Ten Things You Should Know About The United Nations
by SARAH NELSON, Contributing Writer
1. The United Nations was founded in 1945 after World War II ended. The organization was established as an effort of 51 nations who committed themselves to maintain international peace and security, develop friendly relations among nations and promote social progress, better living standards and human rights. The day the U.N. charter was ratified, October 24 ,1945, is recognized as the official date of establishment.
2. Prior to the establishment of the United Nations, a similar group was assembled, called the League of Nations, after World War I. It wasn’t until 1942, that President Franklin D. Roosevelt coined the name "United Nations".
3. The U.N. is a complex hierarchy of councils, committees, boards, councils and working groups that are divided into five main bodies: The General Assembly, the Security Council, Economic and Social Council, International Court of Justice and the Secretariat. There is a sixth council in the main body, the Trusteeship Council, but it has been suspended since 1994.
4. The purpose of all U.N. specialized agencies is to independently and collectively focus on peace, development, human rights, humanitarian assistance, disarmament, and international law.
5. The head of the U.N is the Secretary-General. He or she is appointed based on geographical rotation, but never from the five permanent Security Council members. The current Secretary-General is Ban Ki-moon from South Korea. When Ban Ki-moon was elected to head the U.N., he welcomed the opportunity by singing "Santa Claus is Coming to Town" with the lyrics "Ban Ki-moon is coming to town" at the 2006 U.N. correspondent’s dinner.
6. Currently, the U.N. is made up of 192 sovereign nations. In 2006, Montenegro became the 192nd member after being absent from the council following its dissolution in early 1990s. With the 2003 reorganizing of Serbia and Montenegro, the nation rejoined. Prior to its absence, Montenegro was a founding member of the U.N.
7. Since the end of World War II, the government in Switzerland consistently voted against joining the U.N., even though an invitation has been extended since the organization was established. It wasn’t until 2002 that the Swiss finally became a member state.
8. Besides the 192 observing members, the U.N has two non-member observing states, the nation of Palestine and the Holy See of Vatican City.
9. The U.N. is funded by member states, depending on their ability to pay. The United States contributes about 22 percent of the total budget, while Liberia contributes .001 percent – the minimum rate. Of the 192 members, an average of 40 pay their dues on time. The U.N. budget for 2008-2009 was about $4.71 billion – that’s without peacekeeping operations.
10. The United Nations is currently operating 15 peackeeping operations around the world. There are more than 100,000 peacekeeping officers and personnel representing more 116 countries. The total budget spent on peacekeeping operations since the inception of the U.N. is $61 billion; $7.5 billion was spent in 2007 alone.
- Posted by Causecast
Related causes: Community, Human Rights
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