UNITED NATIONS

LEAGUE OF NATIONS
(came into force : 10 January 1920)
The League of Nations was an intergovernmental organization
founded as a result of the Paris Peace Conference that ended the
1st World War. It was the first international organization whose
principal mission was to maintain world peace.
Between 1920 and 1946, a total of 63 countries became member
states of the League of Nations.

Resolving territorial disputes about Turkey : Hatay

With League oversight; the sanjak of Alexandretta the in the
French Mandate in Syria was given autonomy in 1937. Renamed
Hatay, its parliament declared independence as the Republic of
Hatay in September 1938, after elections the previous month. It
was annexed by Turkey with French consent in mid-1939.

Resolving territorial disputes about Turkey : Mosul

A League of Nations Commission of Inquiry, with Belgian,
Hungarian and Swedish members, was sent to the region in 1924; it
found that the people of Mosul did not want to be part of either
Turkey or Iraq, but if they had to choose, they would pick Iraq. The
League Council adopted the recommendation and decided on 16
December 1925 to award Mosul to Iraq

DISSOLVING OF THE LEAGUE OF NATIONS

(18 April 1946 )
After a number of notable successes and some early failures in the
1920s, the League ultimately proved incapable of preventing
aggression by the Axis Powers in the 1930s. Germany withdrew
from the League, as did Japan, Italy, Spain and others . The onset of
World War 2 showed that the League had failed its primary
purpose, which was to prevent any future world war. The League
lasted for 27 years and it was dissolved on 18 April 1946

UNITED NATIONS

The name "United Nations",

coined by United States
President Franklin D.
Roosevelt was first used in the
Decleration by United Nations
of 1 January 1942, during the
Second World War, when
representatives of 26 nations
pledged their Governments to
continue fighting together
against the Axis Powers.

UNITED NATIONS
In 1945, representatives of 50
countries met in San Francisco at
the United Nations Conference
on International Organization to
draw up the United Nations
Charter. The Charter was signed
on 26 June 1945 by the
representatives of the 50
countries. Poland signed it later
and became one of the original
51 Member States. (original 51
members including Turkey)
The United Nations officially
came into existence on 24
October 1945

UNITED NATIONS
The UN was founded in 1945 after World War II to replace the
League of Nations. The UN has 4 main purposes :
To keep peace throughout the world;
To develop friendly relations among nations;
To help nations work together to improve the lives of poor
people, to conquer hunger, disease and illiteracy, and to
encourage respect for each others rights and freedoms;
To be a centre for harmonizing the actions of nations to
achieve these goals.

UNITED NATIONS STRUCTURE

UNITED NATIONS STRUCTURE

The Charter established six principal organs
of the United Nations:
*General Assembly
*Security Council
*Economic and Social Council
*Trusteeship Council
*The International Court of Justice
*Secretariat

General Assembly
The General Assembly is the main
deliberative, policymaking and
representative organ of the United
Nations. Comprising all 193
members of the United Nations, it
provides a unique forum for
multilateral discussion of the full
spectrum of international issues
covered by the Charter.
The Assembly meets in regular
session intensively from
September to December each
year, and thereafter as required.

Functions and Powers of

General Assembly
*Consider and make
recommendations on the general
principles of cooperation for
maintaining international peace and
security, including disarmaments
*Discuss any question relating to
international peace and security
and, except where a dispute or
situation is currently being
discussed by the Security Council,
make recommendations on it;
*Discuss, with the same exception
and make recommendations on any
questions within the scope of the
Charter or affecting the powers and
functions of any organ of the United
Nations;

Functions and Powers of

General Assembly
*Initiate studies and make
recommendations to promote
international political cooperation,
the development and codification of
international law, the realization of
human rights and fundamental
freedoms, and international
collaboration in the economic,
social, humanitarian, cultural,
educational and health fields;
*Make recommendations for the
peaceful settlement of any situation
that might impair friendly relations
among nations;

Functions and Powers of

General Assembly
*Receive and consider reports from
the Security Council and other
United Nations organs;
*Consider and approve the United
Nations budget and establish the
financial assessments of Member
States;
*Elect the non-permanent members
of the Security Council and the
members of other United Nations
councils and organs and, on the
recommendation of the Security
Council, appoint the SecretaryGeneral.

Official Languages of
United Nations

The official languages of the United

Nations are the six languages that
are used in UN meetings, and in
which all official UN documents are
written. In alphabetical order they
are:
Arabic
Chinese (Mandarin)
English
French
Russian
Spanish

Security Council
There are 15 members of the
Security Council. This includes
five veto-wielding permanent
members China, France, Russia,
The United Kingdom and the USA
based on the great powers that
were the victors of World War2
There are also 10 non-permanent
members, with five elected each
year to serve two year terms. The
current non-permanent members
are Colombia, India, Germany,
Portugal, South Africa, Azerbaijan,
Guatemala, Morocco, Pakistan and
Togo.

Security Council
Security Council members must
always be present at UN
headquarters in New York so that
the Security Council can meet at
any time. This requirement
addresses a weakness of the
League of Nations; that
organization was often unable to
respond quickly to a crisis.
Security Council decisions on all
substantive matters require the
affirmative votes of nine members.
A veto by a permanent member
prevents adoption of a proposal,
even if it has received the required
number of affirmative votes (9).

Security Council
The Non-permanent members are
chosen by regional groups and
confirmed by the United Nations
General Assembly. The African
bloc is represented by three
members; the Latin America and
the Caribbean, Asian, and Western
European and others blocs by two
members each; and the Eastern
European bloc by one member.
Also, one of the members is an
Arab country," alternately from
the Asian or African bloc.

Economic and Social Council

(ECOSOC)
It is responsible for coordinating
the economic, social and related
work of 14 UN specialized agencies,
their functional commissions and
five regional commissions.
ECOSOC has 54 members; it holds
a four-week session each year in
July. (Elections made for 3 years)
The 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.

Specialized Agencies of
ECOSOC
14 UN specialized agencies are ;
ILO , FAO , UNESCO , WHO , UNIDO
,IFAD , UNWTO , ICAO,
IMO , ITU , UPU , WMO , WIPO,
IAEA
ILO established with the headquarters in
Geneva, Switzerland
(1919, 1946) To improve labour conditions
and to encourage productive employment.
IMO established with the headquarters in
London, United Kingdom (1948)
To facilitate cooperation on maritime
activities.

Specialized Agencies of
ECOSOC

FAO : Food and Agriculture Org.

To deal with the problem of food and
agriculture established in 1945, Rome ,
ITALY
UNESCO : United Nations Educational,
Scientific and Cultural Organisation :
To promote and to spread knowledge
and education and mutual
understanding of people, established in
1946 Paris, France

WHO World Health Organization :

To promote highest possible levels of
health of all peoples, established in
1948 Geneva, Switzerland

Specialized Agencies of
ECOSOC

UNIDO : United Nations Industrial

Development Organization
To promote industrial development
established in 1967 Vienna, Austria

IFAD International Fund for Agricultural

Development :
To extend financial assistance to least
developed countries for increasing
food production established in 1977,
Rome, Italy

UNWTO World Tourism Organization

To promote the development of
responsible, sustainable and
universally accessible tourism
established in 1974, Madrid, Spain

Specialized Agencies of
ECOSOC

ICAO : International Civil Aviation

Organization
To promote cooperation in air
navigation and transport established in
1947, Montreal, Canada

ITU International Telecommunication

Union :
To promote cooperation in use of telecommunications, established in 1947
(1865), Geneva, Switzerland

UPU Universal Postal Union

To improve world postal services,
established in 1947 (1874), Bern,
Switzerland

Specialized Agencies of
ECOSOC

WMO World Meteorological

Organization
To improve world meteorological
activities, established in 1950 (1873),
Geneva, Switzerland

WIPO World Intellectual Property

Organization
To promote the protection of
intellectual property, established in
1974, Geneva, Switzerland

IAEA International Atomic Energy

Agency
To promote the peaceful use of nuclear
energy, established in 1957, Vienna,
Austria

Trusteeship Council
This council designed to supervise the
government of trust territories and to
lead them to self-government or
independence. The council originally
consisted of states administering trust
territories, permanent members of the
Security Council that did not administer
trust territories, and other members
elected by the General Assembly. With
the independence of Palau in 1994, the
council suspended operations.
Originally, the council met once each
year. Each member had one vote, and
decisions were taken by a simple
majority of those present. Since 1994
the council is no longer required to
meet annually

The International Court of Justice

The primary judicial organ of the
United Nations. It is based in the
Peace Palace in The Hague, the
Netherlands . Its 15 judges are
elected by the General Assembly and
the Security Council, voting
independently and concurrently. The
Court decides disputes between
countries, based on the voluntary
participation of the States
concerned. If a State agrees to
participate in a proceeding, it is
obligated to comply with the Court's
decision. The Court also gives
advisory opinions to the United
Nations and its specialized agencies.

Secretariat
The Secretariat is composed of a
Secretary General, assisted by a staff
of international civil servants
worldwide. The Secretary General is
appointed by the General Assembly
upon the recommendation of the
Security Council. It is clear that the
Secretariat, and the SecretaryGeneral, are vital parts to the UN. It is
in charge of notifications and the
arrangement of the meetings of the
secretary-general. The Secretariat is
also in charge of publishing all of the
treaties and international agreements
that the UN makes.
Ban Ki-Moon is the current UN
Secretary-General

Secretariat
Secretaries-General serve for fiveyear terms that can be renewed
indefinitely.
The Secretary-General has the
power to alert the General
Assembly and the Security Council
of any event he or she sees as a
security issue for the international
system. The Secretary-General,
along with the Secretariat, is given
the prerogative to exhibit no
allegiance to any state but to only
the United Nations organization:
decisions must be made without
regard to the state of origin

UNITED NATIONS