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United Nations : A Bird’s Eye View
UN Headquarters : New York (US)
UN Languages : Chinese, English, French, Russian, Spanish and Arabic
UN Membership : Open to all peace-loving countries of the world
UN Day : 24 October
UN Flag :
United Nations Organisation
The UN functions through its six main organs :
u General Assembly u Security Council
u Economic and Social Council u Trusteeship Council
u International Court of Justice u Secretariat
General Assembly
The General Assembly is like the Parliament of a country. All member-nations have
their representatives in it. It normally meets once a year in the month of September,
but its meeting can be held at any time if there is some urgent or important matter to
be discussed.
In it, the member-nations discuss various
issues and problems of the world, like
illiteracy, inequality, poverty and
population. An effort is made to resolve
all issues by mutual discussion and
understanding.
General Assembly session Security Council meeting
Security Council
The Security Council comprises 15 member-nations, 5 of which are permanent. Its
permanent members are US, Britain, Russia, China and France. The other 10 members
are elected from the other UN member-nations for a period of two years. All decisions
in the Security Council are taken by the majority vote. However, each permanent
member has the right to veto . This means that no decision can be taken even if any one
permanent member disagrees. Thus, the permanent members are more powerful than
the others.
The Security Council is responsible for world peace. It tries to solve international
problems in a peaceful manner. It tries to prevent wars and conflicts between nations.
It tries to find a solution through peaceful negotiations. If it feels, it can also send a
peace-keeping force to establish and maintain peace.
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