United Nations Day 2021
76 Years ago today, World War II ended and the United Nations was officially established. October 24th of every year is celebrated as U.N. Day in memorial of the official establishment of the United Nations. With 193 countries involved today, the United Nations strives to maintain international peace, protect human rights, deliver humanitarian aid, promote sustainable development, and to uphold national law.
What is the United Nations?
The United Nations consists of 6 different but interdependent sectors, namely: the General Assembly, the Security Council, the Economic and Social Council, the Trusteeship Council, the International Court of Justice and the U.N. Secretariat. These 6 organs of the United Nations work together as an intergovernmental organisation to retain world peace and understanding. According to official documentation, the main objectives of the United Nations are to:
- Maintain international peace and security;
- Develop friendly relations among nations;
- Achieve international cooperation in solving international problems; and
- Be a centre for harmonising the actions of nations in the attainment of these common ends.
A Brief History of the United Nations
After World War I, the League of Nations was established internationally to solve disputes between countries. However, the attempt at world peace failed when World War II started. During World War II in 1941, two men named Franklin D. Roosevelt and Winston Churchill held a secret meeting where they discussed the possibility of succeeding the League of Nations. These discussions would pave the way for the development of the United Nations we see today. After World War II, the United Nations was officially established with 51 nations ratifying the United Nations Charter on the 24th of October 1945.
Today, the 51 countries have increased to the involvement of 193 countries in the United Nations. The U.N has performed several humanitarian, environmental and peace-keeping undertaking including (but not limited to):
- Providing food to 90 million people in over 76 countries
- Authorising 71 international peacekeeping missions
- Working with 140 nations to tackle climate change
- Assisting approximate 30 million women a year with maternal health efforts
Successes of the United Nations
The United Nations has undoubtedly had a successful impact on what they do. The U.N has shaped the global cooperation that we would not recognise in our world today without the pervasive and prominent role of the U.N.
One of the many successful achievements of the United Nations include the implementation of the Law of the Sea. After negotiations between 1973 to 1982, the UN Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS) has set up the current international law of the seas. It was set up with the objectives of conserving the oceans as well as protecting marine resources. With concepts such as exclusive economic zones and arrangements for governing deep seabed mining, the UN-led law aims to protect the ecosystems of the ocean.
Another successful initiative by the United Nations would be the Human Rights Declaration. Set out in 1948, it recognises the “inherent dignity and of the equal and inalienable rights of all members of the human family as the foundation of freedom, justice and peace in the world”. Since then, 10 human rights treaties have been adopted. These include conventions on the rights of children and migrant workers, and against gender and race-based discriminations.
Issues Faced by the United Nations
Amidst its successes, though, the United Nations has faced multiple issues which have been masked out, including situations where the United Nations encountered publicised scandals for its efforts as well.
An example of this would be the cholera outbreak in Haiti. After the 2010 earthquake, there came a rapid spread of cholera across the country, the source later discovered to have been from infected Nepalese UN aid workers. Due to the contamination, more than 10,000 people died from the outbreak and more than 800,000 have fallen ill. Because of this grave issue, the UN has pledged to eliminate cholera from the Caribbean nation, establish a $400 million trust fund to assist victims, and live up to its moral responsibility to those affected by the cholera as well as provide material assistance.
Similarly, another situation had occurred — the Rwanda genocide in 1994 which the United Nations failed to stop. The UN Assistance Mission for Rwanda (UNAMIR) was implemented a year before the genocide in 1993 with the responsibility of overseeing the Arusha Accords. Despite the peacekeeping agreement intact between the United Nations and Rwanda, the UN’s efforts to the crisis were not efficient enough, and they could not prevent the killing of around 800,000 people, mainly those of the Tutsi community. This was addressed by the former U.N. Chief Ban Ki-Moon on the 20th anniversary of the genocide with shame and regret.
Yet, of course, it is with hope that the United Nations, and us as well, learn from the mistakes of the past in order to propel forward towards a more successful and progressive future.
Hopes for the Future of the United Nations
The United Nations believes in the power of involvement from passionate individuals from all over the globe (including you!) to continue its 76-year journey in peacekeeping. With the pandemic and climate change being one of the largest challenges, it has shown the need and the lack of deep cooperation from countries. With yearly celebrations of the United Nations Day, it marks yet another productive year for the United Nations, but also another year in which it continues to grow and progress in achieving its peacekeeping goals for the world.
Written by Heng Jui Ching
Edited by Suhana Kabeer
