -permanent members of the Security Council.
• The Security Council . The main decision of the UN, is made up of five permanent members with veto power (China, Russia, the United States, France and the United Kingdom) and ten non -permanent members, admitted for two years and elected by the General Assembly. This organ must ensure world peace and decide when international intervention is justified.
• The Economic and Social Council . With 54 member countries chosen for three -year periods, together with representatives of academic and business sectors and more than 3000 NGOs (non -governmental organizations), this advice deals with discussing international matters regarding the economy, society and the environment, such as economic development, mass migrations, famines, health crises, etc.
• The Fiduciary Board of Directors . It is the organ that watches over the correct administration of the territories under the UN tutelage, with the aim of favoring the path to its own and independent government. Since in 1994 the last of the eleven trusts that the UN had, the Fiduciary Administration board suspended its annual activities but can meet again in case its members decide, the Security Council or the General Assembly.
• The International Court of Justice . It is the UN judicial body, based in The Hague (Netherlands), where legal disputes between states are addressed and international legal issues are evaluated. It is made up of 15 magistrates, elected by the General Assembly and the Security Council for periods of nine years, with the possibility of being re -elected.
• The Secretariat . It is the administrative body of the organization, which provides bureaucratic services to the other councils and handles around 37,000 officials worldwide. It is directed by the Secretary General, elected by the General Assembly at the proposal of the Security Council for a period of five years, with the possibility of being re -elected.

UN specialized organs

The UN has a diversity of specialized bodies, under the General Assembly, the Economic and Social Council, the Secretariat or the Security Council. They address specific topics and situations.

Some of these organs are:

• World Food Program (PMA) dependent on the General Assembly.
• United Nations Refugee High Commissioner Office (UNHCR) dependent on the General Assembly.
• United Nations Environment Program (UNEP) dependent on the General Assembly.
• United Nations Compensation Commission (UNCC) under the Security Council.
• Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean (ECLAC) dependent on the Economic and Social Council.
• United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) dependent on the Economic and Social Council.
• United Nations Educational, Science and Culture Organization (UNESCO) dependent on the Economic and Social Council.
• UN Women for Gender Equality and Women’s Empowerment dependent on the Secretariat.

What countries integrate the UN?

The UN is currently integrated by 193 Member States which are:

Why is the UN important?

The presence of the UN offers the international panorama the possibility of transparent and frontal mediation. Your intervention can be vital at the time of Prevent wars or resolve disputes institutionally to prevent them from climbing towards open conflicts.

The same happens against tragedies of natural origin, in which and UN can intervene to provide funds provide help or organize assistance or rescue work. Finally, the UN provides funds to vulnerable populations through educational scholarship plans, mobility support, food assistance, among others.

Criticisms of the UN

The UN was subject to many criticisms, mainly among its members, which nor they manage to agree on the role that this institution must fulfill . Some wish that it constitutes a kind of world government, while others prefer that only humanitarian issues be occupied.

The rules of the game are not always clear for everyone. This has caused it to be perceived at the mercy of the most powerful countries S, especially those that make up the Security Council, to the detriment of the interests of the poorest countries or those that are not even part of the organization.

For example, the fact that the five permanent members of the Security Council (United States, the United Kingdom, France, Russia and China) possess the right of veto in the Security Council hinders any cause that goes against their own interests and benefits, instead, the geopolitical interests of said powers.

Accusations of excessive bureaucracy, inoperance, waste, corruption have also been made and alleged offenses executed by some of their peace forces.

The documents for the creation of the UN

The UN was the result of a conversations process that began during World War II With the meeting between British Prime Minister Winston Churchill and US President Franklin D. Roosevelt in 1941. As a consequence of this meeting, the Atlantic Charter was released on August 14, 1941, which raised the need to ensure cooperation between nations to guarantee international peace and security.

The next important step was The United Nations Declaration, approved in Washington on January 1, 1942 . It was initially signed by twenty -six countries (which were subsequently added several more), expressed its adherence to the principles of the Atlantic Charter and was the first official document that used the term “United Nations”. Finally, on June 26, 1945 it was signed in San Francisco (United States) The United Nations Charter , The International Treaty that founded the UN and established its principles, objectives, organization and functions. It entered into force on October 24, 1945, a date considered as the time of UN Foundation.

United Nations Declaration

January 1, 1942

“Joint Declaration of the United States of America, the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland of the North, the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics, China, Australia, Belgium, Canada, Cost Nicaragua, Norway, Panama, Poland, South Africa and Yugoslavia.

The signatory governments, having expressed their adhesion to the common program of purposes and principles that incorporates the joint declaration of the president of the United States and the Prime Minister of the United Kingdom, dated August 14, 1941, known as the Atlantic letter;

Convinced that it is essential to obtain an absolute victory over their enemies to defend life, freedom, independence and religious freedom, as well as to preserve human rights and justice, both in their own soil and in other lands, and being in the present committed in the common struggle against wild and brutal forces that try to subjugate the world;

Declare:

1. That each government undertakes to use all its resources, both military and economic, against those members of the tripartite pact and their adherents with whom said government is at war;

2. That each government undertakes to cooperate with the other signatory governments of the present and no longer sign an armistice or a peace separately with the enemies.

Other nations that are lending or come to provide material and contributions in the struggle to defeat Hitlerism may adhere to this statement.“

United Nations Letter

June 26, 1945

Preamble

“We the United Nations Peoples resolved:

to preserve the generations to come from the scourge of war that twice during our lives has inflicted on humanity unspeakable sufferings,

To reaffirm faith in the fundamental rights of man, in the dignity and value of the human person, in the equal rights of men and women and large and small nations,

to create conditions under which justice can be maintained and respect for the obligations emanating from treaties and other sources of international law,

to promote social progress and to raise the standard of living within a broader concept of freedom,

and with such purposes,

To practice tolerance and to live in peace as good neighbors,

to unite our forces for the maintenance of international peace and security,

to ensure, by accepting principles and the adoption of methods, that the armed force will not be used but in the service of the common interest, and

to use an international mechanism to promote the economic and social progress of all peoples,

We have decided to join our efforts to make these designs.

Therefore, our respective governments, through representatives gathered in the city of San Francisco that have exhibited their full powers, found in a good and due form, have agreed in this Charter of the United Nations, and by this act they establish an international organization that will be called the United Nations.

(…)

Chapter I.

Art. 1. The purposes of the United Nations are:

1. Maintain international peace and security, and for this purpose: take effective collective measures to prevent and eliminate threats to peace, and to suppress acts of aggression or other breaks of peace; and achieve by peaceful means, and in accordance with the principles of justice and international law, the adjustment or arrangement of international controversies or situations that can lead to peace brokenness;

2. Promote among the nations friendship relations based on respect for the principle of equal rights and the self -determination of peoples, and take other appropriate measures to strengthen universal peace;

3. To carry out international cooperation in the solution of international problems of economic, social, cultural or humanitarian nature, and in the development and stimulus of respect for human rights and the fundamental freedoms of all, without distinction for reasons of race, sex, language or religion; and

4. Serve as a center to harmon the efforts of nations to achieve these common purposes.

(…)

Chapter II

Art. 3. The states that, having participated in the United Nations Conference on International Organization held in San Francisco, or that having previously signed the United Nations Declaration of January 1, 1942, subscribe this letter and ratify it in accordance with article 110.

Art. 4. 1. All other peace -love states that accept the obligations recorded in this letter may be members of the United Nations, and that, in the opinion of the organization, are trained to fulfill these obligations and are willing to do so. (…)

Chapter III

Art. 7. 1. They are established as the main bodies of the United Nations: a General Assembly, a Security Council, an Economic and Social Council, a Fiduciary Administration Board, an International Court of Justice, a Secretariat. (…)“

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References

• United Nations Letter, June 26, 1945, in: United Nations Official Portal. https://www.un.org/
• United Nations Declaration, January 1, 1942, in: United Nations Official Portal. https://www.un.org/
• Kennedy, PM (2007). The Parliament of Humanity: History of the United Nations. Debate.
• Lynch, cm et al. (2023). United Nations. Britannica Encyclopedia. https://www.britannica.com/ United Nations (SF). United Nations History. United Nations Official Portal. https://www.un.org/