M.A. Political Science, Semester IV, Course No.

403, International Organisation & Law

Unit – I: Evolution, Emergence, Structures and Role of International Organization

1.2 EMERGENCE, STRUCTURE AND FUNCTIONS OF

UNITED NATIONS
- Suneel Kumar

STRUCTURE

1.2.0 Objectives

1.2.1 Introduction

1.2.2 Emergence of the UN System

1.2.2.1 Formation of the United Nations

1.2.2.2 Objectives and Principles of the UN

1.2.3 Structure of the United Nations

1.2.4 Functions of the United Nations

1.2.5 Evaluation of the UN Functioning

1.2.6 Let Us Sum Up

1.2.7 Exercise

1.2.0 OBJECTIVES

In this lesson you will study the emergence of United Nations as an international organization,
its institutional mechanisms and its relative success compare with earlier organization. After
going through this lesson, you will be able to know:

20
· the post-Second World War international context and power structure in which the
United Nations emerged;

· the structure and functions of the United Nations;

· the performance of United Nations, its successes and limitations.

1.2.1 INTRODUCTION

The United Nations is a universal/global organization which has been established to maintain
the international law and security, promotion of social and economic development and
protection of human rights around the world. Prior to its formation, various international
treaty organizations and conferences had been formed to regulate inter-state conflicts.
After the destruction caused by the First World War, the Paris Peace Conference established
the League of Nations to promote the international peace and cooperation. The League of
Nations resolved some inter-state territorial disputes and created international structures
in the areas of postal mail, aviation, and drug trade and human trafficking. However, it
lacked representation for colonial peoples. It also lacked the participation from major
powers such as the US, USSR, Germany and Japan. The League failed to act against the
Japanese invasion of Manchuria in 1931, the Italian invasion on Ethiopian 1935 and German
expansionism under Adolf Hitler that culminated in the Second World War. Hence, the
United Nations was established in the post-World War era with a broader structural-
institutional arrangement and broader agenda to international peace and security, promote
human rights, foster social and economic development, protect the environment and provide
humanitarian assistance in cases of famine, natural disaster, and armed conflict. This lesson
discusses the emergence, structure and functions of the United Nations.

1.2.2 EMERGENCE OF THE UN SYSTEM

The US President Franklin D. Roosevelt first time suggested to use the term “United
Nations” to refer to the Allies Powers of the Second World War to British Prime Minister
Winston Churchill in December 1941. US President Roosevelt suggested to use this term
as an alternative to the term “Associated Powers”, a term that US had used in the First
World War when the US had entered in the War in 1917. The British PM Churchill agreed
to accept the idea of US President Roosevelt. The British Prime Minister argued that Lord

21
Byron had also used the phrase “united nations” in the poem Childe Harold’s Pilgrimage
that referred to the Allies at the Battle of Waterloo in June 1815. Hence, in the political
context, the term “United Nations” was devised by the US President Franklin D. Roosevelt.
The term was used first time officially in the “Declaration by United Nations” for the Allied
Powers on 1st January 1942 when representatives of 26 countries pledged their Governments
to continue fighting together against the Axis Powers – Germany, Japan and Italy. The text
of the Declaration was drafted by US President Franklin D. Roosevelt, British Prime
Minister Winston Churchill and Harry Hopkins, the advisor of the Roosevelt in a meeting
at the White House on 29th December 1941. In the Dumbarton Oaks Conference, 1944,
it was decided that name of the new international organization would also be the “United
Nations”.

1.2.2.1 Formation of the United Nations

So far as the question of the emergence of United Nations is concerned, the earliest plan
to establish a new world organization replacing the League of Nations was initiated by the
US State Department in 1939. The United Nations was a result of 11 war time Conferences
that were occurred between the US, UK and other allies. Important meetings are given as
under:-

1. Atlantic Conference (14th August, 1941): On 14th August, 1941, a secret meeting
was held between US President Franklin D. Roosevelt and British Prime Minister Winston
Churchill on a warship “Prince of Wales” on the coast of Newfound land, Placentia Bay in
the Atlantic Ocean. At that time US was not involved in the Second World War but was
providing help to the Allied Powers as a result of Lend-Lease Act of March, 1941. Both,
the US President Roosevelt and the British Prime Minister Churchill discussed about shape
the world might take in the post-world war era and agreed on some points on this issue.
As a result of this discussion, they prepared the “Atlantic Charter” which outlined the
hopes of two leaders for a better post-war world. The Atlantic Charter included the following
eight points:-

· No territorial gains were to be sought by the United States or the United Kingdom;

· Territorial adjustments must be in accord with the wishes of the peoples concerned;

· All people had a right to self determination;

22
· Trade barriers were to be lowered;

· There was to be global economic cooperation and advancement of social welfare;

· The participants would work for a world free of want and fear;

· The participants would work for freedom of the seas;

· There was to be disarmament of aggressor nations, and a post-war common

disarmament.

To achieve the objectives of the Atlantic Charter, both the leaders wanted to create a
broader and permanent global structural and institutional framework for the security that
later on emerged in the form of the United Nations.

2. Washington/ARCADIA Conference (22nd December, 1941 to 14th January,

1942): The US also entered in the Second World War in December, 1941. The British
Prime Minister visited the US in December, 1941 and after the suggestion of US President,
the Allied Powers adopted the title “United Nations” on 1st January, 1942 by signing the
document known as “Declaration by United Nations”. The Declaration stated that all
signatories agreed with the principles of the Atlantic Charter. The ‘Big Four’ –Britain, the
United States, Soviet Union and China” were the leading signatories of the Declaration.
Draft of the Declaration included the suggestions of the Soviet Union, but left no role for
France. Apart from the provisions of Atlantic Charter, on the instance of the US President
Roosevelt, a provision for religious freedom was included in the declaration, which Soviet
Leader Stalin also approved. By early 1945, the Declaration had been signed by 21 more
states. The Signatory states were convinced that “…complete victory over their enemies
is essential to defend life, liberty, independence and religious freedom, and to preserve
human rights and justice in their own lands as well as in other lands, and that they are now
engaged in a common struggle against savage and brutal forces seeking to subjugate the
world.” In this Declaration, each Government pledges itself:-

· To employ its full resources, military or economic, against those members of the Tripartite
Pact and its adherents with which such government is at war.

· To cooperate with the Governments signatory hereto and not to make a separate
armistice or peace with the enemies (Axis Powers).

23
The purpose of the Declaration was also to encourage the other nations to adhere it so that
they may also be rendering the material assistance and contributions in the struggle for
victory over the Axis Powers. Thus, during the war period, the United Nations became the
official term for the Allied Powers.

After this, during the war period, the ‘Big Four’ met numerous occasions to discuss the
implementation of the Atlantic Charter.

3. The Quebec/QUADRANT Conference (17th August-24th August, 1943): This

was a highly secret military conference between the US, UK and Canada. The Conference
was held in Quebec City between August 17, 1943 and August 24, 1943. In this Conference,
the US Secretary of State Cordell Hull and British Foreign SecretaryAnthony Eden agreed
to draft a declaration that included a call for the establishment of “a general international
organization, based on the principle sovereign equality of all nations.”

4. Moscow Conference(October, 1943):The Conference of Foreign Ministers of the

Allied Powers was held in Moscow in October 1943 and issued a declaration which is
known as the “Moscow Declaration.” It was decided in the Moscow Declaration that an
international organization would be established to maintain peace and security in the post-
war period at international level. All the peace loving countries could be the members of
such organization.

5. Tehran/Eureka Conference(November, 1943): The US President Franklin D.

Roosevelt met with Soviet Premier Joseph Stalin in Tehran, Iran in November, 1943 and
proposed an international organization having a structural framework of an assembly of all
member states and an executive committee comprised of 10 members to discuss social
and economic issues. The United States, Great Britain, Soviet Union, and China would
enforce peace as “the four policemen.” Meanwhile, representatives of Allied Powers
established a set of task-oriented organizations such as the Food and Agricultural
Organization (May 1943), the United Nations Relief and Rehabilitation Administration
(November 1943), the United Nations Educational, Scientific, and Cultural Organization
(April 1944), the International Monetary Fund and the World Bank (July 1944), and the
International Civil Aviation Organization (November 1944).

6. Dumbarton Oaks Conference, 21st August, 1944- 7th October, 1944): Again, at

24
Dumbarton Oaks, near Washington, DC, USA, the representatives of the Big Fours met
in August and September 1944 and drew a detailed plan for the establishment of a post-
war international organization. The main proposals of this meeting are given as:-

· The tile of the new international body would be United Nations.

· Its purpose would be to maintain international security and peace.

· It would seek to develop friendly relations amongst all nations.

· It would try to tackle international economic, social and humanitarian problems.

· It would act as a hub for all nations to act together so that all their actions could be
directed towards achieving good for the whole of the world.

· It would be based on the principle of collective security

· It recommended a General Assembly of all member states and a Security Council

consisting of the Big Four and other six members elected by the Assembly.

7. Yalta/Crimea Conference (4th-11th February, 1945): The Yalta Conference was

occurred in 1945 and finalized the voting arrangements that would be used in the United
Nations. Roosevelt, Stalin and Churchill agreed on the voting arrangements to be adopted
in the United Nations. At a general level, any nation in the United Nations would have one
vote on issues. However, the USSR would have three votes as it represented three different
republics – Russia, the Ukraine and Byelorussia – and each would have its own seat in the
United Nations. Hence, Roosevelt agreed to the separate membership of General Assembly
for Ukraine and Byelorussia while reserving the right to seek two more votes for the
United States. However, the US never exercised this right. However, the ‘Big Four’ could
veto decision made by what was to be called the General Assembly. This meant that any
one of the Big Four could stop the introduction of a decision by the General Assembly if
that one country did not agree to it.

8. San Francisco Conference (25th April-26th June, 1945): A meeting of the

Representatives of 50 nations was held in San Francisco, California, USA in April-June
1945. The UN Charter was finalized in this meeting. In addition to the General Assembly
of all member states and a Security Council of five permanent and six non-permanent
members, the Charter made the provision for an Economic and Social Council, an
25
International Court of Justice, a Trusteeship Council to administer the certain colonial
territories and a Secretariat under a Secretary General.

The Roosevelt Administration attempted to avoid the mistake done by Woodrow Wilson
in the context of the League of Nations as Wilson had failed get the approval of US Senate
for the US membership. He sought the support of both the American political parties on
this issue. In September 1943, the Republican Party had endorsed US participation in a
post-war international organization, after which both houses of US Congress overwhelmingly
endorsed participation. Roosevelt also convinced US public that an international organization
was the best means to prevent future wars. The Senate approved the UN Charter on July
28, 1945.

The United Nations came into existence on 24th October, 1945, after the ratification of its
Charter by the member states. At present, it includes 193 member countries. South Sudan
had joined the UN on 14th July, 2011. Apart from the member states of the UN, there are
two non-member observer states of the United Nations General Assembly: the Holy See
which holds sovereignty over Vatican City and the State of Palestine. The Cook Islands
and Niue, both states in free association with New Zealand, are full members of several
UN specialized agencies and have had their full treaty-making capacity recognized by the
Secretariat.

1.2.2.3 Objectives and Principles of the UN

The UN Charter in its Article-1 defines the following objectives of the UN:

To maintain international peace and security, and to that end: to take effective collective
measures for the prevention and removal of threats to the peace, and for the suppression
of acts of aggression or other breaches of the peace, and to bring about by peaceful
means, and in conformity with the principles of justice and international law, adjustment or
settlement of international disputes or situations which might lead to a breach of the peace;

1. To develop friendly relations among nations based on respect for the principle of equal
rights and self-determination of peoples, and to take other appropriate measures to
strengthen universal peace;

26
2. To achieve international co-operation in solving international problems of an economic,
social, cultural, or humanitarian character, and in promoting and encouraging respect
for human rights and for fundamental freedoms for all without distinction as to race,
sex, language, or religion; and

3. To be a centre for harmonizing the actions of nations in the attainment of these common
ends.

As per the article-2 of the UN Charter, the United Nations and its members, in pursuit of
the abovementioned objectives shall act in accordance with the following principles:-

1. The Organization is based on the principle of the sovereign equality of all its Members.

2. All Members, in order to ensure to all of them the rights and benefits resulting from
membership, shall fulfil in good faith the obligations assumed by them in accordance
with the present Charter.

3. All Members shall settle their international disputes by peaceful means in such a manner
that international peace and security, and justice, are not endangered.

4. All Members shall refrain in their international relations from the threat or use of force
against the territorial integrity or political independence of any state, or in any other
manner inconsistent with the Purposes of the United Nations.

5. All Members shall give the United Nations every assistance in any action it takes in
accordance with the present Charter. They shall refrain from giving assistance to any
state against which the United Nations is taking preventive or enforcement action.

6. The Organization shall ensure that states which are not Members of the United Nations
act in accordance with these principles so far as may be necessary for the maintenance
of international peace and security.

7. Nothing contained in the UN Charter shall authorize the United Nations to intervene in
matters which are essentially within the domestic jurisdiction of any state or shall require
the Members to submit such matters to settlement under the present Charter; but this
principle shall not prejudice the application of enforcement measures under Chapter-
Vll of the UN Charter.

27
1.2.3 STRUCTURE OF THE UNITED NATIONS

The principles of the UN as explained in the Charter are to save future generations from
war, reaffirm human rights, and establish equal rights for all persons. In addition it also aims
to promote justice, freedom, and social progress for the peoples of all of its member
states. The UN Charter contains 111 articles as compared to 26 articles of the Covenant
of the League of the Nations. As per the Charter, United Nations has the following six
organs:-

· General Assembly:- The General Assembly is the main deliberative agency of the
UN. It permits debate on any issue under its purview especially on issues of international
peace and security. All member-states of the United Nations have the representation in the
General Assembly. It can make recommendations to promote international peace and
international economic and social co-operation. The General Assembly is expected to
meet on a regular basis. It can take the decisions with the two-third majority. It has six
functional committees.

· Security Council:- The Security Council is the most important organ of the UN. It is
comprised of fifteen member states, consisting of five permanent members –US, Britain,
France, Russia and China and 10 non-permanent members. The five permanent members
have the veto power over UN resolutions. This allows a permanent member to block the
adoption of a resolution. The General Assembly appoints the non-permanent members.
The Security Council is responsible to maintain the peace and security at an international
level. The Security Council can recommend the use of a blockade or other financial
impositions for any aggressor country. If these prove ineffective, then the Security Council
can call the United Nations to use military force against the aggressor to enforce its will.

· Economic and Social Council (ECOSOC):- The Economic and Social Council
promotes economic and social conditions of the people living in the member states. The
ECOSOC deals with human rights and seeks to develop a greater understanding of cultures
throughout the world. According to the article-57 of the UN Charter the Council covers
the areas such as health, education, economic, social and cultural issues and the promotion
of the position of women in the world.

· Trusteeship Council:- Its task was to supervise the decolonization and to phase out

28
trust territories placed under the UN guardianship during the transition from colonies to
independent states. The trusteeship Council suspended operations in 1994, upon the
independence of Palau, the last remaining UN trustee territory.

· International Court of Justice:- The International Court of Justice (ICJ) is the main
judicial body of the United Nations. All members of the United Nations are party to the
International Court. The ICJ consists of 15 members and only two members come from
the same country at any one time. All members of the United Nations have to agree to
abide by the decisions of the ICJ.

· Secretariat:- The Secretariat is the main administrative body of the UN which works
under the Secretary General. The Secretary General is appointed by the General Assembly
on the recommendations of the Security Council. The Secretary General is the Chief
Administrative Officer of the UN.

Specialized Agencies, Commissions, Committees, Councils, Funds and

Programmes:- Apart from the above discussed six organs, the UN has 19 specialized
agencies. The UN Charter stipulates that its each primary organ can establish various
specialized agencies to fulfill its duties. Some of the important UN specialized agencies are
the International Atomic Energy Agency(IAEA), the Food and Agriculture
Organization(FAO), International Labour Organization(ILO), the United Nations
Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO), the World Health
Organization (WHO), the World Bank. The UN performs most of its humanitarian work
through these agencies.

The UN has also established various commissions, committees, councils, funds and
programmes. This includes International Law Commission, UN Commission of
Disarmament, UN High Commissioner for Refugees, Human Rights Council, United Nations
Children’s Emergency Fund (UNICEF), United Nations Population Fund, United Nations
Development Fund For Women and United Nations Development Programme (UNDP).

1.2.4 FUNCTIONS OF THE UNITED NATIONS

The United Nations is a multi-issued global organization and, hence performing multi-
dimensional functions related to peace, security and development at global level. These
functions have been discussed as under:-
29
1. The UN intervention in International Crises: Since the preserving world peace is
a central purpose of the United Nations, over the years, it has played a major role in
helping defuse international crises and in resolving protracted conflicts. In 1946, the Soviet
Union had withdrawal its troops from the territory of Iran. Suez Canal Crisis was also
resolved in 1956 due to the intervention of the United Nations. The UN helped in defusing
the Cuban missile crisis of 1962, the Cyprus problem of 1963, Czechoslovakia crisis of
1968 and the Middle East crisis of 1973.When Iran-Iraq war was occurred in 1980 then
again due to its continuous efforts, the UN had succeeded to enforce the cease-fire in
August 1988. In 1989, the UN–sponsored negotiations led to the withdrawal of Soviet
forces from Afghanistan. In the 1990s, the UN was instrumental in restoring sovereignty to
Kuwait.

2. Disarmament and the United Nations: Armament race among the different global,
regional and local powers is a big threat to world peace. The United Nations is committed
to reduce or eliminate the nuclear weapons and other weapons of mass destruction. The
UN has been involved with arms limitation or reduction treaties. Treaties such as the
PTBT(1963), the Outer Space Treaty (1967), the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty(NPT)
(1968), the Seabed Arms Control Treaty (1971), the Biological Weapons Convention
(1972), the Chemical Weapons Convention (1992) and the Landmines Treaty which is
also known as the Ottawa Treaty (1997) are a result of the UN efforts for disarmament.
The UN bodies – the International Atomic Energy Agency, the Organization for the
Prohibition of Chemical Weapons, and the Comprehensive Nuclear-Test-Ban Treaty
Organization Preparatory Commission –deals with the issue of arms proliferation at global
level.

3. Peace-Making and Peace-Building Efforts: The UN peace-making brings hostile

parties to agreement through diplomatic means. The UN in efforts to maintain international
peace and security, through the Security Council can recommend ways to avoid conflict
and/or restore or secure peace. The UN Secretary-General plays an important role in
peace-making. The Secretary-General can bring any matter into the notice of the Security
Council that appears to threaten international peace and security. The Secretary-General
uses “good offices” to carry out mediation. It also exercises “quiet diplomacy” behind the
scenes, either personally or through special envoys. The Secretary-General also undertakes

30
“preventive diplomacy” aimed at resolving disputes. On various occasions, the UN
Secretary-General had sent the fact-finding missions in conflict-prone zones and supported
regional peace-making efforts in Asia and Africa. Since the development assistance is a
key element of peace-building, in cooperation with UN agencies, and with the participation
of donor countries, host governments and NGOs, the United Nations is working to support
good governance, to maintain the law and order, and to rebuild administrative, health,
educational and other services disrupted by conflict.

4. The UN Peace-Keeping Operations: The first UN peace-keeping mission was

established in 1948. In 1948, the Security Council authorized the deployment of the United
Nations Truce Supervision Organization (UNTSO) to the Middle East to monitor the
Armistice Agreement between the Arabs and Israel. Since then, there have been a total of
64 UN peace-keeping operations around the world. Since the UN deployed its first peace-
keepers in 1948, some 118 countries have voluntarily provided more than 750,000 military
and civilian police personnel. The UN has more than 20 peace-keeping operations in
Africa. The UN peace-keeping forces supervise the peace agreement, monitor the cease
fires, patrol the demilitarized zones, create buffer zones between the hostile groups/parties
and defuse the local conflicts that may threaten the international peace and security. These
peace-keeping operations have got huge success in the countries such as Congo, Haiti,
Guatemala, Nicaragua, Liberia, Sierra Leone, Bosnia Herzegovina, Tajikistan, East Timor,
Somalia, Sudan, Kosovo, El Salvador, Guatemala, Namibia, Cambodia, Mozambique
and Burundi. The UN peace-keeping force had won the Nobel Peace Prize in 1988.

5. Role in Democratic Transition and Elections in Different Countries: The United

Nations has played a significant role in the democratic transition and conducting or
supervising the election in different countries. Since September 2012, the UN has supported
the preparation and conduct of elections in 55 Member States. In Afghanistan, the UN
assisted the Independent Election Commission in reform of the electoral legal framework.
It is providing technical advice and assisting to build the capacity of the Independent High
Electoral Commission in Iraq. It has supported the finalization of the Provisional Constitution
and the establishment of a new Federal Parliament, bringing an eight-year political transition
to an end in Somalia. A new mission was established in Somalia in June 2013 to provide
political and strategic support to the Somalia to consolidate peace and security and establish

31
new federal structures, in advance of national elections scheduled for 2016. The United
Nations facilitated for the preparation of the presidential elections in Burundi in 2015.

6. Promotion of Human Rights:- Promotion of human rights and fundamental freedoms

for all people without any discrimination on the basis of race, sex, language, or religion is a
also an important purpose of the United Nations. It pledges the member states to undertake
the joint and individual action to protect these rights. The UN General Assembly adopted
a Universal Declaration of Human Rights in 1948. The Declaration serves as a “common
standard of achievement for all peoples and all nations” rather than a legally binding document.
It has become the basis of two binding treaties – the International Covenant on Civil and
Political Rights (1966) and the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural
Rights. The UN General Assembly had adopted the Convention on the Elimination of All
Forms of Discrimination against Women in 1979 and the Convention on the Rights of the
Child in 1989. In the post-Cold war era, the UN has given special emphasis on the
protection of human rights. For this purpose, on the recommendations of the World
Conference on Human Rights, in 1993, the United Nations Commission on Human Rights
was formed to oversee human rights issues for the UN. In 2006, it was replaced by a
Human Rights Council. The UN General Assembly passed a Declaration on the Rights of
Indigenous Peoples in 2006. It also passed its first resolution to recognize the rights of
LGBT people in 2011. The UN has special bodies to deal with the women related issues.
These bodies are the United Nations Commission on the Status of Women, the United
Nations Development Fund for Women; and the United Nations International Research
and Training Institute for the Advancement of Women.

7. Social, Economic and Cultural Development:- The United nations also works to
achieve international co-operation in solving international problems of an economic, social,
cultural, or humanitarian character. The UN bodies for example the General Assembly and
Economic and Social Council (ECOSOC) have been created to achieve such objectives.
The UN had adopted eight Millennium Development Goals that it had to achieve by 2015.
The UN Development Programme (UNDP) that was founded in 1945 is working in the
field of international development. The UN Human Development Index, a comparative
measure ranking countries by poverty, literacy, education, life expectancy, and other factors
is also prepared and published by the UNDP. The Food and Agriculture Organization
(FAO) (1945) promotes agricultural development and food security at global level. After
32
the Second World War, the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) (1946) was created
to assist the European children. It was expanded its mission to provide aid around the
world and to uphold the Convention on the Rights of the Child.

8. Humanitarian Assistance:- The World Health Organization (WHO) is the largest

agency of the UN, which focuses on international health issues and eradication of diseases.
It had announced the eradication of smallpox in 1980. In the subsequent years, it had also
eradicated polio, river blindness, and leprosy. The Joint United Nations Programme on
HIV/AIDS (UNAIDS) was started in 1996 to control and eradicate epidemic of AIDS
epidemic. The UN Population Fund is also dedicating its resources to combating the HIV/
AIDS. It is the largest source of funding for reproductive health and family planning services
in world. The UN takes leading role in the coordination of emergency relief. The World
Food Programme (WFP)(1961) provides food aid in response to famine, natural disasters,
and armed conflicts. The WFP feeds an average of 90 million people in 80 countries
annually. The Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR)
was established in 1950. It works to protect the rights of refugees, asylum seekers, and
stateless people. The UNHCR and WFP programmes are funded by voluntary contributions
from governments, corporations, and individuals. Nevertheless, the administrative expenses
of the UNHCR are done form the primary budget of the UN.

9. Decolonization:- Since the emergence of the UN, at least 80 colonial countries have
attained independence. The General Assembly adopted the Declaration on the Granting of
Independence to Colonial Countries and Peoples in 1960 with no votes against but
abstentions from all major colonial powers. The UN works toward decolonization through
groups including the UN Committee on Decolonization which was established in 1962.
The Committee lists seventeen remaining “Non-Self-Governing Territories” Among these,
the largest and most populous territory is Western Sahara.

10. Protection of Environment:- The UN is also working to protect the global

environment. Since 1972, with the formation of the UN Environmental Programme (UNEP),
the UN has put environmental issues high on its global agenda. The Earth Summit(1992)
of Rio de Janeiro, Kyoto Protocol of 1997 and Paris Conference of 2015 along with
other conferences and protocols are making the ratifying states legally binding to reduce
the emissions. The UN also declares and coordinates international observances, periods

33
of time to observe issues of international interest or concern. This includes the Earth Day,
Environment Day, World Tuberculosis Day, and the International Year of Deserts and
Desertification.

1.2.5 EVALUATION OF THE UN FUNCTIONING

Irrespective of the significant contribution from the UN in the above discussed areas, it has
been criticized for its real or perceived failures. First, many time its member states have
shown reluctance to enforce the resolutions of the Security Council. Due to the disagreements
in the Security Council about military action and intervention, UN failed to prevent the
genocide in Bangladesh (1971), Cambodia (1970s) and Rwanda (1994). Similarly, UN
was unable to complete the peace-keeping operations in the Somalia in 1992-93. The
UN peace-keeping have also been accused of child rape, soliciting prostitutes, and sexual
abuse during various peace-keeping missions in Congo, Haiti, Liberia, Sudan and South
Sudan, Burundi, and Ivory Coast. The UN peacekeepers from Nepal as the likely source
of the 2010–13 Haiti cholera outbreak that killed more than 8,000 Haitians following the
2010 Haiti earthquake. Second, during the Cold War, many times, the allegations of
favouritism were imposed on the UN by both the superpowers, USA and the USSR. In
1953, Soviet Union had forced UN Secretary General Trygve Lie to reign from his position.
Third, it has been also criticized for bureaucratic inefficiency, waste, and corruption. For
example, it was accused for corruption in the Oil-for-Food Programme in 2004 inn which
Iraq had been allowed to trade oil for basic needs to relieve the pressure of sanctions. The
UN had conducted an independent inquiry in which the involvement of many UN officials
was established. In this inquiry, the role of the Kojo Annan, the son of Kofi Annan was
also questioned.

Despite the failures, criticism and demand for reforms in its structure, UN has played a
significant role in the decolonization, maintenance of the peace and security, disarmament,
environmental protection, social and economic development. Its role has been recognized
by the global community. The UN, its agencies and officials have been awarded the
Nobel Peace Prize in recognition of their work. The UN Secretary General, Dag
Hammarskjold and Kofi Annan had been awarded the prize in 1961 and 2001 respectively.
Lester B. Pearson, the Canadian Secretary of State for External Affairs, was awarded the
prize in 1957 for his role to organize the UN peace-keeping force to resolve the Suez
34