The history of the United Nations

In one of the busiest cities in the world, between iconic buildings and hot dog stands, sits the headquarters of an international organisation with one mission, world peace. I’m talking of course about the United Nations or the UN for short. You’ve probably heard of it before. The UN first became a thing in 1945, just after the Second World War. The big allied four wanted to prevent another huge war from ever happening again, so they formed a new organisation designed to do just that.

NEWS REPORTER: San Francisco California, a momentous conference begins. Here leaders of the United Nations representing all, but a fraction of the Earth’s population are laying the foundations of international security in the post war world.

On the 25th of April 1945, 850 representatives from 50 countries met in what was, at the time, the largest international gathering ever. The end result was this, the United Nations Charter. It’s a legally binding contract between all the countries involved and includes all the things the UN wants to achieve, like getting rid of poverty and disease, providing food and aid to those who need it, improving health services, disaster relief, protecting humans rights and making sure countries follow international laws. On the 24th of July 1945, after a bunch of revisions, it was agreed upon and signed by all the countries involved. And a couple of months later on the 24th of October it came into force, the date we now mark as the UN’s birthday.

Today the United Nations consists of 193 countries and has accomplished a lot of the things it first set out to do. It’s managed by the Security Council, which is made up by five permanent members France, Britain, the United States, China and Russia. They’re in charge of helping countries resolve conflicts. To help make any decisions the UN holds a General Assembly. Which is overseen by this guy, Antonio Guterres, the UN Secretary General. It’s held every year in September at New York headquarters. A lot of people are invited to speak there, and it’s given many people, not just politicians, a platform to have their voice heard. Even Beyonce has belted out a ballad for the assembly. You sure were Beyonce, you sure were. The United Nations now has a bunch of specialised agencies, like the World Health Organisation and UNICEF, which helps to improve the lives of kids especially those in disadvantaged areas.

While it all sounds pretty good, the organisation has some critics who say the United Nations isn’t as effective as it should be, that it favours some countries over others and that it spends way too much money to operate. But over the weekend, as the UN turned 75, lots of people helped celebrate what it has accomplished and what it can still achieve.