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United Nations Day 2018: Significance, facts and components of UN

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Geneva, Oct 24: Today (October 24) is United Nations Day 2018. October 24 is being celebrated as United Nations Day since 1948. United Nations (UN) Day commemorates the anniversary of the entry into force of the UN Charter in 1945.

The United Nations is an international organization engaged in the diplomatic and peaceful communication between the countries of the world.

The United Nations is currently made up of 193 Member States. The mission and work of the United Nations are guided by the purposes and principles contained in its founding Charter. The UN also provides a forum for its members to express their views in the General Assembly, the Security Council, the Economic and Social Council, and other bodies and committees. By enabling dialogue between its members, and by hosting negotiations, the Organization has become a mechanism for governments to find areas of agreement and solve problems together.

Why is UN Day celebrated?

Why is UN Day celebrated?

The UN Day is celebrated to bring awareness to what the UN does. The purpose of the UN is to "preserve peace, advance justice and constitute a permanent structure for international cooperation." In other words, it acts as a world forum to help countries work together to achieve peace and human rights.

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It provides food and assistance to 80 million people in 80 countries, supplies vaccines to 45 percent of the world's children, assists and protects 65.3 million people escaping war, famine and persecution, and works with about 195 nations on climate change-related issues, among many others.

Important facts about United Nations:

Important facts about United Nations:

The United Nations (UN) is an intergovernmental organization tasked to promote international co-operation and to create and maintain international order. A replacement for the ineffective League of Nations, the organization was established on 24 October 1945 after World War II with the aim of preventing another such conflict. At its founding, the UN had 51 member states; there are now 193.

The headquarters of the UN is in Manhattan, New York City, and is subject to extraterritoriality. Further main offices are situated in Geneva, Nairobi, and Vienna. The organization is financed by assessed and voluntary contributions from its member states.

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Its objectives include maintaining international peace and security, promoting human rights, fostering social and economic development, protecting the environment, and providing humanitarian aid in cases of famine, natural disaster, and armed conflict. The UN is the largest, most familiar, most internationally represented and most powerful intergovernmental organization in the world.

Principal organs of the United Nations:

Principal organs of the United Nations:

The main organs of the UN are the General Assembly, the Security Council, the Economic and Social Council, the Trusteeship Council, the International Court of Justice, and the UN Secretariat. All were established in 1945 when the UN was founded.

General Assembly:

The General Assembly is the main deliberative, policymaking and representative organ of the UN. All 193 Member States of the UN are represented in the General Assembly, making it the only UN body with universal representation.

Security Council:

The Security Council has primary responsibility, under the UN Charter, for the maintenance of international peace and security. It has 15 Members (5 permanent and 10 non-permanent members).

Economic and Social Council:

The Economic and Social Council is the principal body for coordination, policy review, policy dialogue and recommendations on economic, social and environmental issues, as well as implementation of internationally agreed development goals. It serves as the central mechanism for activities of the UN system and its specialized agencies in the economic, social and environmental fields, supervising subsidiary and expert bodies.

Trusteeship Council:

The Trusteeship Council was established in 1945 by the UN Charter, under Chapter XIII, to provide international supervision for 11 Trust Territories that had been placed under the administration of seven Member States, and ensure that adequate steps were taken to prepare the Territories for self-government and independence. By 1994, all Trust Territories had attained self-government or independence.

International Court of Justice:

The International Court of Justice is the principal judicial organ of the United Nations. Its seat is at the Peace Palace in the Hague (Netherlands). It is the only one of the six principal organs of the United Nations not located in New York (United States of America).

Secretariat:

The Secretariat comprises the Secretary-General and tens of thousands of international UN staff members who carry out the day-to-day work of the UN as mandated by the General Assembly and the Organization's other principal organs. The Secretary-General is chief administrative officer of the Organization, appointed by the General Assembly on the recommendation of the Security Council for a five-year, renewable term.

Secretary-General António Guterres' message for UN Day 2018:

Secretary-General António Guterres' message for UN Day 2018:

In a video released in advance of UN Day, Mr. Guterres said that, despite the odds and obstacles, and growing inequality "we don't give up because we know by reducing inequality we increase hope and opportunity and peace around the world."

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The UN chief made clear the Organization's determination to implement climate action, fight for human rights and the life of peace that everyone deserves to enjoy: "On United Nations Day, let us reaffirm our commitment. To repair broken trust. To heal our planet. To leave no one behind. To uphold dignity for one and all, as united nations."

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