Maintain international peace and security

The United Nations, the UN is an international organization established to maintain and strengthen international peace and security, development cooperation between States. The basis of its activities and structure developed during the Second World War, leading participants-Hitler coalition. The name “United Nations” was first used in the United Nations Declaration, signed on Jan. 1, 1942. The UN Charter was adopted at the San Francisco Conference, held from April to June 1945 and signed on June 26, 1945 representatives of 51 States. Date of entry into force of the Charter (24 October) is celebrated as United Nations Day.

The organization occupies a central place as the chief deliberative, policymaking and representative organ. The General Assembly shall consider the principles of cooperation in the field of international peace and security; elects non-permanent UN Security Council members, members of the Economic and Social Council, on the recommendation of the Security Council appointed UN Secretary-General, in conjunction with the Security Council elects the members of the International Court of Justice, coordinates international cooperation in the economic social, cultural and humanitarian spheres; exercise other powers stipulated in the UN Charter.

Security Council. Primary responsibility for maintaining international peace and security; its decisions are expected to obey all the UN members. The five permanent Security Council members (Russia, USA, Britain, France and China) have veto power. The Security Council consists of 15 members: five members – permanent (USA, UK, France, Russia and China), the remaining ten members (in the terminology of the Constitution – “no standing”) were elected to the Council in accordance with the procedure stipulated by the Charter (paragraph 2 Article 23).

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Secretariat – this is an international staff working institutions around the world and perform a variety of daily activities of the Organization. It serves the other principal organs of the United Nations adopted and implemented their programs and policies. Secretariat units are located at UN Headquarters in New York and elsewhere in the Headquarters of the UN bodies, the largest of which are the United Nations Office at Geneva and Vienna.

At the head of the Secretariat is the Secretary-General who is appointed by the General Assembly upon the recommendation of the Security Council for a term of 5 years, renewable for another term. Currently, there is a gentleman’s agreement that a citizen of the country a permanent member of the UN Security Council can not be the UN Secretary General.

An important instrument for maintaining international peace and security are the UN peacekeeping operations. Their activity is determined by a number of General Assembly resolutions adopted in accordance with the Charter of the Organization. Implementation of the UN peacekeeping operation can be expressed as: Investigation of incidents and negotiations with the warring parties with a view to reconciliation; Verifying compliance with the ceasefire; Contributing to the maintenance of law and order; The provision of humanitarian assistance; Monitoring the situation.

Human rights. On 10 December 1948 UN General Assembly adopted and proclaimed the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, and then recommended that all Member States to publish the text of the Declaration by the “spread, read and expounded principally in schools and other educational institutions, without any distinction based on the political status of countries or territories.”

Humanitarian aid. Humanitarian disasters can occur anywhere and at any time. Whatever the cause – flood, drought, earthquake or conflict – they always lead to deaths, displacement, loss of the ability of communities on their own to ensure their existence and bring immense suffering. In countries which have for a long time been exposed to natural disasters or recovering from conflict, humanitarian aid is increasingly seen as one element of an overall effort to ensure that peace-building, along with the development of political and financial support.

Perhaps the most dramatic natural disaster in recent years has caused a tsunami in the Indian Ocean earthquake. Early in the morning Sunday, December 26, 2004, off the west coast of northern Sumatra occurred strong earthquake measuring 9.0 on the Richter scale, which resulted in a huge tsunami, which reached a height of 10 meters and move along the surface of the Indian Ocean at a speed of 500 kilometers per hour. The tsunami hit the coastal areas in India, Indonesia, Sri Lanka, Thailand, Maldives, Myanmar, the Seychelles and Somalia. It has been estimated that as of April 2005 more than 217 thousand people died, 51 thousand missing and more than half a million people homeless.

Organization of the United Nations began to take measures immediately, trying to satisfy a range of humanitarian needs, including in areas such as agriculture, coordination and support services, economic recovery and infrastructure, education, family housing and consumer goods, food, health , measures related to mine clearance, protection of human rights and the rule of law, security and water and sanitation. For this purpose, 5 January 2005 was made “urgent appeal” to the mobilization of 977 million dollars to fund critical of relief efforts undertaken by some 40 United Nations agencies and nongovernmental organizations (NGOs).

However, despite its uniqueness, the UN has been discredited by failings and scandals. The organization has demonstrated that it is not always able to promptly adapt to rapidly changing global political realities. In this regard, the UN is often criticized for its inefficiency, undemocratic, the lack of attention to the problems of developing countries, bureaucracy, overstaffing and excessive budget.On behalf of the UN have also been linked, and some high-profile financial scandals. In one of them, the Program for Iraq “Oil for Food program, was involved even Kojo Annan (Kofi Annan’s son). American Commission of Inquiry program of assistance to Saddam’s Iraq ‘Oil for Food’ has revealed the involvement of UN officials for corruption by the regime of Saddam Hussein. In addition, the number of peacekeepers and employees were indicted for sexual crimes against refugees. According to RBC daily interviewed experts ‘inflation’ scandals plaguing the UN is being targeted, and above all they are interested in the U.S. who do not want to reckon with the UN as an independent player in the international arena. Therefore, Washington was determined to discredit the organization. The new regulations the UN – is an attempt to keep the organization itself and restore its shaken credibility in the world. However, it is unlikely to lead to desired results: in its current form, this organization is not able to solve the tasks assigned to it.

All in all, despite the scandals and disadvantages, it can be said that the United Nations is an effective institution, which has been proven many times by its actions. The organization has many goals for the sake of the society all over the world, among them are:

– To maintain international peace and security and to that end: to take effective collective measures for the prevention and removal of threats to peace and suppress acts of aggression or other breaches of peace and by peaceful means in conformity with the principles of justice and international law, adjustment and settlement of international disputes or situations which may lead to a breach of peace;

– To develop friendly relations from nations based on respect for the principle of equal rights and self determination of peoples, and to take other appropriate measures to strengthen universal peace;

– To achieve international cooperation in solving international problems of an economic, social, cultural or humanitarian character and in promoting and encouraging respect for human rights and fundamental freedoms to all, without distinction of race, sex, language or religion, and

– To be a center for harmonizing the actions of nations and the achievement of common goals.