THE UNITED NATIONS ORGANIZATION

In the spring of 1945, the representatives of 50 nations met in a conference in San Fransisco, USA., to set up an organization for the maintenance of friendly relations and co-operation among the nations of the world. The second world war had then been going on for over five years. Millions of people had been killed, or had been suffering from the effects of the war. It was hoped that the organization would be able to prevent wars in the future. At the end of the conference, the delegates signed the United Nations Charter, and the United Nations Organizations was born.
The United Nation’s headquarters are in New York. Here the General Assembly, in which all the member-states are represented, meets to discuss matters concerning the world’s general problems. The most important official of the Organization is the Secretary General. If something happens somewhere, he is the first man to take measures to prevent things from getting worse. Disputes between member-states are discussed and settled by the Security Council. On the basis of resolutions passed by the Security Council, the U.N. can send troops to keep peace in troubled countries.
The U.N. contributed a great deal to the settlement of the Dutch-Indonesian problem over the independence of Indonesia. As the dispute became serious and developed into a war, the Security Council ordered a cease-fire, and under the auspices of the United Nations negotiations began, leading to the recognition by the Dutch government of Indonesia’s independence in 1949. Also the status of West Irian, now Irian Jaya, as a province of Indonesia, was settled with the help of the United Nations.
Besides the Security Council, there are many other important U.N. agencies. UNESCO (the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization) is concerned with the spreading of knowledge and improvement of education throughout the world.
Unicef (the United Nations International Children’s Emergency Fund) is a popular agency, known all over the world because of its activities in promoting the welfare and health of children.
The FAO (Food and Agriculture Organization) helps developing countries to improve the people’s diet and farming methods.When the calendar shows 24th October this year, the United Nations Organization will have been serving mankind one more year, since it was born on 24th October 1945.