The United Nations

1. The United Nations

2. Outline of Presentation • History of the UN • General Information/UN Finances • Structures of the UN • General Assembly (GA) • Security Council (SC) • Economic and Social Council (ECOSOC) • Trusteeship Council • International Court of Justice (ICJ) • Secretariat • Other important organizations • Current Issues/Peacekeeping • Criticism of the UN • UN Reform

3. History of the United Nations • Founded 24 October 1945 in San Francisco • After WW 1&2, desire for peace • 50 Countries draw up the Charter • Ratified by China, France, USSR, UK, USA • Charter — UN Constitution

4. History of the United Nations • Purposes: (Article 1) • Maintain International Peace and Security, and prevent and solve them peacefully threats to peace • Develop friendly relations among nations based on equal rights and self-determination of peoples • strengthen universal peace • Achieve international co-operation in solving international problems of an economic, social, cultural, or humanitarian character • Promote human rights regardless of race, sex, language or religion • To be a centre for harmonizing actions of nations

5. General Information • Consists of 192 Member States, • Official Observers (Palestine) and NGO’s (HRW) represented, • Each Member State maintains its sovereignity • Issues range from Decolonization, to Human Rights, International Trade, Breaches of the Peace, Legal issues, etc. • There are 6 Official Languages accepted at the UN • Arabic, Chinese, English, French, Russian and Spanish • Headquarters in NYC • Seat in Geneva • Organizations spread around the world • 1971: Taiwan loses representation, replaced by PR China

6. UN Finances • Budget is 3.8 Billion dollars (2006/2007) • Main income source is Member State contributions • Contributions based on factors such as the GNP • Peacekeeping Budget additional $3.5 Billion • WHO budget less than medium sized hospital • May 2002: 40% paid dues • Private Funding: Corruption?

7. Structures of the UN • 6 original organs • GA, SC, ECOSOC, Trusteeship Council, ICJ, Secretariat • 15+ other Agencies, Programs, and Bodies • HRC • WHO • UNICEF • UNESCO • Funds and Programs subsidiary bodies of GA • Report to GA or ECOSOC • Organizations have own Charters, Mandates, and Budgets

8. The General Assembly • Main Body of UN • All 192 MS represented • Every MS has one vote • Powers of the GA: • Set Agenda • Discuss any almost issue • Recommendations not binding • Resolutions need a simple majority (50%+1), important decisions need 2/3 majority • President of the GA presides, elected for each session (one year), has 21 vice-presidents • 6 Main Committees

9. The General Assembly • First: Disarmament and International Security • Second: Economic and Financial (Trade) • Third: Social, Humanitarian, and Cultural • Fourth: Special Political and Decolonization • Fifth: Administrative and Budgetary • Sixth: Legal

10. The Security Council • Most prestigious and powerful • Resolutions are legally binding • Deal with Threats to Peace, mediate disputes • Functions: Peacekeeping Missions, Tribunals, Declare rogue nations, Provide or revoke a nations' legitimacy • Recommend admission of new members (GA votes) • 15 Members; P5 (China, France, Russia, UK, USA) • 3 Africa, 2 L.A, 1 Arab, 1 Asian, 1 E.EU, 2 W. EU: 2 year terms, no immediate reelection, • Become more active recently • Presidency of SC rotates every month (Mexico for April)

11. The Economic and Social Council • 54 Members, GA elects them for three years • 14 Africa, 11 Asia, 6 East Europe, 10 Latin America and Caribbean, 13 West Europe and Others • Many subsidiary councils: expert, regional • Functions include information gathering, advising member nations, and making recommendations. • Provides policycoherence and coordinate the overlapping functions

12. Trusteeship Council • Suspended operations in 1994 • Created to monitor the transition of colonies to independent countries • To promote interests of groups without self-rule • Suspended with the independence of Palau • Has a president and vice-president and can meet when it feels necessary

13. International Court of Justice • “World Court” • Situated in Den Haag in the Peace Palace • U.S only accepts jurisdiction for some cases • Any country can bring up a case • Deals with cases between countries, judges international, regionally de facto • ICC: works on cases concerning genocide, war crimes, etc. separate entity, but works with the UN via treaties

14. Secretariat • The Bureaucracy of the UN • Headed by the Secretary General • Voted by the GA for 7 years • 8,900 staff drawn from some 170 countries • Staff members and the Secretary-General answer to the United Nations alone • Oath not to seek or receive instructions from any Government • Regular presence in Addis Ababa, Bangkok, Beirut, Geneva, Nairobi,Sagainstago and Vienna • Senior Management Group functionsas Cabinet Ban Ki Moon, the current Secretary-General

15. Other Organizations • FAO: Food and Agriculture Organization • IAEA: International Atomic Energy Agency • OHCHR: Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights • UNCTAD: United Nations Conference on Trade and Development • UNDP: United Nations Development Program • UNEP: United Nations Environment Program • UNICEF: UN International Children's Emergency Fund • WB: World Bank • WHO: World Health Organization • WTO: World Trade Organization Wide variety of subjects and problems covered by UN (affiliated) Programs

16. Current issues • Iraq, Syria, Israel-Palestine • Sustainable Development • Labor • Refugees • Disarmament • Drugs and Crime

17. Current issues • Millennium Development Goals (2015) • End extreme Poverty and Hunger • Universal Primary Education • Promote Gender Equality and Empower Women • Reduce Child Mortality/Child Health • Improve Maternal Health • Combat HIV/AIDS, Malaria, and other Diseases • Environmental Sustainability • Global Partnership for Development

18. Peacekeeping • 1948 in Israel first operation • MS rent soldiers for missions • Peacekeepers only enter when allowed by combatants • Strict mandates, ex. Can’t fire unless attacked • Brahimi Report 2000 • 93-03: 14 missions, 45 000 deployed • 16 Current/Recent Missions: Haiti, Kosovo, Lebanon, Darfur, Timor-Leste, UN forces, also known as ‘blue helmets‘

19. Points of Criticism • Bureaucratic • Politicized • Inefficient • Unaccountable • Dominated by Western States (USA) • European Union • Group 77 • OAS • African Union

20. Security Council Reform • Increase number to 24 (add Permanent or not) • Abolish Veto power • Redistribute P5 • Brazil, (largest country in LA, Mexico and Argentina against) • Germany, (3rd largest Contributor, Italy against) • India, (Nuclear weapons, 1/6 pop, Pakistan against) • Japan, (2nd largest Contributor, PR China, Korea’s against) • Africa: Nigeria, South Africa, Algeria, Egypt • Muslim-majority Nation, stabilize region?, veto? • Variety of positions, each P5 different, hard to change due to P5 veto power and sensitivity of issue

21. UN Reform • Review each mandate and update or end where necessary • Consolidated Office of Drugs and Crime • Reformed Secretariat • Created position of Deputy Secretary-General and Cabinet • Lesson amount of offices for information gathering (9 became one for EU) • Efficiency: redistribution of funds according to new needs • Investment into better technology • Management Performance Board to monitor organizations performance • Strengthen Peacekeeping Abilities, Planning and Co-ordination • Every day we are reminded of the need for a strengthened United Nations, as we face a growing array of new challenges, including humanitarian crises, human rights violations, armed conflicts and important health and environmental concerns. Seldom has the United Nations been called upon to do so much for so many. I am determined to breathe new life and inject renewed confidence into a strengthened United Nations firmly anchored in the twenty-first century, and which is effective, efficient, coherent and accountable." • Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon • Strengthen OHCHR to improve Human Rights globally