UNITED NATIONS (UN)
Created in 1945 at a conference in San Francisco(cm.). Its charter came into force on October 24, 1945. The UN included all 50 countries that participated in the conference in San Francisco and Poland. In addition, Afghanistan, Iceland, Siam and Sweden were admitted in November - December 1946, Yemen and Pakistan in September - October 1947, Burma in April 1948, and Israel in May 1949.
The UN was created to maintain and strengthen international peace and security, develop friendly relations between states, implement international cooperation in economic, social, cultural and other areas.
The UN is based on the principle of sovereign equality of all its members, who have accepted the obligation to resolve their international disputes by peaceful means, to refrain "in their international relations from the threat or use of force against the territorial integrity or political independence of any state or against any other in a manner incompatible with the goals of the United Nations" (Article 2, paragraph 4 of the Charter).
The Charter does not, however, give the UN “the right to intervene in matters essentially within the internal competence of any state, and does not require members of the United Nations to submit such matters for resolution in accordance with the present Charter” (Article 2, paragraph 7 of the Charter ).
In addition to the countries that have signed the charter, admission to UN membership “is open to all other peace-loving states that accept the obligations contained ... in the charter and which, in the judgment of the Organization, are able and willing to fulfill these obligations” (Article 4, paragraph. 1).
Admission to UN membership “is carried out by resolution of the General Assembly on the recommendation of the Security Council” (Article 4, paragraph 2). For such recommendations to be approved by the Security Council, the unanimity of all permanent members of the Security Council is required.
I. UN structure
The main organs of the UN are: the General Assembly, the Security Council, the Economic and Social Council, the Trusteeship Council, the International Court of Justice and the Secretariat.
1. The GENERAL ASSEMBLY consists of all members of the UN. It can discuss all issues within the scope of the UN Charter or relating to the powers and functions of any of the UN bodies, except for issues on the agenda of the Security Council. It can make recommendations on issues under consideration to UN member states or UN bodies.
The General Assembly meets annually in regular session, opening on the third Tuesday in September, and in special sessions as circumstances require. Each member of the General Assembly has one vote. Decisions on important political issues “are made by a two-thirds majority of the members of the Assembly present and voting” (Article 18 of the Charter). These matters include: recommendations regarding the maintenance of international peace and security, elections of non-permanent members of the Security Council, members of the Economic and Social Council, Trusteeship Council, admission of new members to the UN, expulsion from the UN, suspension of the rights and privileges of UN members, matters relating to functioning of the guardianship system, and budgetary issues (Article 18). Other issues are adopted by a simple majority of votes.
The General Assembly has 6 main committees: 1) Committee on Political and Security Affairs (including arms regulation); 2) Committee on Economic and financial matters; 3) Committee on Social, Humanitarian and Cultural Issues; 4) Guardianship Committee; 5) Committee on Administrative and Budgetary Affairs and 6) Committee on Legal Affairs. All delegations are members of these six main committees.
The General Assembly also creates General Committee of 14 members, consisting of the Chairman of the General Assembly, 7 Vice-Chairmen and 6 Chairmen of the Main Committees, and a Credentials Committee of 9 members.
The Chairman of the General Assembly and his deputies are elected at the plenary meeting of the Assembly, and the chairmen of the main committees are elected at meetings of the committees themselves.
2. The SECURITY COUNCIL consists of AND members, including 5 permanent members (USSR, USA, England, France and China) and 6 non-permanent members, elected by the General Assembly for 2 years.
States whose term of office on the Council has expired cannot be immediately re-elected for a new term.
At the first elections in January 1946, the following were elected as non-permanent members of the Security Council: Australia, Brazil, Poland, Egypt, Mexico, and Holland. At the second session of the Assembly in 1947, instead of Australia, Brazil and Poland, the Ukrainian SSR, Canada and Argentina were elected.
The election of the Ukrainian SSR was preceded by fierce resistance from the United States of America, which, however, suffered defeat. By opposing the election of the Ukrainian SSR instead of Poland, whose term on the Council had expired, the United States acted contrary to the provisions of Art. 23 of the Charter, which stipulates that when selecting non-permanent members of the Council, attention should be paid “in the first place to the degree of participation of the members of the Organization in the maintenance of international peace and security... as well as equitable geographical distribution.”
The term of office of non-permanent members of the Security Council, as well as members of the Economic and Social Council and the Trusteeship Council, begins on the 1st of the year following their election and ends on the 31st of the 12th of the year in which their successors are elected.
In addition, if the Security Council is considering the use of armed forces placed at its disposal by a state that is not a member of the Council, that state may participate in meetings of the Council with the right to vote when the Council considers the use of these forces.
The Security Council has a continuous session. All its members preside over it monthly in turn.
The Security Council is the main political organ of the UN, which, according to its charter, has “primary responsibility for the maintenance of international peace and security.
Security Council resolutions fall into two categories: decisions and recommendations. Decisions made by the Security Council based on Chapter VII Charter, are binding on all members of the UN.
Bodies of the Security Council. The Security Council has the following bodies: the Military Staff Committee, the Atomic Energy Control Commission and the Conventional Armaments Commission.
1. The Military Staff Committee consists of the chiefs of staff or representatives of the chiefs of staff of the states that are permanent members of the Security Council, i.e. the USSR, the USA, England, France and China. It must assist the Security Council "in all matters relating to the military requirements of the Security Council for the maintenance of international peace and security, to the use and command of the troops placed at its disposal, as well as to the regulation of armaments and possible disarmament" (art. 47 of the Charter).
2. The Atomic Energy Control Commission was established on January 24, 1946 by a decision of the General Assembly at the proposal of the delegations of the USSR, USA, England, France, China and Canada, agreed upon at the Moscow Conference of Foreign Ministers of the USSR, USA and England in December 1945. The Commission consists of representatives of all states that are represented in the Security Council, and a representative of Canada.
3. The Commission on Conventional Armaments, established by a resolution of the Security Council dated 13.2.1947, consists of representatives of all states that are members of the Security Council. The Commission must prepare proposals: a) on the general regulation and reduction of armaments and armed forces and b) on practical and effective guarantees in connection with the general regulation and reduction of armaments.
3. THE ECONOMIC AND SOCIAL COUNCIL consists of 18 members elected by the General Assembly for three years. States whose term on the Council has expired may be immediately re-elected for a new three-year term.
The Economic and Social Council should study international issues in the areas: economic, social, culture, education, health, etc., draw up reports on them and make recommendations to the General Assembly, members of the UN and interested specialized agencies, provide the Security Council with the necessary information and assistance. According to the rules of procedure, the Economic and Social Council has at least three sessions per year.
The Economic and Social Council has the following permanent commissions: 1) on economics and employment, 2) on transport and communications, 3) on statistics, 4) social, 5) on human rights, 6) on the protection of women's rights, 7) tax, 8) demographic (by population), and four temporary commissions: economic commission for Europe, economic commission for Asia and Far East, economic commission for Latin America and commission for drugs.
4. THE GUARDIANESS COUNCIL is established to administer the territories which are included in the trusteeship system by subsequent agreements. The goals of this system are defined in Chap. XII of the UN Charter (see. International guardianship).
5. INTERNATIONAL COURT. The main judicial body of the UN is the International Court of Justice, consisting of 15 judges elected in parallel by the General Assembly and the Security Council for 9 years; Judges may be re-elected after this period.
At the first elections (6.2.1946), representatives of the USSR, Canada, Poland, Egypt, China, Mexico, Yugoslavia, Norway, Belgium, the USA, France, El Salvador, Brazil, England and Chile were elected as international judges.
All members of the UN are parties to the statute of the International Court of Justice.
6. The UN SECRETARIAT is headed by a Secretary General, elected by the General Assembly on the recommendation of the Security Council for a 5-year term. After this period, he may be re-elected again. When the Security Council decides on the issue of nominating a candidate for the post of Secretary General, the unanimity of all its permanent members is required. Trygve elected first UN Secretary General Lee(q.v.), former Minister of Foreign Affairs of Norway.
The staff of the Secretariat is appointed by the Secretary General.
The Secretariat has 8 departments: 1) for Security Council Affairs; 2) economic; 3) social; 4) on guardianship and collection of information about non-self-governing territories; 5) public information; 6) on legal matters; 7) conference and general services; and 8) administrative and financial management. These departments are headed by Assistant Secretaries General.
7. OTHER UN PERMANENT BODIES. In addition to the above main UN bodies, the following have been established:
1) The International Law Commission was created by decision of the 2nd session of the General Assembly. It consists of 15 members - specialists in the field of international law, elected by the General Assembly for a three-year term. The Commission should deal with issues of the progressive development of international law and its codification.
2) The Advisory Committee on Administrative and Budgetary Questions consists of 9 members elected by the General Assembly for 3 years.
3) The Committee on Contributions consists of representatives of ten countries elected by the General Assembly for 3 years. The Committee in accordance with paragraph 2 of Art. 17 of the charter prepares the scale of contributions for UN members, i.e. it establishes what share of UN expenses each UN member state should bear.
4) The Audit Board consists of representatives of three member countries UN, elected by the General Assembly for 3 years.
8. BODIES AD HOC. In addition to permanent bodies, ad hoc bodies can also be created.
At the second session of the General Assembly (IX-XI 1947), the Anglo-American bloc achieved, contrary to the provisions of the UN Charter, the establishment of the so-called. intersessional committee, as well as a special committee on the Greek question and a temporary commission on Korea.
a) The Intersessional Committee of the General Assembly (“Small Assembly”) was created for the period between the second and third sessions of the Assembly from representatives of all UN member countries. At the third session of the Assembly, the existence of this illegal body was extended for another year. The creation of this body is in direct contradiction to the provisions of the charter and represents an attempt by the Anglo-American bloc to belittle the importance and role of the Security Council. Since the creation of an intersessional committee is a violation of the principles of the charter, the USSR, Ukrainian SSR, Byelorussian SSR, Poland, Czechoslovakia and Yugoslavia refused to participate in its work.
b) A Special Committee on the Greek Question was created consisting of Australia, Brazil, China, France, Mexico, Holland, Pakistan, England, the USA, the USSR and Poland. The delegations of the USSR and Poland stated that they would not participate in the work of this body, because the creation of such a committee violates the sovereignty of Bulgaria, Albania and Yugoslavia and is a gross violation of UN principles.
c) The Temporary Commission on Korea was created consisting of Australia, Canada, Chile, El Salvador, France, India, the Philippines, Syria and the Ukrainian SSR. Since the proposal of the USSR delegation to invite representatives of the Korean people to participate in the discussion of the issue of Korea was rejected, the USSR, Ukrainian SSR, BSSR, Poland, Czechoslovakia and Yugoslavia refused to participate in the vote in resolving this issue. The Ukrainian SSR, elected to the temporary commission on Korea, refused to participate in the work of this commission.
9. UN SPECIALIZED AGENCIES.
Specialized institutions are organizations “created by intergovernmental agreements and vested with broadly international responsibility, defined in their constituent acts, in the field of economic, social, culture, education, health and similar fields” (Article 57 of the charter). Such specialized institutions are: 1) World organization Health, 2) International Labor Organization (or Bureau), 3) Food and Agriculture Organization, 4) Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization, 5) International Labor Organization civil aviation, 6) International Monetary Fund, 7) International Bank restoration and development, 8) International Telecommunication Union, 9) Universal Postal Union, 10) International Organization for Refugees, I) Intergovernmental Consultative Organization on Maritime Transport. The USSR is a member of the International Telecommunication Union and the Universal Postal Union.
II. UN activities
During their existence, UN bodies dealt with many major political, economic and other issues in the field of international relations. The most important of these issues are: 1) the establishment of control over atomic energy, 2) the regulation and reduction of weapons and armed forces, 3) the fight against propaganda for a new war, 4) the principle of unanimity of the permanent members of the Security Council, 5) the Greek question, 6) the Spanish question issue, 7) Indonesian issue, 8) Corfu Strait incident, 9) Palestinian issue.
I. Control of atomic energy. 24. I 1946 The General Assembly established a commission "to consider the problems arising in connection with the discovery of atomic energy and other related issues."
The first meeting of the Commission for the Control of Atomic Energy took place on June 14, 1946. At this meeting, US representative Baruch proposed the establishment of an international authority (Authority), with broad powers and an almost unlimited right to interfere in the economy of any country, in the work of any industries, and even the right to make laws binding on all countries of the world. At the next meeting of the commission, June 19, 1946, the representative of the USSR, on behalf of the Soviet government, proposed concluding a convention prohibiting the production and use of weapons based on the use of atomic energy for mass destruction of people.
II. VI 1947 Soviet government in addition to and in development of its proposal regarding the conclusion of a convention on the prohibition of atomic weapons, it presented for consideration by the commission the main provisions that should form the basis international agreement on control over atomic energy. These provisions provided for the establishment within the Security Council of the International Control Commission to carry out measures to control nuclear enterprises. Conditions and organizational principles of international control over atomic energy, composition, rights and obligations International Commission must be determined by a special convention concluded in accordance with the Convention on the Prohibition of Atomic Weapons. The International Control Commission should consist of representatives of member countries of the Atomic Commission, established on 24.1 1946.
On June 17, 1947, the Atomic Energy Control Commission, the majority of which supported the US representative, decided not to consider the Soviet proposal, but to discuss this proposal along with the issues raised in the commission’s work plan, drawn up at the behest of the United States.
Six so-called ones were created. "working groups" in which the representative of the USSR did not participate. These groups produced six "working papers" on the functions of an international supervisory body.
These documents provided for the granting of broad rights to the international control body, including ownership of all nuclear enterprises throughout the world and the right to operate them; ownership of all reserves of atomic raw materials (uranium, thorium, etc.), all chemical and metallurgical enterprises, processing nuclear raw materials, to all enterprises capable of using “nuclear fuel” (the so-called uranium, thorium and other fissile materials) for the production of power energy (for example, electricity); the right to issue licenses for the construction and operation of nuclear enterprises and the right to withdraw these licenses; the right to carry out geological exploration of reserves of atomic raw materials in any part of the world, including military and restricted zones, etc.
Granting such rights to the control body is incompatible with the principles of state sovereignty and the principles of the UN Charter, and also contradicts the General Assembly resolution of January 24, 1946 on the prohibition of atomic weapons.
The USSR representative in the Atomic Commission objected to these unacceptable proposals. However, US representatives, relying on the majority of the commission, achieved their adoption and inclusion in the second report of the Atomic Commission to the Security Council.
10. IX 1947 this second report was approved by the majority of the commission and sent to the Security Council.
18. V 1948 the US government, which rejected all proposals for two years Soviet Union on the prohibition of atomic weapons, relying on the obedient majority of the members of the Atomic Commission, he achieved a decision to suspend its work for an indefinite period, allegedly because the Soviet Union did not agree to the establishment of the so-called. "international control".
At the third session of the Assembly, the USSR proposed to recommend that the Security Council and the Atomic Commission continue their work and prepare drafts of a convention on the prohibition of atomic weapons and a convention on the establishment of effective international control over atomic energy so that these conventions would be signed and entered into force simultaneously. This proposal, aimed at finding an agreed solution to such an important problem, was rejected by the majority of the Assembly, following in the wake of US policy, seeking to retain freedom of action in the production of atomic weapons. The USA and England achieved the adoption by the Assembly of a resolution they liked, authorizing the actual disruption of the work of the Atomic Commission.
2. General reduction and regulation of weapons. On October 29, 1946, at a plenary meeting of the General Assembly, the head of the USSR delegation, V. M. Molotov, made a proposal for a general reduction in armaments.
Despite the resistance shown by representatives of the United States, Great Britain and a number of other states, the discussion of the issue of arms reduction was crowned with a victory for Soviet diplomacy.
14. XII 1946 The General Assembly unanimously adopted a resolution on the “Principles governing the general regulation and reduction of armaments”, in which it recommended that the Security Council begin to develop practical measures essential for establishing the general regulation and reduction of armaments and armed forces; The Atomic Commission - to fulfill the responsibilities assigned to it by the resolution of the General Assembly of 24. I 1946 "as a significant step towards achieving the urgent goal of prohibiting and removing atomic weapons from national arsenals." "In order to ensure that the general prohibition, regulation and reduction of armaments covers the main types of weapons modern warfare", an international system operating through special bodies will be established within the Security Council.
28. XP 1946, the representative of the USSR in the Security Council, through the Secretary General on behalf of the government of the USSR, proposed that the Security Council “begin the development of practical measures to implement the decision of the General Assembly... on the general regulation and reduction of weapons and armed forces...” and establish a commission, which “to be instructed to prepare and present its proposals to the Security Council within one or two months, but no later than three months...” 13. II The Security Council created a Commission on Conventional Arms, which, at the insistence of the Americans and the British, is deprived of the right to deal with issues related to atomic weapons.
Due to sabotage by delegations from the countries of the Anglo-American bloc, the commission did not outline any practical measures during the year.
To ensure that the General Assembly resolution on the reduction of armaments and the prohibition of atomic weapons did not remain only on paper, the government of the USSR submitted in September 1948 at the third session of the Assembly a proposal to reduce by one third within one year the armaments and armed forces of all five permanent members of the Security Council and to ban atomic weapons as weapons of aggression. To monitor the implementation of these measures, the USSR proposed establishing an international control body within the Security Council.
This proposal of the USSR met the aspirations and hopes of all peace-loving peoples of the world. However, representatives of the USA and England took a completely opposite position. They sought to delay and disrupt the resolution of the issue of banning atomic weapons and reducing weapons and armed forces. Relying on the obedient majority of the Assembly, the Anglo-American bloc achieved the rejection of the Soviet proposal.
3. Fight against the instigators of a new war. 18. IX 1947, the head of the USSR delegation at the second session of the General Assembly, A. Ya. Vyshinsky, made a proposal on behalf of the USSR government to combat the instigators of a new war. It was proposed to condemn “the criminal propaganda of a new war being carried out by reactionary circles in a number of countries and, in particular, in the United States of America, Turkey, Greece,” and to point out that allowing, and especially supporting, this kind of propaganda for a new war is a violation of the duty assumed by UN members , and “to call on the governments of all countries to prohibit, under pain of criminal punishment, the conduct of any form of propaganda of war... as a socially dangerous activity that threatens the vital interests and well-being of peace-loving peoples.” It was further proposed to confirm the need for the speedy implementation of the Assembly decisions of November 14, 1946 on the reduction of armaments and of January 24, 1946 on the exclusion of atomic weapons and all other main types of weapons from national armaments.
The USSR proposal was discussed for 6 days (X 22-27).
The delegations of the USA and England opposed this proposal. US Representative Austin called for “killing the Soviet proposal” because it allegedly contradicts freedom of speech and information. However, under pressure public opinion The US delegation was forced to vote for a resolution condemning the warmongers. The adoption of this resolution was a major political victory for the Soviet Union.
4. The principle of unanimity of permanent members of the Security Council. Provided by Art. 27 of the charter, the principle of unanimity of the permanent members of the Security Council when deciding political issues, or the provision of the so-called permanent members of the Security Council. “veto power” means that a decision on any issue, except procedural ones, can be made only if at least 7 votes are cast for this decision, including the concurring votes of all permanent members of the Council. Whether the UN will cope with the tasks assigned to it depends on compliance with this principle. “Can we count,” said J.V. Stalin in his report on November 6, 1944, “that the actions of this international organization will be sufficiently effective? They will be effective if the great powers, which bore on their shoulders the main burden of the war against Hitler’s Germany , will continue to act in a spirit of unanimity and agreement. They will not be effective if this necessary condition is violated."
The need to respect the principle of unity of the great powers was recognized during the war politicians and other countries.
At the San Francisco conference, the principle of unanimity of the permanent members of the Security Council was approved and set forth in Art. 27 of the charter. This principle was further guaranteed in Art. 108 and 109 of the charter, which indicate that amendments to the charter adopted by two-thirds of the votes of the Assembly or General Conference convened on the basis of art. 109 to revise the charter, and ratified by two-thirds of the UN membership, cannot enter into force unless all permanent members of the Security Council have ratified the amendments.
Soon, however, after the entry into force of the UN Charter, the principle of unanimity of the permanent members of the Council began to come under fierce attacks from a number of powers that were co-authors of the Charter. England and the USA sought to undermine the principle of unanimity with the help of small countries subordinate to them.
At the second part of the first session of the Assembly, Cuba proposed to include in the agenda the issue of convening on the basis of Art. 109 of the Charter of the General Conference of Members of the UN with the aim of “amending paragraph 3 of Article 27 of the Charter in order to eliminate the provision known as the right of veto.” Australia also proposed to include on the agenda the issue of application of Art. 27 of the charter.
The Soviet delegation resolutely opposed the restriction of the rights of permanent members of the Council. The head of the USSR delegation, V. M. Molotov, in his speech at the plenary meeting of the Assembly on October 29, 1946, indicated that “rejection of the principle of unanimity of the great powers, which, in essence, is hidden behind the proposal to abolish the veto,” would mean the liquidation of the United Nations organization, since this principle is the foundation of this organization." Those “people and entire influential groups... who do not want to settle for anything less than the submission of all peoples to their dictatorship, their golden bag,” are striving to eliminate the principle of unanimity of the great powers.”
Australia's proposal to state in an Assembly resolution that "on a number of occasions the use and threat of use of the veto" was inconsistent with the purposes and principles of the charter was rejected. Delegations from all five Great Powers voted against this item.
The proposal to convene a General Conference was also rejected. The Assembly adopted a resolution in which it recommended that the permanent members of the Council consult among themselves, and that the Council “adopt an order and procedure that does not violate the provisions of the charter,” but facilitates the rapid performance of its functions by the Council, and in adopting this order and procedure, take into account the views expressed by UN members . The USSR delegation voted against this resolution, the US and British delegations voted for the resolution, the French and Chinese delegations abstained.
At the second session of the Assembly, Argentina and Australia again proposed the convening of a General Conference to revise the statutes. In his speech at the plenary meeting of the Assembly on IX 18, 1947, the head of the USSR delegation A. Ya. Vyshinsky stated on this issue that “strengthening the United Nations is possible only on the basis of respect for the political and economic independence of states, on the basis of respect for the sovereign equality of peoples, as well as consistent and unconditional adherence to one of the most important principles of the United Nations - the principle of coordination and unanimity of the great powers in decisions critical issues to maintain international peace and security. This is in full accordance with the special responsibility of these powers for the preservation of world peace and is a guarantee of the protection of the interests of all member countries of the United Nations, large and small.
The Soviet Union considers it its duty to resolutely fight against any attempt to shake this principle, no matter what motives these attempts are hidden behind."
The US delegation proposed to transfer the issue of the principle of unanimity of the permanent members of the Security Council to an intersessional committee, the very creation of which contradicts the provisions of the charter. The delegations of England, France and China supported this proposal, and it was adopted by the Assembly.
The USSR delegation voted against this resolution. The head of the Soviet delegation stated at the plenary meeting of the Assembly on November 21, 1947 that this resolution “is a direct attack on the rule of unanimity, which in turn is one of the most important and fundamental principles of the UN, one of the powerful and real means ensuring the unity of the great powers, the basis of cooperation peace-loving peoples. This resolution completes a certain stage of the campaign against the principle of unanimity, a campaign led by the government of the United States of America, which must bear full responsibility for the consequences that the adoption and implementation of this resolution will inevitably entail."
At the third session of the Assembly, the United States, England, France and China introduced and achieved approval by the Assembly of a resolution recommending that the Security Council resolve a number of important political issues by procedural voting. The approval of this project is a direct violation of the UN Charter.
5. Greek question. In February 1946, the USSR government proposed discussing the need to withdraw British troops from Greece. The representative of the USSR A. Ya. Vyshinsky in his letter, noting the extremely tense situation in Greece, indicated that the presence of British troops in Greece is not necessary, that it has in fact turned into a means of putting pressure on the internal political situation in the country and is being used by reactionary elements in Greece against democratic forces of the country. The Soviet government demanded the withdrawal of British troops from Greece.
Due to the opposition shown by Great Britain, the USA, China, Australia and a number of other members of the Security Council to the Soviet proposal, the Council did not make any decision.
4. XII 1946, the Greek government appealed to the Security Council with a complaint against its northern neighbors (Albania, Yugoslavia and Bulgaria), accusing them of providing assistance to Greek partisans. The Security Council has been considering this issue for almost 8 months. A special commission was sent to the Balkans, in which all members of the Security Council were represented, to study the situation on the ground.
Having failed to achieve its goals in the Security Council, the US government decided to bring the issue to the General Assembly.
At the second session of the Assembly, the US delegation introduced a draft resolution in which responsibility for the situation in Greece was assigned to Albania, Yugoslavia and Bulgaria. The US proposal further provided for the establishment of a special committee on the Balkans, which should monitor the implementation of the Assembly resolution and recommend, if in its opinion necessary, the convening of a special session of the Assembly.
The USSR delegation objected to the proposal of the US delegation, since it only worsened the situation in the Balkans and violated the sovereignty of Yugoslavia, Bulgaria and Albania. The USSR delegation introduced a draft resolution that proposed: a) the Greek government should put an end to border incidents on the northern borders of Greece; b) withdraw foreign troops and foreign military missions from Greece; c) create a special committee that will be entrusted with overseeing that the foreign money provided to Greece economic assistance was used only in the interests of the Greek people, etc.
The US delegation, relying on a mechanical majority, achieved the adoption of its proposal. The head of the USSR delegation, A. Ya. Vyshinsky, stated that the functions and powers of the committee being created are incompatible with the sovereignty of UN members and contradict the UN Charter, and that the USSR will therefore not participate either in the elections of the Balkans committee or in the work of this committee. Similar statements were made by delegates from Poland, the BSSR, the Ukrainian SSR, Czechoslovakia and Yugoslavia.
The internal situation in Greece worsened due to the increased interference of the United States and England in its affairs. The activities of the Special Committee, aimed at facilitating the suppression of the people's liberation struggle in Greece and to reinforce the artificial accusations brought by the Greek monarcho-fascists against Greece's northern neighbors, only complicated the situation in the Balkans.
At the third session of the Assembly, the USSR delegation proposed the withdrawal of foreign troops and military personnel from Greece and the abolition of the Balkan Commission. Under pressure from the Anglo-American bloc, this proposal was rejected by the Assembly. The Anglo-American majority thereby demonstrated its reluctance to ensure a normal situation in Greece and to achieve the establishment of good neighborly relations between Greece and its northern neighbors.
6. Spanish question. 9. IV 1946 The Polish government appealed to the Secretary General with a request to include the issue of Spain on the agenda of the Security Council. The letter indicated that the activities of the Franco regime had already caused international friction and created a threat international peace and safety.
The Security Council discussed the Spanish question from April 17 to June 26, 1946. The representative of Poland proposed that the Security Council adopt a resolution obliging all UN members to immediately break diplomatic relations with Franco. The representative of the USSR supported this proposal, but under pressure from the United States, the majority of members of the Security Council rejected Polynya's proposal.
In October 1946, at the proposal of the delegations of Belgium, Czechoslovakia, Denmark, Norway and Venezuela, the Spanish question was brought up for consideration by the Assembly. The General Assembly adopted a resolution stating that “the fascist government of Franco in Spain, which was forcibly imposed on the Spanish people with the help of the Axis Powers and which provided substantial assistance to the Axis Powers in the war, does not represent the Spanish people,” and recommended that “the Franco government be deprived of the right to enter into international institutions created by or associated with the United Nations,” and all members of the UN “to immediately recall their ambassadors and envoys from Madrid.”
In pursuance of this resolution, members of the UN who had their ambassadors and envoys in Spain recalled them. Only Argentina, contrary to the decision of the Assembly, appointed its ambassador to Spain.
At the second session of the Assembly the Spanish question was again discussed. The delegations of the USA, Argentina and a number of other countries, primarily Latin American, achieved that the 2nd paragraph of the resolution of the first session of the Assembly on depriving the Franco government of the right to join international institutions created by the UN and on the recall of ambassadors and envoys of member states from Madrid UN - was excluded from the resolution. By this, the United States and countries following in the footsteps of American policy showed their interest in preserving the hotbed of fascism in Europe.
7. Question about Indonesia. 21. I 1946, the Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Ukrainian SSR D.Z. Manuilsky addressed the Chairman of the Security Council with a letter, in which, pointing out that in Indonesia “for a number of months military actions have been conducted against the local population, in which both regular English troops as well as enemy Japanese armed forces" and that "this situation creates a state of threat to the maintenance of international peace and security," requested the Security Council to investigate the situation and take appropriate measures.
Representatives of England (Bevin) and Holland (Van Cleffens), without denying the presence of military actions in Indonesia, blamed the Indonesians for this and stated that military actions were being carried out against “terrorists”.
The representative of the USSR A. Ya. Vyshinsky, showing the inconsistency of the arguments of Bevin and Van Cleffens, pointed out that the events in Indonesia are not internal matter Holland, because they threaten international peace and security, and proposed creating a commission to investigate the situation in Indonesia from representatives of the USSR, USA, England, China and Holland.
US Representative Stettinius objected to this proposal; he was supported by the representative of Brazil. During the vote, the USSR proposal was rejected.
In July 1947, the Indonesian issue again arose in the Security Council, but in a different context. Military actions in Indonesia carried out by Holland against the Indonesian Republic, despite Lingajat Agreement(see), did not stop. Australia and India have asked the Security Council to consider this issue and recommend an immediate cessation of hostilities. The representative of the USSR supported this proposal and recommended inviting a representative of the Indonesian Republic to the Council meeting. 31. VII 1947 The Security Council began to consider the Indonesian issue.
1. VIII 1947 The Security Council decided to propose to Holland and Indonesia to immediately cease hostilities.
This decision of the Security Council was brought to the attention of the Dutch Government and the Government of the Indonesian Republic. But this did not give any results. The committee elected by the Security Council, consisting of Australia, Belgium and the United States, did not help matters either.
At the end of September 1947, the Council received a consular report from Batavia on the situation in Indonesia. This report was discussed by the Council throughout October. The proposal of the USSR delegation to withdraw Dutch and Indonesian troops to their original positions was rejected.
1. XI The Security Council adopted by 7 votes to 1 (Poland) with 3 abstentions (USSR, Syria, Colombia) the proposal of the US representative, according to which Holland and Indonesia were called upon to immediately consult each other on the implementation of the Security Council resolution of 1. VIII 1947 This decision essentially only encouraged the aggressive actions of Holland in Indonesia.
17. I 1948 was signed Renville Agreement(see), which legitimized the seizure by the Dutch of areas with important economic and military significance. But this agreement was systematically violated by the Dutch. They avoided negotiations with the Republicans, increased their armed forces in Indonesia and made preparations for the creation of the so-called. United States of Indonesia, subject to the Dutch crown. The Dutch violations of the Renville Agreement were so obvious that even the impartial “Committee of Good Offices,” in its report to the Security Council on December 12, 1948, was forced to admit that the actions of the Dutch “could create serious concern in Indonesia,” which could result in an armed conflict on a large scale .
14. XII 1948, the government of the Indonesian Republic addressed the Security Council with a statement in which it indicated that the current situation in Indonesia poses a threat to peace, and asked the Security Council to take measures to, firstly, prevent the situation from worsening and, secondly, secondly, to resume negotiations between Holland and the Indonesian Republic on the basis of the Renville Agreement. 17. XII 1948, the Dutch government presented an ultimatum to the Indonesian Republic, in which it demanded that the government of the republic declare its unconditional consent to the decree on the inclusion of the Indonesian Republic in the so-called. United States of Indonesia.
The Republican government was supposed to respond to this ultimatum by 10 o'clock. on the morning of December 18, 1948. On the night of December 19, 1948, Dutch troops began military operations and, taking advantage of their military superiority, captured all the important centers of the republic within a few days. At the same time, the Dutch authorities deprived the members and employees of the Good Offices Committee who were in Batavia of communications. Only on December 21, 1948 the committee was able to inform the Security Council about the outbreak of hostilities.
On December 22, 1948, at a meeting of the Security Council, a representative of the USSR proposed condemning the Dutch aggressors, demanding an immediate cessation of hostilities and the withdrawal of Dutch troops to their original positions. To monitor the implementation of this decision, the representative of the USSR proposed to establish a commission consisting of representatives of all members of the Security Council. The USSR's proposal was rejected by the Council on the grounds that this issue was allegedly an internal matter of Holland. The Council limited itself to calling on both sides to stop hostilities. The Dutch government ignored this call.
27. XII 1948, the representative of the Ukrainian SSR in the Security Council proposed that Dutch troops be withdrawn to the borders established by the Renville Agreement. On the same day, the USSR representative proposed that hostilities be stopped within 24 hours. The United States and other patrons of the Dutch aggressors in the Security Council rejected these proposals.
Despite the occupation of almost the entire territory of Indonesia by Dutch troops, the Indonesian people did not lay down their arms. Most of Indonesia's armed forces retreated to the forests and mountains. A guerrilla war broke out.
28. I 1949 The Security Council, at the proposal of the USA, Norway and Cuba, adopted a resolution on the Indonesian question, in which it, in particular, “calls on the government of the Netherlands to ensure the immediate cessation of all military operations, calls on the government of the republic to order its armed followers to stop the guerrilla war and calls on both sides cooperate in restoring peace..." The USSR's proposal to withdraw Dutch troops in Indonesia to their original positions was again rejected by the Council. The Council resolution does not contain a single word of condemnation of the Dutch aggressors.
The Dutch government did not respond to this call from the Council and continued the war.
One of the reasons for such a policy of the Dutch colonialists and their unleashing of an aggressive war in Indonesia is the fact that the Security Council, which is entrusted with the main responsibility for maintaining international peace and security, due to the policies of the USA, England, France and other patrons of the Dutch colonialists, did not fulfill its duties . The creation by the Council of the “Good Offices Committee” only facilitated the preparation by the Dutch ruling circles of a new aggression against the peoples of Indonesia.
8. Incident in the Corfu Strait (Albanian issue). 10. I 1947 England raised before the Security Council the question of an incident that occurred on 22. X 1946 in the Corfu Strait, when two British destroyers sailing in the territorial waters of Albania were blown up by stray mines. The British accused Albania of planting the mines. The Security Council discussed this issue from 28. I to 9. IV. Representatives of the USA, China, France, Belgium, Colombia and Brazil supported the British accusations of Albania. Representatives of Poland and Syria indicated that the Security Council did not have direct evidence of Albania's guilt, and recommended that the issue be referred to the International Court of Justice.
The representative of the USSR spoke in defense of Albania, showing the inconsistency of the English accusation. A majority of votes were cast for the English draft resolution of the Security Council. Representatives of the USSR and Poland voted against. The resolution was rejected because unanimity was not reached among the permanent members of the Security Council.
9. IV The Security Council adopted a resolution in which England and Albania were recommended to refer the dispute to the International Court of Justice. Representatives of the USSR and Poland abstained from voting.
9. The Palestinian issue. After the Second World War, England, taking into account the military-strategic importance of Palestine, its position on the world's sea and air routes, as well as at the outlet of Middle Eastern oil to Mediterranean Sea, tried at all costs to maintain its dominance over this country. At the same time, the United States sought to oust England from its dominant position and establish its control over Palestine. At the same time, England relied, starting from 1939, mainly on Arab feudal circles, and the USA relied on Jewish bourgeois nationalists - Zionists.
30. IV 1946, the report of the Anglo-American Commission on the Palestinian Question, which was created without the knowledge of the UN, was published. The commission recommended maintaining the British Mandate indefinitely. On this basis, the so-called "Morrison plan" (see on the Palestinian issue>>), which, however, was rejected not only by Arabs and Jews, but also by the US government, which disavowed its experts. Truman's refusal to accept the "Morrison Plan" led to sharp controversy between statesmen in England and the United States. After the failure of this plan, England's policy in Palestine reached a dead end. England was forced to refer the Palestinian issue to the UN for discussion. For this purpose, a special session of the UN General Assembly was convened, which took place in New York from 28.IV to 15.V. 1947.
Under pressure from the United States and England, the agenda of the session was limited to a procedural issue: the creation and instruction of a special UN commission to prepare for the consideration of the Palestinian issue during the future session of the General Assembly. An instruction was adopted that defined the functions and powers of this commission, and the United States succeeded in rejecting the proposal of the Soviet delegation to include in the instructions a clause that would oblige the commission to prepare proposals for the immediate creation of an independent state in Palestine.
The Soviet delegate A. A. Gromyko, in his speech at the emergency session of the UN (14. V 1947), stated the bankruptcy of the mandate system, the impossibility of resolving the Palestinian issue on the basis of a mandate and the need to abolish the mandate and declare the independence of Palestine. He pointed out that the legitimate interests of the Arab and Jewish peoples of Palestine could be properly protected by the establishment in Palestine of an independent dual democratic Arab-Jewish state. However, if it is impossible - due to the deterioration of relations between Jews and Arabs - to implement this decision, A. A. Gromyko suggested considering the second option: the project of dividing Palestine into two independent democratic states- Jewish and Arabic.
The UN Commission, which completed its work on IX 1947, came to the unanimous conclusion that the Mandate for Palestine should terminate as soon as possible. Palestine, after a transition period, must gain independence and maintain its economic integrity.
In addition to these unanimously accepted recommendations, the majority of the UN commission spoke in favor of dividing Palestine into two independent states - Arab and Jewish, with the allocation of Jerusalem and some surrounding areas into a special district under the trusteeship and administration of the UN. The minority of the commission spoke in favor of the creation of a federal state (republic) in Palestine consisting of the Arab and Jewish states.
The Soviet Union and the People's Democracies pointed out that the minority's recommendations had a number of merits and advantages, but in the current situation, due to the deterioration of relations between Arabs and Jews, they were practically impossible to implement. Therefore, the delegations of these countries supported the decision of the majority of the UN commission as the only feasible one in this situation, pointing out that the creation of two democratic independent states in Palestine, along with the abolition of the mandate and the withdrawal of British troops from the country, would provide the people of Palestine with the opportunity for self-determination, national equality and peaceful coexistence.
The United States and a number of states dependent on it supported the recommendations of the majority and advocated the division of Palestine into two states, but did not at all insist on the elimination of the colonial regime.
The Arab states categorically objected to the report of the UN commission and insisted on the formation of a “unitary state” in Palestine.
As for England, its representatives at the 2nd session of the UN verbally declared their readiness to cancel the mandate, but these statements were accompanied by numerous reservations, indicating the actual reluctance of England to cooperate with the UN and implement its decisions.
On November 29, 1947, the UN General Assembly adopted a resolution based on the recommendations of the majority of the UN commission.
After the second session, England began to seek to disrupt the decisions of the Assembly, provoking a series of new armed clashes between Arabs and Jews for this purpose. British diplomats put forward a secret plan for the annexation of Palestine to Transjordan (or the division of Palestine between Arab states).
In turn, the United States changed its position and put forward a proposal to transfer Palestine to UN trusteeship. To consider this proposal, a special session of the UN General Assembly was convened, which took place in New York from April 16 to April 14, 1948. At the session, representatives of the USSR showed that the United States wanted to maintain the colonial regime in Palestine under the guise of trusteeship.
Trying to save the American plan, the representative of England made a proposal to establish the so-called in Palestine. "temporary regime" or "neutral power". The Soviet delegation showed that new English sentence essentially no different from the American one.
The proclamation of the Jewish state of Israel in Palestine (14. V 1948) showed the unreality of the plans of England and the United States. While the American delegate to the UN was still trying to defend the English proposal, it became known that Truman had made a new turn in US Palestinian policy and recognized the de facto state of Israel.
The session made only one decision: to appoint Count Folke Bernadotte, connected with the Anglo-American ruling circles, to Palestine as a UN mediator.
After the formation of the State of Israel, it was recognized by the Soviet Union, Czechoslovakia, Poland, Hungary, Romania, Yugoslavia, Finland, Uruguay, Nicaragua, Venezuela and the Union of South Africa. England and, under its influence, France and the Benelux countries refused to recognize the state of Israel.
The issue of the war that arose in Palestine between the Arab states and the state of Israel was brought up for discussion by the Security Council. Under pressure from England, the Security Council adopted 22. V, an ineffective resolution that contained only a call for a truce, without reference to Art. 39 of the UN Charter (which provides for the application of sanctions in the event of a threat to peace and violation of peace).
The Arab states rejected the call of the Security Council, and on 26. V the British proposal was accepted to call on the warring parties to establish a four-week truce on the terms proposed by the Arab states. After long negotiations, this truce came into force (11.6.1948).
To monitor compliance with the terms of the truce, UN mediator Bernadotte invited American, French and Belgian military observers to Palestine. The Soviet Union's demand for the appointment of military observers also from other member states of the Security Council was rejected by the Security Council.
In May-June 1948, secret negotiations were held between the United States and England, as a result of which a common Anglo-American policy on the Palestinian issue was once again outlined.
On the basis of the Anglo-American agreement, Bernadotte presented the following proposals to the governments of the Arab states and the state of Israel on June 28, 1948: a union was created consisting of the Arab (including the Arab part of Palestine and Transjordan) and the Jewish states; the union must coordinate not only economic activities, but also issues foreign policy and defense. In addition, significant territorial changes were envisaged.
6. VII 1948 Bernadotte's proposals were rejected by both the State of Israel and the Arab states.
The USSR representative in the Security Council A. A. Gromyko and the Ukrainian representative D. Z. Manuilsky sharply criticized Bernadotte’s proposals, pointing out that he exceeded his powers by developing a plan that contradicted the UN resolution on Palestine of November 29, 1947.
9. VII 1943, after the expiration of the truce, the Arab states resumed hostilities, but under the threat of sanctions they agreed to extend the truce indefinitely. 19. VII military operations were formally painted over. Nevertheless, in the future there were repeated cases of violation of the truce, as a result of which in August - December 1948 the Security Council more than once returned to discuss the situation in Palestine.
17. IX 1948, on the eve of the opening of the third session of the UN, Bernadotte was killed in Jerusalem. His new proposals on the Palestinian issue were published after his death. This time the question of a “union” of Israel and Transjordan was not raised, but, as in the previous project, it was proposed to annex the Arab part of Palestine and the Negev to Transjordan, i.e., essentially put these areas under the actual control of England. The United States, agreeing to the annexation of the Arab part of Palestine to Transjordan and supporting England in this matter, at the same time insisted on preserving the Negev within the state of Israel. In December 1948, the third session of the UN General Assembly rejected England's proposal to annex the Arab part of Palestine and the Negev to Transjordan.
Seeking the implementation of Bernadotte's plan and the disruption of what began on January 13, 1949 on the island. Rhodes of peace negotiations between Egypt and Israel, England transferred large military reinforcements to the Aqaba region (Transjordan) and tried to provoke a military clash with Israel in January 1949.
The Anglo-American contradictions that aggravated as a result were partially resolved by an agreement according to which England (29. I 1949) and other states of the “Western bloc” recognized the state of Israel de facto, and the United States recognized Israel and Transjordan de jure, and the state of Israel received an American loan in 100 million dollars on conditions that make it dependent on the United States. In February - April 1949, Israel concluded agreements to cease hostilities with Egypt, Transjordan, Lebanon and Syria.
On April 26, 1949, a conference opened in Lausanne with the participation of Israel, the four indicated Arab states and members of the Conciliation Commission, formed by decision of the third session of the UN. The conference failed to resolve issues related to the peaceful settlement and which were the object of contradictions between England and the United States (territorial issues, the problem of refugees, etc.). These issues have been submitted for discussion to the fourth session of the UN General Assembly. 11. V 1949 Israel is admitted to membership of the United Nations.
III. UN Performance Assessment
There are serious shortcomings in the work of the UN. “These shortcomings,” said the head of the Soviet delegation A. Ya. Vyshinsky in his speech at the plenary meeting of the Assembly on 18.IX. 1947, “must be revealed and named with all decisiveness and consistency. They were expressed mainly in deviations from the most important principles laid down in the basis of the organization, and in some cases in direct violation of a number of important decisions of the General Assembly.
These shortcomings are largely the result of the desire of such influential member states of the United Nations as the United States, as well as Great Britain, to use the organization in their narrow group interests, neglecting the interests of international cooperation based on the principles expressed in the charter. The policy of using the organization by individual states in their own selfish, narrowly understood interests leads to the undermining of its authority, just as happened with the League of Nations of sad memory.
On the other hand, the unsatisfactory state of affairs in the United Nations, which negatively affects its authority, was the result of the organization being ignored by the above states, which are trying to implement a number of practical measures outside and bypassing the United Nations."
The most important shortcomings are the unsatisfactory progress in implementing the Assembly decision of December 14, 1946 on the general reduction of armaments and the unsatisfactory state of affairs with the ban on atomic weapons and other main means of mass destruction. Vivid examples of violating the principles of the UN and ignoring it are the so-called. "Truman Doctrine" and "Marshall Plan". What is abnormal is the fact that foreign armed forces continue to be present on the territories of UN member states, serving as a means of political interference in their internal affairs. The events in Indonesia cannot be qualified otherwise than as an act of aggression committed against the Indonesian people by Holland, a UN member state. Without showing due attention to eliminating the unsatisfactory state of affairs in resolving these issues, some influential powers (USA, England) are showing special interest in the Iranian issue, which continued to remain on the agenda of the Security Council long after its complete settlement, as well as after the appeal of the Iran with a request to remove this issue from the Council's agenda.
The unsatisfactory situation in the United Nations is not accidental, but is a consequence of the attitude towards the organization on the part of a number of member countries of this organization - and primarily the USA and Great Britain. This attitude does not contribute to the strengthening of the United Nations and does not serve the cause of international cooperation. On the contrary, it leads to the weakening and shattering of the United Nations, which undoubtedly corresponds to the plans and intentions of the reactionary circles of the above countries, under whose influence the corresponding policy is being pursued.
Diplomatic Dictionary. - M.: State Publishing House of Political Literature. A. Ya. Vyshinsky, S. A. Lozovsky. 1948 .
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"History and goals of the UN"
- Historical summary
- European summary
- UN goals
- Human rights
- Economic development and humanitarian assistance
- A few more words about the UN
The United Nations (UN) is an intergovernmental system of association in order to create comfortable international communication. It replaced the ineffective League of Nations. This formation began to exist October 24, 1945, in order to prevent the recurrence of such an incident as a global war. Its membership is slightly less than 200 states.
The location of the headquarters of the interethnic association settled in Manhattan. Other important consulates are located in Geneva, Nairobi and Vienna. The budget is financed from the resources of the participating states. Contributions are both mandatory and voluntary. The objectives of this association are to promote global harmony and security, respect for human rights, assistance to social and economic development, nature conservation, as well as providing humanitarian support in the event of famine, natural disasters and armed conflicts.
During World War II, Roosevelt initiated negotiations on a successor to the League of Nations. The new body's charter was developed at a meeting in April–June 1945. This charter came into force on October 24, 1945, and the UN came into existence. UN Mission for World Peace was a challenge in the first decades. A cold war broke out in the world between the USSR and the USA and their allies, respectively.
The organization received Nobel Prize World in 2001, as well as a number of its officials and institutions were also awarded the prize. Other assessments of the UN's effectiveness have been mixed. Some commentators believe that the organization is an important factor in peace and human development, while others call the organization ineffective, corrupt.
Historical summary
Before the creation of the UN, a number of international institutions and conferences were formed to resolve conflicts between countries: International Committee Red Cross and the Hague Convention of 1899 and 1907 respectively. After the catastrophic loss of life in World War I, the Paris Peace Conference created the League of Nations to maintain harmony between countries. However, the League lacked representation for the colonial peoples (then half the world's population) and significant participation from several major powers, including the USA, USSR, Germany and Japan. The authority could not impose restrictions on the Japanese invasion of Manchuria, the Japanese invasion of China, or stop Adolf Hitler's German plans that ended in World War II. 
United Nations Declaration
The initial organizational plan for the newly formed international association began under the auspices of the US State Department in 1939. Roosevelt authored the Declaration of the United Nations, together with Churchill and Hopkins. During a meeting at the White House on December 29, 1941, Soviet proposals were included, but no role was left for France. Roosevelt became the founder of the term United Nations.
UN goals
Peacekeeping and security operations.
The UN, after approval by the Security Council, sends peacekeepers to regions where armed conflicts have recently stopped or paused. This was done in order to ensure compliance with the terms of the peace agreements and prevent a resumption of hostilities. The world association does not have a personal army at its disposal. Peacekeeping operations are carried out by borrowing from states within the represented community.
Human rights.
The UN is considered the main community that sets as its goals the promotion and development of respect for human rights, excluding various types of discrimination. Member states are required to make decisions, both general and individual, in order to protect their rights as people.
In 1948, the General Assembly established the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, prepared by a committee headed by Franklin D. Roosevelt's widow Eleanor and French lawyer Cassin. The document proclaims fundamental civil, political and economic rights common to all people, although its effectiveness in achieving these goals has been debated since its composition. The Declaration serves as a common standard for all peoples and all countries.
In 1979, the General Assembly established the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against the Fairer Sex, followed by the Convention on the Rights of the Child in 1989.
Happy ending cold war, the impetus for action in the field of human rights has received new impetus. Human Rights was established in 1993 to monitor human rights issues.
Economic development and humanitarian assistance.
Another main goal The UN serves to control and organize cooperation between states and solve their problems among themselves. Numerous bodies have been created to work towards this goal. In 2000, 192 United Nations member states agreed to achieve the eight Millennium Development Goals by 2015.
The United Nations Development Program (UNDP), a grant-based technical assistance organization founded in 1945, is one of the leading bodies in the field of transnational formation. The organization also monitors the Human Capability Index, a comparative measure of countries ranking by poverty, literacy, education, average duration life and other factors. The Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO), also founded in 1945, promotes agricultural development and food security. UNICEF was founded in 1946 to provide assistance to European children after the end of hostilities. The Foundation has expanded its mission to provide assistance worldwide and support the Convention on the Rights of the Child.
The assistance between the World Bank and the International Monetary Fund is an independent, specialized institution and plays an observer role, according to the text of the 1947 agreement. They were originally formed separately from the UN through the Bretton Woods Agreement in 1944. The World Bank provides loans for global development, and in parallel, the IMF helps strengthen interethnic cooperation in the economy and provides emergency loans to debtor countries.
Within the framework of interethnic cooperation, there is an association related to public health. In which key importance is given to international health problems and the elimination of diseases. It is one of the largest UN agencies. In 1980, the agency announced that smallpox eradication had been completed. In the decades that followed, WHO largely eradicated polio and leprosy. The United Interethnic Community Project on HIV/AIDS (UNAIDS), launched in 1996, coordinates the issue of the AIDS epidemic.
Along with the international association - the Red Cross, the UN often represents the main significance in the implementation of emergency assistance, in extreme situations. The World Food Program (WFP), established in the early 60s, provides food support as a result of “hunger” times, natural disasters and military contradictions. The association reports that it feeds an average of 90 million people in 80 countries each year. The Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR), established in 1950, works to protect those in need within the authority's mandate. UNHCR and WFP activities are financed through voluntary contributions from states, corporations and individuals, although UNHCR administrative costs are paid from the UN core budget.
A few more words about the UN
Since the creation of the UN, more than 80 colonies have gained independence. The UN is working towards decolonization.
Since their inception, UN programs have been aimed at protecting and improving the environment. The UN oversees environmental issues. Initially, this program was not very successful. In the late 80s of the last century, UNEP and the World Meteorological Organization (WMO) became another part of the UN. PTO evaluates research reports related to global warming.
The General Assembly sets the amount of the regular contribution. This amount is based on each country's capacity (GNI), adjusted for external debt and low per capita income. That is, for each individual state the amount of contributions varies. The two-year budget for 2012–13 was $5.512 billion in total.
The Assembly established the principle that the UN should not be overly dependent on any one member to finance its activities. Thus, there is a cap, a maximum amount that any member can allocate to the regular budget. In December 2000, the Assembly revised the scale of assessments in response to pressure from the United States. As part of this review, the budget ceiling was reduced from 25% to 22%. For the least developed countries(LDC) a maximum rate of 0.01% applies.
A significant portion of the UN's expenditures address its core mission of peace and security, and this budget is assessed separately from the main one. Maintaining a peaceful existence cost $827 billion in fiscal years 2015-16.
The United Nations (UN) is an international organization created to maintain and strengthen international peace and security and develop cooperation between states.
The foundations of its activities and structure were developed during the Second World War by the leading participants in the Anti-Hitler Coalition. The name "United Nations", proposed by US President Franklin D. Roosevelt, was first used on January 1, 1942 in the Declaration of the United Nations, when, during World War II, representatives of 26 nations pledged on behalf of their governments to continue the common struggle against the Axis powers.
It is noteworthy that earlier the first international organizations were created for cooperation in certain areas: the International Telegraph Union (1865), the Universal Postal Union (1874), etc. Both organizations are today specialized agencies of the UN.
The First International Peace Conference was convened in The Hague in 1899 to develop agreements on the peaceful resolution of crises, the prevention of war, and the rules of warfare. The conference adopted the Convention for the Peaceful Settlement of International Disputes and established the Permanent Court of Arbitration, which began its work in 1902.
World Food Program (WFP);
United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD);
United Nations Program for international control on Drugs (UNDCP);
United Nations Program for settlements(UN-Habitat; UNGNA);
United Nations Environment Program (UNEP);
United Nations Volunteers (UNV);
United Nations Capital Development Fund (UNCDF);
International Trade Center (ITC);
United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA).
Educational and research institutions:
United Nations Institute for Disarmament Research (UNIDIR);
United Nations Interregional Crime and Justice Research Institute (UNICRI);
United Nations Research Institute for Social Development (UNRISD);
United Nations Institute for Training and Research (UNITAR).
Other UN divisions:
United Nations System Staff College (UNSC);
International Computing Center (ICC);
Joint United Nations Program on HIV/AIDS (UNAIDS);
United Nations University (UNU);
United Nations Office for Project Services (UNOPS), UN Women.
Commission on Narcotic Drugs;
Commission on Population and Development;
Commission on Science and Technology for Development;
Commission on the Status of Women;
Commission on Crime Prevention and Criminal Justice4
Commission on Sustainable Development;
Commission for Social Development;
Statistical Commission;
United Nations Forum on Forests.
Regional commissions of ECOSOC:
Economic Commission for Europe (ECE);
Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific (ESCAP);
Economic and Social Commission for Western Asia (ESCWA);
Economic Commission for Africa (ECA);
Economic Commission for Latin America and Caribbean(ECLAC).
ECOSOC Standing Committees: Committee on Non-Governmental Organizations, Committee on Negotiations with Intergovernmental Institutions, Committee on Program and Coordination.
Special bodies of ECOSOC: Special working group open-ended in computer science.
Expert bodies consisting of government experts:
United Nations Group of Experts on Geographical Names;
United Nations Committee of Experts on Global Geospatial Information Management;
Committee of Experts on the Transport of Dangerous Goods and the Globally Harmonized System of Classification and Labeling of Chemicals;
Intergovernmental Working Group of Experts on international standards accounting and reporting.
Expert bodies consisting of members serving in their personal capacity: Committee on Development Policy, Committee on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights, Committee of Experts on Public Administration, Committee of Experts on International Cooperation in Taxation, Permanent Forum on Indigenous Issues.
Bodies associated with the Council: Executive Board of the International Institute for the Advancement of Women, United Nations Population Prize Committee, Coordinating Council of the Joint United Nations Program on HIV/AIDS, International Narcotics Control Board.
When the international trusteeship system was created, the UN Charter established the Trusteeship Council as one of the main organs of the United Nations, which was entrusted with the task of overseeing the administration of trust territories falling under the trusteeship system.
The main objectives of the system were to promote the improvement of the conditions of the population of the Trust Territories and their progressive development towards self-government or independence. The Trusteeship Council consists of five permanent members of the Security Council - the Russian Federation, the United States, Great Britain, France and the People's Republic of China. The objectives of the trusteeship system were achieved when all trust territories achieved self-government or independence, either as independent states or through unification with neighboring independent countries.
In accordance with the Statute, the Trusteeship Council is empowered to examine and discuss reports of the Administering Authority relating to the political, economic and social progress of the peoples of the Trust Territories and educational progress, and, in consultation with the Administering Authority, to examine petitions coming from the Trust Territories and to arrange periodic and other special visits to trust territories.
The Trusteeship Council suspended its work on November 1, 1994, after the last remaining United Nations Trust Territory, Palau, gained independence on October 1, 1994. By resolution adopted on 25 May 1994, the Council amended its rules of procedure to abolish the obligation to hold annual meetings and agreed to meet as often as necessary by its decision or that of its President, or at the request of a majority of its members or the General Assembly, or the Security Council.
International Court.
It is the main judicial organ of the United Nations. It was established by the UN Charter to achieve one of the main purposes of the UN: “to carry out by peaceful means, in accordance with the principles of justice and international law, the settlement or settlement of international disputes or situations which may lead to a breach of the peace.” The Court operates in accordance with the Statute, which is part of the Charter, and its Rules of Procedure. It began operating in 1946, replacing the Permanent Court of International Justice (PCIJ), which was established in 1920 under the auspices of the League of Nations. The seat of the Court is the Peace Palace in The Hague (Netherlands).
Secretariat.
The Secretariat is an international staff located in agencies around the world and carrying out the varied day-to-day work of the Organization. It serves other main UN bodies and implements the programs and policies adopted by them. The Secretariat is headed by the Secretary General, who is appointed by the General Assembly on the recommendation of the Security Council for a period of 5 years with the possibility of re-election for a new term.
The responsibilities performed by the Secretariat are as varied as the issues the UN deals with, from leading peacekeeping operations to mediating international disputes, from compiling surveys of economic and social trends and issues to preparing studies on human rights and sustainable development. In addition, Secretariat staff guide and inform the world's media about the work of the UN; organizes international conferences on issues of global importance; monitors the implementation of decisions of UN bodies and translates speeches and documents into the official languages of the Organization.
UN specialized agencies and related bodies. UN specialized agencies are independent international organizations linked to the United Nations by a special cooperation agreement. Specialized institutions are created on the basis of intergovernmental agreements.
Specialized institutions:
Universal Postal Union (UPU);
World Bank Group;
International Association Development (IDA);
International Finance Corporation (IFC);
International Bank for Reconstruction and Development (IBRD);
International Center for the Settlement of Investment Disputes (ICSID);
Multilateral Investment Guarantee Agency (MIGA);
World Meteorological Organization (WMO);
World Health Organization (WHO);
World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO);
World Tourism Organization (UNWTO);
International maritime organization(IMO);
International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO);
International Labor Organization (ILO);
International Monetary Fund (IMF);
International Telecommunication Union (ITU);
International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD);
United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO);
United Nations Industrial Development Organization (UNIDO);
Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO).
UN related organizations:
Worldwide trade Organization(WTO);
International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA);
Comprehensive Nuclear Test Ban Treaty Organization (CTBTO);
Prohibition Organization chemical weapons(OPCW).
Convention secretariats:
Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities;
United Nations Convention to Combat Desertification in Those Countries Experiencing Severe Drought and/or Desertification, Particularly in Africa (UNCCD);
United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC).
UN Trust Funds:
United Nations Democracy Fund (UNDEF);
United Nations Fund for International Partnerships (UNFIP).
The leadership of the UN is represented by the Chairman of the General Assembly and the Secretary General.
President of the General Assembly. Opens and closes each plenary meeting of the General Assembly of the United Nations, completely directs the work of the General Assembly and maintains order at its meetings.
Secretary General. Main administrative executive, is a symbol of the United Nations and a spokesman for the interests of the peoples of the world.
According to the Charter, the Secretary-General performs the functions assigned to him by the Security Council, the General Assembly, the Economic and Social Council and other bodies of the United Nations.
The Secretary General is appointed by the General Assembly on the recommendation of the Security Council for a period of 5 years with the possibility of re-election for a new term.
Currently, there is a gentlemen's agreement in force according to which a citizen of a state that is a permanent member of the UN Security Council (Russia, USA, Great Britain, France and China) cannot be UN Secretary-General.
UN Secretaries General:
UN member states.
The original members of the UN included the 50 states that signed the UN Charter at the San Francisco Conference on June 26, 1945, as well as Poland. Since 1946, about 150 states have been admitted to the UN (but a number of states, such as Yugoslavia and Czechoslovakia, have split into independent states). On July 14, 2011, with the admission of South Sudan to the UN, the number of UN member states was 193.
Only internationally recognized states that are subjects of international law can be members of the UN. According to the UN Charter, membership of the UN is open to all “peace-loving states which accept the obligations contained in the Charter and which, in the judgment of the Organization, are able and willing to fulfill these obligations.” “The admission of any such state to Membership of the Organization shall be effected by resolution of the General Assembly upon the recommendation of the Security Council.”
To admit a new member, the support of at least 9 of the 15 member states of the Security Council is required (while 5 permanent members - Russia, USA, Great Britain, France and China - can veto the decision). Once the recommendation is approved by the Security Council, the matter is referred to the General Assembly, where a two-thirds majority is required to pass an accession resolution. The new state becomes a member of the UN from the date of the General Assembly resolution.
Among the original members of the UN were countries that were not full-fledged internationally recognized states: along with the USSR, its two union republics - the Belarusian SSR and the Ukrainian SSR; British colony - British India (divided into now independent members - India, Pakistan, Bangladesh and Myanmar); US-Philippines protectorate; as well as the virtually independent dominions of Great Britain - Canada, the Commonwealth of Australia, New Zealand, and the Union of South Africa.
In September 2011, the Palestinian Authority (the partially recognized State of Palestine) submitted an application for membership in the UN, but the satisfaction of this application was postponed until the Palestinian-Israeli settlement and general international recognition of Palestine.
In addition to member status, there is UN observer status, which may precede accession to full membership. Observer status is assigned by voting in the General Assembly, the decision is made by a simple majority. UN observers, as well as members of UN specialized agencies (for example, UNESCO), can be both recognized and partially recognized states and government entities. Thus, the observers at the moment are the Holy See and the State of Palestine, and for some time there were, for example, Austria, Switzerland, Italy, Japan, Finland, and other countries that had the right to join, but temporarily did not use it for various reasons.
To organize the work of bodies in the UN system, official and working languages have been established. The list of these languages is defined in the rules of procedure of each body. All major UN documents, including resolutions, are published in official languages. Verbatim reports of meetings are published in working languages and speeches delivered in any official language are translated into them.
The official languages of the United Nations are: English, French, Spanish, Russian, Chinese, Arabic. If a delegation wishes to speak in a language that is not an official one, it must provide oral or written translation into one of the official languages.
Calculating the UN budget is a process in which all members of the organization are involved. The budget is put forward by the UN Secretary-General after agreement with the divisions of the organization and based on their requirements. The proposed budget is subsequently reviewed by the 16-member Administrative and Budgetary Advisory Committee and the 34-member Program and Coordination Committee. The committees' recommendations are forwarded to the General Assembly's Committee on Management and Budget, which includes all member states, which again carefully reviews the budget. Finally, it is submitted to the General Assembly for final consideration and approval.
The main criterion used by member states in the General Assembly is the country's solvency. Solvency is determined based on the amount of gross national product(GNP) and a number of adjustments, including adjustments for external debt and per capita income.
The United Nations (UN) is an international association that was created to improve ties between states and the security of the community of countries.
The UN is:
- A universal platform for international meetings.
- Guaranteeing the security of the commonwealth of countries.
- The main link of existing diplomacy.
The idea of developing this organization was formulated during the Second World War, in connection with the strengthening of the position of fascist Germany. The first mention of this dates back to January 1, 1942 (Declaration of the United Nations). The UN Charter was soon agreed upon (mid-1945).
Initially, 50 states were included in the country's commonwealth. On October 24, 1945, the UN Charter came into force. This date is considered to be United Nations Day.
UN structure.
The United Nations includes the following divisions:
- Security Council. This is the main government body of the UN, which bears full responsibility for everything that happens.
- Secretariat. Includes the executive branch. The secretariat is headed by the Secretary General.
During the entire existence of the organization, only 8 general secretaries have changed. At the moment, this is Ban Ki-moon (representative of the Republic of Korea).
- International Court. Includes the judiciary. In this case, it is not specific people who are put on trial, but states.
- Economic and Social Council. Responsible for economic and social policy in the field of international cooperation.
- Postal Administration. Engaged in the production of postage stamps, especially for the UN.
- Specialized institutions. These are separate international organizations that were created by the UN. This can include: UNESCO (education, science and culture), IAEA (International Atomic Energy Agency) and others.
Official languages of the UN.
To improve the organization of UN activities, some official languages were established in which communication within the organization is conducted.
In this regard, the following official languages of the United Nations have been defined:
- English language.
- Russian language.
- French.
- Spanish language.
- Arabic language.
- Chinese.
In these, and only in these languages, all negotiations are conducted, reports on meetings are written and published official documents. There are no exceptions.
Which states are members of the UN?
As already mentioned, the Organization initially included 50 countries (1945). And already in 1946, another 150 states were included in the UN, a number of which were divided into independent ones (for example, Czechoslovakia).
Currently, the United Nations includes 193 states.
But not all states can be included in the UN. You can become a member of the UN only if the country is given international recognition. All this is spelled out in the main document of the United Nations - the UN Charter.
It is important that a country joining the UN accept this Charter, and the UN countries are confident that all clauses of the Charter will be observed by this country. Such decisions are taken by the General Assembly with the permission of the Security Council.
Plus, countries that are permanent members of the UN (Russia, USA, UK, France and China) have the opportunity to veto the decision.
History of the creation of the UN
The UN system began more than 100 years ago as a mechanism for governing the global community. In the mid-nineteenth century, the first international intergovernmental organizations appeared. The emergence of these organizations was caused by two mutually exclusive reasons. Firstly, the formation, as a result of bourgeois-democratic revolutions, of aspiring sovereign states striving for national independence, and, secondly, the successes of the scientific and technological revolution, which gave rise to a tendency towards interdependence and interconnectedness of states.
As you know, the slogan of the inalienability and inviolability of the sovereignty of the people and the state was one of the most significant during the bourgeois-democratic revolutions in many European countries. The new ruling class sought to consolidate its dominance with the help of a strong, independent state. At the same time, the development of market relations stimulated the acceleration of scientific and technological progress, including in the field of instruments of production.
Scientific and technological progress, in turn, has led to the fact that integration processes have penetrated into the economies of all developed countries in Europe and have caused a comprehensive connection of nations with each other. Desire to develop within sovereign state and the impossibility of doing this without broad cooperation with other independent states - led to the emergence of such a form of interstate relations as international intergovernmental organizations.
At first, the main goal of interstate cooperation within the framework of international organizations could be considered control over integration processes. At the first stage, intergovernmental organizations were assigned a technical-organizational rather than a political function. They were called upon to develop integration trends with a view to engaging Member States. The usual area of cooperation is communications, transport, relations with the colonies.
The question of the emergence of the first international organization still remains controversial. International lawyers most often refer to the Central Commission for the Navigation of the Rhine, which arose in 1815, as such. In addition to European and American commissions for international rivers, characterized by strictly specialized competences, in the 19th century so-called quasi-colonial organizations were created, such as for example West Irian, which did not last long, as well as administrative unions.
It was administrative unions that turned out to be the most suitable form of development of intergovernmental organizations.
In the image and likeness of administrative unions, the main task of which was the cooperation of states in special areas, intergovernmental organizations developed over the course of a century.
The beginning of the twentieth century marked the end of the quiet development of many states. The contradictions inherent in the beginning of the development of capitalism gave rise to a world war. The First World War not only delayed the development of international organizations, but also led to the dissolution of many of them. At the same time, the awareness of the destructiveness of world wars for the entire human civilization influenced the emergence of projects for the creation of international organizations of political orientation in order to prevent wars.
The idea of creating a global intergovernmental organization to prevent wars and maintain peace has occupied the minds of mankind for a long time.
One of these projects formed the basis of the League of Nations (1919), which never became an effective instrument of political and international cooperation.
In general, during the period from the First to the Second World War, the development of problems of organizing international peace and security moved very slowly.
The Second World War, due to its scale and the methods of terror used by the fascist armies, gave a powerful impetus to government and public initiatives to organize peace and security.
At the governmental level, the question of creating an international security organization arose, in fact, from the first days of the war.
There is disagreement in the scientific literature about which of the allies and in which document was the first to propose the creation of the United Nations. Western scientists called this document the Atlantic Charter of Roosevelt and Churchill of August 14, 1941. Soviet researchers quite rightly referred to the Soviet-Polish Declaration of December 4, 1941.
An important step towards the creation of the UN was the conference of the allied powers in Moscow in 1943.
In a declaration dated October 30, 1943, signed by representatives of the USSR, USA, Great Britain and China, these powers declared that “they recognize the need for the establishment, as soon as possible, of a general international organization for the maintenance of international peace and security, based on the principle of the sovereign equality of all peace-loving states, of which all such states, large and small, can be members."
The peculiarities of this organization should be called a pronounced political character, manifested in its orientation towards issues of peace, security, and extremely broad competence in all areas of interstate cooperation. These characteristics were not characteristic of previous intergovernmental organizations.
The further course of preparation of the new international intergovernmental structure is well known and described in detail in many historical and legal studies. The most important stages in the creation of the UN are rightly called the conference in Dumbarton Oaks (1944), at which the basic principles and parameters of the mechanism of activity of the future organization were agreed upon. The Crimean Conference in Yalta in February 1945, with the participation of the heads of three governments - Soviet, British and American - discussed the package of documents proposed by the conference in Dumbarton Oaks, supplementing it in a number of points, and decided to convene a United Nations conference in the USA in April 1945 of the year.
This decision was implemented at the San Francisco Conference, held from April 25 to June 26, 1945, which culminated in the adoption of the founding documents of the United Nations. On October 24, 1945, after the deposit of instruments of ratification by the five permanent members of the Security Council and the majority of other states, the UN Charter entered into force. by virtue of.
The emergence of a new international organization, the creation of which was associated with expectations of lasting peace, also gave hope for the development of cooperation among all states in matters of economic and social development.
It should be noted that initially the allied states’ ideas about the scope of the competence of the new intergovernmental organization largely did not coincide. The Soviet government viewed the UN primarily as an organization for maintaining international peace and security, designed to protect humanity from a new world war. And the allied states considered this orientation as one of the most important, which made it possible to agree quite without conflict on the creation of the Security Council - a body with broad competence in matters of peace and security. At the same time, the Soviet draft of the UN Charter, proposed at Dumbarton Oaks, provided that “the organization should be precisely a security organization and economic, social and generally humanitarian issues should not be included in its competence; special issues should be created for these issues,” special organizations".
Representatives of Western states from the very beginning viewed the UN as an organization with broad competence that promotes cooperation between states in the field of economics, social security, science, culture, etc. In other words, according to the proposals of the allied states, the UN should combine control over the integration of member states in both political and socio-economic issues. It was stipulated that the Organization's competence in both areas should be equal.
This proposal was opposed by a number of states. The motivation for refusing to grant the UN broad functions in the economic sphere was different and was most fully expressed in the positions of the USSR and Great Britain.
Soviet representatives expressed the opinion that the regulation of economic relations is a matter of purely domestic competence. Proposals for international legal regulation of economic relations contradict the principles of respect for state sovereignty and non-interference in the internal affairs of states.
Great Britain expressed the position of those states that believed that the creation of an intergovernmental organization in the economic sphere was incompatible with the principles of market liberalism. First of all, integrity private property and restrictions on interference in the internal economic relations of states.
Thus, on the issue of the UN’s competence in the socio-economic sphere, the founding states did not have unity. Two diametrically opposed approaches were expressed - about the broad competence of the Organization in this matter and about the illegality of its powers in the sphere of interstate socio-economic development. Ultimately, after using diplomatic measures, a compromise decision was made to give the UN the function of coordinating interstate socio-economic cooperation. Coordination objectives were formulated in general form and are entrusted to the Economic and Social Council. Unlike the Security Council, ECOSOC initially had very limited powers in its area. The latter circumstance did not allow the UN to become a serious center for cooperation between states in socio-economic issues. This area international relations was complex and included a truly immense number of interstate relationships. For these reasons, coordination of economic interstate cooperation from single center seemed unlikely. The approach from the position of functional decentralization was called more realistic.
Due to the fact that the structural parameters of the UN itself for these processes turned out to be narrow, it was necessary to create a system of intergovernmental institutions, for which the UN acted as a coordination center. This system includes existing and newly created specialized intergovernmental organizations.
The experience of the League of Nations in this matter was taken into account in the UN Charter, which declared in Articles 57 and 63 that specialized interstate institutions establish links with the UN by concluding special agreements with the UN ECOSOC.
organization united nation interstate
Thus, specialized interstate institutions remained independent intergovernmental organizations, their relationship with the UN was in the nature of cooperation and coordination of actions.
In 1946, the International Labor Organization (Geneva 1919) - the ILO came under the auspices of the UN, in 1947 - the oldest international organization - the International Telecommunication Union (ITU, 1865, Geneva), in 1948 - the Universal Postal Union (UPU, 1874, Berlin) , in 1961 - World Meteorological Organization (WMO, 1878, Geneva).
During these same years, new intergovernmental structures were formed. In 1944, the creation of a financial and economic group of the UN system began. The International Monetary Fund (IMF) began to operate, the statutory goal of which was to ensure orderly relations in the monetary field, overcoming competitive depreciation of currencies, and the International Bank for Reconstruction and Development (IBRD), designed to assist the restoration and development of member states. Subsequently, the IBRD served as the basis for the creation of a group of organizations that made up the World Bank (WB). The IB includes three structures with identical mechanisms and similar functions: the MMRD itself, the International Finance Corporation (IFC, 1956), which aims to provide assistance in financing private enterprises, and the International Development Association (IDA, 1960), aimed at providing assistance to developing countries for preferential terms. The World Bank operates in close connection with the IMF, and all its organizations are bound by cooperation agreements at the UN.
In 1946, the following intergovernmental organizations were created - the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO, Paris), the World Health Organization (WHO, Geneva), and the UN International Refugee Organization (IRA, ceased to exist in 1952 ). In the same year, UN contacts were established with the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO, Rome 1945). In 1947, the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO, Montreal, 1944) received the status of a specialized agency. In subsequent years, the process of creating specialized institutions was not so intensive; in 1958, the International Maritime Organization (IMO, London) appeared, in 1967 - the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO, Geneva), in 19777 - the International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD) ). The "youngest" specialized agency of the UN is the United Nations Industrial Development Organization (UNIDO), created in 1967 as a subsidiary body of the UN. Within the framework of UNIDO, back in 1975, a decision was made to transform it into a specialized agency of the UN; big job by production constituent document- Charter, and after its ratification by 80 member states, UNIDO received this status in 1985.
In the UN system, the position of two international organizations - the IAEA and the GAATT - is distinguished by a certain uniqueness. The International Atomic Energy Agency (Vienna, 1956) operates under the auspices of the UN, as it is connected with the latter not through ECOSOC, but through the General Assembly. The UN's connection is more complicated with the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade, which is not formally a specialized agency, but is linked to the UN system through agreements with the Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD, 1966) and the World Bank group. The development of GATT involves the creation of a new international organization in the field of trade.
In the course of the functioning of the UN system, which included the already mentioned elements of the UN, specialized agencies, the IAEA and the GATT, there is a need to create intergovernmental institutions of a special kind. Their creation was caused by the changing needs of international economic and social cooperation, which tends to deepen and expand. In addition, in the second half of the twentieth century, interstate cooperation was powerfully influenced by, firstly. The national liberation movement of colonial peoples, secondly, the emergence of problems classified as global - prevention nuclear war, demographic, food, energy, environmental problems.
The need to solve these problems has caused characteristic structural changes in the UN system. First of all, this was reflected in the fact that within the UN itself, subsidiary bodies with the structure and functions of intergovernmental organizations and having independent sources of funding appeared. The subsidiary bodies of the UN, created by resolution of the General Assembly, include: the UN Children's Fund (UNICEF, 1946), created to assist children of post-war Europe, and subsequently colonial and post-colonial countries, the Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD, 1966), designed to promote trade between countries at different levels of economic development. The United Nations Development Program (UNDP, 1965) aims to provide technical and pre-investment assistance to developing countries.
So, to date, a stable UN system has been formed, which includes the main bodies:
UN General Assembly,
UN Security Council,
UN Economic and Social Council,
UN Trusteeship Council,
International Court of Justice, UN Secretariat.
The system also includes specialized institutions:
International Monetary Fund,
International Bank for Reconstruction and Development,
International Finance Corporation,
International Development Association,
International Maritime Organization,
International Civil Aviation Organization,
The International Labour Organization,
International Telecommunication Union,
Universal Postal Union,
United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization,
World Health Organization,
World Intellectual Property Organization,
United Nations Industrial Development Organization,
Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations,
World Meteorological Organization,
International Fund for Agricultural Development,
International Atomic Energy Agency
Areas of activity of the UN and its bodies
The directions of the UN's activities are determined to a greater extent by the profile of certain bodies and institutions of the system. Therefore, it is necessary to consider the areas of activity not of the UN as a whole, but to consider the powers and activities of each of them, as well as those issues that do not fall within their competence, or in matters in which there are restrictions on authority.
The UN General Assembly has broad powers. In accordance with the Charter, it can discuss any issues or matters, including those related to the powers and functions of any of the UN bodies, and, with the exception of Article 12, make recommendations to UN members and (or) the UN Security Council on any such issues and affairs. The UN General Assembly is authorized to consider the general principles of cooperation in the maintenance of international peace and security, including the principles governing disarmament and arms regulation, and to make recommendations regarding these principles. It is also authorized to discuss any questions relating to the maintenance of international peace and security brought before it by any State, including States members and non-Members of the United Nations, or the United Nations Security Council, and to make recommendations in relation to any such questions to the State or States concerned or to the Council Safety before and after discussion. However, any such matter on which action needs to be taken is referred by the UN General Assembly to the Security Council before and after discussion. The UN General Assembly cannot make recommendations relating to any dispute or situation in which the Security Council is exercising in relation to it the functions assigned to it by the UN Charter, unless the Security Council itself requests it. The UN General Assembly organizes studies and makes recommendations to promote cooperation in the fields of economic, social, cultural, educational, health, promotes the implementation of human rights and fundamental freedoms for all, without distinction as to race, sex, language or religion. The General Assembly receives and considers annual and special reports of the Security Council, as well as reports of other UN bodies, considers and approves the UN budget. It has the power to make only recommendations which, with the exception of decisions on budgetary and procedural matters, are not binding on UN members. On the recommendation of the Security Council, it appoints the UN Secretary-General, admits new members to the UN, and resolves issues of suspending the exercise of the rights and privileges of member states and their expulsion from the UN. The UN General Assembly elects non-permanent members of the Security Council, members of ECOSOC, the Trusteeship Council, and the International Court of Justice.
The UN Security Council is the main permanent political body of the UN, which, according to the UN Charter, has primary responsibility for maintaining international peace and security. The Council is vested with broad powers in the peaceful settlement of international disputes, preventing military clashes between states, suppressing acts of aggression and other violations of peace and restoring international peace. According to the UN Charter, only the Security Council and no other UN body or official has the right to make decisions on the conduct of operations using the UN Armed Forces, as well as to decide issues related to the creation and use of the UN Armed Forces, in particular, such as the definition of tasks and functions of the armed forces, their composition and strength, command structure, duration of stay in areas of operations, as well as issues of management of operations and determination of the procedure for their financing. To put pressure on a state whose actions pose a threat to international peace or constitute a violation of the peace, the Council may decide and require UN members to take measures not related to the use of armed forces, for example, such as a complete or partial interruption of economic relations, railway, sea, air, postal, telegraph, radio and other means of communication, as well as the severance of diplomatic relations. If such measures are considered insufficient by the Council, it is authorized to take action involving the use of air, sea and land forces. These actions may include demonstrations, blockades, and operations by the armed forces of UN members. The Council makes recommendations on the admission of states to membership of the UN, on the expulsion of UN members who systematically violate the principles of the UN Charter, on the suspension of the exercise of rights and privileges belonging to a UN member if it takes preventive or enforcement actions against this member. The Council makes recommendations to the UN General Assembly regarding the appointment of the UN Secretary-General, elects together with it the members of the International Court of Justice and can take measures to enforce a decision of this Court that a particular state has refused to comply with. According to the charter, the Council can, in addition to recommendations, make legally binding decisions, the implementation of which is ensured by the coercive force of all UN member states. During the entire existence of the UN, there was practically no important international event that threatened the peace and security of peoples or caused disputes and disagreements between states that were not brought to the attention of the Council, and a significant number of them became the subject of consideration at meetings of the Security Council.
The UN Economic and Social Council (ECOSOC) is also one of the main organs of the UN, which, under the leadership of the UN General Assembly, coordinates the economic and social activities of the UN, UN specialized agencies, as well as numerous UN bodies. ECOSOC has broad responsibilities multiple functions coordination and development of cooperation between states with different social systems in such important economic and social areas of their relationships as economic development, world trade, industrialization. Development of natural resources, international protection of human rights and freedoms, status of women, population, social security, science and technology, crime prevention and much more. ECOSOC is called upon, according to the UN Charter, to undertake research, draw up reports, make recommendations on issues of international, economic, social, cultural cooperation between states, promote observance and respect for human rights, convene international conferences and symposia, prepare draft conventions on issues within its competence for presentation The General Assembly, enter into agreements with specialized UN agencies that determine their relations with the UN, take measures to receive reports from them and information from UN members on issues within its competence. It should serve as a central forum for discussion of international economic and social problems global and cross-sectoral in nature and develop policy recommendations on these issues, monitor and evaluate the implementation of the overall strategy and the achievement of priority objectives. established by the General Assembly in these areas, ensure overall coordination of the activities of the organizations and the UN system in such areas and conduct comprehensive policy reviews of operational activities throughout the UN system, taking into account the need to ensure balance, compatibility and consistency with the priorities established by the General Assembly for the system the UN as a whole.
The UN Trusteeship Council operates under the authority of the UN General Assembly and is empowered to examine reports submitted by the authority administering the territory concerned, receive and consider petitions in consultation with the administering authority, arrange periodic visits to the trustee territories concerned at times agreed upon with the administering authority, and take the aforementioned actions in accordance with the terms of custody agreements. It draws up a questionnaire concerning political, economic, social and educational progress, and the administering authority of each trust territory within the competence of the General Assembly submits to the latter annual reports on the basis of this questionnaire. As a result of the liberation struggle, most of the trust territories gained independence. Accordingly, of the 11 trust territories that were under the jurisdiction of the Council from the very beginning of its activities, there is currently only one left - the Pacific Islands (under US trusteeship). The Council consists of Russia, the USA, Great Britain, France and China, which actually does not participate in its work.
The International Court of Justice is the main judicial organ of the UN. This basically determines the scope of activity of the International Court of Justice. This organ has many specific features because unlike others international courts, only states can be parties to cases before the Court. Appeal to the Court is optional, that is, states submit the dispute for resolution on the basis of a compromise agreement they have concluded. However, a number of states, including Russia, under some international treaties, recognize the jurisdiction of the Court as mandatory. The court is obliged to resolve disputes submitted to it on the basis of international law, applying international conventions, international custom, general principles of law recognized by civilized nations, and also as aid- judicial decisions and doctrines of the most qualified specialists in public law of various nations.
The UN Secretariat is a UN body designed to serve the work of other UN bodies and implement their decisions and recommendations. The UN Secretariat performs the administrative and technical functions of the UN, in particular, prepares some materials, translates, prints and distributes reports, summaries and other documents, etc.
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