United Nations Discription, News, History and Information

The United Nations (UN) is an international organization whose stated aims are facilitating cooperation in international law, international security, economic development, social progress, human rights, and the achieving of world peace. The UN was founded in 1945 after World War II to replace the League of Nations, to stop wars between countries, and to provide a platform for dialogue. It contains multiple subsidiary organizations to carry out its missions.

United Nations Members

There are currently 192 member states, including nearly every recognized independent state in the world. From its offices around the world, the UN and its specialized agencies decide on substantive and administrative issues in regular meetings held throughout the year.

The organization is divided into administrative bodies, primarily:

The General Assembly (the main deliberative assembly);

The Security Council (decides certain resolutions for peace and security);

The Economic and Social Council (assists in promoting international economic and social cooperation and development);

The Secretariat (provides studies, information, and facilities needed by the UN);

The International Court of Justice (the primary judicial organ).

United Nations Agencies

Additional bodies deal with the governance of all other UN System agencies, such as the World Health Organization (WHO) and United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF). The UN’s most visible public figure is the Secretary-General, currently Ban Ki-moon of South Korea, who attained the post in 2007. The organization is financed from assessed and voluntary contributions from its member states, and has six official languages: Arabic, Chinese, English, French, Russian, and Spanish.

United Nations History News, Videos and Information

The UNs reputation was tarnished in 2003 after the Oil-for-Food scandal. The programme was established in 1996 to allow Iraq to sell oil on the world market in exchange for food, medicine, and other humanitarian supplies for Iraqi citizens who were affected by international economic sanctions in the wake of the first Gulf War.

United Nations Allegations

Allegations of abuse and corruption surfaced in 2003, and Benon Sevan, the former director, was suspended and then resigned from the UN after he was found to have accepted bribes from the Iraqi regime.