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"We the
peoples of the United Nations determined - to save succeeding generations
from the scourge of war, which twice in our lifetime has brought untold
sorrow to mankind, and to reaffirm faith in fundamental human rights, in the
dignity and worth of the human person, in the equal rights of men and women
and of nations large and small, and to establish conditions (...), and to
promote social progress and better standards of life in larger freedom, and
for these ends to (...) to unite our strength to maintain international
peace and security, and to ensure, by the acceptance of principles and the
institution of methods, that armed force shall not be used, save in the
common interest, and to employ international machinery for the promotion of
the economic and social advancement of all peoples, have resolved to combine
our efforts to accomplish these aims
..."
[...the
complete UN Charter can be found on a
separate page].
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These
are the introductory lines to the charter of the world organisation, the
covenant commemorating its foundation, which 51 states signed to form the United
Nations Organisation in 1945 in San Francisco. In the meantime, the organisation
now constitutes 191 members, in fact, nearly all the nations of the world
[...Information on the prehistory and the development of the United Nations can
be found in
Basic Course 2].
[Sculpture in front of the UN building in in New York] |
The
introductory lines of the Charter make immediate reference to the central
objective of the United Nations: the prevention of war. Further aims in the
sense of a comprehensive understanding of peace are assigned to this
objective. The mention of "fundamental human rights" refers to
human rights, the promotion of economic and social development is mentioned
explicitly [...Basic Course 1
deals with the task and aims of the United Nations].
The
Charter set up six principal organs – the General Assembly, the Security
Council, the Secretariat, the Economic and Social Council, the Trusteeship
Council and the International Court of Justice-, all of which still exist
today [...information on the structure of the United Nations can be found in Basic
Course 3]. |
Since
its foundation, the organisation has differentiated out into a close to
impenetrable network of programmes, commissions, special organs and specialist
institutions [...information on the system underlying the United Nations can be
found in Basic Course 4].
Coordinating
the fill of activities and ensuring the efficiency of its work forms one of the
problems which the world organisation sees itself faced with. Added to this is
the accusation that the organisation reflects the (power) relations at the time
of its foundation, at the end of the Second World War, and that this is no
longer contemporary [...Basic
Course 5 deals with selected problems faced by the United Nations].
[Author: Ragnar Müller]
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