United+Nations

**United Nations (UN)**: Organization founded after WWII which attempts to facilitate cooperation in international law, international security, economic development, and social equity. It is funded by voluntary contributions from each of its 192 member states. Issues include arms control and disarmament, peacekeeping, human rights, humanitarian aid, and treaties. It is comprised of: The General Assembly (the main deliberative assembly); The Security Council (decides certain resolutions for peace and security, has 5 permanent members with veto power, and 10 regional, rotating seats with 2 year terms); The Economic and Social Council (assists in promoting international economic and social cooperation and development); The Secretariat (provides studies, information and facilities needed by the UN); and The International Court of Justice (the primary judiciary).The Millenium Development Goals, signed in September 2000, stabs at sweeping human rights standards by the year 2015. **Membership** There are 192 UN member states. WHO'S NOT A MEMBER: Taiwan, The Holy See (Vatican) (observer state) "Palestine" is a non-member entity. United Nations Security Council makes UN Security Council Resolutions which member governments must carry out. PERMANENT MEMBERS: These nations have veto power over any UN resolution: China, France, Britain, Russia, United States The Secretary-General of the UN is [|Ban Ki-moon] of [|South Korea]. The Secretary General's duties include helping resolve international disputes, administering peacekeeping operations, organizing international conferences, etc. UN takes assessed and voluntary contributions. No member nation can contribute more than 22% of the UN’s regular budget. The General Assembly approves the regular budget and determines the assessment for each member based on ability to pay. MAJOR CONTRIBUTORS: US(22%) [|Japan] (19.63%), [|Germany] (9.82%), France (6.50%), the UK (5.57%), [|Italy] (5.09%), [|Canada] (2.57%), [|Spain] (2.53%), and [|Brazil] (2.39%).[|[6]] (2006 figures) Special UN programmes are financed by voluntary contributions from member governments. Some food aid, mostly financial aid. **Millennium Development Goals:** End extreme poverty and hunger, Universal Primary Education, Gender Equality and Empower Women, Reduce Child Mortality, Improve Maternal Health, Combat HIV/AIDS and malaria, Ensure Environmental Sustainability, Develop a global partnership for development. The Millennium Development Goals are eight goals that all 192 United Nations member states have agreed to try to achieve by the year [|2015]. [|The Borgen Project] estimates that $40-60 billion a year is needed to achieve all eight goals. UN peacekeepers are sent after armed conflict has ceased, to enforce the terms of peace agreements and discourage fighting. Forces are voluntarily provided by member nations. The UN does not maintain any independent military. All UN peacekeeping operations must be approved by the Security Council. WHY UN IS A GOOD ACTOR: -The US Government Accountability Office concluded that UN Peacekeeping is eight times less expensive than funding a U.S. force. -A 2005 RAND Corp study found the U.N. to be successful in two out of three peacekeeping efforts. It also compared U.N. nation-building efforts to those of the U.S., and found that of eight U.N. cases, seven are at peace, whereas of eight U.S. cases, four are at peace, and four are not or not-yet-at peace. WHY UN IS A BAD ACTOR: Many UN members don’t go along with UN resolutions. Iraq broke 17 Security Council resolutions since 1991, Israel defied resolutions against settlements in the West Bank and Gaza. Such failures stem from UN's intergovernmental nature — in many respects it is an association of 192 member states who must reach consensus, not an independent organization. Even when actions are mandated by the 15-member Security Council, the Secretariat is rarely given the full resources needed to carry out the mandates. -Failure to prevent the 1994 [|Rwandan genocide], which resulted in the killings of nearly a million people, due to the refusal of security council members to approve any military action.[|[27]] (France's veto in the security council caused this, among other reasons) -Failure to effectively intervene during the [|Second Congo War], which claimed nearly five million people in the [|Democratic Republic of Congo] (DRC), 1998-2002 -Failure to successfully deliver food to starving people in [|Somalia] ; the food was instead usually seized by local warlords. A U.S./UN attempt to apprehend the warlords seizing these shipments resulted in the 1993 [|Battle of Mogadishu]. -Failure to implement the provisions of [|UN Security Council Resolutions 1559] and [|1701] calling for disarmament of Lebanese paramilitary groups such as [|Fatah] and [|Hezbollah]. The **United Nations Human Rights Council** is an international body within the [|United Nations System]. Its stated purpose is to address [|human rights] violations. The new UN Human Rights Council has specifically condemned only one country, [|Israel]. It voted on [|30 June] [|2006] to make a review of alleged human rights abuses by [|Israel] a permanent feature of every council session. -The failure of the "Oil for food" program in pre-2003 Iraq is an example of how corruption and mismanagement can taint the perceived effectiveness of the UN's humanitarian operations. -By nature, maneuvers proposed to the security council are very difficult to pass due to the voting structure and single voter veto from the P5 members. Hegemony and unproductive disagreement reign supreme.
 * UN FACT SHEET **
 * Financing **
 * Peacekeeping: **

-Updated by Aaron J. 09/10/2009