Connecting People to Peace

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Welcome to the Golden Bridges: Connecting People to Peace website! 

What is the United Nations?

The United Nations describes itself as a "global association of governments facilitating cooperation in international law, international security, economic development, and social equity."                   

Developed from a wartime alliance in 1945, the U.N.  consists of 191 member states, or sovereign political territories.  Coined by Franklin D.  Roosevelt, then president of the United States, the United Nations referred to Allied powers of World War II; on January 1, 1942, the Declaration of the United Nations was signed to forbid the Allies from seeking peace with the Axis powers. Today’s United Nations was not formed until 1945, when, after three years, representatives from the United States, France, the Republic of China, the United Kingdom, and the USSR met to discuss the purpose and memberships of the organization to be.  A United Nations Conference on International Organizations took place in San Francisco on April 25, 1945 to draft a charter.  Two months later, fifty countries signed the charter, with the addition of Poland in due time.  Ratification of the charter by the permanent members of the security council (Republic of China, France, the Soviet Union, United Kingdom, and the United States) and the other forty-six countries began the United Nations on October 24, 1945.  

Headquartered in New York City, United Nation conferences are held year round.  The assembly is broken into “administrative bodies”; the U.N. General Assembly, the U.N. Security Council, the U.N. Economic and Social Council, the U.N. Trusteeship Council, the U.N. Secretariat, and the International Court of Justice.  Since 1997, Kofi Annan has been the Secretary General of the U.N.’s affairs.  The Secretary General position is rotated throughout the continents every two terms by the U.N. Security Council, and for Annan, Africa is the continent chosen for this U.N. rotation.  

During times of political, social, or environmental crisis, the United Nations holds conferences to form a plan of action, such as the UN Conference on Environment and Development, the International Conference on Population and Development, or the World Summit for Social Development. The United Nations also places International Observance days on a week, year, or decade to make a statement on an issue or concern. The issues can be serious (2001’s tribute to the International Year of Mobilization against Racism, Racial Discrimination, Xenophobia and Related Intolerance) or lighthearted (Towel Day on May 25 as a tribute to The Hitch Hiker’s Guide to the Universe author Douglas Adams).