The United Nations Organisation

 

The League of Nations Organisation had disintegrated on the outbreak of war in 1939 and the Allies agreed that something more effective should replace it. The United Nations Organisation was set up in 1945. Its major purpose was to keep the peace in the world by encouraging economic and social progress throughout the world, especially in the poorer nations of what came to be known as the Third World.

 

Through the General Assembly, which meets every year, it provides a place where its member nations can discuss problems of all kinds. Proposals can be approved to deal with these problems. Every member has a vote in the General Assembly, no matter how small the country.

 

However, the really powerful UN body is not the General Assembly but the Security Council. This consists of five permanent members and some elected ones. The permanent members are the Allies of the Second World War: the United States, Russia, China, Britain and France. Any proposal made by the Assembly or the Security Council can be vetoed (stopped) by a member of the Security Council.

 

The UN Charter sets out the rules and ideals of the organisation. In addition to maintaining world peace, the Charter also states its 'faith in fundamental human rights'. These include the right to free speech, the freedom to believe in any religion, the right to leave a country and the right to equal treatment for all races.

 

Neil Demarco: The era of the Second World War; Oxford University Press, 1993/2000, page 75