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WEEK 6 B. UNITED NATIONS ORGANISATION United Nations Organization was set-up on the 24th Oct, 1945 as a result of League of Nations’ failure to prevent the occurrence of war which it was established for in 1919. It was Winston Churchill, the prime minister of Great Britain and President Franklin Roosevelt of U.S.A. that discussed the need for a new body to replace the League of Nations. After many wartime conferences it was agreed upon that a new organization was needed to maintain international peace and the original plan was decided upon by the UK, USA, USSR and China. In 1945, fifty(50) nations signed the Charter of UNO at San Francisco in USA, the original members grew to 100 in 1960 and increased to 12) in 1970 and presently it has increased to 193 with the inclusion of New created Southern Sudan. Membership is open to every nation in the world that has gained independence. The Charter that set up UNO requires that any country wishing to become a member must be recommended by at least seven members of the Security Council including the five permanent ones and been elected by a two-third majority in the General-Assembly. The UNO headquarters is located in New York City. Aims and Objectives of UNO The UNO was set up for the following purposes (1) To maintain international peace and security, and serve as a forum for discussing world issues. (2) To develop friendly relations among nation in order to achieve international co-operation in solving economic, social, culture and all humanitarian international problems. (3) To promote decolonization of dependent and colonial countries. (4) To be a centre for harmonizing the actions of nations in the attainment of these common ends. (5) To promote and encourage respect for human right; fundamental freedom for alland equality of person and nations. (6) To promote economic and social advancement of peoples under a peaceful, just and harmonious atmosphere. 1 Basic Guiding Principles of the UNO In order to achieve its stated aims and objectives the organization is guided by certain principles which include: (1) Principle to recognize and respect the sovereign equality of all states. (2) The preparedness to fulfill in good faith, their obligations under the Charter. (3) The principle of peaceful settlement of international disputes among member states. (4) The principle of non-interference in the internal or domestic affairs of member states except when the prevailing situation in the affected country or countries threatened world peace. (5) The principle of collective action in maintaining collective security and restoring world peace. Organizational Structure or Main Organs of UNO The UNO is made up of six principal and functional organs through which it carries out it assigned functions. These are (1) The General Assembly: This is made up of all members of the UNO, it is presided over by a president elected for one year, the current president is MogensLykketoft of Denmark. The assembly works through seven committees namely: Administrative and budgeting committee,Economic and Financial committee,legal committee,social, Humanitarian and cultural committee,political and security committee, special committee and interesting committee. Tenure is a year. The functions of the assembly include: (a) To meet annually in September, also additional session can be held in time of need. (b) The organ amends the charter of UNO. (c) The organ scrutinizes and approves UNO budget, admission of member states and all matters within the scope of the charter. (d) It coordinates the works of its committees that is done through the five official languages of the organization – English, Russian, French, Chinese and Spanish. 2 (e) It has power to suspend or expel an erring member. (f) It elects judges of the international court of justice in conjunction with the Security Council. (g) It elects the ten non-permanent members of the Security Council, the trusteeship council and the twenty-seven member of the economic and social council (ECOSOC). (h) It appoints the secretary-General on the recommendation of the security council. (2) The Security Council: This council consists of 15 member-nations i.e 5 permanent member and 10 non-permanent members. The five permanent members of UNO, namely USA, USSR, Britain, France and China are the victorious powers of 1945, who proposed and signed the charter of the UNO, the ten non-permanent members are elected by General Assembly for two-years term. The permanent members of the council possess and exercise veto power over any decision that is against their interests. Functions of the Council (1) To maintain peace and security in the world. (2) To investigate disputes that may threaten world or global peace and takes necessary measures to safeguard it. (3) It tries to find ways and means of settling conflicts that might arise between countries. (4) It also recommends to the General Assembly, who should be elected to the post of Secretary-General of the organization. (5) It scrutinizes the credentials and recommends to the General Assembly, countries seeking admission into the UNO. (6) It recommends legal disputes to the world court i.e international court of Justice. (7). The council joins the General Assembly in electing judges to the I.C.J. 3 (3) The Secretariat: This is the administrative organ of the UNO. It is headed by a Secretary- General in the organizational structure of UNO, secretariat is the administrative organ and it headed by a Secretary –General who is recommended by society council and appointed by the General-Assembly for a term of five years (which is renewable till infinity). (All the Secretary- General so far have been men great ability and also, they are dedicated to the organization. The past secretaries are: (1) Trygve Lie from Norway (1946-1952). (2) Dag Hammarskjolb (1953-1961) from Sweden. (3) U- Thant of Burma (served for ten years) 1961-71. (4) Kurt – Waldheim of Australia (1972-81). (5) Javier Perez de Cuellar of Peru (1982-91). The first African to hold the UN Secretary-General post was (6) Dr. Boutros, Bautros Ghali of Egypt,(1993-96) (7) He was succeeded by another African(7) Dr. Koffi Annan of Ghana 1997-2006. The current secrtary-General (8)Ban Ki Moon of South Korea 2007 – till date. Functions Performed By the Secretary General (a) The secretary handles all the correspondence of the UNO (i.e News, stories, Newspaper, postal or other written communications). (b) It makes an annual report to the General Assembly on the whole work of UNO. (c) He is responsible for bringing before the Assembly any matter which needs a decision. (d) To appoint the staff of the UNO. (e) It makes available all the needed facilities for all UNO meetings. (f) It alerts the General Assembly on any event that could threaten the security of the international system. (4) The Economic and Social Council: The council consists of 54 members that are elected by the General Assembly for overlapping three-year terms. Seats are allotted based on geographical representations with 14 allocated to African states, 11 to Asian states, 6 to Eastern European states, 10 to Latin American states, and 13 to Western European states. 4 Functions of ECOSOC (1) The council directs and coordinates the economic and social activities of the UNO and its agencies. (2) It makes recommendation for the promotion of fundamental human rights to children of the world and improvement of living generally. (3) It helps in improving the living conditions of the people around the world. (4) It coordinates the work of the specialized Agencies of UNO such as (a) UNESCO - United Nations Educational Scientific and Cultural Organization, (b) UNICEF – United Nations International Children Emergency Fund, (c) FAO – Food and Agricultural Organization, (d) IMF– International Monetary Fund, (e) ILO – International Labour Organization, (f) WHO – World Health Organization, (g) IBRD – International Bank for Reconstruction and Development (World Bank), (h) UPU – Universal Postal Union. (5) International Court of Justice (ICJ): The ICJ is also known as the world court with its headquarters in the Hague, Netherlands. Its 15 judges are jointly elected by Security Council and GeneralAssembly. Judges are elected for a term of nine years. The decision of this court is binding on members states. ICJ or world court is the principal judicial organ of the U.N.O. Functions of ICJ (1) It is the main judicial organ of UNO. (2) It settles disputes between states on international level. (3) The court gives legal advice to the UNO and specialized agencies. (4) It makes the decisions of the court binding on member-states in disputes. 5 (5) It interprets internationals conventions and agreements. (6) Trusteeship Council: The trusteeship council consists of member countries administering trust territories, permanent members of the Security Council and as many other members elected on a three year term by the assembly. The trust territories which were formerly called Mandated territories are the territories placed under the international trusteeship system. It was set up toe examine how effective the administering nations are to the trust territories.Among the countries are Togo, Cameroon, Tanzania and Namibia. Functions of Trusteeship Council (1) It pays official and regular visit to territories for assessment or inspection. (2) It supervises the administration of the Trust territories. (3) It encourages trust territories towards the attainment of self- government. (4) It receives reports from states administering trust territories and petitions from the administered territories for study and considerations. (5) It helps promote the social, economic, political and educational development of the inhabitants of the trust territories. Roles of Nigeria in UNO (1) Establishing herself as the giant of Africa by making Africa the centerpiece of her foreign policy.