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Sunday 6 January 2019

United Nations

The United Nations isn't the first world organisation. The League of Nations, the first intergovernmental organisation whose principal mission was to maintain world peace, was founded after World War I in 1920, with an aim to prevent the repeat of the war. However, soon after the League of Nations was formed, the world was caught up in another war: World War II.

The UN was founded after the Second World War to replace the League Of Nations which had been so ineffectual in preventing war.

HISTORY

The term "United Nations" was first coined in 1942 by Winston Churchill and Franklin D. Roosevelt in the Declaration by United Nations. This declaration was made to officially state the cooperation of the Allies (Great Britain, the United States, and the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics) and other nations during World War II.

The United Nations Conference on International Organization (UNCIO) took place between April  25, 1945 and June 26, 1945 in San Francisco. On the last day of the conference delegates from 50 nations signed a charter creating the The United Nations Organisation — later known as the United Nations.



The United Nations Organisation did not instantly come into being with the signing of the Charter, since in many countries the Charter had to be subjected to parliamentary approval. It was finally ratified and established on October 24, 1945.

The flag of the United Nations was adopted on December 7, 1946.



The first meeting of the United Nations General Assembly was held in Westminster Central Hall, London, on January 10, 1946.

The United Nations Security Council is the organ of the United Nations charged with the maintenance of international peace and security. It held its first meeting at Church House, Westminster, London on January 17, 1946.

First Steps is a 1947 short documentary film about the treatment of children with disabilities. It was produced for the Department of Social Affairs of the United Nations by Frederic House Inc.  The film was awarded an Academy Award for Best Documentary (Short Subject) in 1948. The Academy Award for First Steps still resides at the UN Headquarters in New York.

The Universal Declaration of Human Rights is the first document to detail the fundamental human rights that must be protected. The declaration was proclaimed by the General Assembly of the United Nations in 1948.

The headquarters of the United Nations occupies a site beside the East River in Manhattan, on land purchased from the real estate developer William Zeckendorf Sr.  A last-minute gift of $8.5 million from John D. Rockefeller allowed the United Nations to set up headquarters there, Before that, the UN had considered moving to Philadelphia, San Francisco and Boston.

President Harry S Truman laid the cornerstone at the United Nations headquarters and called it a workshop of peace on October 24, 1949. The complex was designed by an international team of architects, and the buildings were built using materials from all over the world. Construction was completed on October 9, 1952.

UN headquarters in New York City. Wikipedia

The longest UN speech in history was delivered by Indian Defense Minister Krishna Menon on Jon January 23 and 24, 1957. He spoke for a total of 8 hours and 12 minutes, defending India's position on the Kashmir conflict. Menon's speech was a comprehensive and detailed account of India's history and claims on Kashmir, as well as a critique of Pakistan's position. He also spoke about the broader implications of the Kashmir conflict for international peace and security.. The speech ended with his collapse and hospitalization due to exhaustion.

The United Nations was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize in 2001 sharing it with its secretary general  Kofi Annan.

The most recent country to be admitted to the UN was South Sudan in 2011. The Republic of South Sudan joined the United Nations as the 193rd member state shortly after gaining independence.

Saudi Arabia became in 2013 the first nation to reject a seat on the United Nations Security Council.

The Paris Agreement is an agreement within the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change dealing with the reduction of greenhouse gas emissions around the world, starting in the year 2020. 174 world leaders signed the agreement at the UN headquarters in New York on April 22, 2016, the most member signatories in a single day.

FUN UNITED NATIONS FACTS

When the United Nations was founded there were 51 members. There are now 193.

By Roke - Map showing United Nations members and the decade they joined the UN

UN Peacekeeping forces comprise 116,919 field forces from 123 countries.

The UN Charter comprises 8,778 words. The second draft of the European Union Ecolabel preliminary report for Sanitary Products (including toilet paper) has over five times as many (44,065) words.

The United Nations provides food assistance to an average of 91.4 million people in 83 countries each year. It also provides vaccinations for 58 per cent of the world's children.

There are three countries that are not members of the UN: Kosovo (not recognized by enough UN members), Taiwan (place was taken by China in 1971) and Vatican City  (religious reasons).


Because it will pose to be a serious challenge to accommodate the hundreds of languages spoken by the 193 member representatives, there are only six languages officially recognized by the UN. They are: Arabic, Chinese, English, French, Russian and Spanish.

The United Nations officially use British English instead of American English.

Sources Daily Express, Loopjamaica

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