10 Interesting Facts about the United Nations

One of these following facts about the United Nations might probably give you much information about this organization. The United Nations, as you know, is an intergovernmental organization established on October 24, 1945 to promote international co-operation. It is financed by assessed and voluntary contributions from its member states. Its objectives include maintaining international peace and security, promoting human rights, fostering social and economic development, protecting the environment, and providing humanitarian aid in cases of famine, natural disaster, and armed conflict. To get to know more about this organization, here are some other facts about the United Nations you might know.

Facts about the United Nations 1: Founding

A replacement for the ineffective League of Nations, the organization was created following the Second World War to prevent another such conflict. At its founding, the UN had 51 member states; there are now 193. The UN Headquarters is situated in Manhattan, New York City and enjoys extraterritoriality. Further main offices are situated in Geneva, Nairobi and Vienna.

Facts about the United Nations 2: Allied Countries

The earliest concrete plan for a new world organization began under the aegis of the US State Department in 1939. US President Franklin D. Roosevelt first coined the term “United Nations” to describe the Allied countries. The term was first officially used on 1 January 1942, when 26 governments signed the Atlantic Charter.

Facts about the United Nations 3: Cold War Era

Though the UN’s primary mandate was peacekeeping, the division between the US and USSR often paralysed the organization, generally allowing it to intervene only in conflicts distant from the Cold War. A notable exception was a Security Council resolution in 1950 authorizing a US-led coalition to repel the North Korean invasion of South Korea, passed in the absence of the USSR.

Facts about the United Nations 4: Post Cold War

After the Cold War, the UN saw a radical expansion in its peacekeeping duties, taking on more missions in ten years than it had in the previous four decades. Between 1988 and 2000, the number of adopted Security Council resolutions more than doubled, and the peacekeeping budget increased more than tenfold.

Facts about the United Nations 5: Structure

The United Nations’ system is based on five principal organs: the General Assembly, the Security Council, the Economic and Social Council, the Secretariat, and the International Court of Justice. A sixth principal organ, the Trusteeship Council, suspended operations in 1994, upon the independence of Palau, the last remaining UN trustee territory.

Facts about the United Nations 6: General Assembly

The General Assembly is the main deliberative assembly the United Nations. Composed of all United Nations member states, the assembly meets in regular yearly sessions, but emergency sessions can also be called. The assembly is led by a president, elected from among the member states on a rotating regional basis, and 21 vice-presidents.

Facts about the United Nations 7: Specialized Agencies

The UN Charter stipulates that each primary organ of the UN can establish various specialized agencies to fulfill its duties. Some of the best-known agencies are the International Atomic Energy Agency, the Food and Agriculture Organization, UNESCO (United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization), the World Bank, and the World Health Organization (WHO).

Facts about the United Nations 8: Membership

With the addition of South Sudan on 14 July 2011, there are 193 United Nations member states, including all undisputed independent states apart from Vatican City.

Facts about the United Nations 9: Group of 77

The Group of 77 at the UN is a loose coalition of developing nations, designed to promote its members’ collective economic interests and create an enhanced joint negotiating capacity in the United Nations. Seventy-seven nations founded the organization, but by November 2013 the organization had since expanded to 133 member countries.

Facts about the United Nations 10: Human Rights

One of the UN’s primary purposes is “promoting and encouraging respect for human rights and for fundamental freedoms for all without distinction as to race, sex, language, or religion”, and member states pledge to undertake “joint and separate action” to protect these rights.

Hope you would find those United Nations facts really interesting and useful for your additional reading.