Category Civics

You might have heard of things like ‘the power to veto’. The Latin word veto means ‘I forbid’. Now you might get means.

In simple words, veto is the power to say ‘no’ to any decision. Te five permanent members of the UN Security Council have the power to veto. No major decisions would be made if any of the five members vetoes a proposal. There is an interesting story behind the introduction of veto in the UN.

When it was founded, the founding members decided that the Security Council would be the most powerful organ of the UN. However, a lot of fear lurked beneath this decision.

The Soviet Union especially believed that the US would get the Council to pass resolutions against the interests of their Republic. This might also lead to a nation gaining absolute power over everything. To avoid this from happening, it was decided that any resolution could be passed only if all the permanent members of the Council agreed to it. Thus, veto was introduced.

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The UN is a huge organisation that needs effective leaders. The head of the UN is responsible for running the UN and this is vested upon the Secretary-General. Being the head of the UN is not an easy task.

The UN Secretary – General is a peace-maker. He or she needs to be a good administrator, a diplomat, and an able spokesperson all at the same time. The Secretary-General should be efficient enough to make the voice of the unprivileged heard.

The Secretary-General is appointed by the General Assembly and serves a maximum of two four-year terms. The UN had made it a point that the Secretary-Generals should not come from the countries linked with major powers. The first Secretary-General of the UN was from Norway and his name was Trygve Halvdan Lie.

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One would not be wrong to say that the United Nations looks after the world. Such an organisation needs a lot of money for smooth and efficient functioning. You might have membership in some club. As club members, you would have to contribute money for the functioning of the club. Similarly, the UN draws funds through membership.

The UN receives annual funding from the governments of its 193 members. Each member contributes according to its ability to pay. Factors like national income, level of debt and population are taken into consideration to decide a country’s annual contribution.

So naturally, wealthier nations contribute more than the poor nations. For instance, in 2006, Liberia had to contribute 0.001 per cent of the regular budget while France had to pay 6 per cent.

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We have been talking a lot about how the UN strives for establishing world peace. But is peace the only concern of the United Nations? The UN Charter clearly sets out the objectives of the organisation. They are as follows:

• To maintain international peace and security
• To develop friendly relations among nations
• To cooperate internationally in solving international economic, social, cultural and humanitarian problems and in promoting respect for human rights and fundamental freedoms
• To be a centre for harmonizing the actions of nations in attaining these common ends

The UN has many specialized agencies like the UNESCO and programmes like the World Food Programme that help it to achieve these objectives.

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The United Nations has six different languages. They are English, Chinese, French, Arabic, Russian and Spanish. These six languages are used in the meetings and documents of the United Nations. But why does the UN have so many official languages?

UN is an international organisation with its members speaking different languages. This should not be a barrier for effective communication. So, it is natural for it to have more than one official language.

Using different languages enables effective communication between the culturally and linguistically diverse members. Apart from the official languages, all the speeches are translated other languages as well.

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New York holds the United Nations. It is situated in Turtle Bay. Sometimes, the name Turtle Bay is used for the headquarters of the UN. Turtle Bay has served as the headquarters of the UN since 1952. The UN headquarters was designed by a team of architects led by Wallace Harrison.

Though situated in the US, Turtle Bay does not come under US administration. It is completely under the administration of the UN. But, it acknowledges many of the US federal laws.

The headquarters is the home of the General Assembly and the Security Council. In addition to Turtle Bay, the UN has three regional headquarters in Geneva, Vienna and Nairobi. These offices do not hold the seats of any major organs, but they represent the interests of the UN and aid in diplomatic activities.

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