Luciana Mancino, Luis Renato Leon, Felipe Orbe

The United Nations

1. Brief history of the United Nations – when was it founded? What is its main
objective? How many members does it have?

The United Nations was created on October 24, 1945. It was the second multipurpose
international organization worldwide. Its predecessor was the League of Nations created due to the
Treaty of Versailles in 1919. The United Nations headquarters are located in New York. The main
objective of the creation of the UN was to establish peace and security among other countries, as well
as, maintain their friendly relationships. The principles of the Un are based on respect of equal rights
to everyone, with the purpose of achieving cooperation in economic, social, and cultural approaches.
The UN counts 193 Member States, of which five of them are permanent members: China, the United
Kingdom, the United States, Russia and France. All UN Member States are also members of the
General Assembly. The main reason the UN was created was to end the post-conflicts of WW2.

2. General Assembly – What is its main objective? When do they meet?

The UN General Assembly (UNGA) is the main policy-making organ of the Organization. It makes
the most important decisions, like:
● appointing the Secretary-General on the recommendation of the Security Council
● electing the non-permanent members of the Security Council
● approving the UN budget
The 193 members of the assembly meet in regular sessions from September to December each year,
and thereafter as required.
Problems like the pandemic, racism, intolerance, inequality, climate change, poverty, hunger and
even wars are some of the problems the General Assembly discusses to find a solution.

3. UN’s General Secretary – What is his name and where is he from? What is his
Role in the UN? How is he elected? How many years does the General Secretary
works? Look for background information.

Antonio Manuel de Oliveira Guterres he is European Portuguese, he is a politician, diplomat, and the
ninth occupant of the General Secretary since January 1st, 2017. He is the symbol of the ideals of the
UN he is the voice of the interest of the community in particular of the poors and the most vulnerable.
He is described as "chief administrative officer" of the organization since he must serve the other
organs in the UN, His role also includes attending sessions of United Nations bodies; consultations
with world leaders, government officials and others; and trips around the world designed to keep the
Secretary General in contact with the peoples of the Organization's Member States and informed
about the wide range of issues of international concern that are on the Organization's agenda. To be
selected as secretary-general, a candidate must receive the votes of at least nine members of the
United Nations Security Council. The General Assembly for a period of five years and may be re-
appointed once.
4. World Issues – What are the six modern “world issues” that the UN works on?
Give a brief explanation.

There's a variety of world issues happening in modern times that the UN has been working on
such as: conflicts with Africa, AIDS, Children, Climate Change, Ageing, Poverty among others.
Though the challenges that the UN had faced during 2021 and 2022 are different from the ones they
are constantly working on.

First of the world issues the UN faces is keeping Libya's peace process. Libya was one of the UNS
few conflict resolutions in the past year, the UN helped the country's warring military to sign an end
agreement in October 2020. They also helped in March 2021 to forge a political agreement between
rival factions.

Second, with the pandemic of COVID-19, poverty has risen by 8% of the total population, therefore,
their goal is to end it.

Along with poverty, they want to achieve the Sustainable Development Goal 2, Zero Hunger, as soon
as possible, even more, with the health and socio-economic impacts of the disease.

Fourth, they want the planification of vaccinations in conflict-affected areas. The UN has struggled to
achieve a coherent response to the security consequences of the pandemic, in February 2021, the
Council discussed how they could be of help in vaccination campaigns, nevertheless, due to the
broader shortages and the uneven distribution, the initiative was of little impact.

Fifth world issue, Minimizing suffering in Afghanistan. The Taliban's swift takeover of Afghanistan
creates immense political struggles for the UN. The collapse of the Afghan government, raised
questions whether UN agencies can function safely. The P5 tries to see how to deal with the Taliban,
with Russia and China.

Sixth world issue the UN works on is stopping the possible return of calamity in Haiti. The Security
Council and UN officials are anxious about Haiti, due to the recent assassination of President Jovenel,
along with the forthcoming national elections. The UN has dispatched peace operations to Haiti, yet
failed to build lasting stability. As a result, Security Council members are wary of authorizing further
security. Nonetheless, the UN can't ignore Haiti's turbulence, especially if violence threatens to grow
in the refugee crisis.
5. 4th Committee: ‘Special Political and Decolonization’
a. What is its given name?
It's given name is “Special Political and Decolonization”, also, SPECPOL

b. When was it created?

It was established in 1993.

c. How does it work?

According to the United Nations, “The Special Political and Decolonization Committee (Fourth
Committee) considers a broad range of issues covering a cluster of five decolonization-related agenda
items”

d. Explain it functions and powers

The functions that the fourth committee covers, are: Information from Non-Self-Governing
Territories transmitted under Article 73 e of the Charter of the United Nations;Economic and
other activities which affect the interests of the peoples of the Non-Self-Governing
Territories; Implementation of the Declaration on the Granting of Independence to Colonial
Countries and Peoples by the specialized agencies and the international institutions
associated with the United Nations;Offers by Member States of study and training facilities
for inhabitants of Non-Self-Governing Territories; and Implementation of the Declaration on
the Granting of Independence to Colonial Countries and Peoples.

(Fourth Committee | The United Nations and Decolonization, s. f.)

e. How many members does it have and how are they allocated?
There are approximately 194 members in the fourth committee, they are in this committee so that they
take action on: Political Missions, Provide Information, Peaceful use of outer space, Atomic radiation,
Palestine refugees, Peacekeeping operations,

f. Has it been effective? Explain your answer. Use case studies.

Yes, the Fourth Committee has been effective. More than 80 countries whose people were
under colonial domination have become Members of the United Nations as sovereign and
independent States. Moreover, many other peoples who used to be under colonial rule have
reached self-determination through the political association or integration with other
independent States. The UN hasn’t yet achieved the goal of complete decolonization, there
are still 17 Non-Self-Governing territories to be decolonized. An example of its effectiveness
is how in 1994 Palau got its independence.
SOURCES:

United Nations. (n.d.). About Us. United Nations. Retrieved October 27, 2022, from
https://www.un.org/en/about-us#:~:text=Member-,States,members%20of%20the%20General
%20Assembly.

Encyclopædia Britannica, inc. (n.d.). Organization and administration. Encyclopædia Britannica.

Retrieved October 27, 2022, from https://www.britannica.com/topic/United-Nations/Organization-
and-administration

United Nations. (n.d.). United Nations, main body, main organs, General Assembly. United Nations.
Retrieved October 27, 2022, from https://www.un.org/en/ga/#:~:text=The%20UN%20General
%20Assembly%20(UNGA,Charter%20of%20the%20United%20Nations.

United Nations. (n.d.). The role of the secretary-general secretary-general. United Nations. Retrieved
October 27, 2022, from https://www.un.org/sg/en/content/the-role-of-the-secretary-general

United Nations. (n.d.). Global issues. United Nations. Retrieved October 27, 2022, from
https://www.un.org/en/global-issues

Ten challenges for the UN in 2021-2022. Crisis Group. (2021, September 13). Retrieved October 27,
2022, from https://www.crisisgroup.org/sb006-ten-challenges-un-2021-2022

Fourth Committee | The United Nations and Decolonization. (s. f.). Recuperado 28 de

octubre de 2022, de https://www.un.org/dppa/decolonization/en/fourth-committee

Permanent Mission to the United Nations | Fourth Committee (Special Political and

Decolonization Committee). (s. f.). Recuperado 30 de octubre de 2022, de

https://enaun.cancilleria.gob.ar/en/content/fourth-committee-special-political-and-

decolonization-committee

United Nations. (2016, 7 diciembre). Special Political and Decolonization Committee

(Fourth Committee) - Promo video [Vídeo]. YouTube. https://www.youtube.com/watch?

v=hVKO5z7lHII
The UN General Assembly (UNGA) is the main policy-making organ of the Organization. It makes
the most important decisions, like:
 ● appointing the Secretary-General on the recommendation of the Security Council
● electing the non-permanent members of the Security Council
● approving the UN budget
The 193 members of the assembly meet in regular sessions from September to December each year,
and thereafter as required.
Problems like the pandemic, racism, intolerance, inequality, climate change, poverty, hunger and
even wars are some of the problems the General Assembly discusses to find a solution.