United+Nations+Affairs

The United Nations and International Law  The United Nations Building in New York, New York.

__The United Nations is an important and prominent organization that is an integral part of life on Earth. The United Nations is an organization founded in 1945 after WWII. After the failure of the League of Nations to adequately punish the Axis Powers, the United Nations was formed by 51 countries. These countries were and still are devoted to instating and maintaining international peace, better social relations around the globe, and a better standard of living for everyone on the planet. Today, there are 192 member states that make up the United Nations. The UN is best known for peacekeeping, peace building, conflict prevention and humanitarian assistance, as well as a multitude of other means of assistance around the globe. The United Nations has been a major contributor of international law, treaties and standards as well as being the prime promoter of international peace and security. International laws have been made with the help of the United Nations, and these laws help to govern relations among many countries. Problems are becoming more internationalized, and the spectrum of the duties and responsibilities of the UN is widening and taking on new tasks and challenges. _In addition to promoting peace and security around the globe, the United Nations also plays a role in aiding developing nations. These countries are often referred to as LDC's or Least Developed Countries. These countries are economically underprivileged mostly due to their geographical location. A majority of the time, these countries are landlocked with little to no access to trading ports. These countries are considered to need the highest degree of attention and help in the international community. Because these countries are underprivileged, the United Nations encourages partner countries to make special concessions for the wellbeing of these countries. LDC's have a low income, and often the average person has a yearly income of $750 USD or lower per year. These countries are also considered to have weak human assets as assessed by a special index. In addition, these countries are economically vulnerable. In order to combat these three major disadvantages, the United Nations makes special concessions for the country in order to level the playing field and make it easy for the country to better participate in the global economy. The United Nations also shows support by building the countries infrastructure. In addition, countries around the world are expected to make special exceptions for these countries. These actions do not come without a price however. _The United Nations is funded by participating member states of the UN. Contributions are assessed and determined as to how much a country has to pay in order to keep their spot in the United Nations. For instance, the United States is one of the Big Five that have a powerful hold over the United Nations and have the ability to swing decisions in their favor. The Big Five are the five permanent members of the Security Council. In addition to the United States, the remaining four members include the United Kingdom, France, China, and the Russian Confederation. These five nations are the primary contributors of funding to the United Nations. In fact, for over sixty years, the United States has been the primary contributor to the United Nations funding, providing roughly 22%-26% of the final budget. _The United Nations has been playing the role of international peacekeeper for years now, and that's by no means an easy job. Since its creation in 1945, the United Nations hasn't been able to stop every act of atrocity committed by one group of people to another. An example of this is the period of time following the Cold War. Due to complications sprouting from the war, the United Nations was unable to properly handle situations that followed. Up until this time, the UN looked to be a strong force that was capable of handling international affairs, but the complications from the Cold War caused the world to doubt the United Nations. The United Nations were unable to come through on promises made at previous conferences. By 1970, the United Nations didn't seem to be as strong and as in control as they were prior to the Cold War. Although the UN hasn't come through with all of the promises made, they have done their best to made bad situations better. They have intervened in countless issues around the globe to help sustain world peace and security. The UN has been behind multiple peacekeeping missions that treat not only the effects of the problem, but also the problem or the cause itself. The UN adopted the Principle of Non-Interference before the Cold War and would only intervene in cases that involved two or more states. The first mission undertaken by the United Nations was in 1948 in Palestine. From this mission, the United Nations Truce Supervision Organization (UNTSO) was officially created. As a result of the Suez Canal Crisis in 1956, the UN put into effect the first United Nations Emergency Force. This was the start of peacekeeping missions supported by the military, civilians and police. _From that point forward, the United Nations and the world itself stopped accepting the fact that civil and human atrocities such as the Rwandan and Kosovo Genocides occur. We started to become more aware of what was happening in our world. Intervening is no longer enough. We have a responsibility to ourselves and to our fellow man to protect them. Human rights must be protected and this is just one of the many goals that the United Nations hopes to bring about. Years ago, world peace sounded like a utopian fantasy, but thanks to the United Nations, world peace is becoming more of a possibility and less of a joke. Peace is becoming more attainable with each good act done around the world. The United Nations is more than just an organization. It has become a global and international beacon of hope. A group of ordinary men striving for an extraordinary cause.

In the video below, you will see a synopsis of the workings of the United Nations' humanitarian efforts and peacekeeping organizations. media type="youtube" key="bHmXZXsABm0" height="535" width="672"