United Nations promotes peace, unity, equality

The United Nations (UN) is an intergovernmental organization. According to The Role of the United Nations, “Advancing human rights and fighting hate are at the heart of the Organization’s mission, the United Nations has the duty to confront the global issue of hate speech at every turn” is the organization’s mission. It was established on October 24, 1945. The countries Russia, United States, United Kingdom, and China founded the UN after the aftermath of World War II.

There are currently 193 country members of the UN, out of 196 countries in the world. The countries have grown from the original 51 countries to the current 193 countries to this day. Some countries that are not part of the United Nations are the Holy See/Vatican City and Palestine. Some countries like Taiwan and Kosovo are not yet recognized as countries by the UN.

The current President of the UN is Csaba Kőrösi from Hungary. The first-ever president of the UN was Paul-Henri Spaak (1889-1972) from Belgium in the WES region. The president of the United Nations General Assembly changes yearly. It is a position voted by the representatives on a yearly basis. The session for the assembly is scheduled every year starting in September. The presidential position rotates between the five geographic regions: Asia-Pacific, Africa, Eastern Europe, Latin America, and Western Europe. Some of the largest, most powerful countries have never held the presidency such as China, France, Japan, the United States, the United Kingdom, and Russia.

There are also different structures in the UN. First, there is the General Assembly in which every States Member has one vote in each session. Next, we have the Security Council that handles the maintenance of international peace and security. It has 15 members. Then we have the Economic and Social Council, where policy recommendations are issued, and the world’s economic, social and environmental challenges are discussed and debated. The fourth structure is the Trusteeship Council which provides international supervision for 11 trust territories and makes sure that territories are prepared and well adequate for self-government and independence. The second to last is the International Court of Justice; the court is in charge of settling legal disputes between the states and giving advisory opinions to the UN and specialized agencies. Lastly, there is the Secretariat carries out the day-to-day work of the organization.