The internationally
empowered community known as the United Nations is our last and only
appeal for
peace and civilized progress.
The United Nations was
established, in the aftermath of a devastating war, to help stabilize
international
relations and give peace a more secure foundation.
Amid the threat of nuclear war and seemingly endless regional
conflicts,
peacekeeping has become an overriding concern of the United Nations,
and the
activities of the blue-helmeted peacekeepers have emerged as among the
most
visible.
But the United Nations is much more than a peacekeeper and a forum for
conflict
resolution. Often without attracting attention, the UN and its family
of
agencies are engaged in a vast array of work that seeks to improve
people’s
lives around the world.
The United Nations is not a
world government, and it does not make laws. It does, however, provide
the
means to help resolve international conflicts and formulate policies on
matters
affecting all of us.
The United Nations has four
purposes: to maintain international peace and security; to develop
friendly
relations among nations; to cooperate in solving international problems
and in
promoting respect for human rights; and to be a centre for harmonizing
the actions
of nations. Cooperating in this effort are more than 30 affiliated
organizations, known together as the UN system.
Only independent countries
with international recognition can become members of the UN. However,
individuals can support the work of the United Nations through
international
and local non-governmental organizations. Some of them collaborate with
the UN
Department of Public Information and provide the UN with valuable links
to
people around the world.
Human rights are those
rights which are essential for us to live as human beings. Without
human
rights, we cannot fully develop and use our human qualities, our
intelligence,
our talent and our spirituality.
The United Nations set a
common standard on human rights for all nations when, in 1948, it
adopted the
Universal Declaration of Human Rights. By this Declaration, Governments
accepted
the obligation to ensure that all human beings, rich and poor, strong
and weak,
male and female, of all races and religions, are treated equally. The
Declaration is not part of binding international law, but due to
widespread
acceptance by countries in the world, it has gained great moral weight.
The UN has also adopted many
international human rights treaties, legally
binding nations to guarantee
their citizens’ social, economic and political
rights. The most important
of these treaties are two International
Covenants - one on economic, social
and cultural rights and the other on civil and
political rights. These treaties,
together with Optional Protocols, are known as the
International Bill of Human
Rights.
If each poor person on the
planet had the same energy-rich lifestyle as an average person in
Since 1945, the UN has
assisted in negotiating more than 170 peace settlements that have ended
regional conflicts.
It played a role in bringing
about independence in more than 80 countries that are now sovereign
nations.
Over 500 multinational
treaties – on human rights, terrorism, international crime,
refugees,
disarmament, commodities and the oceans – have been enacted
through the efforts
of the United Nations.
The United Nations is a
rich, talented and dedicated community. By lending your support to even
only
one of it’s many arms we can together, by a proven workable
system of
compromise make agreements and policies that will benefit us all.