Answer:
The
League of Nations The League of Nations was formed in 1919. The primary
objective of the league was promotion of 'International co-operation, peace and
security'. It had 44 members at the time of inception.
The League of Nations proved to be a failure because the big powers could
not settle their disputes peacefully. The League of Nations was replaced by the
United Nations in 1945.
The United Nations (UN) The United Nations came into
existence on 24th October, 1945. It was the idea of President FD Roosevelt of
America and Prime Minister Winston Churchill of Great Britain to create an
agency that would work for world peace.
Delegates from USA, Great Britain, former USSR and China
met to make a draft proposal in Washington DC, USA in October 1944. They
prepared the charter of United Nations. Initially, 51 nations joined the United
Nations.
Now, it has 192 members. The headquarters of United Nations
is in New York.
The main aims of the United Nations are, to be a centre
for helping nations, to keep peace throughout the world and to eliminate
poverty, disease and illiteracy from the world. The principles of the United
Nations are
1. All members must have sovereign equality.
2. All members must obey the charter.
3. Countries must avoid using force or threatening to use
force.
The Organs of the United Nations The United Nations
has six main organs
1. General Assembly The General Assembly incorporates
the representatives of all the member nations. It is like world Parliament.
Each state has one vote, but may send five representatives. General Assembly
meets at least once a year.
2. The Security Council This is the most important organ
of the UN. It has 15 members. There are five permanent and 10 non-Permanent
members.
Five permanent members are : USA, UK, France, People's
Republic of China and Russian Federation.
They have the right to veto, which means if any of them
votes against a popularly passed resolution it becomes ineffective. The rest of
members are elected for a period of 2 years only.
Security Council has primary responsibility to maintain
international peace and security. The expansion of the Security Council to
include 'new powers' such as India, Germany and Japan as permanent members has
been suggested by various fora.
3. The International Court of Justice It is the main
judicial organ of the UN and is situated at the Hague in the Netherlands. It
has 15 judges from different countries who are elected for 9 years. They
examine the disputes among the member nations and resolve them. They also provide
legal advice to the other organs. The court remains permanently in session, except
during judicial vacations. All questions are decide by majority.
4. The Secretariat The duties carried out by the Secretariat
are as varied as the problems.
Headquarters of the Secretariat is in New York.
The Secretary-General is the administrative head and is
appointed by the General Assembly on the recommendation of the Security
Council.
5. The Economic and Social Council (ECOSOC) The
Economic and Social Council takes care of the economic and social activities of
the UN. The specialised agencies of the UN like WHO and UNICEF work under its
supervision.
ECOSOC has 54 members. The General Assembly elects 18
members every year for the term of three years. ECOSOC serves as the
central forum for discussing international economic and
social issues, and for formulating policy recommendations addressed to Member States
and the United Nations system.
6. The Trusteeship Council The Trusteeship Council
was formed to help countries under foreign rule to gain independence. All the
trust territories became independent. The council will now meet only when it is
required. Its members are China, France, Russia, UK and USA.
The United Nations has succeeded in achieving its primary
objective. It has prevented large scale wars in many areas. It received the
Nobel Peace Prize in 2001 for its achievements in maintaining world peace.
The specialised agencies of the UN have made tremendous
contribution to the economic and
social development of many member countries.
At present, the UN has in total seventeen specialised
agencies that carry out various functions on behalf of the UN.
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