The United Nations is an international organization which was created in the year 1945, shortly after the end of WW1. The UN was formed consisting of 51 countries in order to encourage resolution of international conflicts without war and to form policies on international issues.

Like the majority of the organizations, the UN was formed to meet certain goals and objectives. The Charter of United Nations is the UN’s governing document.

The UN Charter dictates 4 purposes:

• Maintain peace and security worldwide
• Develop strong relations amongst nations
• Foster cooperation between nations in order to solve economic, social, cultural, or humanitarian problems of different countries.
• Providing a forum which would bring countries to meet the goals and purposes of the UN.

History of the United Nations

The predecessor of the UN was the League of Nations. The League of Nations was established during the WW1 in 1919 by the Treaty of Versailles (one of the peace of the peace treaties adopted at the end of WW1). Their goal was to encourage cooperation between countries and keep the international peace and security. It was dissolved after it failed to prevent the WW1 and was seen as a failure.

The phrase United Nations was first used by President Franklin D Roosevelt in 1942 when talking about the Declarations by United Nations. The Declaration by United Nations was a pledge by 26 countries to fight together as the Allied Powers against the Axis Powers during World War 2. Two months after the war ended, the representatives of the Allied Powers and 24 other countries met in San Francisco for the conference of United Nations on International Organization. The sole purpose of the conference was to draft the UN charter. On Jun 26, 1951, the United Nations Charter was signed by 51 countries. Shortly after the UN formation, other countries began joining.

Functions

The UN was formed to perform a number of functions, some of them being:

Maintaining international peace and security

The UN does this by working to prevent any conflict from occurring in the first place. They help the parties in conflict make peace and create conditions that would allow peace to be held and flourished.

Protecting Human Rights

The promotion and protection of the human rights is the key purpose of the organization. Since 1948 the organization has worked diligently to protect the human rights through legal instruments and on-the-ground activities.

Delivering Aid

The organization helps nations and regions recover and rebuild after they have been affected by disasters.

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