The United Nations Organisation came into being in 1945 after a horrible war and it represents the strong desire of humanity for peace. The league of Nations had not been as broadly based. Some great nations kept out of it. The U.N.O. from the very beginning was composed of almost all the nations of the world. Most of those who could not join at first have now become members.
The major objectives of the U.N.O. are the maintenance of peace, the growth of cooperative effort among nations, and the solution of disputes by peaceful means. Members are obliged to promote respect for human rights and fundamental freedoms.
Six main organs make up the U.N:0. These are the General Assembly, the Security Council, the Economic and Social Council, the Trusteeship Council, the International Court of Justice, and the Secretariat. In addition to these there are eleven specialised agencies working in various fields. The more important of them are the ILO, the FAO, the UNESCO, and the WHO.
The U.N.O has tried its best to live up to the noble ideas contained in the preamble to its charter. This preamble is a declaration on behalf of the government of their peoples. It expresses the determination of the members to save coming generations from the scourge of war. It recognises that “Since wars begin in the minds of men, it is in the minds of men that defences of peace must be constructed.” It further says that mutual ignorance and denial of democratic rights have been the cause of war in the past. It also warns that peace based merely on economic and political foundations will not lasting. Finally it emphasises the need of a greater spread of culture and education for the good of humanity.
The achievements of the U.N.O’so far have not been small. It can look back on a proud record and forward to the hope of progress, in such vital fields as disarmament and developing the peaceful uses of atomic energy.
The U.N.O has tried to prevent the outbreak of a world war on many different occasions. It stopped a war between Egypt and Britain, France and Israel over the question of Suez canal, before this is checked the Korean war from turning into a world war. But for the intervention of the U.N.O in the Congo, that country would have become a major area of the cold war. The U.N.O also : contributed to a solution of a long-standing dispute between Holland and Indonesia regarding West New Guinea a major trouble. spot in S.E. Asia. The U.N, played a significant role in earlier stages of the Indo-Pakistan conflict over Kashmir. The U.N.O took timely action by calling a halt to armed hostilities between Israel and U.A.R. and other Arah countries in 1967 and again in 1973.
There are many people who are not satisfied with the working of the U.N.O. They point out that it is dominated by the American bloc-so it fails to work as impartially as it should: Red China was given its due place after 25 years. The U.N.O could not resolve the Kashmir issue. It could do nothing to solve the problem of Vietnam. The Americans savagely bombarded that country. It could not prevent genocide in Bangladesh.
It has not been fairly successful in promoting peace but its great achievements have been in the field of social and economic advancement of developing nations.
In spite of these achievements the U.N.O. has not gone far in the fulfillment of its chief aim, the establishment of lasting peace. The Big Powers have made the U.N. an instrument of their policies. Some of its members have begun to think of it as an organisation through which war can be waged. The armament race is out of its control. And it has not got the strength to check an aggressor. The presence of the veto in the Security Council makes it helpless.
But, in spite of all its weaknesses and failures, the world would be a much worse place without this organisation. It serves a vital function. In a cold war-ridden world it provides a useful platform where agreements are sometimes reached. If the U.N, did not exist all the countries will come together to build up something like it again.
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