United Nations

United Nations headquarters consists of several buildings along the East River in New York City. The tall Secretariat Building, has become a well-known symbol of the UN. Other UN buildings include the General Assembly Building, and the Dag Hammarskjold Library.

The United Nations is an international organization founded in 1945.  It is currently made up of 193 Member States.  The mission and work of the United Nations are guided by the purposes and principles contained in its founding Charter.

Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad
73rd United Nations General Assembly

UN agency focuses on educating war refugee kids. Rapt attention - British volunteer teacher Helen Brannigan conducting an English class for refugee children at the "Refugee Education" Chios school on the island of chios, greece. Food,  water and shelter are obvious basic needs for people fleeing war...
UN vehicles carry peacekeeping troops who are monitoring a cease-fire in Croatia. Fighting broke out in Croatia in 1991 after Croatia declared its independence from Yugoslavia.

The United Nations flag has a map of the world surrounded by a wreath of olive branches. The branches symbolize peace.

Meetings of the Security Council are held in a special chamber in the Conference Building. Delegates and their assistants sit at the semicircu­lar table. Interpreters and other UN employees sit at the long table in the centre.

The secretaries-general of the United Nations have been Trygve Lie of Norway, who served from 1946 to 1953; Dag Hammarskjold of Sweden, 1953 to 1961; U Thant of Burma, 1961 to 1971; Kurt Waldheim of Austria, 1972 to 1981; Javier Perez de Cuellar of Peru, 1982 to 1991; and Boutros Boutros-Ghali of Egypt, who became secretary-general in 1992.

Irrigation and land development projects receive funds from the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO), a specialized agency of the United Nations. As part of an FAO programme, these workers are rebuilding an irrigation canal in Sumatra.

The Economic and Social Council works to improve the standard of living in UN member nations.

Afghan refugees are one of the many groups of people in various parts of the world that receive UN aid. UN agencies also provide loans and other assistance for developing countries.

UNICEF aids children by as­sisting countries in such areas as health care, sanitation and water supply, and education. The UNICEF workers at the left are drilling a water well for a village in Sierra Leone.

UN agencies provide training programmes and other eco­nomic aid to industries in developing countries. Dairy workers in Chile, above, are learning about powdered milk production.

The signing of the UN Charter took place on June 26, 1945. President Harry S. Truman, far left, stood by as Secretary of State Edward Stettinius, Jr., signed for the United States.

A warehouse for storing food is being constructed by villagers in central Africa with aid from the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP). This programme helps nations develop their human and natural resources.

Palestinian leader Yasir Ar­afat addressed the UN in 1974 during a debate on the status of the Arabs of Pales­tine. After the debate, the UN recognized the Palestinians' right to nationhood.

United Nations headquarters consists of several buildings along the East River in New York City. The tall Secretariat Building, centre, has become a well-known symbol of the UN. Other UN buildings include the General Assembly Building, left, and the Dag Hammarskjold Library.

Irrigation and land development projects receive funds from the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO), a specialized agency of the United Nations. As part of an FAO programme, these workers are rebuilding an irrigation canal in Sumatra.

The Economic and Social Council works to improve the standard of living in UN member nations.

Afghan refugees are one of the many groups of people in various parts of the world that receive UN aid. UN agencies also provide loans and other assistance for developing countries.

The signing of the UN Charter took place on June 26, 1945. President Harry S. Truman, far left, stood by as Secretary of State Edward Stettinius, Jr., signed for the United States.

A warehouse for storing food is being constructed by villagers in central Africa with aid from the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP). This programme helps nations develop their human and natural resource.

Palestinian leader Yasir Ar­afat addressed the UN in 1974 during a debate on the status of the Arabs of Pales­tine. After the debate, the UN recognized the Palestinians' right to nationhood.

UN vehicles carry peacekeeping troops who are monitoring a cease-fire in Croatia. Fighting broke out in Croatia in 1991 after Croatia declared its independence from Yugoslavia.

United Nations (UN) is an organization of nations that works for world peace and security and the betterment of humanity. Almost all of the world's independent countries belong to the UN. Each member nation sends representatives to UN headquarters in New York City, where they discuss and try to solve problems.

The United Nations has two main goals: peace and human dignity. If fighting between two or more coun­tries breaks out anywhere, the UN may be asked to try to stop it. After the fighting stops, the UN may help work out ways to keep it from starting again. But the UN tries above all to deal with problems and disputes before they lead to fighting. It seeks the causes of war and tries to find ways to eliminate them.

The United Nations has met with both success and failure in its work. It has been able to keep some dis­putes from developing into major wars. The organiza­tion has also helped people in numerous parts of the world gain their freedom and better their way of life. For many years, however, disagreements among UN mem­ber nations prevented the organization from operating effectively. Since the mid-1980's, greater cooperation among members has enabled the UN to carry out suc­cessful missions in more and more countries. But these missions have added to the serious financial troubles that have long plagued the UN.

The United Nations was established on Oct. 24,1945, shortly after World War II. As the war drew to an end, the nations that opposed Germany, Italy, and Japan de­cided that such a war must never happen again. Repre­sentatives of these nations met in San Francisco in April 1945 and worked out a plan for an organization to help keep peace in the world. This plan was described in a document called the Charter of the United Nations. In June 1945, 50 nations signed the UN Charter. They were the first UN members. Since then, more than 100 other nations have joined.

In some ways, the UN resembles the League of Na­tions, which was organized after World War I (see League of Nations). Many of the nations that founded the UN had also founded the League. Like the League, the UN was established to help keep peace between na­tions. The main organs of the UN are much like those of the League. But the UN differs from the League in two main ways. First, all the great military powers except Communist China were UN members from the begin­ning, and Communist China gained membership in 1971. On the other hand, several powerful countries, in­cluding the United States, either did not join the League or withdrew from it. Second, the UN's concern with eco­nomic and social problems gives it broader responsibil­ities than the League had.

The six major organs of the UN carry on the work of the organization. These organs are:

(1) General Assem­bly,

(2) Security Council,

(3) Secretariat,

(4) Economic and Social Council,

(5) International Court of Justice, and

(6) Trusteeship Council.

Various specialized agencies re­lated to the UN deal with particular problems such as communications, education, food and agriculture, health, and labour.

UN headquarters consists of several buildings along the East River in New York City. The three main build­ings are the General Assembly Building, the Secretariat Building, and the Conference Building. A smaller build­ing next to the Secretariat Building houses the library. Member countries have donated many furnishings and works of art for the UN buildings. The flags of all the member nations fly in front of the UN headquarters.

The Charter

The Charter of the United Nations is the constitution of the UN. It includes the plan used for organizing the UN, and the rules by which the UN is governed. UN members agree to carry out the requirements of the charter. The charter has 19 chapters divided into 111 ar­ticles that explain the purposes (goals), principles (basic beliefs), and operating methods of the UN.

Purposes and principles. The charter lists four pur­poses and seven principles of the United Nations. The first purpose is to preserve world peace and security. The second purpose is to encourage nations to be just in their actions toward each other. The third is to help nations cooperate in trying to solve their problems. The fourth purpose is to serve as an agency through which nations can work toward these goals.

The first principle of the United Nations is that all members have equal rights. Second, all members are expected to carry out their duties under the charter. Third, they agree to the principle of settling their dis­putes peacefully. Fourth, they agree not to use force or the threat of force against other nations, except in self-defence. Fifth, members agree to help the UN in every action it takes to carry out the purposes of the charter. Sixth, the UN agrees to act on the principle that non­member states have the same duties as member states to preserve world peace and security. And seventh, the UN accepts the principle of not interfering in the actions of a member nation within its own borders. But these actions must not hurt other nations.

Membership requirements. The first members of the United Nations were the nations that signed the charter in 1945. Since then, many other nations have re­quested to join the organization. The charter states that membership in the UN is open to all "peace-loving states" that are "able and willing" to carry out the duties required by the charter. Both the Security Council and the General Assembly must approve applications for membership. A member nation that violates the charter may be suspended or even expelled from the UN.

The six major UN organs. The charter sets up the six main organs of the UN and explains the duties, pow­ers, and operating methods of each. The General As­sembly is the only major organ in which all UN mem­bers are represented. The charter permits the Assembly to discuss any question of importance to the UN and to recommend action to be taken by the members or by other UN organs. The Security Council has the major re­sponsibility in the UN for keeping the peace. The charter gives the Council special powers to carry out this re­sponsibility. The Secretariat has the job of helping all the other organs do their work as efficiently as possible. The charter gives the Economic and Social Council sev­eral duties, such as advancing human rights and helping people to better their way of life. The International Court of Justice handles international legal disputes. The char­ter established the Trusteeship Council to watch over a number of territories that were not self-governing at the time the UN was founded.

The United Nations has established many other agen­cies, committees, and commissions since the charter was written. But the six main organs are the only UN bodies that operate under rules that are included in the charter.

Amending the charter. The UN charter sets forth the rules for changing the charter. Amendments may be proposed in either of two ways. The General Assembly may propose an amendment if two-thirds of all its mem­bers agree to do so. Or two-thirds of the General As­sembly members and any nine members of the Security Council may call a General Conference to discuss mak­ing changes in the charter. As in the General Assembly, a two-thirds vote of a General Conference is required to propose an amendment. A proposed amendment does not go into effect until it has been approved by two- thirds of all members of the United Nations, including the five permanent members of the Security Council. In 1965, the charter was amended to increase the number of members of the Security Council from 11 to 15. The amendment was proposed without calling a General Conference.

The charter called for the 1Oth yearly session of the General Assembly to make plans for a General Confer­ence if one had not already taken place. In 1955, the As­sembly took up the question and appointed a planningcommittee. The committee has met from time to time and has reported to the General Assembly. But the As­sembly has taken no further action.

The preamble to the Charter of the United Nations

A preamble of about 200 words precedes the chapters of the charter and expresses the guiding spirit of the organization. Jan Christiaan Smuts of South Africa is credited with drafting the preamble (see Smuts, jan C.I. The complete preamble states:

"We the peoples of the United Nations determined to save succeeding generations from the scourge of war, which twice in our lifetime has brought untold sorrow to mankind, and

to reaffirm faith in fundamental human rights, in the dignity and worth of the human person, in the equal rights of men and women and of nations large and small, and to establish conditions under which justice and respect for the obligations arising from treaties and other sources of international law can be maintained, and to promote social progress and better standards of life in larger freedom, and for these ends

to practise tolerance and live together in peace with one another as good neighbours, and to unite our strength to maintain international peace and security, and

to ensure, by the acceptance of principles and the institution of methods, that armed force shall not be used, save in the common interest, and to employ international machinery for the promotion of the economic and social advancement of all peoples, have resolved to combine our efforts to accomplish these aims.

Accordingly, our respective Governments, through repre­sentatives assembled in the city of San Francisco, who have exhibited their full powers found to be in good and due form, have agreed to the present Charter of the United Nations and do hereby establish an international organiza­tion to be known as the United Nations."

The General Assembly

The General Assembly is the only major organ of the United Nations in which all members are represented. Each member may send five delegates, five alternate delegates, and as many advisers as it wishes. However, each member nation has only one vote.

The General Assembly elects a new president and a number of vice presidents at the beginning of each an­nual session. The president's main duty is to lead the As­sembly's discussions and direct its work.

Powers. The General Assembly is responsible in some way for every other organ of the United Nations. It elects or takes part in electing the members of the other major organs, and it directs the operations of some UN bodies. The General Assembly also controls the UN's budget. It decides how much money each member should contribute and how much of the UN's funds each UN body should receive.

The General Assembly may discuss any question that concerns the work of the UN. It reaches decisions through a vote of its members. As a result of such a vote, the Assembly may suggest actions to be taken by other UN bodies or by member nations. According to the charter, the only decisions of the General Assembly that UN members must obey are votes on the UN budget. All other decisions made by the General Assem­bly are simply recommendations.

The General Assembly's responsibility for keeping the peace is second only to the similar responsibility of the Security Council. The kind of peacekeeping action that the Assembly can take has been strengthened since the charter was written. In the early years of the UN, sharp disagreements in the Security Council prevented the Council from acting in many cases. In 1950, the General Assembly approved a resolution (formal statement) called "Uniting for Peace." This resolution gave the As­sembly the power to step in whenever peace is threat­ened and the Security Council has failed to act. In such an emergency, the Assembly can recommend actions for the UN, including the use of armed force if neces­sary.

Meetings and voting. The General Assembly holds one regular session each year, beginning on the third Tuesday in September and lasting about three months.

A special session may be called if either the Security Council or a majority of member states requests it. Sev­eral special sessions have been called to discuss such matters as peacekeeping and finances. The "Uniting for Peace" resolution in 1950 set up a system for calling an emergency special session of the Assembly. Such a meeting can be called on 24 hours' notice if peace is threatened and the Security Council has not acted. Any nine members of the Security Council or a majority of UN members may call an emergency special session. Such sessions have been held for serious situations in the Middle East, Hungary, and other parts of the world.

Most questions that are voted on in the General As­sembly are decided by a simple majority vote. Some subjects that the charter calls "important questions" need a two-thirds majority vote. These topics include peace and security and the election of new UN mem­bers. A simple majority vote of the Assembly may also make any other question an "important" one.

Committees. The UN Charter permits the General Assembly to create as many committees as it needs to help carry on its work. The Assembly has set up seven main committees—the First, Second, Third, Fourth, Fifth, and Sixth committees, and the Special Political Commit­tee. Every member of the General Assembly—thus, every UN member—may have a representative on all these committees.

The First Committee discusses political and security questions and arms control. The Special Political Com­mittee helps the First Committee with its tremendous volume of work. The Second Committee deals with eco­nomic and financial questions, the Third with social and cultural matters, and the Fourth with problems of coun­tries that are not self-governing. The Fifth Committee handles administrative and budget matters, and the Sixth handles questions of law. Each committee studies the problems that have been assigned to it and makes recommendations to the General Assembly.

The Assembly has also set up other committees. They help organize and conduct each Assembly session, ad­vise the Second and Fifth committees on financial and budget matters, or deal with problems involving nuclear energy, colonialism, and peacekeeping.

The Security Council

The UN Charter makes the Security Council responsi­ble for keeping the peace. Until 1965, the Council had 11 members. Since then, it has had 15 members, of which 5 are permanent. The permanent members are France, China, Russia, the United Kingdom, and the United States. Russia's seat on the Council was held by the So­viet Union until 1991, when the Soviet Union broke apart. The 10 nonpermanent members of the Council are elected to two-year terms by the General Assembly. Each of the 15 members of the Security Council has one delegate on the Council. Some nations have called for expanding the number of permanent members to in­clude such countries as Germany and Japan.

Powers. The Security Council has the power to de­cide what action the UN should take to settle interna­tional disputes. The charter states that the Council's de­cisions are made in the name of all UN members, who must accept them and carry them out. The Council en­courages the peaceful settlement of disputes by calling on the opposing sides to work out a solution. Or the Council may ask the sides to accept a settlement worked out by other nations, individuals, or groups.

The Council itself may investigate a dispute and sug­gest ways of settling it. For example, the Council may call on UN members to stop trading with a country that is endangering peace and security. It may also ask the members to cut off communications with such a state, or to end contacts with its government. If such actions are not effective, the Security Council may ask UN mem­bers to furnish military forces to settle the dispute. The Working for peace section of this article describes some actions taken by the Security Council.

The Security Council also has several other important powers. It must approve all applications for member­ship of the UN. It selects a candidate for secretary- general. And it can recommend plans for arms control.

Meetings and committees. Security Council meet­ings may be called to consider any situation serious enough to lead to war. Such a situation can be brought to the Council's attention by any UN member—and in certain cases by nonmembers—by the secretary-general or by any major UN organ. The delegates must be able to attend a meeting as soon as it is called.

The Council makes its own rules for conducting its meetings. In the early years of the UN, it became a cus­tom for the representative of a different nation to serve as president each month. The representatives take turns, in the order that their country's name appears in the English alphabet. UN members that are not members of the Council—and even nations that are not UN mem­bers—may be invited to take part in debates that affect them. But these nations have no vote.

The Council may appoint as many committees as it needs. The charter calls only for a Military Staff Commit­tee of military representatives of the permanent mem­bers. Other committees have been set up from time to time, especially to organize the Council's work and to consider applications for UN membership.

Voting in the Security Council differs from that in any other UN organ. The Council can take action on some questions if any nine members vote in favour of the ac­tion. But on many other questions, the Council can act only if nine members—including all five permanent members—agree to do so. A "no" vote by any permanent member defeats such a question, no matter how many other members vote in favour of it. This special voting right of the permanent members is called a veto.

Almost any decision of the Council can be vetoed, but the Council has never established what kinds of deci­sions cannot be vetoed. Through the years, a few cus­toms concerning the veto have developed. For example, a permanent member usually does not veto a decision about what subjects the Council should discuss, or about when the Council should adjourn. But a perma­nent member sometimes vetoes a decision about the order in which subjects are to be discussed. If a perma­nent member decides not to vote, or is absent at the time of voting, its action is not considered a veto.

The use of the veto in the Security Council has prevented the United Nations from dealing with a number of major problems. The Soviet Union, until it was dis­solved in 1991, used the veto almost as many times as the other four permanent members together.

The Secretariat

The Secretariat manages the day-to-day business of the United Nations. Its main job is to provide services for all the other UN organs. The Secretariat is made up of the secretary-general and other administrators as­sisted by clerks, secretaries, and specialists.

The secretary-general has broader powers than any other United Nations official. The secretary-general is the chief administrator of the UN and reports to the General Assembly each year on the organization's prob­lems and accomplishments. The secretary-general ad­vises governments and uses the influence of the office to help solve many problems. Most importantly, the charter gives the secretary-general the power to advise the Security Council of any situation that might threaten world peace.

The secretary-general is nominated by the Security Council and appointed by the General Assembly to a five-year term. All five permanent members of the Secu­rity Council must agree on a candidate before that per­son can be nominated. After the Council selects a candi­date, it makes a recommendation to the General Assembly. A majority vote of the Assembly appoints a secretary-general.

Trygve Lie of Norway was the first secretary-general. He took office in 1946 and was later reelected. Lie re­signed late in 1952 and left office in 1953. He spoke out on important questions and criticized the policies of some UN members.

Dag Hammarskjold of Sweden followed Lie as secre­tary-general. Hammarskjold advanced the right of secre- taries-generai to act on their own judgment for the UN in a situation threatening peace. Hammarskjold was elected to a second five-year term in 1958 but was killed in an aeroplane crash in 1961.

U Thant of Burma was elected to complete Hammarskjold's term. In 1962, U Thant was appointed to a full five-year term dating from 1961. He was reelected to the post in 1966.

In 1960, the Soviet Union demanded that the UN ap­point three people to serve together as secretary- general. They wanted one representative for Communist members, another for Western nations, and a third for nations that supported neither side. The Soviets called their proposed triple leadership a troika. Troika is a Rus­sian word meaning a group of three. Their effort failed, but after U Thant took office, he appointed a number of undersecretaries. Communist, Western, and other na­tions were all represented. In 1972, U Thant was suc­ceeded by Kurt Waldheim of Austria. Waldheim was re­elected in 1976. In 1982, Waldheim was succeeded by Javier Perez de Cuellar of Peru. Perez de Cuellar was ap­pointed to a second term of office in 1987. Boutros Boutros-Ghali of Egypt became secretary-general in 1992.

Other employees. The Secretariat has about 9,000 employees, of whom about half work at UN headquar­ters. The rest work at the UN's European headquarters in Geneva, Switzerland, or in special UN missions and agencies throughout the world.

The secretary-general is responsible for appointing and organizing the staff of the Secretariat. The charter instructs the secretary-general to choose staff members from as many different member nations as possible. Em­ployees include accountants, economists, lawyers, mathematicians, translators, typists, and writers. Every UN member country may fill at least six Secretariat jobs if it can provide qualified individuals. A UN employee works for the secretary-general and is not allowed to take orders from any member nation.

Other main organs

The Economic and Social Council. The United Na­tions is the first international organization with a major organ devoted to improving the way people live. The Economic and Social Council works to encourage higher standards of living, better health, cultural and ed­ucational cooperation among nations, and observance of human rights. It makes recommendations in these areas to the General Assembly, individual nations, and the UN's specialized agencies. For example, the Council recommends to the General Assembly the economic and social projects it considers worthy of UN support. The Assembly then may grant funds for these projects.

The Economic and Social Council is responsible for working with the specialized agencies. In addition to making recommendations to them, the Council commu­nicates recommendations from the agencies to the Gen­eral Assembly. The Council also cooperates with more than 100 other organizations throughout the world, in­cluding the Red Cross and trade unions.

The Council has 54 member nations. Each year, the General Assembly elects 18 members to serve for three years. The Council meets twice a year, but it may also hold special sessions. Each member has one vote, and decisions are made by a simple majority. The Council may allow any UN member or specialized agency to take part in discussions of concern to them. But only Council members may vote.

The Council has a number of commissions that assist in its work. Four commissions deal with the economic problems of certain regions—Africa, Asia and the Far East, Europe, and Latin America. Six other commissions deal with questions of human rights, narcotics, popula­tion, social development, statistics, and women's rights. A number of other bodies also assist the Council. They include the governing boards of the United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF) and the United Nations Devel­opment Programme.

The International Court of Justice deals with the legal problems of the United Nations. The court has 15 judges, each appointed to a nine-year term. The Security Council and the General Assembly, voting independ­ently, select the judges. No two judges may come from the same country, and the world's major civilizations and legal traditions must be represented. The court tra­ditionally includes one judge from each of the perma­nent members of the Security Council. It elects a presi­dent and vice president to three-year terms. The head­quarters of the court are at The Flague in the Nether­lands.

Any UN member may bring a case before the court. The court has helped settle disputes between various countries, including Great Britain and Norway, Belgium and the Netherlands, and Flonduras and Nicaragua. These disputes have concerned such matters as fishing rights and the ownership of border territory. The Gen­eral Assembly and the Security Council have also per­mitted some nonmember states, such as Switzerland and Liechtenstein, to have cases heard by the court. An individual cannot bring a case to the court unless his government sponsors it.

No nation can be forced to bring its disputes before the International Court of Justice. Many governments have declared that they will seek court rulings in certain types of disputes. Some nations, including the United States, have said that they will decide for themselves what cases to bring before the International Court. Any nation that seeks a ruling from the court must agree to accept its decision. The court makes its decisions by ma­jority vote.

The International Court gives advisory opinions to the General Assembly upon request. The Assembly also has permitted the Security Council, the Economic and Social Council, the Trusteeship Council, and the specialized agencies to request such opinions.

The Trusteeship Council was designed to help a number of territories that were not self-governing at the end of World War 11. Some of these territories were col­onies of Italy and Japan. Others were German colonies that had become mandates of the League of Nations after World War I (see Mandated territory). The UN Charter made the Trusteeship Council responsible for all these territories and for any others that nations might choose to entrust to it. Such areas are called trust terri­tories. The Council works to help the trust territories be­come self-governing or independent.

There were originally 11 trust territories. The UN accepted one or more member nations as trustees for each territory. The trustee countries govern the trust ter­ritories under the direction of the UN. The Trusteeship Council is made up of representatives of the trustee na­tions and of all permanent members of the Security Council that do not govern trust territories. The Trustee­ship Council meets at least once every year.

Ten trust territories have either become independent or have voted to become a part of other nations. Only one has not decided its own political future—the Trust Territory of the Pacific Islands (Palau Islands), governed by the United States. See Pacific Islands, Trust Territory of the.

Specialized agencies

The specialized agencies are self-governing interna­tional organizations related to the United Nations. They deal with such worldwide problems as agriculture, communications, living and working conditions, and health. Some of the agencies are older than the UN it­self. Each agency has its own organization, membership, and rules, and each has signed an agreement with the UN. The agency agrees to consider recommendations made by the UN and to report back on steps it takes to carry them out. The Economic and Social Council has the responsibility of helping the UN and the specialized agencies work together effectively.

Each specialized agency was set up to deal with a problem involving the cooperation of many nations. Some of the agencies were established to deal with problems of transportation or communication between countries. Other agencies were set up to help countries that had suffered greatly as a result of war or that had recently become independent. These agencies may pro­vide loans, educational assistance, or other types of aid.

The members at work

Delegations. Each nation has its own rules for ap­pointing delegates to the UN. Generally, the head of state or the head of government of a member nation nominates delegates. The nominees may be subject to approval by the national legislature. The delegation of each country has a head delegate who is that country's official representative at the UN.

Most UN members keep a permanent mission of one or more representatives at UN headquarters. A perma­nent mission is helpful for taking part in long-term proj­ects and for keeping up with current developments.

Breaking the language barrier. Dozens of lan­guages are spoken by United Nations delegates. But when conducting official business, the UN uses only six languages—Arabic, Chinese, English, French, Russian, and Spanish. Delegates may address the General As­sembly in any language if they provide a translation into one of the official languages. Skilled interpreters in­stantly translate the words into each of the other official languages. The delegates wear earphones to listen to the translation they choose.

Groups with common interests. As UN member­ship has grown, most nations with similar interests have banded together. The African nations have their own group, as do the Arab countries and the Asian lands. The Latin-American nations, except for the Communist country of Cuba, make up another group. All these groups meet regularly for various reasons—for example, to decide on a plan of action or to agree on candidates in a UN election. Members of the Commonwealth of Na­tions meet together regularly for discussion but seldom vote as a group. A few nations, including Israel, South Africa, and the United States, do not meet or vote regu­larly with any group.

Publications and information services. The UN provides information about its work to member nations and to the public. Each major organ of the UN, as well as many UN agencies, issues documents that give a com­plete account of its work. These documents give UN members information that helps them carry out their du­ties.

The UN also issues many publications of interest to the public. The UN Monthly Chronicle, for example, de­scribes work done by the UN each month. Booklets deal with such subjects as statistics, human rights, or eco­nomic development. Many UN publications are issued in several or all of its six official languages.

The UN has an Office of Public Information, which is part of the Secretariat. One of its responsibilities is to di­rect UN information offices in about 50 cities throughout the world. Each office provides information about the UN to people in nearby regions.

Working for progress

An increasingly important goal of the United Nations is to help make the world a better, safer place in which to live. One way the UN works toward this goal is by providing various types of aid for countries and differ­ent groups of people. The UN also works for progress in many other fields, including human rights, peaceful uses of nuclear energy, and pollution control.

Economic and technical aid consists of grants, loans, training programmes, and other means of helping nations develop their resources, production, and trade. After World War II, the International Bank and the Inter­national Monetary Fund gave financial assistance to war- torn countries. But the amount of aid they could give was small compared with the amount needed. Most western European countries depended on the United States to help them recover from the war.

As more and more poor countries joined the UN, the organization began to help them. The resources of these countries are either undeveloped or have been developing slowly. Many such nations have become independ­ent since World War II.

The UN dedicated the period from 1961 to 1970 as the first United Nations Development Decade. The UN's goal during this period was to help the developing countries into increase their national income by 5 per cent each year. The industrialized nations were asked to donate 1 percent of their yearly national income to the programme.

The first Development Decade did not meet all its goals, but some progress was made. The International Bank increased the number and size of its loans for the have construction of roads, factories, and similar projects. In 1964, the UN held a Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD). The main aim of this conference was to list encourage international trade, especially between the rich, developed countries and the poor, developing ones. The conference set up a Trade and Development Board, and itself became a permanent organ of the General Assembly. UNCTAD decides on courses of UN action concerning trade and development. The Trade and Development Board carries out UNCTAD's decisions. The board meets at least twice a year to consider such matters as improving international shipping or helping the developing countries find markets for their products.

In 1965, the UN combined its technical aid programmes to form the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP). The UNDP helps nations make studies of their unused natural resources so they can find ways to use them. For example, it suggests ways for nations to make their farms, mines, and water resources more pro­ductive. The programme also helps people learn the skills needed to develop their country's resources. The UN has helped about half a million men and women learn to manage, as well as work in, industries that will benefit their countries. In 1966, the General Assembly set up the United Nations Industrial Development Or­ganization (UNIDO) to encourage industrialization in de­veloping countries.

Since the early 1970's, the United Nations has in­creased its efforts to expand international trade and to provide economic and technical assistance. It also has worked to help the developing countries regulate the growth of their populations, and to promote world dis­armament.

Aid to refugees. The United Nations aids refugees by protecting their legal rights, providing them with food and shelter, and finding them new homes. The UN has declared that the legal rights of refugees include the right to a job, to an education, and to freedom of reli­gion.

During World War II, 44 governments cooperated in setting up the United Nations Relief and Rehabilitation Administration (UNRRA) to conduct war relief. After the United Nations was created, UNRRA was replaced by the International Refugee Organization (IRO), a specialized agency. By 1951, the worst of the problems that were caused by the war were over and the IRO was dis­continued.

In 1951, the Ceneral Assembly set up the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees. This agency has assisted refugees from many countries. The main duty of the High Commissioner is to protect the rights of refugees in foreign countries. The Office of the High Commissioner has a small fund raised by voluntary contributions. But in general, it must work through gov­ernments and private agencies.

The UN has a special agency to assist Arab refugees in Palestine—the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Middle East (UNRWA). The Ceneral Assembly set up the agency to help Arabs made homeless by the 1948 war between Is­rael and the Arab states. There have been continual wars in this region, and several million Arabs have become refugees. UNRWA originally provided food, shelters, medical care, and other services. Today, educational and health care have become its main concerns.

Aid to children. The General Assembly established the United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF) in 1946. UNICEF's job was to provide food, clothing, and medical supplies for child victims of World War II. The emer­gency caused by the war ended by the early 1950's, but UNICEF had become so popular that the Ceneral As­sembly made it a permanent organization in 1953.

Today, UNICEF provides aid for child development and care, job training, and family planning.

UNICEF's funds come from voluntary contributions. About three-quarters of the organization's funds are do­nated by governments, and the rest is raised privately.

Human rights. In 1946, the United Nations set up the Commission on Human Rights as part of the Economic and Social Council. The commission wrote the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, which all members of the General Assembly approved in 1948. This declaration ex­pressed the hope that people would learn to respect the rights and dignity of others. Parts of the declaration have been included in the constitutions of El Salvador, Haiti, Indonesia, Jordan, Libya, Puerto Rico, and Syria.

Racial problems have received more attention than any others brought before the UN. These problems— and those of colonialism and economic development— are the main concern of the Asian and African dele­gates, who make up a majority in the UN. In 1965, the General Assembly approved a treaty called the Interna­tional Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Ra­cial Discrimination. The treaty went into effect in 1969, after the governments of 27 nations had approved it. Similar UN treaties deal with slavery, the rights of refu­gees, and the crime of genocide (elimination of an en­tire national, racial, or religious group).

Peaceful uses of nuclear energy. In 1953, President Dwight D. Eisenhower of the United States suggested to the General Assembly that governments contribute nu­clear materials to an international agency. This agency would use such materials to help develop peaceful uses of nuclear energy.

In 1957, the UN set up the agency that Eisenhower had suggested. The International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) is separate from the UN but works closely with it. Its main responsibility is to encourage peaceful uses of nuclear energy. The agency also tries to make certain that no nuclear materials held or supplied by its mem­ber nations are used for making weapons. It controls its members' nuclear materials and conducts inspections of nuclear facilities in many countries. All the nuclear proj­ects of IAEA members in Latin America, Asia, and the Pa­cific area operate under IAEA safeguards. A treaty pro­hibiting the spread of nuclear weapons went into effect in March, 1970. The IAEA is responsible for inspections that make certain the treaty is not broken.

The IAEA cooperates with many other agencies to en­courage the sharing of nuclear information. It also en­courages research and experiments dealing with atomic fuels, atomic medicine, desalination (removing the salt) of seawater, and other uses of nuclear energy.

Controlling the environment. A United Nations conference in 1972 resulted in a programme which en­couraged international cooperation to fight pollution. In ]une 1992, the United Nations Conference on Environ­ment and Development, referred to as the Earth Summit, was held in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. Two treaties were signed by most of the world's nations, agreeing to re­duce the emission of gases such as carbon dioxide which are believed to cause global warming, and to protect endangered species and cooperate on genetic and biological technology. They also made joint declara­tions on the principles of conserving the world's forests, and on means of economic development that would minimize damage to ecosystems and protect nonrenew­able resources. The industrialized nations agreed to in­crease their aid to developing nations. But no agree­ment was reached on restraining the growth of the human population, which many scientists see as the greatest threat to the environment.

Fighting hunger has always been a major goal of the UN. The Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO), a specialized agency, was estab­lished in 1945. It works to improve the production and distribution of food and other agricultural products. The World Food Programme began in 1962 as a joint project of the UN and FAO. It provides emergency food aid and other assistance to developing countries.

In the 1970's, food production in many countries fell behind population growth. In 1974, the UN World Food Conference met in Rome to discuss the food shortage. This conference established a new UN agency, the World Food Council. The council coordinates the deliv­ery of about 10 million tons of food sent to developing nations every year.

The World Food Council also accumulates world food reserves for use in time of famine. The council works through other agencies that deal with the supply of food, including the FAO, the United Nations Develop­ment Programme (UNDP), and UNICEF. The Rome con­ference also created an international w'arning system to detect future food shortages.

In some cases, the UN has delivered food and medi­cine to war-torn countries to relieve civilians of short­ages. It has also sent peacekeeping troops to protect such deliveries.

The founding of the UN

Early in World War II, the representatives of nine Eu­ropean governments fled to London. Nazi Germany had conquered much of Europe and had driven these lead­ers from their homelands. Representatives of the United Kingdom (UK) and the Commonwealth nations met in London with leaders of Beigium, Czechoslovakia,

France, Greece, Luxembourg, the Netherlands, Norway, Poland, and Yugoslavia. On June 12,1941, all these na­tions signed a declaration pledging to work for a free world, where people could live in peace and security. This pledge, usually called the Inter-Allied Declaration, was the first step toward building the UN.

The Atlantic Charter followed the Inter-Allied Dec­laration by two months. It was signed by President Franklin D. Roosevelt of the United States and Prime Minister Winston Churchill of the United Kingdom. The charter expressed their hope for a world where all peo­ple could live free from fear and need. It also expressed their intention to seek eventual disarmament and eco­nomic cooperation. See Atlantic Charter.

On Jan. 1, 1942, representatives of 26 nations signed the Declaration by United Nations. This was the first offi­cial use of the words United Nations. The declaration approved the aims of the Atlantic Charter and was later signed by 21 other nations.

On Oct. 30, 1943, representatives of China, the Soviet Union, the United Kingdom, and the United States signed the Moscow Declaration on General Security. This declaration approved the idea of an international organization for preserving world peace. A month later, Roosevelt, Churchill, and Premier Joseph Stalin of the Soviet Union met at Teheran, Iran. At this meeting, the three men declared that they recognized the respon- siblity of all the United Nations to achieve lasting peace. See Teheran

Conference.

The Dumbarton Oaks Conference. From August to October 1944, representatives of China, the Soviet Union, the United Kingdom, and the United States held a series of meetings at the Dumbarton Oaks estate in  Washington, U.S.A. Their goal was to plan a peacekeep­ing organization. The four nations succeeded in drawing up a basic plan, but could not agree on some important questions. The plan's main feature was a Security Coun­cil on which China, France, the Soviet Union, the UK, and the U.S.A. would be permanently represented. The issue of voting rights and procedures within the Council remained unsettled. See Dumbarton Oaks.

In February 1945, Roosevelt, Churchill, and Stalin met at Yalta in the Crimea. At this meeting, they agreed that some minor actions of the Security Council could not be vetoed by the permanent members. The three leaders announced that a conference of United Nations would open in San Francisco on April 25,1945. This conference would use the plan worked out at the Dumbarton Oaks Conference to help prepare a charter for the UN.

The San Francisco Conference. Delegates from 50 nations met in San Francisco for the United Nations Conference on International Organization. The confer­ence opened on April 25,1945,13 days after the death of President Roosevelt and 12 days before the surrender of Germany. Victory over Japan was still four months away.

At the conference, some major disagreements arose between the Big Three (the Soviet Union, the United Kingdom, and the United States) and the smaller, less powerful nations. The Big Three believed they could guarantee future peace only if they continued to coop­erate as they had during the war. They insisted that the Charter of the United Nations should give them the power to veto actions of the Security Council. The smaller nations opposed the veto power but could not defeat it. They did succeed in adding to the importance of other UN organs, such as the General Assembly and the Economic and Social Council. Such efforts by smaller nations helped create an organization that had far-reaching powers.

On June 26, 1945, all 50 nations that were present at the conference voted to accept the charter. Poland had been unable to attend the conference but later signed the charter as an original member. The charter then had to be approved by the governments of the five perma­nent members of the Security Council and of a majority of the other nations that signed it. The charter went into effect on Oct. 24,1945, a date that is celebrated every year as United Nations Day.

Building UN headquarters. The first session of the General Assembly opened in London early in 1946. The delegates took up the question of where the permanent headquarters of the United Nations should be located. They considered invitations from various countries and finally agreed that the headquarters should be in the United States. On Dec. 14,1946, the Assembly accepted a gift of 8.5 million U.S. dollars from John D. Rockefeller, Jr., of the United States to buy 7 hectares of land along the East River in New York City. The city itself donated additional land in the area. In 1947, the General Assem­bly approved plans for the headquarters buildings. The next year, the U.S. Congress approved an interest-free loan of 65 million U.S. dollars for their construction. The buildings were completed in the autumn of 1952.

Working for peace and security

The most important goals of the United Nations in­clude achieving world peace and security. The UN has helped end conflicts around the world through the ne­gotiation of cease-fires and peace agreements. After the fighting stops, the UN may send peacekeeping forces to the region. It may help the warring groups find ways to prevent the fighting from starting again. The UN may also try to restore order to a country at civil war. Such action is sometimes called peacemaking instead of peacekeeping.

In some cases, the UN has helped peoples gain self- government or independence from colonial rule. The organization has even used military force to preserve or regain the independence of a country that has been at­tacked by another. In addition, the UN has sought to achieve world peace and security by sponsoring arms control agreements, and treaties on the peaceful use of outer space and the seabed.

UN members have never agreed on a permanent po­lice force to deal with international disputes. In many cases, powerful members, such as the former Soviet Union and the United States, have preferred to use their own forces to deal with certain conflicts. But the UN sends peacekeeping forces if both sides in a conflict agree to have them come. It may also send forces if such action seems to be the only way to restore order in a country that is being torn apart by civil war.

The UN has been unable to stop wars from breaking out in many parts of the world. For many years, dis­agreements among UN member undermined the effec­tiveness of the organization. Since the late 1980's, how­ever, increased cooperation among member countries has enabled the UN to assume a larger role in working for peace. This cooperation has resulted in part from the fading of Cold War tensions during the late 1980's.

These tensions had developed between Communist countries and non-Communist nations after World War II ended in 1945.

This section discusses some of the most important ac­tions taken by the UN in its efforts to achieve peace and security around the world. For information on other UN actions of this type, see the table Important events in UN history that is part of this article.

Arab-lsraeli conflicts have presented the United Na­tions with some of its most difficult peacekeeping prob­lems. In 1947, the General Assembly approved a plan to divide Palestine into a Jewish state and an Arab state and to make Jerusalem an international city under UN con­trol. Jerusalem is a holy city for Jews, Christians, and

Muslims. More than 90 per cent of Arabs are Muslims. The Arab countries opposed the UN plan, which went into effect in 1948. The population of the new nation of Israel included many resentful Palestinian Arabs. Many of them fled to nearby Arab countries, where they be­came refugees.

A number of wars have broken out between Arab na­tions and Israel. Several times, the UN has helped ar­range cease-fires to stop the fighting, in addition, the UN has sent peacekeeping forces to the region to try to prevent the fighting from starting up again.

In 1967— in what became known as the Six-Day War— Israeli forces fought against troops from Egypt, Jordan, and Syria. Israel gained control of Egypt's Gaza Strip and Sinai Peninsula, Jordan's West Bank, and Syria's Golan Heights. It also took over all of Jerusalem. Later that year, the UN Security Council called on Israel to give up all the Arab territory it had taken during the war and, in re­turn, accept a promise from the Arab countries that they would not dispute Israel's borders. But both the Arabs and the Israelis continued to raid each other and to build up arms supplies.

In 1974, the General Assembly adopted a resolution recognizing the right of Palestine Arabs, including those in Israel, to nationhood. A second resolution gave ob­server status to the Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO), a group approved by Arab countries to represent the Palestinians. Observer status gave the PLO the right to attend General Assembly sessions but not to take part in them.

In 1975, many Western nations were angered when the General Assembly passed a resolution declaring that Zionism is "a form of racism." Zionism is the Jewish na­tionalist movement that helped establish the state of Is­rael. The Assembly repealed the resolution in 1991.

In 1978, Israel agreed to return the Sinai Peninsula to Egypt. The two countries also agreed on autonomy for the Gaza Strip and the West Bank. Egypt and Israel signed a peace treaty in 1979. Egypt regained full control of the Sinai Peninsula in 1982. However, no arrangement for autonomy for the Gaza Strip and the West Bank was made. In September 1993, Israel and the PLO signed an agreement on a plan for self-government for, and Isra­els withdrawal from, the Gaza Strip and the West Bank. Israel also recognized the PLO as the representative of the’Palestinian people. Israel withdrew from Jericho and the Gaza Strip in 1994, and the Palestinians established a governing body. Also in 1994, Jordan and Israel signed a declaration that marked the end of a state of war that had technically existed between the two countries since 1948.

The Korean War (1950-1953) marked the first time a world organization ever took part in fighting a war. In his conflict, UN troops prevented Communist armies of North Korea from taking over South Korea.

The war grew out of the Cold War tensions that ex­isted between Communist countries and non- Communist countries. At the end of World War II in 1945, Communist troops from the Soviet Union occu­pied Korea north of the 38th parallel, and United States troops occupied it to the south. In 1947, the UN ap­pointed a commission to find ways to unite the country and form a national government. The northern part of Korea refused to take part in this plan. But elections were held in the southern part, and the Republic of Korea was set up there. In 1948, the General Assembly declared that the government of the Republic of Korea (South Korea) was the only legal government in Korea.

On June 25, 1950, troops from Communist-ruled North Korea invaded South Korea. The UN called the invasion a violation of international peace and demanded that the Communists withdraw from South Korea. The Security Council voted to ask members of the UN to send troops to assist South Korea. The Soviet Union could not veto the Council's action because it had tem­porarily withdrawn its delegate to protest against Na­tionalist China's membership on the Council.

On July 7,1950, the Council formed a UN military command under the leadership of the United States. Of the 60 UN members, 16 sent troops to Korea and 41 sent supplies. The United States contributed about 90 per cent of the troops and supplies to South Korea.

In October 1950, Chinese Communist forces entered the war. The Security Council met to discuss the situa­tion, but the Soviet delegate had returned and vetoed any attempt of the Council to act. The war ended on July 27,1953, when North Korea and the United Nations signed a cease-fire agreement. By that time, the Commu­nist troops had been expelled from almost all of the area south of the 38th parallel.

Problems in southern Africa. Over the years, the UN has taken a number of actions against white minority governments in southern Africa. These governments adopted discriminatory policies against blacks, who make up a large majority of the region's population. The discrimination led to civil wars and other unrest in southern Africa. The UN actions affected the nation’s of South Africa, Namibia (which was ruled by South Africa until 1990), and Rhodesia (now called Zimbabwe).

South Africa, the largest country of southern Africa, had been dominated by a white minority since before 1900. A similar situation existed in nearby Rhodesia. Whites controlled these countries until long after white rule had ended in most of Africa.

In 1920, the League of Nations gave South Africa a mandate to manage the government and affairs of Namibia, a large territory ad­jacent to South Africa and inhabited chiefly by blacks.

In 1948, the government of South Africa established a policy of rigid, legal, racial segregation called apartheid. This policy was aimed at separating black Africans and whites socially. Numerous apartheid laws also increased discrimination against blacks in employment, education, and all other aspects of everyday life.

In 1974, the Ceneral Assembly began to exclude South Africa's delegation from its sessions because of the country's apartheid policy. In 1976, the Assembly passed a series of resolutions that urged UN members to stop trading with South Africa, to halt arms shipments there, and to refuse sports competition with South Afri­can athletes. In 1977, the Security Council ordered all UN members to stop selling weapons to South Africa. The order was the first such action that had ever been taken against a UN member.

The government of South Africa gradually repealed the laws that formed the legal basis of apartheid. The last such law was repealed in 1991. In 1994, South Africa held the first national elections in which blacks were al­lowed to vote. In these elections, the black majority won control of the government from the white minority, and antiapartheid leader Nelson Mandela became the coun­try's first black president.

After the repeal of South Africa's apartheid laws in 1991, the Ceneral Assembly passed a resolution that urged all nations to again allow South Africa to partici­pate in international sports events. In 1994, the UN ended its ban on military exports and other trade with South Africa. That same year, the Ceneral Assembly re­stored South Africa's right to participate in its sessions.

Namibia. The UN also helped Namibia gain its inde­pendence from South Africa. In 1966, the Ceneral As­sembly voted to end South Africa's administration of Na­mibia. It called for setting up a UN council to govern Namibia until Namibia was ready for independence. South Africa refused to let the UN council enter Namibia and introduced apartheid there. The South West Africa People's Organization (SWAPO), a black Namibian politi­cal group, tried to persuade South Africa to grant Na­mibia independence. In the mid-1960's, it began using guerrilla tactics to further its goal. In 1989, the UN ap­proved a plan calling for Namibia to be given full inde­pendence. Later that year, the UN sent a peacekeeping force to the region. South Africa withdrew its troops by November 1989. In 1990, Namibia gained independence after holding UN-supervised elections. The UN with­drew its peacekeeping force in 1991.

Rhodesia. The UN also took action against Rhodesia, which was not a UN member. In 1966, it ordered UN members to stop trading with Rhodesia and to halt weapons shipments to its rulers. These economic sanc­tions (penalties) were the first ever approved by the UN. Black Rhodesians fought a long guerrilla war to end white control of the country. In 1980, general elections were held. Rhodesia then became the independent na­tion of Zimbabwe, with a government in which blacks held most of the offices.

The Iran-Iraq War. In 1980, war broke out between Iran and Iraq as a result of territorial disputes and other disagreements. The UN Security Council made a plea for a peaceful settlement, but Iran rejected the plea. Olot Palme of Sweden, a special UN envoy to the Middle East, met with officials of Iran and Iraq several times be­tween 1980 and 1982. But he failed to bring about an agreement between the two parties. From 1982 to 1987, the Ceneral Assembly and Security Council passed a number of resolutions calling for a cease-fire. But Iran and Iraq ignored the resolutions. The UN also partici­pated in several other attempts to begin negotiations between the tw'o parties. In 1988, Iran finally accepted a peace plan proposed by the Security Council. Soon af­terward, a cease-fire was arranged. Iran and Iraq agreed to terms of peace in August 1990.

The Soviet invasion of Afghanistan. In 1978, left wing Afghan military leaders killed Muhammad Daoud Khan, the president and prime minister of Afghanistan. The leftist group, which was supported by the Soviet Union, took control of the government and established Communist policies. Many Afghans opposed the new government. They believed its policies conflicted with the teachings of their religion, Islam. They also resented Soviet influence. A number of groups called mujahed­din (holy warriors) rebelled against the government.

In 1979 and 1980, Soviet forces entered Afghanistan to help the Afghan government fight the mujaheddin. The UN General Assembly quickly passed a resolution de­manding immediate withdrawal of foreign troops from Afghanistan. More than 3 million Afghans fled from war- torn villages to neighbouring Pakistan and Iran. Begin­ning in 1982, the UN held numerous peace talks that in­volved Afghanistan, Iran, Pakistan, and the mujaheddin.

In 1987, the UN created a peace plan that called for noninterference in the internal affairs of countries in the region. In 1988, all parties reached agreement on the withdrawal of Soviet troops from Afghanistan.

The Nicaraguan conflict. In 1979, a rebel group called the Sandinista National Liberation Front over­threw the Nicaraguan government of President Anasta- sio Somoza Debayle. The Sandinistas set up a new gov­ernment and took over key parts of the economy. In the early 1980's, opposition to the new government devel­oped in Nicaragua concerning economic policy and the type of government to be established. Anti-Sandinista forces called contras launched attacks against govern­ment forces from bases in neighbouring Honduras.

In March 1989, five Centra! American presidents re­quested that the UN set up a peacekeeping force to help end the Nicaraguan conflict and other conflicts in Cen­tral America. As a result, the UN Security Council estab­lished the UN Observer Force for Central America (ONUCA) in November 1989. In an election in early 1990, the Sandinistas lost control of the government. Soon af­terward, the contras agreed to disarm and to leave their bases in Honduras. The UN then assigned ONUCA to oversee a cease-fire between the Sandinistas and con­tras and to make sure that the two forces separated.

The Persian Gulf War. In 1991, a military coalition of UN members expelled Iraq from Kuwait, an oil-rich country on Iraq's southern border. Iraq had invaded and occupied Kuwait in August 1990. The economies of many Western countries depended on oil rrom Kuwait and from neighbouring Saudi Arabia, which many West­erners feared Iraq would invade next.

Soon after Iraq invaded Kuwait, the UN Security Council demanded that Iraq withdraw its forces. The Council also called on all countries to end their trade with Iraq until Iraq withdrew from Kuwait.

In November 1990, the Security Council authorized UN member nations to "use ail necessary means" to expel Iraq from Kuwait if Iraq did not withdraw by Jan. 15,1991. Iraq did not remove its forces by this deadline. On January 17, military forces of UN members began bombing Iraqi military targets in Iraq and Kuwait. UN members that sent troops included the United States, Canada, and several Western European and Arab coun­tries. Ground forces invaded Kuwait and Iraq on Febru­ary 24. On February 28, all military operations ended. On April 6, Iraq accepted the terms of a UN resolution call­ing for a cease-fire. The terms included Iraq's payment to Kuwait for war damages and the destruction of any Iraqi facilities or materials for producing nuclear weap­ons. After the cease-fire, the UN continued the trade em­bargo to pressure Iraq to carry out its agreements. UN inspectors dismantled Iraqi facilities used for making nuclear materials and destroyed many Iraqi weapons.

The Somalia operation involved a UN effort to use troops to stop a civil war. Before this operation, the UN tended to avoid using troops to end the fighting be­tween warring groups. Many observers saw the opera­tion as a sign that the UN was taking on the role of peacekeeper in addition to its role of peace-keeper.

The fighting had begun in Somalia after rebels over­threw the nation's military government in 1991. The war­fare, together with a drought, led to famine throughout the country. To help stop the fighting, the UN Security Council imposed an arms embargo against Somalia in January 1992. But the fighting continued. Looting and the fighting made the delivery of humanitarian aid to civil­ians extremely difficult.

In September 1992, the Security Council authorized the United States to lead a coalition of military forces from several countries to enter Somalia to protect inter­national relief workers and their supplies. The troops began to arrive in December. The looting and fighting decreased as a result, and the troops helped deliver large amounts of food to needy people. However, some fighting between Somali groups continued. In 1993, the UN took over leadership of the operation from the United States. Afterward, Somalis involved in the civil war killed a number of UN troops. The UN took military action against those responsible and continued to seek to restore order to the country.

The Yugoslav conflicts. In January 1992, the UN ne­gotiated a cease-fire agreement between Serbia and the former Yugoslav republic of Croatia. In March, the Secu­rity Council dispatched a peacekeeping force to Croatia called the UN Protection Forces for Yugoslavia.

Also in March, the Yugoslav republic of Bosnia- Herzegovina (often called simply Bosnia) declared inde­pendence. Serbs in that republic opposed the declara­tion, and fighting broke out between them and the re­public's militia. Serbian members of the Yugoslav army stationed in Bosnia fought on the side of the Bosnian Serbs. In May, the UN Security Council imposed a trade embargo on Yugoslavia in an attempt to end the fight­ing. By that time, Yugoslavia consisted only of the repub­lics of Serbia and Montenegro. In June, UN aircraft began carrying food and medicine into Sarajevo, Bos­nia's capital, to relieve the civilian population of short­ages created by the fighting. In August, the UN author­ized the use of military force to protect road convoys providing relief to civilians in besieged areas.

In 1992, the UN General Assembly voted to deny Ser­bia and Montenegro the right to automatically continue Yugoslavia's UN membership. By July 1993, over 7,500 UN troops were stationed in Bosnia. From 1993, UN troops occasionally came under attack from Bosnian- Serb forces. In May 1995, the Bosnian-Serbs took more than 300 UN troops hostage in retaliation for NATO air strikes on Bosnian-Serb weapons depots. They later re­leased most of the hostages following intervention by the president of Serbia. In June, 15 Western allied na­tions agreed to assemble a 10,000-strong rapid reaction force to protect UN forces from further attacks.

Arms control. The UN Charter mentions only briefly the need for arms control. But the charter was written before the nuclear age began. By 1949, both the Soviet Union and the United States had atomic bombs. They agreed that controls were needed for such weapons but could not agree on what kind. The UN studied the prob­lem, and the General Assembly issued many appeals for nations to reduce their arms production.

In 1961, the Soviet Union and the United States agreed on a plan to establish a disarmament committee. The UN approved the plan, and an 18-nation committee was set up. More nations were added in 1969. In 1979, the number was increased to 40, and the Committee on Disarmament became an official UN organ.

The Cuban missile crisis of 1962 convinced both the Soviet Union and the United States to-work harder for control of nuclear weapons. During that crisis, the world had stood on the brink of nuclear war (see Cold War [The Cuban missile crisis]). In 1963, three nations with nuclear weapons—the Soviet Union, the United States, and the UK—along with most other UN members, signed a treaty outlawing nuclear tests in the atmos­phere, in outer space, and underwater—but not under­ground. The Soviet Union, the UK, and the United States also agreed not to put such weapons in orbit.

In 1968, the United Nations approved a nonprolifera­tion treaty. This treaty prohibits the nuclear powers that signed and ratified it—originally the Soviet Union, the UK, and the United States—from giving nuclear weapons to nations that do not already have them. The treaty went into effect in 1970. China and France signed the treaty in 1992. After the Soviet Union was dissolved in three former Soviet republics with nuclear weap ons signed the nonproliferation treaty—Russia in 1992 and Belarus and Kazakhstan in 1993.

In 1971, the Ceneral Assembly approved a treaty ban­ning the production and stockpiling of biological weap­ons. The treaty took effect in 1975. In 1993,125 countries signed a UN-sponsored treaty banning the manufacture, use, transfer, and stockpiling of chemical weapons. The treaty still required ratification by 65 countries.

Peaceful uses of outer space and the seabed. In 1958, the UN secretary-general asked all nations to agree not to claim territory in outer space. The General Assembly stated in 1963 that no nation could claim any part of outer space. In 1967, over 90 countries signed a treaty reflecting these aims.

The question of uses of the seabed came before the General Assembly for the first time in 1967. The Assem­bly noted that new inventions allowed nations to use the seabed as a source of valuable minerals and in other new ways. The Assembly appointed a permanent 42- nation committee to study the problem. The committee agreed that a large area of the seabed should be beyond the control of individual nations and should be used only for the benefit of all people. In 1971, the UN created

a treaty barring the testing or use of nuclear weapons on the seabed beyond a 12-nautical-mile (about 22 kilo­metres) coastal zone. The treaty took effect in 1972. In 1982, a UN conference adopted the Law of the Sea Treaty, which covered many uses of the ocean. The treaty required 60 nations to ratify it, and this number was achieved in 1994.

Continuing problems

Finances. Every UN member must pay a share of the organization's daily expenses. The amount each member pays depends on its ability to pay. UN rules say that no member can pay more than 25 per cent or less than 0.01 per cent of the UN's ordinary expenses.

 The UN has been seriously weakened by the failure of many of its members to pay their share of the organiza­tion's expenses. Numerous nations have fallen behind in their payments or have made only partial payments. This unpaid debt totalled hundreds of millions of dollars in the early 1990's. The United States and Russia were among the largest UN debtors.

Membership questions. Most nations are UN mem­bers. The question of membership for Communist China came up at every Ceneral Assembly session from 1950 to 1971. In 1971, the Assembly voted to expel Nationalist China and admit Communist China to the UN.

In 1992, the UN suspended Yugoslavia's participation in the General Assembly and in the Economic and Social Council after most Yugoslav republics declared their in­dependence. Ail the independent republics have been admitted to the UN as separate nations.

Nations join the UN for various reasons. Membership gives some nations a place in the international commu­nity that they might not otherwise have. Some of these nations are so small that they cannot afford their own embassies. Through one mission at the UN, such nations can easily keep in contact with most other governments. Membership of the UN enables small nations to bring their problems to public attention and to take part in UN programmes of economic and technical assistance.

The presence of many small nations in the UN has also created some problems. In the General Assembly, the vote of the smallest state counts the same as the vote of the largest. Some nations have suggested that small countries be given less than a full vote.

Only one nation—Indonesia—has ever withdrawn from the UN. Indonesia rejoined less than two years later. Most countries appear unwilling to try to get along without the UN. They also realize the value of in­ternational effort in dealing with certain kinds of eco­nomic and social problems. Above all, members under­stand that UN efforts toward peacekeeping and peacemaking can help prevent a third world war.

Specialized agencies of the United Nations

Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO)

Helps improve the production of farms, forests, and fishing waters.

International Maritime Organization (1MO)

Encourages cooperation in shipping practices and regulations.

International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO)

Works for greater safety in air service and for standard international flying regulations.

International Development Association (IDA)

Works with the World Bank. It lends money on easier terms than does the World Bank or the International Fi­nance Corporation.

International Finance Corporation (IFC)

Works with the World Bank. It en­courages smaller, private develop­ments. It mostly lends money for large governmental projects.

International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD)

Finances projects to increase food production in developing countries.

International Labour Organization (ILO)

Helps improve working and living conditions throughout the world.

International Monetary Fund (IMF)

Helps adjust differences between the money systems used by various countries, making it easier for nations to trade with one another.

International Telecommunication Union (ITU)

Helps nations cooperate to solve problems dealing with radio, tele­phone, telegraph, and satellite com­munications.

UNESCO (United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization)

Encourages educational, scientific, and cultural progress to increase un­derstanding among nations.

United Nations Industrial Development Organization (UNIDO)

Organizes and funds industrialization projects for developing countries.

Universal Postal Union (UPU)

Works for international cooperation in the delivery of mail.

World Bank

Officially called the International Bank for Reconstruction and Development (IBRD). It lends money to help coun­tries with such projects as dams, power plants, and railways.

World Health Organization (WHO)

The world's principal agency for deal­ing with health" problems.

World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO)

Works for international cooperation to protect artistic and literary works, inventions, and trademarks against copying.

World Meteorological Organization (WMO)

Encourages nations to cooperate in weather forecasting.