UN's Role, Structure, and Importance

Nazeer Waris

United Nations Day is observed on October 24. It marks the day when the UN was founded in 1945 after the end of the Second World War. It will be completing 78 years next week after its foundation.

It is one organisation where all the world nations gather to discuss their problems and issues. The Second World War had devastated Europe and had left countries of Asia and Africa in distress.

People were yearning for peace and were looking for initiatives to establish a system whereby all differences could be solved through negotiations and by talks.

Representatives of 50 countries had gathered in a conference in San Francisco from April 25 to June 26, 1945. United Nations operates through several organisations and funds.

Here are a few important organisations:

• FAO: The Food and Agriculture Organisation basically works to eradicate hunger by bringing about cooperation between developed nations and the developing nations. Its headquarters is in Rome, Italy.
• UNIDO: The United Nations Industrial Development Organisation is the agency of the UN that promotes industrial development for poverty reduction. Its headquarters is in Vienna, Austria.
• WHO: The World Health Organisation (WHO) is based in Geneva, Switzerland. It works to promote health of the people across the world.
• IMO: The International Maritime Organisation works to ensure safety and efficiency of the sea trade.
• IMF: It is based in Washington and fosters economic growth and employment. It provides loans to poorer countries. Currently, it has $28 billion in outstanding loans which the nations of the world have borrowed.
• World Bank: It is also headquartered in Washington, United States. The World Bank focuses on reduction of poverty and improving the quality of living standards by providing low-interest loans. It works in 100 countries.
• UNESCO: The organisation is called United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organisation. It does two important things : improving education worldwide and protecting important historical and cultural sites around the world.
• ILO: International Labour Organisation's head office is in Montreal, Canada. It aims at laying down norms for equal and fair treatment of labour, and abolition of forced and child labour and equal pay for male and female labourers.
• WMO: The World Meteorological Organisation facilitates free international exchange of meteorological data and information and furtherance of its use in aviation, shipping, security and agriculture.
• ICC: The International Criminal Court investigates and tries persons charged with grave crimes of concern to the international community, genocide, war crimes, crimes against humanity and aggression.

Besides these, several dozen more bodies and organisations work with the UN. They work in the areas of trade, tourism, refugees, peacekeeping, prohibition of chemical weapons, restriction of nuclear weapons, and many other areas.

It brokers ceasefire between warring nations, works for disarmament, fights racism and hate speech, protects human rights and ensures freedom of speech.

It is currently focusing on the impact of Climate-Change in a big way. UN Security Council which meets frequently takes up the disputes between nations and negotiates for peace. It has five permanent members and 10 members who are elected for two years each.

UN General Assembly meets once in a year at the UNO Headquarters in New York and the session begins on September 25. UNO is headed by Secretary General who is elected for ten years. Currently, Antonio Guterres is holding this office.

His the ninth person to hold this office. The UNO has been successful in brokering peace and ending war in several cases. But non-cooperation has also marred its effort to secure peace in several other regions.

But overall, its work has been praiseworthy and one hopes it can further the prospects of peace around the world as more and more nations and people understand its role in establishing peace.