9781422285466

Head of the UN Mission for Ebola Emergency Response, Ismail Ould Cheikh Ahmed, addresses the General Assembly via video-link from Sierra Leone in January 2015.

UN Overview On October 24, 1945, fifty-one countries committed to preserving peace through international cooperation established the United Nations.By 2015, almost every nation in the world belonged to the organization, and its membership totalled 193 countries . When countries join the United Nations, they agree to follow the UN Charter. The Charter says that the United Nations has four purposes: to maintain international peace and security; to develop friendly relations among nations; to cooperate in solving international problems and in promoting respect for human rights; and to be a center for harmonizing the actions of nations. The United Nations does not make laws and it is not a world government; however, it does provide ways to help nations resolve conflicts between them. All the UN members—large and small, rich and poor, with a variety of political views and social systems—participate and vote in this process. The United Nations has six main parts. Five of them are based at the UN Headquarters in NewYork City: these are the General Assembly,the Security Council, the Economic and Social Council, the Trusteeship Council, and the Secretariat. The International Court of Justice is located at The Hague in the Netherlands.

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Chapter One