The United Nations& what they do

Presentation by Casey Sheren & Darshali VyasPresented By Lauren Johnson

• World War II (1939-1945)

• The Allies (Britain, France, Australia, Canada, New Zealand, India, the USSR, China & the USA)

vs• The Axis (Germany, Italy & Japan)

• The Holocaust (systematic killing of 11 million people)

• 60 million people died in World War 2

• About 40 million of those who died were civilians

Historical Background

Sources: http://fcit.usf.edu/holocaust/people/victims.htm, http://www.bbc.co.uk/schools/primaryhistory/world_war2/world_at_war/

The United Nations

• The United Nations was founded in 1945 by 51 countries to keep peace and ensure that the tragedies of World War II would never be repeated

• The UN has 4 main purposes– To keep peace throughout the world– To develop friendly relations among

nations– To help nations work together to

improve the lives of poor people– To be a center for collective action

among nations to achieve these goalsSource: http://www.un.org/en/aboutun/index.shtml

Question: Ten million children in the world under the age of 5 are undernourished, which means that they do not have enough food to be healthy...

Answer: False. More than 99 million children are undernourished & underweight

TRUE OR FALSESource: Information and graphics courtesy of http://www.un.org/millenniumgoals/

Question: As of 2012, one in ten children of primary school age did not attend school

Answer: True. Globally, more than 700 million adults and 120 million youth lack basic reading and writing skills

TRUE OR FALSESource: Information and graphics courtesy of http://www.un.org/millenniumgoals/

TRUE OR FALSE

Question: WOMEN in many parts of the world have less access to education, job opportunities, and participation in government than men do

Answer: True. Boys & girls in most regions have equal opportunities to receive a primary education...But what about after?

Source: Information and graphics courtesy of http://www.un.org/millenniumgoals/

Question: 3.000.000 CHILDREN DIE. before their fifth birthday every year.Because they are poorBecause they don’t have foodBecause they don’t have health care

Answer: False. More than 6 million die before their fifth birthday.

TRUE OR FALSESource: Information and graphics courtesy of http://www.un.org/millenniumgoals/

Question: Only half of women in developing regions receive the recommended amount of health care they need during pregnancy.

Answer: True, 45% less women die during childbirth than in 1990, but…

MORE HEALTH CARE IS NEEDED

TRUE OR FALSESource: Information and graphics courtesy of http://www.un.org/millenniumgoals/

Question: In 2012, MALARIA killed an estimated 627.000 people.Answer: True. HOWEVER, since the year 2000, 3.3 million deaths from malaria were prevented

TRUE OR FALSE

Source: Information and graphics courtesy of http://www.un.org/millenniumgoals/

Question: ONE BILLION people do not have basic sanitation, such as toilets.Answer: False. 2.5 billion people live without basic sanitation.

TRUE OR FALSE

Question: The United Nation aims to help deal with debt problems of developing countriesAnswer: TRUE

TRUE OR FALSESource: Information and graphics courtesy of http://www.un.org/millenniumgoals/

The Millennium Development Goals• Millennium Summit (September 2000):

largest gathering of world leaders in history adopted UN Millennium Declaration.

• Committed to reduce extreme poverty and set series of time-bound targets.

• Targets known as the Millennium Development Goals.

• Deadline to achieve these goals is 2015.

• Goals are also basic human rights-the rights of each person to health, education, shelter, and security.

SOURCE: http://www.unmillenniumproject.org/goals/index.htm

The United Nations Today•193 member countries

•Vatican City, Taiwan, and Kesovo are the only 3 non-member countries

•Headquarters in New York City

•Ban Ki Moon is the Secretary General of the United Nations

•Spanish, Chinese, English, Arabic, Russian, and French are the 6 official UN languages

Source: http://www.un.org/

Structure of the United Nations• The United Nations is divided into 6 primary bodies

– The General Assembly (GA)– The Security Council (SC)– Economic and Social Council (ECOSOC)– Trusteeship Council (TC)– The International Court of Justice (ICJ)– Secretariat

• There are also many specialized agencies and programs that the UN administers – These include the World Health Organization (WHO), the UN Children’s Fund (UNICEF),

International Monetary Fund (IMF)

Source: http://www.un.org/en/mainbodies/

Structure of the United Nations• The General Assembly (GA)

– Central organ of the United Nations– Described as the nearest thing to a “parliament of mankind,” as all Member States are members of the GA, and each

member has one vote – Makes recommendations on international issues, oversees all other UN bodies which must report to the GA annually,

approves the UN budget and apportions UN expenses – Elects the Secretary-General– Holds authority to admit and expel Member States

• The Security Council (SC)– Has the primary responsibility for maintaining international peace and security – Power to employ United Nations forces and direct action against threats to the peace– Fifteen members sit on the Security Council, including the five Permanent Members (China, France, Russian

Federation, the United Kingdom and the United States)• The International Court of Justice (ICJ):

– Also called the “World Court” – Primary judicial organ of the UN and decides international legal disputes– All UN members can bring matters before the ICJ but States must agree to accept the jurisdiction of the ICJ before it

can decide a dispute involving that State.

Source: http://www.un.org/en/mainbodies/