UNITED NATIONS ORGANISATION (UNO)

The world have witnessed two world wars. The 1stworld war (1914 to 1918) was fought between CENTRAL POWERS vs. ALLIES POWERS.

The winners were Allies Powers. More than 85 Lakh soldiers died in this war and huge loss of property was witnessed. To avoid any further war, League of Nations was established with prime objective to prevent another world war. League of Nations could not achieve the desired expectations and in 1939 GERMANY under the leadership of HITLER attacked Poland. Two days later Britain & France attacked Germany resulted into start of SECOND WORLD WAR which continued till 1945.

Second world war was fought between Axis Power vs. Allies Powers.

The winner were Allies Powers. 2ndworld war too witnessed huge loss of lives & property. Millions of people died and crores of people either fled to other countries or lost their homes. As League of Nations ceased to exists with the start of 2nd world war, again need was felt to establish an INTERNATIONAL ORGANISATION to prevent another world war. This gave birth to UNITED NATIONS ORGANISATION (UNO).

UNO was established on 24th October 194 by the charter of United Nations & Statute of the International Court of Justice. 24th October is celebrated as UN Day. UNO started with 51 founder members. The present strength of UNO has risen to 193 Countries. Last Country to join UNO is Republic of South Sudan (Joined on 14 July 2011), Switzerland became 191st member (2002) and Montenegro 192ndmember (2006). India is a founder member of United Nations, signed the UN Charter along with 50 other Countries and formally became a member on 30th October 1945. Although we were not a free nation at that time, some colonial countries were allowed to became its member. Britain had already promised India that after the end of 2nd world war, Britain will make India a free nation.

NOTE:- Israel is 59th members ( 1949). India formally recognised Israel on 17th September 1950. The Republic of Korea (South Korea) and The Democratic People’s Republic of Korea ( North Korea ) both became member of UN on 17th September 1991.

OBJECTIVES OF UN

UNO was formed to prevent another world war by promoting International Peace and co-operation. UNO replaced League of Nations. Besides this main objective, UNO has been working for promotion of human rights, social & economic development, protection of environment, international security, providing aid in case of famine, natural disasters, armed conflicts, epidemic, pandemic etc.

OFFICAL LANGUAGES OF UN

UN has six official languages – ARABIC, CHINESE, ENGLISH, FRENCH, RUSSIAN & SPANISH. Modi Government has been demanding inclusion of Hindi as an official language of UN. Shri Atal Bihari Vajpayee was the first PM of India, who addressed UN General Assembly in Hindi. PM Narendra Modi also addressed UNGA in Hindi in 2014. Ex Foreign Minister Late Smt. Sushma Swaraj also addressed UNGA several times in Hindi.

UN has agreed to make Hindi as one of its official language. India will pay all the charges for making changes & upgration of the present system i,e modification in software, hardware etc for this purpose. In near future, we can expect HINDI as 7th official language of UN.

HEADQUARTER: UN headquarter (secretariat) is situated at MANHATTEN NEW YORK, USA.

NON – MEMBERS OF UNITED NATIONS ORGANISATION

Vatican City ( Holy See ) & Palestine, are recognised as independent states by UNO but not granted the membership of UNO. However UNO allow these two countries to participate as permanent observers of General Assembly and are provided access to UN documents. Some states are not recognised by UN and are not its members. These states are: Taiwan, kosova, Western Sahara, South Ossetia, Abkhazia and Northern Cyprus.

COMPOSITION: UNO has 6 Principal Organs, 15 specialised agencies & 2 UN Programmes.

PRINCIPLE ORGANS OF UNO

a) GENERAL ASSEMBLY (UNGA)

b) SECURITY COUNCIL (UNSC)

c) ECONOMIC & SOCIAL COUNCIL (ECOSOC)

d) INTERNATIONAL COURT OF JUSTICE (ICJ)

e) SECRETARIAT &

f) TRUSTISHIP COUNCIL

1. GENERAL ASSEMBLY : - UNGA can be called as legislative organ of UN. 193 Countries are members of UNGA. Each country has one vote irrespective of area & population of the country. Regular yearly session (generally in month of August or September) is held but emergency session can also be called. General Assembly decides on new members, adopt budget, elect Non -Permanent members of Security Council, elect judges of International Court of Justice, members of ECOSOC, Secretary General of UN etc. General Assembly is headed by its PRESIDENT (Now Mr. Volkan Bozkir from Turkey is the President of General Assembly). Tenure of President – One Year

2. SECURITY COUNCIL : - Security Council can be stated as executive wing of UN. UNSC has 15 members, (5 Permanent Members with (VETO POWER) AND 10 Non – Permanent members.) Tenure of Non – Permanent – is Two Years.

FIVE PERMANENT MEMBERS OF SECURITY COUNCIL

USSR used to be a Union of 15 independent states (Countries). In 1988 disintegration of USSR started. First of all Lithuania, then Latvia and later on other members of USSR left the union. USSR was disintegrated into 15 independent sovereign states e,g – Lithuania, Latvia, Ukraine, Tajakistan, Khajakistan, Russia, Georgia, Belorussia, Uzbekistan, Estonia etc. The biggest state of USSR is Russia and got the seat in lieu of USSR in 1991.

After the independence war led by peasants & workers in 1949, the king of China Chiang Kai Shek fled to Formosa Island (Presently Taiwan) to regroup and plan for their efforts to retake the mainland China and declared himself as a true representative of China whereas in Mainland China, Communist Government was established under the leadership of MaoZedony on 1 Oct 1949. He declared the creation of the People’s Republic of China (PRC). USA government did not recognised communist government of China and kept on recognising the Government of Taiwan as a government of China. Ultimately in 1971, USA granted recognisition to Communist Government of China (PRC) as Representive of China and Permanent membership of Security Council with veto power was transferred from Taiwan (ROC) to China (PRC) in 1971. Taiwan is now not even a member of UNO. 10 Non – Permanent members are elected by UNGA. Their tenure is Two Years. 3 are from Africa, 2 from Asia, 2 from Latin America, 2 from Western Europe & 1 from Eastern Europe Countries.

The main objective of Security Council is to maintain Peace & Security among nations. The decisions of Security Council are known as Resolutions. Security Council cannot take any resolution unless approved by all five Permanent members. If any of five Permanent members uses its VETO POWER on any of the decision of Security Council, then that decision cannot be taken by Security Council.

India has been demanding Permanent membership with VETO POWER. The main opposition is by China, otherwise many countries have been supporting India on this issue. UN has agreed to make India as 6th Permanent member but without VETO POWER.

India’s stand is that we should be granted VETO POWER along with Permanent membership - (My personal opinion is that we should now accept to be Permanent member without veto power and keep on our efforts to gain VETO POWER too in near future).

Security Council is headed by its President

The tenure of President is One Month

On 1st August 2021 India assumed the rotating presidency of United Nations Security Council (UNSC) for the month of August 2021. Some signature events like Maritime Security, Peacekeeping and Counter Terrorism, situation in Afghanistan etc. were hosted under the PRESIDENCY OF INDIA.

India became Non – Permanent member of UNSC for 2 years for the period 1Jaunary 2021 to 31 December 2022. India’s Presidency was represented by – Mr. T.S. Tirumurti (India’s Ambassador &Permanent Representative to the UN).

Previously, India had been a Non – Permanent member of Security Council for 7 times – Rotating Presidency is for a tenure of 1 MONTH and is allotted on the basis of first alphabet of the name of total – 15 Member countries (5 Permanent + 10 Non – Permanent). India again will assume rotating presidency of Security Council for THE MONTH OF DECEMBER IN YEAR 2022. For the month of July 2021 – Presidency was with France and for the month of Sep 2021, Ireland is having Presidency of Security Council.

3. ECONOMIC & SOCIAL COUNCIL (ECOSOC): The objectives of ECOSOC are promotion of higher standards of living, full employment, Social & Economic progress, protection of environment, facilitation of International Cultural & Educational co-operation, encourage human rights & fundamental freedom etc. ECOSOC has 54 member states. Members of ECOSOC are elected by UNGA. India is one of the member state of ECOSOC. ECOSOC is headed by its PRESIDENT (Presently holding this post – Mr. Collen Vixen Kelapile of Botswana).Tenure of President – One Year.

4. INTERNATIONAL COURT OF JUSTICE (ICJ): ICJ is also popularly known as World Court. ICJ was established by UN Charter on 26th June 1945 at San Francisco( California USA ) and started working in 1946. ICJ draws legal authority from UN Charter & ICJ statute. International Court of Justice replaced Permanent Court of International Justice. ICJ is located at The Hague (Netherlands also known as Holland). The building of ICJ is known as PEACE PALACE. International Court of Justice is primary judicial organ and Principal Judicial organ of UN. English & French are the official languages of ICJ.

MAIN FUNCTIONS OF INTERNATIONAL COURT OF JUSTICE

I. To settle legal disputes submitted by states in accordance with International Law.

II. To provide advisory opinions on International Legal Issues submitted to it by five other principal organs of UN, 15 specialised agencies of UN and one related agency IAEA (International Atomic Energy Association).

COMPOSITION OF INTERNATIONAL COURT OF JUSTICE

International Court of Justice have 15 Judges. The Judge of ICJ is called as member, Chief Justice as PRESIDENT & Deputy Chief Justice as VICE – PRESIDENT of ICJ.

I. Members of ICJ are elected by UNGA & UNSC.

II. Tenure of a Judge – 9 Years (Re-election is Permissible)

Three Indians were earlier elected as a Judge of ICJ they are:

1. Justice Benegal Rao

2. Justice Dr. Nagendra Singh ( Elected Twice)

3. Justice R.S. Pathak

Justice Dr. Nagendra Singh was President of ICJ for the period (1985 – 1988). Presently Justice Dalbeer Bhandari is one of the 15 Judges of ICJ and he has been elected for his Second term. His competition was with British Judge – Justice Christopher Greenwood who was also contesting for Second term. Later British Government withdrew his name. Justice Bhandari got 183/193 Votes in General Assembly and 15/15 Votes in Security Council. 3 Judges are elected from Africa, 2 from Latin America, 3 from Asia, 5 from Western Europe and 2 from Eastern Europe. Generally NOT more than one Judge from one Country.

QUALIFICATION

Judges must be elected from persons of high moral character and should possess the qualification required in their respective countries for appointment to Highest Judicial Office or are jurisconsuits of recognised competence in International Law. Past judges have been Law Professors, Diplomats and Judges.

REMOVAL OF A JUDGE

No member (Judge) can be dismissed unless in the unanimous opinion of other members that he / she no longer fulfills the required conditions. This has never happened in history of ICJ.

ELECTION OF PRESIDENT & VICE – PRESIDENT

Members elect among themselves 1 member as PRESIDENT and 1 member as VICE – PRESIDENT by SECRET BALLOT for 3 Years tenure. Re- election for President & Vice President is Permissible.

JURISDICTION OF INTERNATIONAL COURT OF JUSTICE

The Jurisdiction of ICJ can be classified under 2 categories: -

CONTENTIOUS JURISDICTION

ADVISORY JURISDICTION

1. CONTENTIOUS ( DISPUTE RESOLVING ) JURISDICTION

International Court of Justice settles disputes of legal nature submitted to it by states in accordance with International Law. Only states may apply International Organisations, other authorities and private individuals are not allowed to submit their applications before the court. The decisions of ICJ are NOT binding. Contending states are free to accept decision of ICJ or not but still its decision carry great legal weight & moral authority.

2. ADVISORY JURISDICTION

Since states alone are entitled to appear before the court, Govermental (Public) International Organisation cannot be parties to a case before it. However a Special Procedure, the Advisory Procedure is available to such organizations and to them alone. Advisory Jurisdiction is available to other 5 organs of UN, 15 specialised Agencies and one related Organisation, IAEA (International Atomic Energy Agency). The requesting organ, agency or organization remains free to decide, as it sees fit what effect to give to these opinions. Despite having no binding force, the courts Advisory opinion carry great legal weight& moral authority. They are often an instrument of Preventive Diplomacy and help to keep the peace. Advisory opinions also contribute to clarification & development of International Law and thereby to the strengthening of peaceful relations between states..

KULBHUSHAN JADHAV CASE

Kulbhushan Jadhav an Ex. Navy officer is an Indian businessman, who went to Iran for business purpose. He was arrested by Pakistan’s Inter Services Intelligence (ISI) and charged that he was involved in Espionage and Terrorism activities against Pakistan. A Military Court in Pakistan in April 2017 granted death sentence to him. On 8th May 2017, India filed an application in ICJ instituting proceedings against Pakistan for denial of consular access in respect of a dispute concerning alleged violations of Vienna convention on Consular Relations in the matter of detention & trail of an Indian National Kulbhushan Jadhav. On 18th May 2017, ICJ directed Pakistan to ensure that Mr. Jadhav would not be executed pending a final decision in the case.

In its judgment of 17th July 2019, International Court of Justice directed Pakistan to provide access to Mr. Jadhav by Consular officers of India, effective review and reconsideration of the conviction & sentence to Kulbhushan Jadhav .International Court of Justice also asked Pakistan to provide a proper forum for appeal so that Jadhav can use his right to defend which ever forum or court hears his case. The ruling was delivered by the full bench of ICJ headed by President Justice Abdulqawi Ahmed Yusuf. Advocate Harish Salve (Ex Solicitor General of India) appeared in International Court of Justice on behalf of India and Advocate Khawar Qureshi represented Pakistan.

FIRST PRESIDENT OF INTERNATIONAL COURT OF JUSTICE – JUSTICE JOSE GUSTAVO GUERRERO OF EL – SALVADOR

PRESIDENT OF INTERNATIONAL COURT OF JUSTICE – JUSTICE MRS. JOAN E DONOGHUE OF USA. Before her Justice Abdulqawi Ahmed Yosuf of Somalia was President.

PRESENT VICE – PRESIDENT OF INTERNATIONAL COURT OF JUSTICE – JUSTICE MR. KIRILL GEVORGIAN OF RUSSIA (Before him Justice Mrs. Xue Hanqin of China was Vice -President)

SECRETARIAT

Secretariat of UNO is located at Manhattan (NEW YORK) USA. Secretariat provides studies, information and facilities needed by UN bodies for their meetings. Secretariat takes care of day-to-day working of UN. It has a staff of nearly 45000 employees.

1. Secretariat is headed by Secretary General.

2. Secretary General of UN is at the Top in the hierarchy of UN.

3. Secretary General is appointed by UNGA after being recommended by UNSC.

4. Tenure of Secretary General is 5 years and Re – election is Permissible.

1st Secretary General of UNO Mr. Trygve Lie from Norway

8th Secretary General of UNO Mr. Ban - Ki – Moon from South Korea – 2 Terms. (01 Jan 2007 to 31 Dec 2016)

Present 9th Secretary General Mr. Antonia Guterres from Portugal (01 Jan 2017 to 31 Dec 2021)

Mr. Antonia Guterres has been re- elected for another term and will continue till 31 Dec 2026

Deputy Secretary General of UN Ms. Amina J Mohammed from Nigeria.

6. TRUSTISHIP COUNCIL

Trustiship Council was established to provide International supervision to 11 Trust Territories administered by seven member states and guarantee that appropriate measures were taken to prepare such territories for autonomy and independence. The last trust territory PALAU got independence on 01 Oct 1994. Thereafter the operations of Trusteeship Council were suspended w.e.f 01 Nov 1994. Now this organ is NOT ACTIVE.

FUNDING OF UNO

UNO is funded by member states (Countries). The contribution of a state is decided on the basis of a complex formula keeping in view the various aspects like National Income, Per Capita Income, Growth rate etc. However there is ceiling on maximum permissible contribution by a single member state (22%) to avoid indirect control of that state over UNO. At present, the maximum contribution is by USA (about 20% of the budget of UNO) followed by Japan.

SPECIALISED AGENCIES OF UN

Specialised Agencies are autonomous organisations working with UN. They are incorporated in UN System by the ECOSOC. At present UN has a total of 15 specialised Agencies that carry out various functions on behalf of UN.

1) FAO - (food & Agriculture Organisation) Its purpose is to raise level of nutrition, improve agriculture productivity to better the lives of rural population and contribute to the growth of world economy. Its headquarter is at Rome (Italy).

2) ICAO - (International Civil Aviation Organisation) This org. furmalates International Civil Aviation Policies. Headquarter Montreal (Canada).

3) IFAD - (International Fund for Agriculture Development) IFAD is dedicated to eradicating rural poverty in developing countries. HQ - Rome (Italy)

4) ILO - (International Labour Organisation) This agency deals with labour issues and work for their welfare especially in developing countries HQ - Geneva (Switzerland)

5) IMO - (International Maritime organisation). This agency makes International Policies for marine transport, safety, co-ordination, marine pollution etc. HQ. London (Britain.)

6) IMF - (International Monetary Fund.). IMF is a part of UN system and has a formal relationship agreement with the UN but retains its independence. IMF provides monetary co-operation and financial stability and acts as a forum for advice, negotiations and assistance on financial issues. HQ. - Washington D.C. (USA). Its head is Managing Director Ms. Kristalina Georgieva - She is from Bulgaria & is an Economist.

7) UNESCO - (United Nations Educational Scientific and Cultural Organisation). UNESCO was established in 1945 to promote peace & security among nations through education, science & Technology, culture and also to promote universal respect for Justice, Rule of Law, Human Rights & Fundamental Freedom. Its HQ is at Paris (France) Director General Ms Audrey Azoulay from France is its head.

8) WHO - (World Health Organisation) WHO acts as a Coordinating Agency on international public health and deals with health & Sanitation and diseases & sends medical teams to help Combat epidemics & pandemics. It was established on 7th April 1948. 7th April is celebrated as world Health Day. Its HQ is at Geneva (Switzerland). The main objective of WHO is the attainment by all people, the highest possible level of health. In 2019, WHO declared COVID-19 disease caused by Corona Virus as a Pandemic.

COVID 19.

8) WHO - USA is one of the founder member of WHO. During Trump administration, USA's relation with WHO became bitter. USA accused WHO for making delay in declaring COVID-19 disease a pandemic and having a soft attitude towards China. Trump administration threatened that USA is leaving WHO and will reduce its funding. However Joe Biden administration has declared that USA is not going to leave WHO and no reduction in its funding will be done. The Head of WHO is Director General. Dr. Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus from Ethiopia w.e.f. 1-7-2017. The tenure of D.G. is five years.

Deputy Director General is Ms Zsuzsanna Jakob from Hungary

Ms Somya Swaminathan is Chief Scientist of WHO.

Dr. Harshwardhan was appointed chairperson of Executive Board of WHO in May 2020. Now Dr. Patrick Amoth from Kenya is new Chairperson of Executive Board of WHO.

9) ITU - (International Telecommunication Union). This agency formulate International Radio & Telecommunication Policies. HQ Geneva (Switzerland)

10) UNIDO - (United Nations Industrial Development Organisation). The objective of this organization is Promotion & Acceleration of industrial development in developing countries and promotion of International Industrial Co-operation. HQ. Viena (Austria).

11) UPU - Universal Postal Union. UPU Co-ordinates postal policies between member states. HQ Berne (Switzerland).

12) (WBG) - World Bank Group. WBG is a part of UN system. It comprises of a group of five legally separate but affiliated institutions namely.

a) IBRD - World BInternational Bank for Reconstruction & Development (This bank is also referred as World Bank)

b) IFC - International Finance Corporation

c) IDA - International Development Association

d) MIGA - Multilateral Investment Guarantee Agency

e) ICSID - International Centre for Settlement of Investment Disputes.

World Bank Group is a vital source of financial & technical assistance to developing countries around the world.

Motto of WBG is working for a world free of poverty.

Earlier Mr. Jimyong Kim from S. Korea was president of WBG but due to differences with Trump administration, he resigned.

Now the President of WBG is Mr. David Malpass from USA.

13) WIPO - (World Intellectual Property Organisation). This org was established in 1967. Its headquarter is at Geneva (Switzerland). The objective of WIPO is to encourage creative activity & to promote the protection of Intellectual Property throughout the world.

14) World Meteorological Org. (WMO). - WMO was established in 1950. Its objective is to share information for weather and climate. Early prediction of weather & climate conditions can save lives and property of millions, boost agriculture and industrial produce, better irrigation planning, supply of safe drinking water etc.

HQ - Genera (Switzerland.)

15) UNWTO - - (United Nations World Tourism Org) UNWTO was established in 1974 and this organisation formulates tourism policies and work for promotion of tourism among member states.

HQ - Madrid (Spain).

UNITED NATION PROGRAMMES

UN has its two programmes

1) UNICEF - Unicef was established on 11 Dec. 1946. Unicef provides humanitarian & developmental assistance to children & mothers in developing countries. A healthy, educated mother can take better care of her children. That is why UNICEF do take care of mothers for helping children’s. Polish Physician Dr. Ludwik. Rajchman is regarded as founder of UNICEF. In 1953, this organisation dropped the words Emergency and International from its name. The New Name is United Nations Children’s Fund but still this orgnanisation is popularly known by its old name i.e. UNICEF. Now due to political unstablity prevailing in Afghanistan, UNICEF has accelerated its efforts to assist children & their mothers in that country. UNICEF do take care of health, education safe drinking water, nutrition and welfare of children & mothers in developing countries.

HQ. Newyork City (USA). UNICEF Head (Executive Director) Mrs. Henrietta Fore resigned from the post to take care of her husband. New Executive Director is Mr. Tore Hattrem (Norway)

2) UNHCR. - The another programme of UN is United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees. It is popularly known as UN Refugee Agency. This agency is mandated to aid & protect refugees, forcibly displaced communities and stateless people and to assist in their voluntary repatriation, local integration or resettlement to a third country.

UNHCR was established in 1950 after the Second World War to help millions of Europeans who had fled on lost their homes. Its primary purpose is to safeguard the rights & well-being of refugees. UNHCR has been awarded Noble Peace Prize twice (in 1954 and in 1981). It has offices in 128 countries working for the cause of refugees throughout the world.

Now the challenge before UNHCR is to protect foreigners & Afghan Nations leaving Afghanistan due to political unstability and deteriorating law & order situation.

Headquarter of UNHCR is at Geneva (Switzerland) Filippo Grandi is 11th United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees. He was elected by UNGA on 1/1/2016 for 5 years term. UNGA re-elected him to serve until 30/6/2023.

Note:

Difference between Refugees & Illegal Migrants (Intruders). Refugees enter into another country with the permission of that country. They are provided assistance by the allowing country and have their Rights but illegal migrants enter another country without the permission of that country and can be arrested and legal actions can be taken against them and can also be deported to parent country.