United Nations

:''This article is about the United Nations, for other uses of UN see UN (disambiguation)'' The United Nations, or UN, is an international organization established in 1945 and now made up of 191 state. With the exception of the Holy See, the sole permanent observer state, all internationally recognized independent List of countries are members. Other political entities, notably the Republic of China, Saharawi Arab Democratic Republic (Western Sahara), and State of Palestine, have ''de facto'' independence and/or some international diplomatic recognition from selected states, but are not UN members. For more information, see United Nations member states. UN membership is open to all "peace-loving states" that accept the obligations of the UN Charter and, in the judgment of the organization, are able and willing to fulfill these obligations. The General Assembly determines admission upon recommendation of the Security Council. The organization's headquarters is in New York City, USA; see United Nations headquarters. The term "united nations" was coined by Franklin D. Roosevelt during World War II, to refer to the Allies. Its first formal use was in the 1942 Declaration by the United Nations, which committed the Allies to the principles of the Atlantic Charter and pledged them not to seek a separate peace with the Axis powers. The name was transferred to the UN as it was founded by the victorious powers in the war as a condition of the Atlantic Charter and other wartime agreements. Initially, the body was known as the United Nations Organization, or UNO. But by the 1950s, English speakers were referring to it as the United Nations, or UN. The United Nations System is based on six principal organs, part of what is collectively called the United Nations System: *UN General Assembly *UN Security Council *UN Economic and Social Council *UN Trusteeship Council *UN Secretariat *International Court of Justice ==Background and history== ''Main articles: League of Nations and History of the United Nations'' The idea for the United Nations was elaborated in declarations signed at the wartime Allied conferences in Moscow and Tehran in 1943. United States president Franklin D. Roosevelt suggested the name "United Nations" and the first official use of the term occurred on January 1, 1942 with the Declaration by the United Nations. During World War II, the Allies used the term "United Nations Fighting Forces" to refer to their alliance. From August to October 1944, representatives of France, the Republic of China, the United Kingdom, the United States, and the Soviet Union met to elaborate the plans at the Dumbarton Oaks in Washington, D.C. Those and later talks produced proposals outlining the purposes of the organization, its membership and organs, as well as arrangements to maintain international peace and security and international economic and social cooperation. These proposals were discussed and debated by governments and private citizens worldwide. [[Image:Nyc-un-building.jpg|thumb|UN headquarters in City of New York]] On April 25 1945, the United Nations Conference on International Organizations began in San Francisco. In addition to the Governments, a number of non-governmental organizations, including Lions Clubs International were invited to assist in the drafting of the charter. The 50 nations represented at the conference signed the Charter of the United Nations two months later on June 26. Poland, which was not represented at the conference, but for which a place among the original signatories had been reserved, added its name later, bringing the total of original signatories to 51. The UN came into existence on October 24, 1945, after the Charter had been ratified by the five permanent members of the United Nations Security Council — Republic of China, France, the Soviet Union, United Kingdom, and the United States — and by a majority of the other 46 signatories. The United Nations headquarters building was constructed in New York City in 1949 and 1950 beside the East River on land purchased by an 8.5 million dollar donation from John D. Rockefeller, Jr., and designed by architech Oscar Niemeyer. UN headquarters officially opened on January 9, 1951. While the principal headquarters of the UN are in New York, there are major agencies located in Geneva, The Hague, Vienna, and elsewhere. [[Image:Vienna-Un-Building.jpg|left|thumb|UN offices occupy a portion of this complex in Vienna]] The founders of the UN had high hopes that it would act to prevent conflicts between nations and make future wars impossible, by fostering an ideal of collective security. Those hopes have obviously not been fully realized. From about 1947 until 1991 the division of the world into hostile camps during the Cold War made agreement on peacekeeping matters extremely difficult. Following the end of the Cold War, there were renewed calls for the UN to become the agency for achieving world peace and co-operation, as several dozen active military conflicts continue to rage around the globe. The breakup of the Soviet Union has also left the United States in a unique position of global dominance, creating a variety of new challenges for the UN (See the United States and the United Nations). ==Arms control and disarmament== The 1945 UN Charter envisaged a system of regulation that would ensure "the least diversion for armaments of the world's human and economic resources". The advent of nuclear weapons came only weeks after the signing of the Charter and provided immediate impetus to concepts of arms limitation and disarmament. In fact, the first resolution of the first meeting of the UN General Assembly (January 24 1946) was entitled "The Establishment of a Commission to Deal with the Problems Raised by the Discovery of Atomic Energy" and called upon the commission to make specific proposals for "the elimination from national armaments of atomic weapons and of all other major weapons adaptable to mass destruction". The UN has established several forums to address multilateral disarmament issues. The principal ones are the First Committee of the General Assembly and the UN Disarmament Commission. Items on the agenda include consideration of the possible merits of a nuclear test ban, outer-space arms control, efforts to ban chemical weapons, nuclear and conventional disarmament, nuclear-weapon-free zones, reduction of military budgets, and measures to strengthen international security. The Conference on Disarmament is the sole forum established by the international community for the negotiation of multilateral arms control and disarmament agreements. It has 66 members representing all areas of the world, including the five major nuclear-weapon states (the People's Republic of China, France, the Soviet Union, the United Kingdom, and the United States). While the conference is not formally a UN organization, it is linked to the UN through a personal representative of the UN Secretary-General; this representative serves as the secretary general of the conference. Resolutions adopted by the UN General Assembly often request the conference to consider specific disarmament matters. In turn, the conference annually reports on its activities to the General Assembly. ==Peace-keeping== UN peacekeepers are sent to various regions where armed conflict has recently ceased, in order to enforce the terms of peace agreements and to discourage the combatants from resuming hostilities. These forces are provided by member states of the UN; the UN does not maintain any independent military. All UN peacekeeping operations must be approved by the Security Council. UN peace operations are funded by assessments, using a formula derived from the regular scale, but including a surcharge for the five permanent members of the Security Council (who must approve all peacekeeping operations); this surcharge serves to offset discounted peacekeeping assessment rates for less developed countries. In December 2000, the UN revised the assessment rate scale for the regular budget and for peacekeeping. The peacekeeping scale is designed to be revised every six months and is projected to be near 27% in 2003. The United States intends to pay peacekeeping assessments at these lower rates and has sought legislation from the Congress of the United States to allow payment at these rates and to make payments towards arrears. Total UN peacekeeping expenses peaked between 1994 and 1995; at the end of 1995 the total cost was just over $3.5 billion. Total UN peacekeeping costs for 2000, including operations funded from the UN regular budget as well as the peacekeeping budget, were on the order of $2.2 billion. The UN United Nations Peace-Keeping Forces received the 1988 Nobel Prize for Nobel Peace Prize. In 2001 the United Nations and Kofi Annan, secretary-general of the UN, won the Nobel Peace Prize "for their work for a better organized and more peaceful world." For participation in various peacekeeping operations, the United Nations maintains a series of United Nations Medals which are awarded to military service members of various countries who enforce UN accords. The first such decoration issued was the United Nations Service Medal, awarded to UN forces who participated in the Korean War. The NATO Medal is designed on a similar concept and both the UN Service Medal, and the NATO Medal, are considered international decorations instead of military decorations. ==Humanitarian Assistance== In conjunction with other organizations, such as the Red Cross, the UN provides food, drinking water, shelter and other humanitarian services to populaces suffering from famine, displaced by war, or afflicted by some other disaster. Major humanitarian arms of the UN are the World Food Programme and the High Commissioner for Refugees. ==Human rights== The pursuit of human rights was one of the central reasons for creating the United Nations. World War II atrocities and genocide led to a ready consensus that the new organization must work to prevent any similar tragedies in the future. An early objective was creating a legal framework for considering and acting on complaints about human rights violations. The UN Charter obliges all member nations to promote "universal respect for, and observance of, human rights" and to take "joint and separate action" to that end. The Universal Declaration of Human Rights, though not legally binding, was adopted by the General Assembly in 1948 as a common standard of achievement for all. The General Assembly regularly takes up human rights issues. The UN Commission on Human Rights (UNCHR), under ECOSOC, is the primary UN body charged with promoting human rights, primarily through investigations and offers of technical assistance. As discussed, the High Commissioner for Human Rights is the official principally responsible for all UN human rights activities (see, under "The UN Family", the section on "Office of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights"). The United Nations and its various agencies are central in upholding and implementing the principles enshrined in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. A case in point is support by the United Nations for countries in transition to democracy. Technical assistance in providing free and fair elections, improving judicial structures, drafting constitutions, training human rights officials, and transforming armed movements into political party have contributed significantly to democratization worldwide. The United Nations is also a forum in which to support the right of women to participate fully in the political, economic, and social life of their countries. See also: United Nations 1956 Supplementary Convention on the Abolition of Slavery and Convention_on_the_Rights_of_the_Child ==United Nations System== ''Main article: United Nations System'' The United Nations System has six principal organs: *UN General Assembly *UN Security Council *UN Economic and Social Council *UN Trusteeship Council *UN Secretariat *International Court of Justice For more information on the organizational structure see the United Nations System. ==International conferences== [[Image:KofiAnnan-StateDept.jpg||thumb|right|250px|Secretary-General since 1997: Kofi Annan, from Ghana.]] The member countries of the UN and its specialized agencies — the "stakeholders" of the system — give guidance and make decisions on substantive and administrative issues in regular meetings held throughout each year. Governing bodies made up of member states include not only the UN General Assembly, UN Economic and Social Council, and the UN Security Council, but also counterpart bodies dealing with the governance of all other UN system agencies. For example, the World Health Assembly and the Executive Board oversee the work of World Health Organization. Each year, the United States Department of State accredits United States delegations to more than 600 meetings of governing bodies. When an issue is considered particularly important, the General Assembly may convene an international conference to focus global attention and build a consensus for consolidated action. High-level United States delegations use these opportunities to promote United States policy viewpoints and develop international agreements on future activities. Recent examples include: *The UN Conference on Environment and Development (the Earth Summit) in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, in June 1992, led to the creation of the UN Commission on Sustainable Development to advance the conclusions reached in Agenda 21, the final text of agreements negotiated by governments at UNCED; *The Cairo International Conference on Population and Development, held in Cairo, Egypt, in September 1994, approved a programme of action to address the critical challenges and interrelationships between population and sustainable development over the next 20 years; *The World Summit on Trade Efficiency, held in October 1994 in Columbus, Ohio, cosponsored by UN Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD), the city of Columbus, and private-sector business, focused on the use of modern information technology to expand international trade; *The World Summit for Social Development, held in March 1995 in Copenhagen, Denmark, underscored national responsibility for sustainable development and secured high-level commitment to plans that invest in basic education, health care, and economic opportunity for all, including women and girls; *The Fourth World Conference on Women, held in Beijing, China, in September 1995, sought to accelerate implementation of the historic agreements reached at the Third World Conference held in Nairobi, Kenya, in 1985; and *The Second UN Conference on Human Settlements (Habitat II), convened in June 1996 in Istanbul, Turkey, considered the challenges of human settlement development and management in the 21st century. ==Financing== The UN system is financed in two ways: assessed and voluntary contributions from member states. The regular two-year budgets of the UN and its specialized agencies are funded by assessments. In the case of the UN, the General Assembly approves the regular budget and determines the assessment for each member. This is broadly based on the relative capacity of each country to pay, as measured by national income statistics, along with other factors. The Assembly has established the principle that the UN should not be overly dependent on any one member to finance its operations. Thus, there is a 'ceiling' rate, setting the maximum amount any member is assessed for the regular budget. In December 2000, the Assembly agreed to revise the scale of assessments to make them better reflect current global circumstances. As part of that agreement, the regular budget ceiling was reduced from 25 to 22 percent; this is the rate at which the United States is assessed. The United States is the only member that is assessed this rate, though it is in arrears hundreds of millions of dollars;(see also United States and the United Nations) all other members' assessment rates are lower. Under the scale of assessments adopted in 2000, other major contributors to the regular UN budget for 2001 are Japan (19.63%), Germany (9.82%), France (6.50%), the United Kingdom (5.57%), Italy (5.09%), Canada (2.57%) and Spain (2.53%). Special UN programmes not included in the regular budget (such as UNICEF, UNDP, UNHCR, and WFP) are financed by voluntary contributions from member governments. In 2001, it is estimated that such contributions from the United States will total approximately $1.5 billion. Much of this is in the form of agricultural commodities donated for afflicted populations, but the majority is financial contributions. ==Communications== The six official languages of the United Nations include those of the founding nations: Chinese language, English language, French language, Russian language as well as Spanish language (UN Charter, article 111). In addition, Arabic language was added in 1982 [S/RES/528 (1982)]. All formal meetings are interpreted in these official languages. Additionally, all official documents, in print or online, are translated in all six languages. ==Successes of the UN== * Raising consciousness of the concept of human rights through its covenants and of its attention to specific abuses through its resolutions or rulings. (eg. abolishing Apartheid in South Africa) * Health successes such as the World Health Organization's elimination of Smallpox. * The UN's World Food Programme helps feed more than 100 million people a year in 80 countries. *The UN has helped run elections in countries with little democratic history including recently in Afghanistan and East Timor. *The UN Population Fund is a major provider of reproducitive services especially in poor countries. It has helped reduce infant and maternal mortality in 100 countries. *Organizations like the WHO, UNAIDS and Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria are leading institutions in the battle against AIDS around the world especially in poor countries. *The UN has set up war-crimes tribunals to try war criminals in the former Yugoslavia and Rwanda. ==Criticism of the UN== Throughout its history, the UN has been a source of controversy, dating back to the handling of its involvement in the conflict in Katanga, including allegations of massive rape campaigns and genocide. Over the past decade, an increasing number of voices have questioned the overall direction that the UN has taken. Many now see it as ineffective, overly bureaucratic, prone to corruption, and acting outside the intended limits of its original charter (or, on the converse, not acting sufficiently within its charter or that the charter is too weak for present-day needs). Some respond that much of the blame can only lie with the member states that support it (or fail to support it), including their perceived failure to make needed systemic changes to the institution (whether in its own administrative bureaucracy or in its structure governing member countries). See the reform section below on proposals for addressing the perceived systemic failures of the latter type. General criticisms of its structure governing member countries: * Charges that the UN is increasingly attempting to usurp or forcefully establish national sovereignty. **These include the original controversies surrounding UN involvement in Katanga **The UN involvement in the Korean Conflict in which the UN was instrumental in causing the perpetuation of the political division of the Korea, rather than in promoting a peaceful resolution to the conflict. **Most such charges currently revolve around the International Court of Justice, and UN pressure to accept compulsory jurisdiction of this court. * Charges that the UN is ''not doing enough'' to override national sovereignty. **In general, the UN has shown a reluctance to act upon its resolutions, making it weak and evoking comparisons to the League of Nations. **Some charge that the UN is powerless should member nations ignore UN resolutions, or also, proceed with actions without UN support. This was highlighted in 2003 by controversy surrounding the United States-led invasion of Iraq (which was not conducted in contravention of UN policy, but was, however, conducted despite intense disapproval by a majority of the vocal membership), and by Iraq's converse direct defiance of UN weapons and humanitarian resolutions. **The UN gives precedence to government authority over individual liberty, regularly seeming reluctant to challenge member states' behaviour regarding their own populace. Some specific complaints are as follows: * Internal institutional failures: ** Exploitation of UN facilities and workers in the aid of terrorism. Concrete allegations were against UNRWA and UNIFIL regarding the involvement in the Israeli_Engineering_Corps#The_October_2000_Lebanon_abduction of three Israeli Engineering Corps soldiers, by Hizbullah, [http://www.maarivintl.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=article&articleID=11009]). Alternatively, some criticize the UN for failing to stop Israeli invasion of Lebanon, or daily violations of Lebanon's borders and territory. ** Allegations of mismanagement and corruption regarding the Oil-for-Food Programme for Iraq under Saddam Hussein. * Structure governing member countries **Inclusion on the United Nations Commission on Human Rights of nations, such as Sudan, Cuba and Libya, which demonstrably have abysmal records on human rights, and also Libya's chairmanship of this Commission. These countries, however, argue that Western countries, with their history of colonialist aggression and brutality, have no right to argue about membership of the Commission. * Failure to act (or succeed) in security issues: **Failure to act during the ethnic cleansing campaign in Rwanda, when current Secretary General Kofi Annan oversaw peacekeeping forces there. **Failure to intervene during Srebrenica massacre, despite the fact that the UN designated it a "Safe Haven" for refugees and assigned 600 Netherlands peacekeepers to protect it. **Failure to successfully deliver food to starving citizens of Somalia; the food was usually seized by local warlords instead of reaching those who needed it. A United States/UN attempt to apprehend the warlords seizing these shipments resulted in the Battle of Mogadishu. *Criticism that the UN is ruled by "tyranny of the majority" where for example, it is said that Arab states have an unfairly large influence as seen by the large number of resolutions (over 30% of all resolutions in the history of the UN) which are directly condemnatory of Israel (although it is worthy of note that many non-Arab and non-Muslim-majority nations have, for whatever reason, often supported such resolutions). Alternatively, some argue that the UN is ruled by a "tyranny of the rich", being a puppet at the hands of powerful states. Critics point out to the repeated use of the UN Security Council Veto Power to protect Israel, and the failure of the UN to enforce its resolutions on powerful countries like Israel or the US while enforcing them on weaker states like Iraq or Syria. *Sexual abuse of girls by UN peacekeepers in the Democratic Republic of the Congo. This abuse is still widespread and ongoing despite many revelations and probes by the UN Office of Internal Oversight Services. ==Reforming the UN== ''Main article: Reform of the United Nations'' In recent years there have been many calls for \"reform\" of the United Nations. There is, however, little clarity, let alone consensus, about what "reform" might mean in practice. Both those who want the UN to play a greater role in world affairs and those who want its role confined to humanitarian work or otherwise reduced use the term "UN reform" to refer to their ideas. The range of opinion extends from as far as those who want to eliminate the UN entirely, to those that want to make it into a full-fledged world government. An official reform programme was initiated by United Nations Secretary-General Kofi Annan shortly after starting his first term on January 1, 1997. Popular demands include changing the permanent membership of the Security Council; making the bureaucracy more transparent, accountable and efficient; making the UN more democratic; and imposing an international tariff on arms manufacturers worldwide. On June 17, 2005, the United States House of Representatives passed a bill to slash funds to the UN in half by 2008 if it does not meet with certain criteria laid out in the legislation. This represents the culmination of years of complaints about anti-America and anti-Israel bias in the United Nations. The United States of America is estimated to contribute about 22% of the UN's yearly budget, making this bill potentially devasting to the UN. The Bush administration and several former US ambassadors to the UN have warned that this may only strengthen anti-America sentiment around the world and would only serve to hurt current UN reform movements. As of June 17, the bill still has yet to be passed by a Congress which seems to be split on the issue, and thus whether or not it will take effect is unknown.. ==International Years== ''Main article: United Nations International Years'' The UN declares and coordinates "International Year of the..." in order to focus world attention on important issues. Using the symbolism of the UN, a specially designed logo for the year, and the infrastructure of the UN system to coordinate events worldwide, the various years have become catalysts to advancing key issues on a global scale. ==Countries and the United Nations== *China and the United Nations *Israel and the United Nations *Soviet Union and the United Nations *United States and the United Nations **United States Ambassadors to the United Nations == External References to UN Security Council Resolutions == All UN Security Council Resolutions - listed by year:[http://www.un.org/documents/scres.htm] Security Council Resolutions by country: Cyprus: [http://www.hri.org/Cyprus/Cyprus_Problem/UNresolutions-list.html] Iraq:[http://www.casi.org.uk/info/scriraq.html] Kosovo:[http://www.kosovo.mod.uk/kosovo_resolutions.htm] and [http://www.un.org/peace/kosovo/98sc1203.htm] Sudan (Darfur):[http://allafrica.com/stories/200504140792.html] Palestine:[http://www.palestinehistory.com/doc07.htm] ==See also== *UNESCO Goodwill Ambassador *UNHCR Goodwill Ambassador *List of UNICEF Goodwill Ambassadors *UNESCO World Heritage Sites *Japanese Peace Bell *Attacks on humanitarian workers *Oil-for-Food Programme *Millennium Development Goals *Forum of Cultures *League of Nations *World Health Organization *World democracy *World government *Global Fund *United Nations Intelligence Taskforce (fictional) *Model United Nations *United Nations Space Command (fictional) ==Further reading== *"An Insider's Guide to the UN", Linda Fasulo, Yale University Press (November 1, 2003), hardcover, 272 pages, ISBN 0300101554 *"United Nations:The First Fifty Years", Stanley Mesler, Atlantic Monthly Press (March 1, 1997), hardcover, 416 pages, ISBN 0871136562 *"United Nations, Divided World: The Un's Roles in International Relations" edited by Adam Roberts and Benedict Kingsbury, Oxford University Press; 2nd edition (January 1, 1994), hardcover, 589 pages,ISBN 0198279264 *"A Guide to Delegate Preparation", A Model United Nations Handbook, edited by Scott A. Leslie, The United Nations Association of the United States of America, 2004 edition (October 2004), softcover, 296 pages, ISBN 1880632713 *"U.S. At War - International." Time Magazine XLV.19 May 7, 1945: 25-28. ==External links== *[http://www.un.org/ United Nations] - Official site **[http://www.un.org/aboutun/charter/index.html United Nations Charter] - Charter text **[http://www.onlinevolunteering.org United Nations Volunteers] **[http://www.un.org/Overview/rights.html Universal Declaration of Human Rights] *[http://www.globalpolicy.org Website] of the Global Policy Forum, an independent think-tank on UN *[http://www.uno-komitee.de Website] of the Committee for a Democratic UN (german and English versions) *[http://www.economist.com/background/displayBackground.cfm?story_id=3398746 Economist.com background] International organizations Nobel Peace Prize winners United Nations bi:Unaeted Neisen bs:Ujedinjeni Narodi hi:संयुक्त राष्ट्र संघ la:Nationes Unitae lv:Apcienoto Nāciju Organizācija ms:Pertubuhan Bangsa-Bangsa Bersatu zh-min-nan:Liân-ha̍p-kok simple:United Nations vi:Liên Hiệp Quốc

United Nations

''An event mentioned in this article is an Template:October 24 selected anniversaries.'' ---------- ---------- There is no mention that the United Nations tends towards following/advocating socialist policies. There is no mention that the United Nations tends towards establishing judical/legal orginizations superior to and able to punish individual country governments. ---- Add them, then. I don't mean to be glib, but I just put the text there because it was available and unencumbered by IP laws. I am by no means an expert on the subject. --KQ I disagree at least on the first point that it should be added. That the United Nations follow/advocate socialist policies is a matter of interpretation/opinion, not of fact, in my opinion. -- User:Andre Engels ---- I"ve added a lot to this page from http://www.state.gov/p/io/rls/fs/2001/index.cfm?docid=4842 but left out a longish section on the U.S. role in U.N. business because it's written from a blatantly smug U.S. point of view. I'll paste it below for anyone who cares to add it, if anyone does. It can probably be rewritten from something closer to NPOV. --KQ *The U.S., as the world's leading political, economic, and military power, has an especially strong interest in cooperating with the multilateral system. The U.S. can pursue many of its interests more effectively and with less risk through the UN than it can by acting alone. Examples include: containing the spread of weapons of mass destruction; enforcing sanctions on pariah states such as Iraq; protecting the environment (ozone depletion, acid rain, climate change, deforestation); and combating international crime, drug trafficking, and terrorism. *Engagement in the UN pays significant dividends to Americans in the form of a safer, more prosperous world. The UN offers a unique forum for advancing U.S. foreign policy objectives. As a permanent member of the UN Security Council, the U.S. plays a leading role in the UN's efforts to maintain international peace, promote democracy, and defend human rights. UN peacekeeping gives the U.S. a way to protect American interests in circumstances where either acting alone or doing nothing is unacceptable. UN mediation and preventive diplomacy efforts can provide an internationally acceptable setting in which nations can move away from rigid negotiating positions and begin to seek solutions to their problems. *The multilateral system also provides a powerful platform for advancing U.S. values and ideals in such areas as human rights, free trade, labor standards, and public health. UN programs also try to meet humanitarian needs for those disadvantaged by circumstances beyond their control. Private charitable agencies rely on the multiple capacities of the UN system to develop the infrastructure and political climate required for the success of such programs. UN activities such as UNICEF, the UN High Commissioner for Refugees, and the World Food Program have made a remarkable impact on the lives of those most at risk around the globe: children, women, and refugees. *UN programs serve U.S. objectives by promoting free-market reform in the developing world. Those countries purchase more than one-third of the goods and services exported by our nation. Supporting economic development gives the U.S. more prosperous trading partners that are better able to import U.S. goods and less likely to "export" their own people to U.S. shores. To reduce global poverty, the UN attempts to help developing nations meet basic human needs (clean water, food, shelter, and health care) and other development goals. *In today's interdependent world, there is a clear need for multilateral bodies to set regulatory standards and arbitrate differences among countries in areas such as food product safety, air safety, telecommunications, and copyrights. For example, the World Health Organization and the Food and Agriculture Organization have set food product safety and quality standards worldwide through a jointly sponsored trade standardization program called "Codex Alimentarius." There are many direct benefits to our participation in the multilateral system. For example, a large part of U.S. financial contributions to the UN is returned to U.S. companies through sales of equipment, supplies, and consulting services. *The U.S. cannot rely solely on bilateral relations to advance U.S. foreign policy objectives but must take advantage of our participation in the UN in order to influence other governments' opinions and policies. Moreover, every dollar that we contribute to UN activities is matched by $3 to $10 given by others. This advances our interests while spreading the cost among other nations. *It is important that the UN operate efficiently and effectively. The U.S. seeks a UN that both gets back to basics and is ready to meet the challenges of the 21st century. U.S. efforts include: **Program Oversight --Following up on creation of the Office of Internal Oversight Services at UN headquarters, the U.S. is working to expand the inspector general concept to the UN's major specialized agencies; **Reducing Bureaucracies--Important progress has been made in streamlining the UN personnel system and holding the line on budgets; **Improving Management --The U.S. applauds the initiatives of Secretary General Annan in consolidating programs and implementing a more transparent and consultative approach to management; **Security Council Reform --The U.S. supports permanent seats on the Security Council for Japan and Germany and a modest further enlargement of the Council to include permanent seats for developing nations from Asia, Africa, and Latin America; **Improving Responsiveness--The U.S. seeks a UN able to respond to humanitarian crises more rapidly and effectively; **Scale of Assessments--The U.S. has worked for a revision of the scale of assessments to make it better reflect current global circumstances. *The U.S. has welcomed the further initiative undertaken by Secretary General Annan in July 1997 in putting forward specific reform proposals for member state consideration. These proposals closely parallel recommendations that the U.S. has made, and the U.S. is working for the adoption of most of them as early as possible. *U.S. Representation *The U.S. Permanent Mission to the UN in New York is headed by the U.S. Representative to the UN, with the rank of Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary. The mission serves as the channel of communication for the U.S. Government with the UN organs, agencies, and commissions at the UN headquarters and with the other permanent missions accredited to the UN and the non-member observer missions. The U.S. mission has a professional staff made up largely of career Foreign Service officers, including specialists in political, economic, social, financial, legal, and military issues. *The U.S. also maintains missions to international organizations in Geneva, Rome, Vienna, Nairobi, Montreal, London, and Paris. These missions report to the Department of State and receive guidance on questions of policy from the President, through the Secretary of State. Relations with the UN and its family of agencies are coordinated by the Assistant Secretary of State for International Organization Affairs. *The U.S. Mission to the United Nations is located at 799 United Nations Plaza, New York, NY 10017 (tel. 212-415-4000). ------ I disagree with the way every political article seems to have some tagged-on bit at the end about why or how evil old America is in some way responsible for screwing up everything. Can't we just have a fair, NPOV article explaining how an organization functions without always having to give the United States a trial in the process? user:J.J. Unfortunately once you step outside the United States you discover that there are many people who want to point out the errors of the United States, is it notNPOV to discuss these errors? Most encyclopedias want to be so general that they don't ruffle anyone's feathers, the beauty of Wikipedia IMHO is that an article can bring forth the limitations of particular partial points of view. Of course such a thing is much more difficult in practice than in theory as who decides what an NPOV is, however it is an interesting type of mediation process. Perhaps we will discover some facts here? User:Alex756 01:46 May 3, 2003 (UTC) To perceive 'giving the United States a trial' as being an underlying purpose of this article is rather unfortunate, because too many citizens of the United States seem to have a martyr complex with their country. As an American myself, I see nothing in the article that attempts to 'blame America for screwing up everything'. While I personally feel that the United States has a track record of apathy about world problems, while concentrating overmuch on business interests, this is hardly a POV I a see reflected in the article. ------- Could somebody please add something about structure and history of UN peacekeeping efforts? (I am not qualified to do so.) It seems to me that this has been one of the UN's more visible activities. ---- I have had a go at fixing some of this article's more obvious deficiencies. It suffers from having been copied directly from the US State Department website. I have tried to rewrite the bits I know something about in NPOV-speak, but someone else will have to tackle the UN Agencies and Peacekeeping sections. There would be a good case for moving the "Reforming the UN" section to the end. Other opinions? User:Dr Adam Carr 10:32, 23 Sep 2003 (UTC) ---- Rewrote the Taiwan section. First of all, it is not clear that the ROC government on Taiwan now claims authority over Mainland China or has done so since 1991. Second, the argument that an declaration of independence by Taiwan would help its entry into the UN needed to be NPOV'ized. User:Roadrunner ---- I removed the statement that the only internationally recognized states not in the UN are the ROC and Vatican. What is the criteria for determining whether a state is "internationally recognized" and "sovereign"? Take a look at List_of_countries and you will see some exceptions. Perhaps those exceptions should be removed from that list. --User:Jiang 20:11, 23 Sep 2003 (UTC) :What about some reference to the members of the Unrepresented Nations and Peoples Organisation, many of which are not represented at the UN? User:Alex756 07:47, 25 Sep 2003 (UTC) ---- The Lions were not the only group that help to build the UN. What about the CFR? JLE ---- OK, the entire "reformation of the UN" section is bullshit, in the sense that its basically interpretation and "independent research", which is specifically prohibited by Wikipedia. I'm not just complaining about framing discussion in how it adversely affects the united states of america, but additionally hypothetical crap like "what the UN would have to do for blah blah blah to happen. It's not NPOV, and is basically new research. Poor and somewhat biased research at that. --Alan D ---- This bathroom stall partition graffiti is strangely applicable to "Human Rights and the UN": "You don't know anything about the 410... Roll through any turf and see if you can say this sh*t." -Anonymous, regarding the following:"San Francisco: Sucka Free, but not Faggot [sic, meaning homosexual male] free." That's right, roll through any turf and see if you can say this, it don't make a difference whether the turf is Aceh, Papua, Tibet, Algeria, Somalia, Guantanamo Bay, southeastside Turkey with the Kurds, or Iraq. The CPA (Coalition Provisional "Authority") in Iraq is so cowardly that the black market is a location right next to the cop shop, and the city is dissapearing right under their noses 'cause even the bricks are looted. If anyone wants sources, just go to google.com, amnesty.org, hell, for the Indonesia thing even the catalogue for weapons fas.org. The United Nations is just that: the united nations. Just about every recognized nation-state is in there, just about every nation-state vigorously disregards human rights. Dead Mao's China, Vietnam protester airstriking France, Yemen As desirable it is to http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Trusted_computing \"rewrite history\", and deny my comments, seeing as they were deleted as vandalism, it would be more ethical to just apologize. There is now one offensive comment on each side of this debate. The United Nations does not support human rights. Oh. they weren't deleted. ---- The summary of my last edit stated that I was removing something that was true, but POV and written badly. After rereading it, I've realised that part of it actually wasn't true. So it's still gone. --User:Caliper 20:08, 14 May 2004 (UTC) == Countries or sovereign states== This page and the country page seems to confuse coutry with sovereign state? There are lots of recognised countries like Wales or Scotland which have their own "national football teams" and are universally referred to as "countries" for example in sport (and I reluctantly acknowledge that football is pretty well the only really global soprt) but which are not in the UN in their own right as they are not sovereign states. --User:BozMouser talk:BozMo 09:31, 25 Jun 2004 (UTC) == List of countries that are not members of the UN?== Somebody should make it... :There aren't many that are undisputedly states. Taiwan, the Holy See..I cannot think of any others. --User:64.12.116.67 17:17, 27 Nov 2004 (UTC) ==Missing history?== There seems to be some history missing, or at least I think there is, about Canada's role in the development of the UN. I may be totally out to lunch but I'll see if I can find any references. It'll be something about the formation of the Peace Keepers, Secretary-General Dag Hammarskj�ld and Lester Pearson (Secretary for External Affairs of Canada). ===confirmed=== I don't have time at the moment to add it, but there is reference[http://www.un.org/Depts/dpko/dpko/co_mission/unef1backgr2.html] to it on the UN site. ==UN reform== >>In the United States, the term is frequently used to mean "make changes that will ''reduce'' the UN's power to hamper the United States", while outside the United States the term is usually a code for "make changes that will ''increase'' the UN's power over countries, including the United States".<< I removed this paragraph because I think it's inaccurate, biased, or perhaps both. There's a large constituency in the US for shrinking or eliminating the UN, but I think there's also a large constituency for a stronger UN, and a reasonable minority supporting an actual world government. A safe distinction to make is reduction/enlargement, which is what the remaining text does. -- User:Beland 20:03, 15 Aug 2004 (UTC) == internal institutional failures == To the failures, I think the allegations concerning corruption in the "Oil for Food" program for Saddam's Iraq should be listed. Sources: http://www.globalpolicy.org/security/sanction/iraq1/oilforfood/2004/0323unprobe.htm http://www.nationalreview.com/comment/rosett200403101819.asp User:Whyerd 16:25, 16 Sep 2004 (UTC) :Sure, go ahead and add it. Notice there is already a page for it at Oil for Food. User:Brettz9_User_talk:Brettz9">User:Brettz9|User:Brettz9 User talk:Brettz9 16:36, 16 Sep 2004 (UTC) == Citizens of the World == Wikipedians who support at least some aspects of the UN may like to add their names to Wikipedia:Wikipedians/World Citizen. Best wishes to all! User:Robin Patterson 22:56, 16 Sep 2004 (UTC) == Reconciling Criticism and Reform suggestions == Something needs to be done about the growing similiarities between the Criticism and Reform sections. I like that the one section states the issues succinctly and the other more elaborately, but something should be done to avoid the duplication of materials (or at least the sound of things being duplicated). The Commission on Human Rights' admission of certain nations is one example of this. User:Brettz9_User_talk:Brettz9">User:Brettz9|User:Brettz9 User talk:Brettz9 04:17, 4 Oct 2004 (UTC) == Somalia == I added the Battle of Mogadishu to the UN failure to succsessfully deliver food to Somalia (under criticisms of the UN). Its important to point that out because as a direct result of that battle the United States has been wary of assisting UN peacekeeping forces. User:TomStar81 02:37, 25 Oct 2004 (UTC) == Peace-keeping == Can someone tell me the meaning of this sentence: " The peacekeeping scale is designed to be revised every six months and is projected to be near 27% in 2003."? 27% of what? It means the budget in 2000 is 100% and that in 2003 is 73%? (or 27%!?) Thank you in advance.--User:Corruptresearcher 13:35, 9 Nov 2004 (UTC) == UN Bad == What follows here is an example how talk pages should NOT be used: REASONS NOT TO TRUST THE UN: ONE: The U.N. Peacekeepers have been raping women in Africa : True. However, the UN does not have its own army, so these are soldiers from various countries, most likely including the United States Army. TWO: Kofi Annan (Sec. General) is put up for a NO CONFIDENCE vote : Actually, Annan has the complete support of the UN staff and the UN Security Council. [http://kutv.com/topstories/topstories_story_324232215.html] [http://www.hindustantimes.com/news/181_1142209,0005.htm] THREE: U.N.'s Security council member (Syria) was elected one of the eleven members THOUGH IT IS ON THE U.S.'s list of nations supporting terrorism!!! : The United States is one of the seven countries which question the legitimacy of the International Criminal Court and opposed its creation. The other six are China, Iraq, Israel, Libya, Sudan, and Yemen. All seven have a history of completely disregarding human rights. ::Overgeneralization, the U.S. gave up, or at least inactivated conscription some time ago and has a strong record of protecting freedom of speech, although it has slipped some on jury trials and gun ownership.--User:Silverback 21:25, 30 Dec 2004 (UTC) FOUR: In the Oil For Food scandal THE U.N. LITERALLY GAVE BILLIONS TO SADDAM!!! : The UN has not given money to Saddam Hussein. In the Oil for Food program, Iraq exported oil in exchange for food, aid, and medicine. The money generated from the sale of oil went into an international escrow account which Saddam had no access to. Iraq was allowed to make requests for specific supplies on this credit, but could not profit directly from it. : However, Iraq engaged in frequent smuggling and sold oil on the black market for considerable profits; much of this money went directly to Saddam's bank account. This is the main controversy surrounding the program. Clearly the UN had no involvement in the illicit trade, since smuggling is by definition covert. ::No, the Saddam regime also subverted the oil for food program, through dummy companies and vouchers.--User:Silverback 21:25, 30 Dec 2004 (UTC) :::Paul Volcker told Charlie Rose a few months ago that the amounts being discussed in rumor are vastly overinflated (by a factor of a thousand in most cases) and that OFFP corruption at the U.N. is considerably less than was suspected. His report is due soon. User:Blair P. Houghton 16:29, 1 Feb 2005 (UTC) FIVE: Several Records state U.N. Officials have taken BRIBES. :An allegation that has yet to be proven. And although this may very well be true, corruption is an omnipresent disease, that is not limited to the U.N. and does not exclude American U.N. Officials. 16:42, 2004 Dec 30 (UTC) SIX: In Rwanda the U.N. let 800 thou people be slaughtered and had their troops taken hostage This occured because many influential nations hindered the UN from acting effectively User:Mir 05:36, 9 Jan 2005 (UTC) SEVEN: U.N. ROASTS BABIES!!! :I'd like to see citations for some of the more extreme allegations above. Also, this seems to me to be the wrong place to post this. User:Pedant 22:39, 2004 Dec 10 (UTC) ::This is just a troll. I'd have reverted it but for your comment. ~~I suggest you remove this section.~~-User:Gadfium User_talk:Gadfium 23:01, 10 Dec 2004 (UTC) ::I retract my above suggestion since User:Eequor has gone to the trouble of refuting the allegations.-User:Gadfium User_talk:Gadfium 23:48, 10 Dec 2004 (UTC) :::They deserve refutation. In fact, the issue should get a page to document the craven propagandization by warmongering U.N. haters. The U.N. has prevented more wars than any other diplomatic mission in history. It's ridiculous to consider the idea of shutting it down. User:Blair P. Houghton 16:29, 1 Feb 2005 (UTC) :::: Blair P. Houghton, don't interplate this as bashing UN. I am asking because you seem very up to date and i can't really figure out the reason behind it. This article is suggesting that UN tried to provoke a war between Rwanda and Congo. What would be the motivation behind that. See this quote. "But a dissenting member of the UN panel, William Church, has now told the BBC that the Rwandan invasion was a false claim added by other panel members who had come under pressure from un-named sources." What is really happening here? Here is a link to the who article [http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/africa/4415061.stm] Kofi Annan was not the secretary general of the UN during the genocide in Rwanda, he was the Under-secretary-General for Peacekeeping Operations (March 93 - Dec 96). As UnderSecGen he was one of three people in charge of the Department of Peacekeeping Operations, making him more directly responsible for Rwanda. Annan became SecGen on Jan first 97. ==UN Table== I have re-added the UN table removed by User:Ed g2s on the argument it was "completely useless" and that "it doesn't provide enough information." I disagree. If it doesn't provide enough information, then add information to the table yourself. And I don't think it is useless. I believe every organization with a flag or seal should have a table. Maybe we should make this into a policy? �02:33, Jan 6, 2005 (UTC) Have made "UN resolutions" an internal link and written a short intro on this subject (perhaps one of you international lawyers out there could expand this further?) User:Idwood 12:09, 27 Jan 2005 (UTC) == re-added Taiwan and Vatican city mention == I hope no�ne objects to the way I have re-added the mention that Taiwan/Republic of China and the Holy See/Vatican City are the only CIA-recognized first-order sovereign entities which are not members of the UN. The reasons for their non-membership are quite obviously ''very'' different, but I think that such a mention deserves note at the very outset of the article. User:TShilo12 03:48, 11 Mar 2005 (UTC) ==Model U.N.== Is it appropriate to have a paragraph here on Model United Nations? Is there any organizational connection between the real U.N. and the school programs? If not, I would suggest just a "See also" link, not a full section in an already long article. User:Isomorphic 20:15, 15 Apr 2005 (UTC) :I have removed the Model UN material and put in a "see also." Nothing there gave any indication of why the Model UN would be important in the context of the real UN. User:Isomorphic 05:06, 28 May 2005 (UTC) == New image copyright tag == There is a new WP:ICT for UN images: :Template:unimage. It can be used on copyrighted images released by the UN, provided a reasonable claim for ''WP:FU'' can be made. User:TreveX^{User talk:TreveX} 03:13, 27 May 2005 (UTC) == UN Resolution condemning USA == Were there any resolutions introduced in UN General Assembly condemning US military actions during/after the US invasion of Iraq ? User:Siyac 11:10, 9 June 2005 (UTC) :Four part question regarding your question: (1) are you asking if any "Resolutions" were introduced, i.e. proposed to be voted upon? (2) are you asking if any "Resolutions" were voted upon? (3) are you asking if the UN General Assembly voted in the affirmative on a "Resolution"? (4) What enforcement powers do General Assembly "Resolutions" have as compared to Security Council Resolutions (since both can deceptively be called "UN Resolutions")? Thank you. User:Nobs01 16:12, 9 Jun 2005 (UTC) Thank you for your reply. My question is: were any Resolutions introduced in UN General Assembly, i.e. proposed to be voted upon. User:Siyac 10:13, 10 June 2005 (UTC) Frankly I don't know. But like in the law, anyone can be accused of being a child molester, arrested, brought up on charges, only to have the matter dropped before any rendering of a final verdict. Yet the charge can always be made "He was accused of being a child molester". Is this the sense of your question, "Were there any resolutions introduced in UN General Assembly condemning US military actions during/after the US invasion of Iraq ?", considering the General Assembly doesnt even deal with matters the Security Council was created to deal with? User:Nobs01 15:45, 10 Jun 2005 (UTC) Thank you for your reply. Do you mean that UN General Assembly can't deal with any matters witin Security Council's purview ? User:Siyac 7:49, 13 June 2005 (UTC) :The General Assembly is free to consider and vote upon any useless unbinding "Resolution" it pleases that lacks the provisions of Law; (that incidentlally is what a resolusion is, it is definitely not a law). Not being an expert in what the UN is, I do have some understanding of International Law. (No.1), the UN is not a Parliamentary body, nor is it a Law making body. International crises, as they occur, are dealt with through the Security Council, that was the purpose of its creation. A member state I am sure is free to introduce any type of resolution it pleases, provided, one would presume, it has a requiste number of co-sponsors. So it is likely to conclude the delegation off North Korea worked overtime to get its name off the Axis of Evil list. Whether they found co-sponsors or not I couldn't say. In the final analysis, the point is moot, cause the UN Secretarait, Security Counsil, and General Assembly, none have the power to author laws, and the verdict of history is all are as useless as a third teat. User:Nobs01 15:39, 13 Jun 2005 (UTC) ::Essentially, Siyac, Nobs is saying "yes". The UN:GA is a bunch of nattering nabobs who ultimately have no say about anything whatsoever. This is good, since the UN, especially the GA, has become a forum for pushing the agendas of every petty dictatorship around the world, hence my assertion that the GA having no actual power is a ''good'' thing. User:TShilo12 ^{User talk:TShilo12} 08:18, Jun 15, 2005 (UTC) :Let me use a simple illustration drawn from U.S. law. Article 1, Section 1 of the Constitution states, ::"''All legislative powers vested herein shall reside in a Congress of the United States''" :legislative, meaning ''law making''. The executive has not lawmaking (i.e. legislative) powers. Hence, the separation of powers doctrine. The United States representative to the General Assembly is an offical in the State Department, i.e. Executive Branch. His title is Ambassador, not Legislator, i.e. 'author of laws'. It would be unconstitutional to place legislative powers in the United States Executive Branch. Thus, at a minimum, under U.S. Constitutional Law, the United Nations has no law making power. User:Nobs01 16:03, 16 Jun 2005 (UTC) == Who needs the U.N anyway? == As an Indian I have total disrespect for the U.N. Where was the U.N when Pakistan attacked Kargil,the least they could have done is expelled them.When in late 2001 and early 2002 tensions rose again between India and Pakistan ,and India deployed tropps on the border, U.N was making noise,but when the U.S deploys troops thousands of miles away they do nothing?This organisation is becoming more and more meaningless. :Believe me, you're not the only one. The vast majority of the populace of the US, as well as of other countries, notably, but probably irrelevantly, Israel, hold the UN in utter contempt. The UN has been hijacked by tinpot dictatorships, and since it's basically a dumping-ground for unwanted bureaucrats, essentially nothing worthwhile is ever said in its chambers, and absolutely nothing worthy of mention ever happens there. The only noteworthy thing that ever goes on is that muslim states make uproarious noises, almost always against Israel, and all the do-nothing think-naught ignorant do-gooders vote in lock-step against Israel. Happily, the UN is an utterly useless and powerless body w/o the backing of the US, so the nonsensical rubbish passed as "UN Resolutions" (obscenely biased against Israel...check out the number of anti-Israel resolutions sometime, it's over 1/3 of all UN Resolutions) ultimately come to naught. The UN is ultimately flawed, since most countries regard it as a sort of world Congress, when in fact, it is actually a world Parliament. What's the difference? Congress is answerable to the People. Parliamentarian governments are answerable only to their party bosses and various governmental organizations...i.e., the people have no power whatsoever--the whole thing is a charade to occupy the minds and time of the people, meanwhile concealing from them that they have no voice whatsoever. Why anyone would ever emulate Parliamentarianism as "Democracy" therefore, is completely beyond me, but I think I've wandered a bit far afield from the subject at hand... :-p (It happens, with me, frequently. :-D) User:TShilo12 ^{User talk:TShilo12} 08:26, Jun 15, 2005 (UTC) ::Personal opinions such as these, apart from being tiresome, are completely irrelevant to the article at hand. Wikipedia:Wikipedia is not a soapbox from placing them here. --User:CJLL Wright | User talk:CJLL Wright 06:58, 2005 Jun 16 (UTC) :::O txil aut. �t l�st �i m n�t meikigh n�n-nutr�l-point-av-v�u edits t� q� �rtik�l. User:TShilo12 ^{User talk:TShilo12} 09:10, Jun 17, 2005 (UTC)

United Nations

{| style="margin:0 auto; text-align:center;" class="toccolours" |style="background:#BFD7FF; padding-left:54px;"| United Nations |style="width:50px;"| |- |colspan="2"| United Nations System
UN General Assembly | UN Security Council | UN Economic and Social Council |
UN Trusteeship Council | UN Secretariat | International Court of Justice |- |colspan="2"|
United Nations Resolutions
List of UN General Assembly Resolutions | List of UN Security Council Resolutions |- style="text-align:right;" |colspan="2"| |}

United Nations

The United Nations is a global organization of states. International law International organizations Peace zh-min-nan:Category:Liân-ha̍p-kok th:Category:สหประชาชาติ

United nations

#REDIRECT United Nations

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