The United Nations is an intergovernmental organization aimed at maintaining international peace and security, developing friendly relations among nations, and promoting social progress, better living standards and human rights. It has six primary organs including the General Assembly, Security Council, Economic and Social Council, Secretariat, International Court of Justice and Trusteeship Council. The UN has faced criticism for failures to prevent humanitarian crises and its Security Council's inability to act decisively due to veto powers, but still pursues aims across various specialized agencies related to health, development, science and more.

1. THE UNITED NATIONS
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2. General Facts
1. Headquarters: International territory in Manhattan,
New York City
2. Official languages: Arabic, Chinese, English,
French, Russian, Spanish
3. Membership: 192 states
4. Leaders: Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon
5. President of the General Assemby Srgjan Kerim
6. Establishment: United Nations Charter June 26,
1945 to replace the League of Nations, to stop wars
between nations and provide a platform for
dialogue.
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3. The UN
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4. The primary
administrative bodies
1. The General Assembly (the main deliberative
assembly)
2. The Security Council (decides certain resolutions
for peace and security)
3. The Economic and Social Council (assists in
promoting international economic)
4. The Secretariat (provides information, and facilities
needed by the UN)
5. The International Court of Justice (the primary
judicial organ)
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5. The five permanent members
1. China
2. France
3. The UK
4. Russia
5. The USA
They all have veto power, which means that
decisions taken by the Security Council can be
blocked by any of the five permanent members.
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6. Membership
• Membership in the United Nations is open to all
other peace-loving states which accept the
obligations contained in the present Charter and, in
the judgment of the Organization, are able and
willing to carry out these obligations.
• The admission of any such state to membership in
the United Nations will be effected by a decision of
the General Assembly upon the recommendation of
the Security Council.
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7. The Members
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8. Financing
United States 22%
Japan 19.47%
Germany 8.66%
United Kingdom 6.13%
France 6.03%
Italy 4.89%
Canada 2.81%
Spain 2.52%
China 2.05%
Mexico 1.88%
Australia 1.59%
Brazil 1.52%
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9. Financing
• The UN is financed from assessed and voluntary
contributions from member states.
• The current operating budget is estimated at $4.19
billion (refer to table for major contributors). Some
member nations are overdue on their payments,
most notably the United States.
• A large share of UN expenditures addresses the core
UN mission of peace and security.
• Special UN programmes not included in the regular
budget (such as UNICEF and UNDP) are financed by
voluntary contributions from member governments.
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10. Aims
1. The stated aims of the United Nations are to
maintain international peace and security
2. to safeguard human rights
3. to provide a mechanism for international law
4. to promote social and economic progress
5. improve living standards
6. and fight diseases according to the Universal
Declaration of Human Rights in 1948.
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11. Languages
• Under the Charter, the official languages are
Chinese, English, French, Russian, and Spanish.
• Later the Arabic language was added as a language
of the General Assembly, the Security Council and
the Economic and Social Council.
• The UN standard for English language documents
(United Nations Editorial Manual) follows British
usage and Oxford spelling.
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12. Failures in security issues
• Failure to prevent the 1994 Rwandan Genocide
• Second Congo War, which claimed nearly five
million people in the Democratic Republic of the
Congo (DRC), 1998-2002,
• Failure to intervene in the 1995 Srebrenica massacre
• Failure to successfully deliver food to starving
people in Somalia in the 1993 Battle of Mogadishu.
• Failed to prevent Darfur genocide
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13. Indigenous rights issues
• On 17 September 2007 the UN General Assembly
adopted a declaration outlining the rights of some
370 million indigenous peoples around the world.
• The declaration was approved when 143 member
states voted in its favour.
• Eleven member states abstained and four voted
against the text: Australia, Canada, New Zealand and
the United States.
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14. Some Specialized
Organizations
• International Atomic Energy Agency
• International Maritime Organization
• International Telecommunication Union
• World Health Organization (WHO)
• Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO)
• United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural
Organization (UNESCO)
• United Nations Industrial Development Organization
(UNIDO)
• World Bank
• World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO)
• World Meteorological Organization (WMO)
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15. Some Specialized
Organizations
UNHCR
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16. International Atomic
Energy Agency
• IAEA is an intergovernmental forum in the field of
nuclear technology.
• It seeks to promote the peaceful use of nuclear
energy and to inhibit its use for military purposes.
• The IAEA was set up as an autonomous organization
in 29 July 1957.
• In 1953, U.S. President Dwight D. Eisenhower
envisioned the creation body to control and develop
the use of atomic energy, in his "Atoms for Peace"
speech before the UN General Assembly.
• The organization and its Director General, Mohamed
ElBaradei, were jointly awarded the Nobel Peace
Prize announced on 7 October 2005. Its current
membership is 144 countries.
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17. World Health
Organization (WHO)
• The World Health Organization (WHO) acts as a
coordinating authority on international public health.
• Established on 7 April 1948, and headquartered in
Geneva, Switzerland, the agency inherited the
mandate and resources of its predecessor, the
Health Organization, which had been an agency of
the League of Nations.
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18. World Bank
• The World Bank, a part of the World Bank Group
(WBG)
• makes loans to developing countries for
development programmes with the stated goal of
reducing poverty
• The World Bank differs from the World Bank Group
in that the former only comprises the International
Bank for Reconstruction and Development and the
International Development Association, while the
latter incorporates these entities in addition to three
others.
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19. Controversy and criticism
• The Security Council has been criticized for being
unable to act in a clear and decisive way when
confronted with a crisis.
• The veto power of the five permanent members has
been cited as the cause of this problem.
• Under the "Uniting for Peace" resolution, adopted by
the General Assembly in November 1950, the
assembly may take action if the Security Council,
because of lack of unanimity of its permanent
members, fails to act where there appears to be a
threat to international peace, breach of the peace, or
act of aggression.
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20. The End
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