United Nations’ structure, functions and goals
The
United Nation officially came into existence on October 24, 1945, and its
function was to preserve peace and security between the world’s super powers to
prevent another world war. Initially, the number of member states was 51, but
today this number has increased to 189 members. The United Nation's goals are:
to maintain international peace and security, to develop friendly relations
among nations, to corporate in solving international problems, and to promote
respect for human rights. In order to achieve these goals the UN has created
six main bodies, which are: The General Assembly, the Security Council, the
Economic and Social Council, the Trusteeship Council, the International Court
of Justice and the Secretariat. The General Assembly is the main
deliberating body of the UN. In this Assembly each member state has a vote. A
two-thirds majority decides "important issues" such as those of
international peace and security, admitting new members and the UN budget. A
simple
majority vote decides other matters. The Security Council's primary goal is to maintain
international peace and security. It is the right of the Security Council to
make recommendations on the appointment of a Secretary-General and on the
admission or the expulsion of a member to the UN. Whenever a threat of peace is
brought before it, they try to solve it peacefully. If the dispute is
associated with violence the Security's Council concern is to bring it to an
end. They can do this by using, "enforcement measures, economic sanctions,
or collective military action." The Economic and Social Council (ECOSOC)
has 54 member Governments, which are elected by the General Assembly to a
three-year term. They coordinate the economic and social work of the United
Nation. ECOSOC's main goal is to promote international economic and
social progress. One of the original councils of the UN is the
Trusteeship Council. Its job is to supervise the administration of Trust
Territories. Its main concern is to promote "advancement of the
inhabitants of Trust Territories and their progressive development towards
self-government or independence." However, this Council has been suspended
because its aims have been fulfilled and all the Trusteeship Territories have
attained self-governments and independence. The International Court of
Justice was created in 1945 under the Charter of the United Nation. It is
located at The Hague, the Netherlands and acts as a World Court. Its main
function is to decide international disputes, and it is composed of 15 judges,
elected by the General Assembly and the Security Council. This Court is the
most important judicial organ of the United Nation. The Secretariat,
is an international staff and its main function is not only to carry out all
the work of problems dealt by the United Nation, but also to "inform the
world's communications media about the work of the United Nations, organize
international conferences on issues of worldwide concern, and interpret speeches
and translate documents into the Organization's official languages."
The UN’s main goal is to protect Human Rights.
The General Assembly of The United Nations adopted and proclaimed the
Universal Declaration of Human Rights on December 10, 1948. The UN's believes
that if the equal and inalienable rights of the individual are respected
freedom, justice and peace can be achieved. In conclusion, much more is
to discover about The United Nations therefore it is impossible to include
everything in this short paper. Additionally, The United Nation is one of the
most important international organizations. Its main goal is to preserve world
peace, and also assist people all over the world, improve their safety and
protect their dignity, create economic opportunities, and promote social progress
so that peoples' lives are better.
Note: Visit the UN's Website at www.un.org
UNSA’s purpose
This club is composed of individuals who enjoy
studying multifarious political policies, organizations, and cultures, while
learning to conciliate others through the art of diplomacy and negotiation. For
years, United Nations Student Association (UNSA) has played a pivotal role in
John Jay College's student community. This club has established itself as a
major organization for the promotion of dignity, human rights and the respect
for the international legal norms. Bearing in mind these principles, for seven
years now the UNSA has been leading different groups of John Jay students to
National Model United Nations Conference (NMUN), which is a milieu, composed of
competitive students. In conjunction with the major universities of the United
States, the reputable institutions of the world are represented as well. The
UNSA’s mission is to inform the John Jay College community about the issues of
the United Nations and international affairs. UNSA’s members participate in the
National Model United Nations (NMUN) conference which is held in New York City
every Spring. This opportunity allows the
members to break from the role of observer and become players in global policy.
National Model United Nations Conference 2003
The 2003 NMUN conference
was sponsored by the National Collegiate Conference Association. The
conference, which took place in the Hilton Hotel New York from April 15th to
April 19th, 2003, was a fascinating experience for John Jay College
students who were assigned to represent the Republic of Peru in twelve (12)
committees. Prior to the conference, participating students were required to
prepare papers summarizing Peru's position in regards to the three (3) issues
that were discussed in each committee. The position papers required immense
research, staying at school till 2 AM, translating websites and newspaper articles
from Peru’s national language, Spanish, into English, digging out grassroots
research from Peruvian newspapers, and all Peruvian Ministries. After hours
spent at researching and translating, students were often dispirited to learn
that their research was not relevant to the issues of position paper. However,
the overall experience of researching about a country of a different culture,
language, and issues that exist within the society was a significant experience
for all UNSA’s members.
“A World fit for Children”
One of the biggest
committee at the 2003 National Model United Nations (NMUN) was the Special
Session on Children (SSC). It consisted of all members of the UN, many of
them represented by 2 delegates. Ms. Gjiza and Ms. Ahmetaj were the
delegates for the Republic of Peru from John Jay College. The Committee
of Special Session on Children was the biggest of this year NMUN Conference and
this is what made it so exciting. At the beginning the SSC delegates
hoped to be able to pass at least on report and make a change in for all the
children around the world. On the first day of the Conference most of the
time was spend on setting up the agenda and by the time agenda could be voted
on, the meeting was suspended. However the delegates gathered, mostly
divided into different regions around to discuss the problematic issues that
deal with children. At the end of the week, the SSC successfully passed
one report, which will improve the situation of children all over the
world. The Republic of Peru was a sponsor of this report and fully
recognized the importance of fixing the existing problems and bringing a better
future for the children.
The voices of John Jay Students at 2003 NMUN
The United Nations is
an international organization, not a world government. UN headquarters
are in New York but once you enter the UN you will not find yourself in the
United States anymore, you will be on international territory. The 189
flags in front of United Nations symbolize every member state starting from Afghanistan
to Zimbabwe. This is the first step that begins to unite all the
countries in the same ground. You can read and watch the news or programs
about UN, but the experience inside of it is different. To be inside of
UN means to truly ascertain the constitution, utility and aim of UN, which will
bequeath you a better understanding of it. The voices of John Jay College
Students could be heard participating in political discourse at the 2003
National Model United Nations (NMUN). The NMUN is a simulation of the
real UN and this year 24 students from John Jay participated and conveyed their
apprehension on solving international issues. After the conference the
participants came into one conclusion to make an alteration around the world
you have to "take a deep breath in and get your message out."
It was not a simple task to do, particularly in the big committees with 300
members or more. The UN is an essential international organization
because it does recognize all global issues and attempts to resolves them. In
addition, NMUN is essential because not only does it allow students to
participate on the international affairs but also helps them to actually
realize how United Nations affects our daily life.
Expand Your Opportunities
The
National Model United Nations (NMUN) prepares students to be better global
citizens. The experiences in NMUN are
valuable because students gather together to discuss critically important
issues at the same time. It is
fascinating because students play the role of government leaders, diplomats and
NGO leaders who in reality do struggle with important work on issues of peace,
conflict, socio-economic development, environmental sustainability and human
rights protection. The experience is
really unique because it challenges students to develop innovative solutions
while respecting the cultural, historical and political traditions of each
member state. Participating students
are referred as delegates and they truly explore the issues faced in each
committee with diplomacy, patience, negotiation and perseverance. In conclusion, this experience will benefit
you enormously because you challenge yourself and become well rounded. You face different values, norms, laws, and
problematic issues that exist in our continents and could be similar to one
another. Education expands your
opportunities and makes you more powerful.
Remember, “Knowledge is Power.”
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