Booklet 5 - UN Flashcards
(33 cards)
What year was the UN established and why?
1945, to provide a forum where countries can settle disputes peacefully
How many member states are there?
193 (started with 51)
How many votes does each state have?
1
How many Millennium Development Goals are there?
8
How many Sustainable Development Goals are there?
17
When are the SDGs aimed to be achieved by?
2030
The UN was the first:
Post-war intergovernmental organisation to be established
Aims of the UN:
- Maintain International Peace and Security
- To develop friendly relations between nations based on respect for the principle of equal rights and self-determination of peoples
- To achieve international cooperation is solving international problems of an economic, social, cultural or humanitarian nature, promoting respect for human rights and fundamental freedoms
- To be centre of coordinating the actions of nations in the attainment of these aims.
How does the UN promote growth and stability?
The UN’s Millennium Development Goals and Sustainable Development Goals are prime examples of UN declarations that promote stability and growth. These nation-backed goals aim to improve quality of life, literacy rates, poverty, famine.
How does the UN promote stability?
UN sanctions have allowed inequalities and injustices to be resolved. UN punishes countries who dont abide international laws. eg UN has imposed sanctions to Iran to stop Iran’s use of nuclear weapons for power
What is the UN often criticised for?
- lack of agreement and subsequent inaction on many security issues
- limited power to enforce compliance to regulations by national governments
- organisation and funding- powerful nations setting agenda for their own self- interest
UN general assembly main area of responsibility:
- Develop good relations and co-operation between nations
- Settling disputes within international law through the International Court of Justice
UN general assembly strengths:
Works as an independent arbitrator to uphold international agreements
UN general assembly weaknesses:
Each country has a representative, but the UN relies on funding from more developed nations, which leaves it open to criticism about impartiality
UN Security Council main area of responsibility:
- To maintain world peace and security
- 5 permanent members (China, France, Russia, UK and USA) plus ten temporary members who are elected every two years
UN Security Council strengths:
- Facilitated nuclear disarmament since the Cold War
- Promotes geopolitical stability, for example, sending ‘neutral’ peacekeeping troops to intercede and de-escalate in regions where there is conflict
UN Security Council Weaknesses:
- A history of disagreeing on resolutions in some major conflicts (e.g. in Syria and on Russia’s annexation of Crimea)
- Lack of intervention during the Rwandan genocide in 1994, when 800,000 people were slaughtered by ethnic Hutu extremists
What is the power of a ‘veto’
Each nation has the power to block any resolution they disagree with
What do the ICJ do and an example
The International Court of Justice has the ability to produce a binding ruling between two states.
Nicaragua’s socialist government (Sandinistas) accused the US government of illegally supporting a right wing rebel group (Contras), who were attempting to overthrow the government. this including housing and training them in Mena, Texas via Barry Seal.
World Health Organisation main area of responsibility:
- Manage international public health issues by combating and eradicating spread of global diseases
- Monitor outbreaks of disease in countries and declare global pandemics
WHO strengths:
- Achieved eradication of smallpox and near eradication or polio
- Praised for its co-ordination of the global response to the 2020 COVID-19 pandemic
WHO weaknesses:
- Criticised for its lack of leadership and efficacy on COVID-19, as well as the Ebola virus in the past
- Critics have called for improved vaccine stockpiling and responses to epidemics
UN Development Program main area of responsibility:
- Eradication of poverty and the reduction of inequalities and exclusion
UN Development Program strengths:
- Led the efforts to successfully meet most of the MDGs
- These eight- anti-poverty targets were set in September 2000 and the world committed to achieve them by 2015
