Jun 24 2010
The Structure of the United Nations
The United Nations (U.N.) is an international organization that was established on October 24, 1945, by 51 countries. The U.N. has four main purposes: “to maintain international peace and security; to develop friendly relations among nations; and to be a centre for harmonizing the actions of nations.” The name “United Nations” was coined by our very own President Franklin D. Roosevelt. The U.N. is currently composed of 192 member states that all agreed to abide by the U.N. Charter; an international treaty that establishes basic principles of international relations. The U.N. is not a world government and it does not make laws. The essential purpose of the U.N. is to provide the means to create international relations and policies in order to solve international conflicts.
The U.N. is made up of 6 main organs: the General Assembly, the Security Council, the Economic and Social Council, the Trusteeship Council, the International Court of Justice, and the Secretariat. Each organ contains many agencies, departments and offices. The General Assembly is the main policy-making and deliberative organ that mandates most of the work of the U.N. The General Assembly is made up of all 192 member states, which brings a full spectrum of political views and social systems into its work.
The United Nations Millennium Development Campaign office, where I am externing this summer, is an office within the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP). The UNDP is one of the many programs that report to the General Assembly. The UNDP is the U.N.’s global development network, dedicated to creating solutions to global and national development problems. The main areas of focus of the UNDP are the following: democratic governance; poverty reduction; crisis prevention and recovery; environment and energy; and HIV/AIDS. The organization is located in 166 countries and overseas the Millennium Development Goals. Unique to the Millennium Development Campaign office is that the office works with citizens and nongovernment organizations in achieving the MDGs. Most offices and agencies work with national governments and legislators. I really enjoy this bottom-up approach of my externship because I have the opportunity to see and learn about many of the personal issues that are the reason for the creation of the MDGs, as oppose to learning about the issues on a national level that tends to speak with a uniform voice.
Celisse Williams