restoring law & order and crime prevention - Peace Operations ...

11CHAPTER I: The UN System1. Briefing of the UN SystemThe United Nations Organisation was established in the wake of theSecond World War which exposed the limitations of its predecessororganisation, the League of Nations. It came into existence on 24 October1945 after ratification of the Charter which was drawn up in San Franciscoon 26 June 1945. As made out in the Charter of the United Nations 3 , themain objectives of the UN are:• To maintain international peace and security;• To develop friendly relations among nations;• To achieve international co-operation in solving internationalproblems and in promoting respect for human rights; and• To be a centre for harmonizing the actions of nations in theattainment of these common ends.2. Structure of the UNThe United Nations has six main organs namely the General Assembly, theSecurity Council, the Economic and Social Council, the TrusteeshipCouncil, International Court of Justice and the Secretariat. All memberStates of the UN are represented in the General Assembly which functionsas “parliament of nations”, each Member State having one vote. TheGeneral Assembly deliberates on a host of issues such as internationalpeace and security, UN budget and admitting new members to the UNdecision on which are taken by two-third majority whereas other mattersare decided by simple majority. 4 Recommendations of the General3Charter of the United Nations. At: http://www.un.org/en/documents/charter/chapter1.shtml(last visited Dec. 17, 2009)4At: http://www.un.org/ga/about/background.shtml (last visited Feb. 07, 2010)