(Daily News Scan - DNS English) United Nations (UN) Day - 24th October
Important Points:
United Nations Day that is 24th October marks the UN’s Charter entry into force. This day celebrates the achievements of the UN so far since 1945. 24th October has been celebrated as the UN day since the year 1948. Each year on this day a variety of events are organized to mark this special day of the UN. UN is the organization that has worked hard to maintain peace and harmony worldwide. The UN day is celebrated to expresses gratitude towards the hard work done by the organization.
In this DNS we will know about the United Nations in detail – how and why was it formed, organizational structure and its achievements.
Let us start with the history of United Nations. The name United Nations was coined by the then United States President Franklin D. Roosevelt. The United Nations was formed after the World War 2. In the year 1941, President of the US- Franklin D Roosevelt and the Prime Minister of the UK Winston Churchill proposed a set of principles for international collaboration in maintaining peace and security. This document was signed and is known as the Atlantic Charter. Later in the year 1942, representatives of 26 Allied nations met to pledge their support for Atlantic Charter by signing Declaration by United Nation. The first blue print of the UN was prepared at a conference known as the Dumbarton Oaks, in Washington DC.
At the Yalta conference, in 1945 the US President and UK Prime minister declared their resolve to establish a general international organization to maintain peace and security. On April 25 1945, representatives of 50 countries met in San Francisco to draw up the United Nations Charter. Later Poland also joined making it 51 countries. The organization finally came up on 24th October 1945.
The main objective of constituting this international organization was maintaining international peace and security. It works to prevent conflict; peacekeeping and creating conditions to allow peace to hold and flourish. A part from this it also works towards protecting human rights. It also delivers humanitarian aid to the people suffering due to natural or human disasters. Along with this it also works towards achieving and promoting sustainable development. And most importantly it focuses on upholding international law.
Currently total number of member countries of the UN are193. It has 6 main organs the General Assembly, the Security Council, the Economic and Social Council, the Trusteeship Council, the International Court of Justice and the UN Secretariat.
The General Assembly is the policy making and representative organ of the UN. All the members of the UN are members of the General Assembly. Security Council has 15 members (5 permanent and 10 non permanent). This council has a primary responsibility of maintaining international peace and security. The work of Economic and Social Council is of coordination, policy review and recommendations on social, economic and environmental issues. It has 54 members which are elected by the General Assembly. The Trusteeship Council was formed under the UN Charter to provide supervision to the 11 Trust Territories. In 1994 all countries had got their own self government, so the council amended its rule and agreed to meet when required. The International Court of Justice is the principal judicial organ of the UN. Its work is to settle legal disputes and to give advisory opinion on legal questions referred to it by UN agencies. Lastly the Secretariat comprises of the Secretary General and the staff members of the UN.
If we observe the logo and the flag of the UN it has a map of the world inscribed in a wreath consisting of crossed olive tree branches in gold on a field of smoke blue with all water areas in white. The projection of map is toward 60 degree south latitude including 5 concentric circles. The official emblem of the UN is white on a light blue background. The head quarter of the UN is based in New York and the present secretary of the UN is ANTONIO GUTERRES. The organization has 5 official languages ENGLISH, ARABIC, SPANISH, FRENCH, RUSSIAN and CHINESE.
The UN works in coordination with several other agencies and organizations to give a better output in various issues related to the world and countries. By working with other agencies the UN is able to impact and resolve issues in a better way. The organization since its inception has made many achievements like helping in ending apartheid in South Africa, working its best with nations to minimize climate change, providing vaccination for children and protecting the human rights. It has worked well in resolving war like issues between various countries of the world. UNITED NATIONS has succeeded till now in keeping the world away from any world war after its inception.
