chapter 3

THE UNITED NATIONS

HISTORICAL BACKGROUND OF UNITED NATIONS

It was during the period of Second World War that the necessity of a new general and comprehensive organisation of states for maintaining peace and promoting international cooperation was felt. The failure of the League was held to be a passing phenomenon. The] statement and diplomats were unanimous in their thinking that there was every need for creating a new international organisation capable of serving the need for preserving international peace and security through the development of friendly and cooperative relations among nations. It was also needed for providing them with an international platform for meeting, discussing and deciding all issues problems of their relations.

However, there were different views with regard to the nature and organisation of the proposed new international organisation. Some were of the opinion that the new organisation should be similar to the League of Nations, and should be suitably strengthened in the light of past experience. Another view was that it should be an organised association based on federal principles. Still another view was that its nature should be determined by the lessons of experience and requirements of international situation after the end of the war. It was the last view which was ultimately adopted by all the major powers.

The new international organisation-the United Nations Organisation arose on the ashes of the League of Nations. Though League of Nations had failed to provide security to humanity, yet the idea of international organisation to prevent war and to promote peace was not abandoned. The name 'United Nations' was devised by US President Roosevelt and was first used in the Declaration of the United Nations on 1st Jan. 1942, when representatives of 26 nations pledged their governments to continue fighting together against the Axis powers.

The United Nations officially came into existence on 24th October, 1945, when the Charter got ratified by Britain, China, France, the USA, and the USSR. 24th October, each year is now universally celebrated as the United Nations Day.

DEVELOPMENTS THAT LED TO THE FORMATION OF THE UN

1. Atlantic Charter of 1941

On Aug. 14, 1941, the great Atlantic Charter was signed by President Roosevelt and PM. Churchill. Some months before the entry of the USA into war, two great leaders Roosevelt and Churchill met at North Atlantic Sea in a battleship. They discussed the future possibility of forming an international organisation. The Atlantic Charter was signed and an eight point programme was included in the Charter.

The Charter declared that general security of all nations was essential. It was the right of each nation to be a state. The experience with the League had indicated that no organisation could be effective unless all the great powers were members of it. The charter indirectly accepted the need for a new international organisation.

2. The United Nations Declaration of Jan. 1942

As a first step towards the creation of the UNO, a significant document called the United Nations Declaration was signed on Jan. 1, 1942. The leaders who signed the declaration were President Roosevelt, PM Churchill, Mr. Livinove (Russia) and Mr. Sheing (China). In this Declaration some very important decisions were taken. The very next day 22 more states signed this declaration.

This Declaration was important because in this the signatory states agreed upon a common programme for securing the purposes and principles included in the Atlantic Charter. It was also decided that the members will pursue to win the war jointly.

3. The Casablanca Conference of January, 1943

In the month of Jan. 1943, P.M. Churchill and President Roosevelt met the French representative in the city of Casablanca to plan an invasion of Italy and Sicily. They agreed on a formula of unconditional surrender over terms of peace and discussed the role of their respective countries in the post-war period.

4. The Food and,  Agriculture Conference, 1943

It was in June 1943 that a Food and Agriculture conference was held at Virginia. It was attended by 44 nations. The Conference studied the problem of feeding millions of displaced persons and laid the groundwork for the activities which later on led to the establishment of the Food and Agriculture Organisation (in late 1945).

5. The Moscow Conference, October 30, 1943

The fifth step towards the establishment of the UNO was the Moscow Declaration which was signed on 30th Oct., 1943 by Molotov for the USSR, Eden for the U.K., Hull for the USA and Foo Ping Sheung for China. These four great powers declared that they wanted, at the earliest, a general international organisation based on sovereign equality of all peace loving states. They agreed that they would consult one another and as occasion required with other members of the United Nations with a view to join action on behalf of the community of nations for the maintenance of international peace and security. This conference declared that there should be some arms control after the war was over.

6. Tehran Conference, November-December. 1943

The Tehran Conference was also an important event which contributed towards the emergence of a new international organisation. Roosevelt, Churchill and Stalin met at Tehran and decided , "Our nations shall work together in war and the peace that will follow." It was also decided in this conference that there should be elimination of tyranny, slavery, oppression and intolerance, It this conference, it was said that members welcome all other states into a world family of democratic nations.

7. BrettonWoods Conference July, 1944

The Bretton Woods Conference also contributed a lot towards the formation of the UN. Forty-four members attended this conference. The aim of this conference was to make recommendations for improving international economic relations. At that time there was a lot of confusion in the financial and economic relations among nations. This conference, as such tried to establish some international financial agencies to remove the confusion.

After thorough deliberations, an agreement was reached and arrangements were made by which: (1) The International Bank of Reconstruction and Development (World Bank), and (2) The International Monetary Fund, were established. Later on, both these agencies began functioning as specialised agencies of the UN.

8. Dumbarton Oaks Proposals 1944

An important landmark in the development of the Charter of the UN was the conferences held at Dumbarton Oaks Washington from August 21 to October 7, 1944. These talks were held in two phases. In the first phase representatives of the USA, the USSR, and Britain conferred for six weeks on the basic outline of the proposed international organisation. In the second phase, Russia was replaced by China. It was on 9th Oct. 1944 that the proposals for establishing a general international organisation were published. These became known as the "Dumbarton Oaks Proposals". However, in the drafting of these proposals a large number of difficult questions arose and remained unsolved.

A bomb was thrown into the meeting hall when Ambassador Gromyko demanded that 16 Soviet Republics should be included among the original members of the organisation. Further no agreement was reached on voting issue ie. Voting in the Security Council.

, Most of the things decided and proposed at Dumbarton Oaks were later on included in the UN Charter. These proposals can be called as the first draft of the UN Charter.

9. Yalta Conference 1945

It was in Feb. 1945 that Roosevelt, Churchill and Stalin deliberated on various matters which were not decided at Dumbarton Oaks.

The question of the voting procedure in the Security Council, which remained unsolved at Dumbarton Oaks, was taken up at the Yalta Conference and discussed by the three world leaders. Consequently, an agreement was reached at the said conference with regard to voting formula which was,  subsequently included in the Dumbarton Oaks Proposals. The agreement provided, "All decisions on questions of procedure should be taken by a special majority of seven votes and that decisions on other questions should be taken by a like majority which was to essentially include an affirmative vote of all the five permanent members.

It was further decided that the party to a dispute could abstain from voting in certain matters. In this conference a plan was also drafted for the occupation and control of defeated Germany and for keeping order in liberated Europe. The "veto" formula embodied in the UN Charter was also finalised at Yalta Conference. Finally, at Yalta it Was decided that a full scale United Nations conference should be called at San Francisco on April 25, 1945.

10. The San Francisco Conference-25th April to 26th June, 1945

The San Francisco Conference marked the culmination point in the emergence of the

United Nations. The American government invited the states in the name of sponsoring states. The Conference opened on 25th April, 1945. The delegates of 46 nations were all government representatives. Later on, their number increased to 51. Actually 50 states attended as Russia had signed for Poland. Later on ,51 states signed the Charter.

There were 282 delegates representing the states. There were about 1500 specialists who advised the delegates. There was a Secretariat of 100 persons aiding the delegates with technical assistance. There were many commissions and committees which helped the process of decision-making in the meeting. The plenary sessions of the Conference and the meeting of the Commissions were open to the public but the committee meetings were kept secret.

'Five Big Meetings' were held in 'PANT HOUSE' on the top of the Hotel 'Fair Mount'. It was decided ultimately that the five big states should be given permanent seats in the UN Security Council and each was to have veto power.

"The delegates made the necessary compromise, accepted many imperfections and in the end created the United Nations."-Palmer and Perkins

11. Signing of the UN Charter

The Charter containing 10,000 words. 111 Articles, 19 Chapters was finally prepared in 5 official languages-French, Russian, English, Spanish and Chinese. The committees held about 400 meetings and the total cost of the preparing the UN Charter was estimated at £400,000.

The last business session of the San Francisco Conference was held on June 25,1945.

On June 26, 1945, the signatories to the Charter established a commission of the UN foro making provisional arrangements for the first session of the General Assembly and the the Councils, the establishment of the Secretariat and the convening of the International Court of Justice. The commission consisted of one representative of each member government.

12. The Birth of the United Nations

After the ratification of the UN Charter by the required number of states i.e. the U.S.A. (Erstwhile) U.S.S.R. China, France and Britain, the United Nations Organisation came into being on October 24, 1945, which is now called the "United Nations Day". The first meeting of the General Assembly of the UN was held in London on June 10, 1946. Three months later the last session of the League of Nations' Assembly was held in London for formally winding up the League.

OBJECTIVES, PURPOSES & PRINCIPLES OF THE UN

The UN Charter has 111 Articles and it lays down the organisational structure and functions of the international organisation-UNO. Its opening pages stand devoted to a description of the objectives, purposes and principles of the UNO.

(a) Objectives of the UN

The Preamble to the Charter describes the objectives of the UN: 

(1) To save the succeeding generations from the scourge of war.

(2) To maintain faith in fundamental human rights, in the worth and dignity of human person and equal rights of men, women and nations, large and small.

(3) To establish conditions under which justice and respect for the obligations,  arising from treaties can be maintained.

(4) To promote social progress and a better standard of life for all the people.

(b) Purposes of the UN

Chapter I and Article 1 of the Charter of the UN lays down the following purposes of the UN:

(1) To maintain international peace and security and for this end to take effective collective measures for the prevention and removal of threat to peace.

(2) To achieve international cooperation in solving international problems of economic, social, cultural and humanitarian character.

(3) To develop friendly relations among nations based on respect for the principle of equal rights.

(4) To be a centre for harmonising actions to achieve the above ends.

(c) Principles of the UN

Art. 2 of the Chapter I of the UN Charter lists the following principles in accordance with which the UN and its members are required to act:

(1) The organisation is based on the principle of the sovereign equality of all its members.

(2) The members will fulfill in good faith their obligations in accordance with the Charter.

(3) The UN shall ensure that the states which are not members of the UN will act in accordance with the principles of the UNO.

(4) All the members of the UNO will settle their disputes peacefully.

(5) The members shall refrain in their international relations from the threat or use of force against territorial integrity.

(6) All the members shall extend to the UN every type of assistance in any action it may take in accordance with the Charter.

(7) The UNO will not interfere in the domestic matters of the states.

Membership of the UN

According to Article 3 of the Charter, there are two types of the members of the UN:

(a) Those members who originally joined the UNO and participated in the San Francisco Conference. There were 51 original members of the UN.

(b) Those members who joined United Nations subsequently.

Art, 4 of the Charter points out that the membership of the UN is open to all peace loving states which accept the obligations contained in the present Charter. Admission of new members of the UN is effected by the General Assembly acting upon the recommendations of Security Council.

Expulsion of Charter Violating States

Art 6 lays down that if a state persistently violates the provisions of the Charter it may be expelled from the UN. It can be done by the UN General Assembly acting on the recommendation of Security Council.

The UN membership rose from 189 to 191 when in September 2002, East Timor and Switzerland joined this international organisation. Switzerland decided to join this international organisation without renouncing its status as a permanently neutralised state. The present strength of the UN is 193.

PRINCIPAL ORGANS OF THE UNITED NATIONS

I. THE UN GENERAL ASSEMBLY

The General Assembly is the most popular and the largest organ of the UN. It is termed as the "Town meeting of the whole world" where all the members of the UNO, large or small, are heard in debates and discussions. All the members of the UN are members of the General Assembly. Chapter IV of the UN Charter provides that each member shall have not more than five representatives in the General Assembly. However each state shall have only one vote. The General Assembly can be called the legislature of the UNO. It acts as a forum for raising matters of grievances and injustice.

"General Assembly is the central focus of the multifold activities of the UNO."

-Goodspeed

1. Organisaton of the General Assembly

General Assembly is the apex body of the UN and it has its own rules of procedures. It is an organ where there are neither hosts nor guests and everybody is equally away from home. Since there are 193 members of the UNO, the General Assembly has 193 members.

Each member state has one vote in the General Assembly. All the states are equal members of this august body.

(a) Presiding Officer. General Assembly elects its own President for one year. He is elected on the basis of personal competence. He is elected by secret,  ballot. Mr. Paul Henen Spook of Belgium was the first President of General Assembly and he presided over the first meeting of the General Assembly on 10th January, 1946. Generally, the President is taken from some small state. The President is assisted by "Chief De-cabinet" of Secretary General. This person is also Under Secretary for General Assembly Officers. There are 17 Vice-Presidents who represent the various regions and areas. There is one General Committee consisting of 17 Vice-Presidents and 7 Chairmen of the Standing Committees.

(b) Sessions of General Assembly. The General Assembly meets in regular session every year on Third Tuesday of September each year. Its special session can be called by the Secretary General at the request of Security Council or on the demand of a majority of the members of the UN.

(c) Decisions of General Assembly. The General Assembly takes all decisions by voting. Generally voting is done by showing of hands or by standing or some time it is done by taking roll call alphabetically. In voting there can be three choices. Either the members can say yes or no or abstain from voting. There is no voting by proxy. Each member state has one vote.

All important decisions are taken by a 2/3 majority of the members present and voting. The important questions are those which deal with the problems of international peace and security. All other simple questions are decided by General Assembly by majority of the members present and voting.

(d) Agenda of General Assembly. The agenda of General Assembly is prepared by the Secretary General in the month of July. The agenda includes the report of Security Council and the reports of other organs. It is reviewed by the General Committee to avoid any duplication in the items of the agenda.

(e) Committees of General Assembly

The work of the UN General Assembly is conducted primarily through its 7 principle committees. These are: 

(i) Political and Security Committee. It deals with the regulation of armaments.

(ii) Economic and Financial Committee. It deals with all economic and financial

matters and problems.

(iii) Social, Humanitarian and Cultural Committee. It deals with all all the Cultural,

Social and Humanitarian problems of the world.

(iv) Trusteeship Committee. It deals with the self-governing territories.

(v) Administrative and Budgeting Committee. It deals with the administration and

Budget of the UNO.

(vi) Legal Committee. It deals with the legal matters like Sovereignty.

(vii) Special Political Committee. It deals with the political problems of the world.

Before any decision is taken in the Assembly, the matter is referred to the Committees and there is a full fledged discussion in these committees. Thereafter, the committee sends its reoprt to the General Assembly upon the basis of which the final decision is taken.

(f) Debates in the UN General Assembly. There are no substantial and effective rules

for debates in General Assembly. The Chairman has no discretion in recognising the

members of the Assembly. The Chairman has to call the Speaker in order of preference in

which they had signified their desire to speak. Although the President has been vested with

the formal power to call a delegate to order for irrelevancy, the Presidents have not really

made use of this power due to the fear of provoking resentment of the members. Instead they

have adopted gentler methods like requests, suggestions and appeals to secure compliance.

The time- limit on a Speaker can be imposed not by the President but by a majority vote of

the General Assembly. Similarly, the number of times a member can speak on an issue is

determined by the Assembly and not by the President.

2. POWERS AND FUNCTIONS OF THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY

The functions and powers of the General Assembly are very broad and extensive in scope and varied in nature. They may be classified into five categories. These are: 

(A) Deliberative Functions. General Assembly is essentially a deliberative body and,  it can discuss any question or matter within the scope of the Charter. Art. 11 provides that the General Assembly may call the attention of the Security Council to situations which are likely to endanger international peace and security. It may recommend measures for peaceful settlement of any situation which is likely to impair the general welfare or friendly relations among nations. According to Art 12 of the UN Charter "General Assembly shall not make recommendations with regard to that dispute unless the Security Council so requests." General Assembly also receives and considers annual and special reports from the Security Council. It also considers and approves the budget of the organisation.

General Assembly has deliberated upon many questions like Palestine, Greece Cyprus, Korea, Hungary, Indo-Pak war, Suez Canal, racialism in South Africa, disarmament and the aid to be given to developing countries.

(B) Supervisory Functions. The supervisory role of General Assembly in relation to other organs of the UN is specified in chapters IX, X, XII. As an apex body, it receives and considers reports and special reports from the Security Council. It supervises the work of Trusteeship Council as provided under Art 16. The Economic and Social Council has to take the approval of General Assembly for calling international conferences. The Assembly makes rules for the appointment of the staff of the Secretariat, It also co-ordinates the policies and activities of the specialised agencies like WHO, ILO, FAO, IMF and several others.

(C) Financial Functions. The General Assembly also exercises financial powers. The Budget of the UN is regulated by General Assembly. Art 17 provides that Assembly has the power to consider and approve the budget of the UN. It can review the work of the organs of the UN when their expenditure estimates are presented. The Assembly apportions the expenses among the members of the UN. The money is apportioned according to the capacity of the state. The Charter of the UN stipulates: "The expenses of the organisation shall be borne by the members as apportioned by the General Assembly.'?

(D) Electoral Functions. The Assembly occupies a central position in so far as its election functions are concerned. It admits the new states in the UN, on the recommendation of the Security Council. It also elects non-permanent members of the Security Council; 18 members of Economic and Social Council are elected by the General Assembly; and it elects Judges of International Court of Justice. The Assembly also appoints the Secretary General of the UN on the recommendation of the Security Council.

(E) The Constituent Functions. Art. 108 and 109 lay down provisions in relation to the

constituent functions of the General Assembly. Under Article 108, amendment in the UN

Charter is valid only when it has been adopted by a vote of 2/3rd of the members of the

Assembly and ratified by all the permanent members of the Security Council. According to

Art. 109 of the Charter, the Assembly can call general conference for the review of the

Charter and the date and place of conference may be fixed by 2/3rd votes of the members of

the General Assembly.

Role of UN General Assembly

Starke observes "It is remarkable that in practice the Assembly has been able to take a leading role on questions of International peace and Security." A tremendous change was envisaged in the powers and role of the Assembly in 1950 with the adoption of "Uniting for Peace Resolution." This Resolution made the General Assembly as the custodian of collective security system of the UN. The resolution laid down that "if the Security Council fails to exercise its primary duty of the maintenance of international peace and security in any case when there appears to be a threat to the peace, breach of the peace or an act of aggression, the

 

General Assembly shall consider the matter immediately with a view to making appropriate recommendations (by 2/3rd majority) to member,  for collective measures."

After the passing of Uniting for Peace Resolution, the position of the General Assembly got considerably strengthened. However in actual practice the General Assembly found it very difficult, in fact impossible to muster the required 2/3rd majority for acting under 'Uniting for Peace Resolution'. Despite this inability, the UN General Assembly continues to effectively act out its role as a world parliament.

The General Assembly continues to perform its role as: 

(1) World's highest deliberating body;

(2) Supervisory body supervising the work of the other UN organs and agencies;

(3) A body competent to propose and review reforms in the UN Charter;

(4) A body trying to promote friendly cooperation among all the members ; and

(5) A body working for strengthening the process of peaceful settlement of disputes

among nations.

II. THE UN SECURITY COUNCIL

Security Council is the executive organ of the UN which stands entrusted with the primary responsibility for the maintenance of international peace and security. Upon the Security Council rests the final responsibility of the success or failure of the UN as it deals with the implementation of the decisions of General Assembly and Charter of the UN.

"Nowhere in the world or even in history has there been assembled such a potential

organ for preventing international war." -G.J. Mangone

1. Organisation of Security Council

I. Composition. Article 23 deals with the composition and membership of the Security

Council. Originally the Chapter V provided that the Security Council shall consist of 11

members of the UN: China, France, the USA, the USSR, England as five permanent

members and six non-permanent members elected by the General Assembly for a term of two

years.

But on 1st Jan., 1966, the membership of Security Council was increased to 15 including 5 permanent members and 10 non-permanent members elected for two years. The non-permanent members are not eligible for immediate re-election. While electing the members of Security Council, the General Assembly has to keep in view the geographical consideration. It ensures that global representation is given to all areas in the Security Council. General Assembly also considers the contribution of the states towards international peace and security for granting membership of the Council.

II. Presiding Officer. There is one President of the Security Council. The President does

not have an exceptional position and every member holds presidency by alphabetical order

for one month. The Security Council adopts its own rules of procedure, including the method

of selecting its President (Art. 30).

III. Voting Procedure. The voting procedure is stated in Art. 27 of the UN Charter. Each

member of the Security Council has one vote.

The decisions of the Council are divided into two parts: 

(a) Decisions on Procedural Matters. "The decisions of the Security Council on procedural matters shall be made by an affirmative vote of any 9 members."

(b) Decision on Substantial Matters. In case of substantial matters, the decisions are taken by an affirmative vote which must include the five votes of permanent members. It is called the rule of "Great Powers Unanimity." In case any one of the five permanent members votes against the matter and exercises a veto, the matter stands rejected. However, if a permanent member merely abstains from voting it is not considered as veto. Veto has to be exercised.

In decisions under Chapter VI and under paragraph 3 of Art. 52, a part)/ to dispute has to abstain from voting.

IV. Sessions. The Security Council is always in session. Art. 28 states, "The Security Council shall be so organised as to be able to function continuously." The Security Council holds regular meetings at which each of its members may be represented by a member of the government or by some other specially designated representative. The Security Council may hold meetings at such places other than the seat of the organisation as in,  its judgment will best facilitate its work.

2. Powers and Functions of the UN Security Council

The Security Council of the UN is the guardian-in-chief of the world peace and security. Art 24 provides that it has been given primary responsibility for maintaining peace and security. It is also bound by the purposes and principles of the UN and hence it cannot act arbitrarily. Under Article 25, the members, "agree to accept and carry out the decisions of the Security Council in accordance with the present Charter."

The specific powers given to the Security Council have been laid down in Chapters VI, VII, VIII and XII of the Charter.

I. Deliberative Powers. The deliberative functions of the Security Council include discussion, investigation and recommendation. The Security Council can discuss, investigate and make recommendation on matters of international peace and security. It can call upon the members of the UN to settle their disputes peacefully. It may recommend appropriate procedure or method of adjustment at any stage of a dispute. It also determines the existence of any threat to international peace and security. The Security Council can formulate plans to regulate armaments and for this purpose, it supervises the working of the UN Atomic Energy Commission.

II. Enforcement Functions. The Security Council has been described as the enforcement arm of the UN. It decides what measure should be taken to maintain or restore international peace and security. While applying the enforcement measures, the Security Council first applies measures which do not involve the use of armed forces. It mostly imposes socioeconomic sanctions against the erring state. It can involve interruption of relations-rail, sea, air, radio, T.V., postal, trade, economic, diplomatic relations. According to Art.42, if these measures fail, the Security Council can take such action by air, land, sea forces as may be necessary for the maintenance of international peace and security. Art. 43 provides that all members of the UN are to make available to the Security Council army and other necessary assistance for the purpose of maintaining international peace and security. The measures taken by the members of the UN under Art 51 for individual and collective self-defence must be brought to the knowledge of the Security Council. Thus, the chief aim of the enforcement of powers of the Security Council is not to lay down specific terms for settlement of individual disputes but to ensure the maintenance of international peace and security.

III. Electoral Functions. The electoral functions of the Security Council imply its powers to recommend the admission of the new members as provided by Art. 4(2). Albania, Bulgaria, China, Hungary, Rumania etc. were not initially admitted as members of the UN because Security Council did not recommend their cases for admission. The Council also participates in the appointment of Secretary General. It can recommend to the General Assembly for suspending any member of UN for persistently violating the Charter, It also participates in the elections of the judges of the International Court of Justice.

IV. Pacific Settlement of Disputes. Chapter VI of the UN Charter and its Articles. 33 to 38 lay down the functions of the Security Council in respect of Pacific Settlement of Disputes.

(a) Any non-member of the UN can bring to the attention of the Security Council or the General Assembly any dispute [Art.35.(2)].

(b) The Security Council may investigate any dispute or any situation which may lead to international function or an order to determine whether the continuance of dispute or situation is likely to endanger the maintenance of international peace and security (Art. 34).

(c) Under Art. 36 (2), the non-member states are required to accept the obligation of pacific settlement provided in the Charter of the UN.

Role of UN Security Council

The Security Council stands recognised as the most important and sensitive organ of the UN, it,  has been generally an object of criticism on the ground that it has not been able to play the role which has been envisaged for it under the Charter. According to Palmer and Perkins, "Security Council was envisioned as the central agency of the UN but it has not been able to play its expected role."

Several factors have been responsible for reducing the importance of the Security Council and making it less effective.

1. Veto Power System. The five permanent members of the Security Council have veto powers and this power has been a major hindrance in the way of implementing the decisions of the Council. In the era of Cold War (1945-90), the Security Council was unable to function effectively because of frequent use of veto by the super powers particularly by the USSR.

2. Uniting for Peace Resolution. The 'Uniting for Peace Resolution' adopted in 1950 granted more powers to the General Assembly than Security Council. It was made clear through the resolution that if the Security Council fails to exercise its primary responsibility for the maintenance of international peace and security due to lack of unanimity on the part of permanent members, the General Assembly could act through the adoption of the Uniting for Peace Resolution, General Assembly emerged as the ultimate custodian of collective security system of the UN and the Security Council was reduced to a secondary position. However, now this role of the UN General Assembly exists on paper and not in reality, because the General Assembly now finds it almost impossible to muster 2/3rd majority required for passing such a resolution.

3. Regional Security Alliances/Collective Defence Pacts. The powerful regional security alliances outside the UNO, like NATO, SEATO etc. have also acted to lower the prestige of the Security Council. These alliances were the direct outcome of the breach of unity among permanent members and the lack of confidence in Security Council as an instrument of collective security. After Indonesian crisis of 1947 till Afghan crisis in 1980 and the till Gulf Crisis, there was no occasion when Council could take effective enforcement measures except in Korea in 1950.

Despite these drawbacks in the structure and working procedure of Security Council, it still is a powerful institution enjoying the faith of world community and having the responsibility for the maintenance of world peace. For making the Security Council a more effective body, its power should be revised and its composition should be changed by increasing the number of its members. Above all the 'Veto' system should be abolished as it creates the feeling of discrimination among the members. This system should be replaced by an equal voting right for all the members of the Security Council. Currently almost all the states are in favour of increasing the strength of the Security Council to 25 or 26. Brazil, Germany, India and Japan (G-4) want to become its permanent members. Along with them, there is every need to give permanent seats to two African states. In fact, there is every need to expand, democratise and decentralise the UN Security Council. However till today, no agreement has been possible in respect of the quantum of increase as well as the issue of granting or not granting a permanent status and veto power to some of the new members.

III. INTERNATIONAL COURT OF JUSTICE (ICJ)

The idea of having a World Court has been a very old one. It was greatly felt by statesmen, masses and various national and international organisations that international disputes should be settled peacefully and amicably. The need for having an international court having the function of dispute settlement was accepted by all the states. It was in 1899 that "Permanent Court of Arbitration" (PCA) was set up. Thereafter under the League of Nations "Permanent Court of International Justice" (PCIJ) was set up. At Dumbarton Oaks, a proposal was made that the UN should have its own Court. As such in March 1945, soon,  after the Yalta Conference, the USA issued invitation to different states for sending representatives for considering the proposal. A meeting of jurists for preparing a draft of a future court was also held. The draft was considered at San Francisco Conference and it was decided to from a new court. On April 18, 1946, the Permanent Court of International Justice was dissolved and the International Court of Justice (ICJ) was set up.

(A) ORGANISATION OF THE ICJ

Under its Article 92, the UN Charter, provides that the ICJ shall be the principal organ of the UN and that it shall function according to its statute which was to be an integral part of the UN Charter. The Charter leaves the members of the UN free to have their disputes settled by tribunals other than the ICJ by virtue of an agreement.

The members of the UN are under obligation to comply with the decisions of the ICJ in cases to which they are parties.

I. Organisation of the ICJ All members of the UN are de facto members of the Court. A state which is not a member of the UN can also become a party to the statute of ICJ on conditions to be determined in each case by the General Assembly acting upon the recommendation of the Security Council.

The conditions laid down by the General Assembly for the yetting its membership include: 

(1) Acceptance of the Statute and other obligations with respect to the Court.

(2) An undertaking to contribute to the expenses as assessed by the General Assembly.

According to Artice 2 of the Statute of ICJ, there are 15 Judges ir. the court. They are elected regardless of their nationalities from among the persons of high moral character who possess the qualifications required in their respective countries for appointment to the higher offices of judiciary or are jurists of recognised competence in International Law. Later on the number of 15 was increased to 16.

II. Election of Judges. At least three months before the date of election of a judge of the

ICJ the Secretary-General of the UN addresses a written request to the members of the

Permanent Court of Arbitration belonging to the states which are parties to the Statute of ICJ

and to the members of the national groups, asking them to nominate persons who may be in a

position to accept the duties of a member of the ICJ. No group can nominate more than 4

persons and in no case the number of candidates nominated by group can be more than

double the number of seats to be filled up. Before making these nominations each national

group is supposed to consult its highest court of justice, its legal faculties and school of law,

and the academies devoted to the study of law. When the candidates have been duly

nominated, the Secretary General prepares a list of the nominated persons in alphabetical

order. The General Assembly and Security Council then proceed independently of one

another to elect the required candidates to become the judges of the ICJ. The candidates who

receive an absolute majority of votes in both the General Assembly and Security Council are

considered elected.

III. Tenure of Judges. The Judges of ICJ are elected for a term of 9 years and five judges retire after every 3 years. The judges are eligible for re-election. If mid-term vacancies occur, these are to be filled up in the same manner as by the regular election and a judge so elected holds office for the remaining period of his predecessor. Although the national governments take part in the nomination and election of the judges, the judges do not act as representatives of their countries nor do they act upon instructions of their governments. The statute is silent about the retirement age of the judges. The judges of the ICJ are paid a token fee of $20,000 PA. They are also subject to a pension scheme.

IV. Seat and Quorum of the Court. The ICJ has a permanent seat at Hague but it can meet elsewhere also whenever desired. This court remains permanently in session. But some vacations are given to the judges. Members are,  entitled to periodic leave, the dates and duration of which is fixed by the Court. A quorum of 9 judges is necessary for the functioning of the Court. The Court may from time to time from one or more chambers for dealing with a particular category of cases. The number of judges for constituting such a chamber is determined by the Court with the approval of the parties.

V. Presiding Officer. President receives a special annual allowance. The Vice-President

receives a special allowance for every day on which he acts as the President of ICJ. The

salaries, allowances and compensations are fixed by the UN General Assembly and these

cannot be decreased during the term of the office.

VI. Methods of Taking Decisions. This ICJ takes all decisions by majority of judges

present. In case of tie, the President of the court has the right of a casting vote. Decision taken

by the court are binding only on the parties to disputes and only for that case, and not in other cases. Regarding the enforcement of the decisions, there is no special machinery for this purpose. When the case is decided, the states have to comply with the decisions. In case a state fails to obey the decision of the court, the Security Council can act under Article. 94(2), and take enforcement action for enforcing the concerned decision.

(B) POWERS AND JURISDICTION OF THE ICJ

The ICJ has the power to hear and decide disputes arising among States. The court is open to all states which are parties to the Statute. It is also open to states not parties to the Statute on conditions which have been laid down by the Security Council. Art. 36 provides that as a matter of general rule, the members should refer their legal disputes to the ICJ.

But this does not imply that the parties cannot resort to any other judicial procedure.

(A) Voluntary Jurisdiction

The ICJ has a Voluntary Jurisdiction over the cases of the states. It means that its cases comprise of such disputes which parties refer to it by agreement. No state is obliged to submit its dispute to the court. The agreement to refer the dispute may either be made by the parties concerned or its reference can be made by one of them to the Court.

(B) Compulsory Jurisdiction

Art. 36 provides that any state may recognise ICJ's jurisdiction as complusory in the following types of legal matters: 

(a) The interpretation of a treaty;

(b) Any question of International Law;

(c) The existence of any fact which if established, would constitute a breach of an international obligation; and

(d) The nature or extent of the reparation to be made for the breach of an international obligation.

(C) Advisory Jurisdiction

The ICJ also possesses the power to give advisory opinion on legal questions to the General Assembly, Security Council and other specialised agencies authorised by the General Assembly. The advice of ICJ is taken by a written request. The Court does not give advice of its own. Moreover, its advice is not binding on the agency soliciting it. Its opinion represents advice rather than decision. The ICJ has on several occasions given advice on different matters like peace-treaties, e.g. Peace treaties with Bulgaria, Hungary and Romania.. The General Assembly and Security Council have made a very limited use of the advisory jurisdiction of the Court.

Evaluation of ICJ

ICJ has been definitely doing more work than its predecessor and it is estimated that it has decided very important cases. For example, cases relating to the Nuclear tests in France, 1973; Anglo-Norwegian fisheries cases; Indo-Portuguese dispute etc. It has also given several advisory opinions to the organs of the UN.

Weaknesses of ICJ

Though this court has contributed a lot for international peace yet there have been some defects in ICJ: 

(a) Defective Method of Election of Judges. The Judges are elected from a list

nominated by national groups in the Permanent Court of Arbitration. These national groups

always try to put political pressure on the election of the Judges,  and they try their best to get

their own judges elected. The influence is the major obstacle in the way of impartial working

of the judges of the ICJ. The judges always try to please the national groups through whom

they had got elected.

As such, it is suggested that the influence of the national groups in the election of the judges should be eliminated.

(b) Lack of Compulsory Jurisdiction. The ICJ has voluntary jurisdiction in the cases of

the states. It decides all those cases which are put before it by an agreement of the parties to

the dispute. It means that it is not compulsory for the states to bring all the cases of disputes

before the court for settlement. Generally, the states put only those cases before the court

which are of little importance. This is because of less faith among the states in the working of

ICJ.

Despite these two main shortcomings, the ICJ has worked well. The judges have always shown impartiality in taking the decisions and have decided cases even against theeir own governments. There has been no example of a member of a Court disagreeing with the majority decision in favour of his own state. Moreover, the Judgements of the ICJ have brought greater clarity and precision or exactness in international jurisprudence.

Various suggestions have been given for improving the working of ICJ. In 1970-71, some proposals were made in the debates of its 6th Committee.

(i) Depoliticise the election of judges.

(ii) It was suggested that the number of Judges should be increased and adequate

representation should given to all the people of the world.

(iii) Procedure of the court should be modified.

(iv) International judicial process should be kept free from politics.

On the basis of these proposals it was decided that some rules of the Court should be amended and that there was no need for amending the whole statute.

IV. THE TRUSTEESHIP COUNCIL

Art. 7 of the UN Charter includes the Trusteeship Council among its six principal organs. Although it has been given a position of dignity in the UN, yet it is a subordinate body, because it functions as an auxiliary organ of the General Assembly in supervising the administration of the non-strategic trust territories and to the Security Council in the case of strategic areas.

The Trusteeship Council is constituted quite differently from the old Mandate Commission of the League of Nations. Trusteeship Council is composed of member states, whereas the members of the Mandate Commission were experts appointed by the League of Nation's Council and were not representatives of their governments.

The Trusteeship Council is a more active body than the old Mandate Commission (Under the League of Nations) but at the same time it is more politicised than the former.

I. Composition. The Composition of the Council is very complex. According to Art. 86

of the Charter, it has three type of members: 

(a) Those members of the UN as were administrating trust territories.

(b) Those permanent members which are not administering territories.

(c) As many other members as are elected for three year term by the General Assembly.

The composition of the Trusteeship Council was made complicated due to several factors:

(1) It was considered essential to give representation to all states administering trust territories.

(2) It was felt that an equal number of members should be taken from the non-administering states to maintain a proper balance between the two.

(3) Provision had to be made for the membership of all the great Powers because they had taken keen interest in the colonial problem.

II. Decision and Voting Process. According to Article 89, the decisions of the

Trusteeship Council are made by a majority of the members present and voting. The

Trusteeship Council has adopted its own rules of procedure including the method of selecting

its President. Each member of the Trusteeship Council has one vote. Though the permanent

members of the Security Council are also the permanent members of the,  Trusteeship Council,

yet they do not enjoy any veto-power in this organ.

III. Meetings.Generally Trusteeship council holds two meetings in a year-one in January and the second in June. Art. 90 holds that a special session of the Council can be called at any time on the request of the majority of its members.

IV. Presiding Officer.Under the Charter, the Trusteeship Council elects a President by secret and separate ballot from amongst the representatives of the members of the council.

However, the Council, by its own rules, has also provided for a Vice-President, who is elected in the like manner by the representatives of the members of the Council.

POWERS AND FUNCTIONS OF THE TRUSTEESHIP COUNCIL

The powers and functions of the Trusteeship Council have been specified by Art. 87 and 88 of the UN Charter.

Art 87 of the Charter provides for the following functions of Tursteeship Council.

(1) Examination of Reports. Each administering authority has to submit its annual report for each of its territories. These reports contain a brief survey of political, economic and educational achievement in each territory. The Council may ask some specialised agency to examine these reports. When the Council is examining the annual report of the administering authority, the special representative of the power is invariably given a temporary seat in the Council so that he may give further oral information and answer technical questions. On the basis of this examination and general debate, the Council drafts a report of its own which is incorporated in its annual report to the General Assembly in the case of non-strategic territory and to the Security Council in the case of strategic areas. The report also contains the recommendations of the Council as well as the individual views of members.

(2) Examination of Petitions. The Council has been vested with the power to receive arid examine petitions from individuals and organisations working in the trust territories. The petitions can be sent either orally or in a written form. Whenever any petition comes to the Council, it is referred to the administering territories for comments. The petitions generally relate to human rights, social discrimination, poor education and regarding property claims.

(3) Visit to Trust Territories.The Council is authorised to arrange periodic visits to the trust territories to acquire first-hand information about the conditions and problems of the trust territories. Such visits are arranged in consultation with the administering authority. It is provided that th$Fe must be at least one such visit in two years. The members of the mission meet openly the leaders, people and all types of organisations and they try to seek their opinion.

Art. 88 provides that the Trusteeship Council shall formulate a questionnaire on the political, economic, social and education advancement of the inhabitants of each trust territory and the administering authority for each trust territory shall make an annual report to the General Assembly upon the basis of such questionnaire.

The Trusteeship Council has worked with a great zeal. It was brought about a lot of development in political, economic and social spheres. The Council has devoted most of its attention to the political advancement of the trust territories. It has encouraged the people of trust territories to adopt measures that may create political enlightenment among them. In the economic sphere, the Council has always laid stress on the need for comprehensive economic planning. The Council has learned much from its visiting missions and has been able to offer suggestions on certain economic problems. Similarly, the Council has also made progress towards solving such important social matters as migrant labour. Experts of ILO have assisted in the efforts. Apart from this, 10 trust territories out of 11 have attained independence or merged with other states due to the Trusteeship System.

"Although Trusteeship Council cannot claim,  exclusive credit for the demise of colonial system, it nevertheless has played an outstanding role in this accomplishment and has been and still is the central focus and primary mechanism for anti-colonial movement."-Goodspeed

V. UN ECONOMIC AND SOCIAL COUNCIL

The aim of the UN is not only to prevent war and maintain peace but also to look for the social and economic welfare of all the nations. The framers of the UN Charter were aware of the fact that international peace and security could not be maintained without the uniform social and economic progress in the world. According to Art 1 of the Charter: "One of the purposes of the UN is to achieve co-operation among the nations in solving the porblems of social, economic, cultural and humanitarian nature and to encourage and promote respect for the basic human rights and freedomsj>f the people without any reference to race, language, sex and religion."

 

THE UNITED NATIONS 443

1

Realising the importance of economic and social development for the preservation of international peace, the UN Charter provides for the establishment of the Economic and Social Council (ECOSOC).

1. Composition. Art 61 of the UN Charter deals with the composition of Economic and

Social Council. The membership has been differing from time to time. Originally there were

18 members. But in 1966, it had 27 members. Amendments to the Charter which came into

force in 1973 enlarged its membership to 54. Its membership has been increased to give

representation to all the regions of the world.

The members of ECOSOC are elected by the General Assembly for a term of three years. A staggered arrangement is usually followed so that the terms of 18 members expire each year. A retiring member is however eligible for immediate re-election. Each member of the Council has one representative and one vote.

There exists no criteria for determining the qualifications needed for the election as members of the ECOSOC. But in practice, the provision has been made to provide representation to a variety of social, economic, cultural and geographical interests and regions.

2. Meetings. The ECOSOC holds two meetings in a year. One meeting is held in April and the second in July. Each meeting lasts for a month or one and a half month. Special meetings of the ECOSOC can also be called.

3. Voting Procedure. Under Art. 67, each member of ECOSOC has one vote. All decisions are made by a majority of the members present and voting. Such decisions are of a non-obligatory character.

Powers and Functions

The ECOSOC has several powers. Arts 62 to 66 of the UN Charter deal with the powers and functions of the ECOSOC.

1. According to Art. 62

(a) The ECOSOC may make or initiate studies and reports with respect to international economic, social, cultural, educational and health matters. It makes recommendations to General Assembly.

(b) The ECOSOC may prepare draft conventions for submission to the General Assembly with respect to matters falling within its competence.

(c) The ECOSOC may make recommendations for the purpose of promoting respect for human rights and fundamental freedoms of all people.

(d) The ECOSOC can call international conferences both on its own initiative as well as upon the instructions from the General Assembly. Usually, the Council calls only inter-governmental conferences on matters other than those falling within the domestic jurisdiction of the states.

2. According to Art. 63

(a) The ECOSOC can enter into agreements with any of the international agencies. But these agreements are always subject to the approval of General Assembly.

(b) The ECOSOC can co-ordinate the activities of specialised agencies through consultations and recommendations. There are 15 specialised agencies working under the supervision and guidance of the ECOSOC. The co-ordination of various agencies becomes necessary because their activities are not mutually exclusive, these rather involve a considerable degree of overlapping.

3. According to Art.,  64.

(a) The ECOSOC may take appropriate steps to obtain regular reports from the specialised agencies.

(b) It may communicate its observations on these reports to the General Assembly.

4. According to Art. 65.

The ECOSOC may give information to the Security Council on Economic and Social matters and assist the Security Council upon its request, e.g., in 1947 Security Council initiated the Technical Assistance Programme to aid under-developed countries and in doing so it got assistance from the ECOSOC.

5. According to Art. 66.

(a) The ECOSOC performs such functions which fall under its jurisdiction for carrying

out the recommendations of the General Assembly.

(b) The General Assembly can assign any other functon to this Council.

Role of the Economic and Social Council

The ECOSOC performs multifarious functions and the work done by the Council is of impressive nature and importance. But the ECOSOC has been criticised for an apparent lack of concrete achievement and for delays in considering important problems. Unfortunately there has been a lot of politics in the working of ECOSOC. The tendency of empire-building has crept into the working of ECOSOC. During 1945-90, the East-West conflict kept vitiated the working of ECOSOC. The colonial and anit-colonial struggles have also adversely affected the working of this Council.

However despite shortcomings, the ECOSOC has contributed a lot towards the economic and social development of the world. It has definitely popularised the human rights and fundamental freedoms among the backward people. This Council has achieved success in improving the international economic order. ECOSOC has also worked extensively for the welfare of the workers and labourers.

" In fact, there is a need to increase the role of Economic and Social Council as it can help the building of a world of greater prosperity, stability and justice. According to Lewis, "Since there is absence of any power to legislate on economic and social matters, the ECOSOC is bound to be a forum of discussion from which recommendations ensue." This situation has to be changed.

THE UNSECRETARIAT & THE UNSECRETARY GENERAL

The Secretariat is one of the principal organs of the UN. It is the headquarters of the UN which administers and co-ordinates the policies and programmes which are laid down by other agencies or the UN. The UN Secretariat comprises of a Secretary General as the chief administrative officer of the UN. As an administrative head, the Secretary General is to keep the records of the UN and to act in cases in which the Charter expressly or by implication confers function upon the United Nations without specifying the organ called upon to fulfil them. The staff of the Secretariat is appointed by the Secretary General as per regulations established by the General Assembly. In the recruitment of the UN staff due consideration is also given to wide geographical regions.

Under League of Nations, Eric Drummond was the first General Secretary. Under the United Nations, there have been seven Secretary Generals till today. Mr. Trygive Lie from Norway was the first Secretary General of the UN. He remained in office from 1946 to 1953. After him Dag Hammarskjold of Sweden remained the Secretary General from 1953 to 1961. From 1961 to 1971, Mr. U Thant from Burma occupied this office. After him Dr. Kurt Waldheim held this office in 1971 and in 1981 Perez-de-Ceullar succeeded him. On 1 January, 1992, Mr Bhutros Ghali took over as the Secretary General of the United Nations. On 1 January, 1997 Mr. Kofi Atta Annan, a Ghanian took over as the UN General Secretary for a term of 5 years. In 2001, Mr. Kofi Atta Annan earned a second term of office. This extension as well as a share in the Nobel Prize for Peace fully reflected the good work done by Kofi Annan towards securing of the UN objectives.

In January 2007 Ban Ki Moon of the South Korea took over as the new UN Secretary General for a team of five years. In 2012, he was reappointed for,  asecond term as UN Secretary General.

I. Appointment of the Secretary General.The Secretary General is appointed by the

General Assembly on the recommendation of the Security Council. Generally, the Security

Council holds a private session to find out a suitable candidate who is acceptable to all the

five permanent members. The General Assembly has the power to reject the name

recommended by the Security Council. But the General Assembly cannot have its own

choice. The General Assembly elects the Secretary General by a secret ballot in a public

meeting and by a simple majority of those present and voting.

II. Term of Office.The Charter is silent about the term of office of Secretary General.

Initially a term of three years was suggested at the San Francisco Conference. But it was

considered an unduly short term.

Accordingly, in Jan. 1946, the General Assembly decided certain rules for this term. It was decided that:

(a) The term should be such as to enable him to attain the high office.

(b) At first Secretary General should be appointed for five years and would be eligible fbr re-election.

(c) This term may be modified later on in the light of experience.

(d) After his retirement, it is desirable that he may not be offered any post by any state.

The UN Secretary General now enjoys a term of five years which can be renewed or extended. The term of the first Secretary General Mr. Lie was extended by three years by the General Assembly much against the wishes of the USSR. Upon the death of Mr. Hammarskjold, another Secretary General U Thant was elected as acting Secretary General for the unexpired term by the General Assembly. He was re-elected to this office again and continued to hold this office till 1971.

III. Qualification.

(i) The candidate should be acceptable to both the General Assembly and the Security Council.

(ii) He should be a good statesman.

(iii) He should be prepared to take risk.

(iv) He should be a good administrator.

(v) He should be a trusted consultant of all sides.

Powers and Functions of the Secretary General

The Secretary General is more powerful and influential than his predecessor under the League of Nations.

This has been mainly due to two reasons: 

(1) The Charter grants this office more important powers and functions than did the Covenant of the League.

(2) The first Secretary General of the League (Eric Drummond) did not assume responsibilities of direction and leadership during his term of 13 years. On the other hand, Mr. Lie, the first Secretary General of the UN, used the powers given to him by the Charter and provided a forceful leadership to the organisation.

The unique position held by the Secretary General of the UN can be understood best by reference to his actual duties and responsibilities in. The functions and powers of the Secretary General have been broadly started in Articles 97 to 102 of the UN Charter.

I. Administrative Functions. Art. 97 of the Charter describes the Secretary General as

the Chief Administrative Officer of the UN.

He performs the following types of administrative functions: 

(1) He is responsible for organising and directing the activities of the UN.

(2) He ensures the efficient working of organs and committees of the UN.

(3) He controls the Secretariat.

(4) He helps the drafting of documents, resolutions and reports.

(5) He takes actions on the resolutions passed by the General Assembly.

(6) He gives technical and legal advice.

(7) He brings the specialised agencies into the relationship with the UN.

(8) So far as the holding of special conferences concerned, he may submit proposals regarding their method of work and procedure, and provide draft agenda and rules

of procedure.

II. Financial Secretary General has several financial responsibilities.

However these functions are subject to the approval of the General Assembly.

(1) He prepare? the budget of the UN.

(2) He allocate;; funds and controls the expenditure.

(3) He makes collections of contributions from the,  members of the UN.

(4) He consults the specialised agencies for common financial controls and also for involving common financial practices.

(5) Outside the specific budgetary appropriation, he retains a limited authority to enter in commitments not provided for in the budget, as for example when necessary in the interest of international peace and security.

III. Political Functions. The Secretary General has to perform some political functions.

Though he is mainly an administrator, he has to perform all such functions which are deemed necessary for maintaining international peace and security.

(1) Art. 99 of the Charter says that Secretary General may bring to the attention of Security Council any matter which, in his opinion, may threaten the maintenance of international peace and security. This is a special right which goes beyond any power previously given to the head of an international organisation.

(2) Secretary General has the power to exercise discretion and influence in the formulation of policy.

(3) For calling the attention of Security Council towards the threat to international peace and security, he may call a meeting of the Security Council.

(4) The Secretary General, under Art. 99, can give his opinion on matters already under consideration of Security Council, e.g. when the question of Iran and Iraq was under consideration of Security Council in 1983, the Secretary General sent his own views on legal aspects of the problem.

(5) The Secretary General prepares and submits annual report on the work of the UN. He also highlights the achievements of the UN.

(6) Secretary General runs and rushes from one country to the other for settling disputes through negotiations. Hammarskjold rushed to various countries and held meetings for an end of the social discrimination in the world. Kurt Waldheim undertook several visits to the various countries to know the views of the countries over the Afghanistan issue and tried to solve the issue peacefully. He also visited India on 20th Jan. 1980 and met the P.M. Mrs. Gandhi and held talks over the Afghanistan problem. The present Secretary General Kofi Annan took a world tour for discussing the issue of reforms in the UN structures and functions. The present Secretary General Ban Ki Moon has been now trying to convince Iran in favour of nuclear non-proliferation. In fact, all UN Secretary Generals have been actively involved in strengthening the peace process and the process of international conflict-resolution.

IV. Representational Functions. Secretary General has also representative functions to

perform. These are: >

(1) He acts as the agent or representative of the UN. He is the only person who stands for the UN as a whole.

(2) He represents the UN, if negotiations are conducted with any other specialised agency. His office is the main channel of communication.

(3) The Secretary General plays an important central place in the work of the UN. Agreements are made by the Secretary General on the request of any organ of the United Nations.

(4) He represents the interest of the UN before International Court of Justice on several occasions.

V. Registration Functions. Art. 102 of the Charter states that:

(1) Every treaty and every international agreement entered into by any member of the UN can be registered with the Secretariat. Secretary General registers these treaties and agreements.

 

(2) No party to any such treaty or international agreement, which has not been registered in accordance with the provisions of the Charter, can invoke that treaty or agreement before any organ of the UN.

Position of the UN Secretary General

Besides all these powers and functions which have been granted to the Secretary General by the Charter, the status and prestige of this office has been enhanced by Sacretary Generals by using some extra extensive powers in the interest of the smooth and effective working of the UNO. This has been mainly due to the forceful personalities of the Secretary,  Generals who have occupied this august office so far.

The first Secretary General Mr. Trigive Lie of Norway fully used the powers assigned to him by the Charter and emerged as a forceful leader of the UN. However, he displayed little interest in the internal administration and soon found himself "in the middle of the East-West conflict" and was called both "a Soviet Spy" and "a running dog of the imperialist". The Second Secretary General Mr. Hammarskjold of Sweden displayed more interest in the administrative and personnel problems than Mr. Lie had done. His method was to work quietly with much consultation. He preferred "quite diplomacy" to public statements. By this method he played an increasingly important political role. U. Thant of Burma considered his office as a service office and always sincerely acted for serving the aims and purposes of the UN.

Similarly Kurt Waldheim kept himself away from the East- West controversy. Secretary General Mr. Perez-de-Ceullar remained always at pains to help a resolution of several key international problems during his tenure. He was successful in bringing East and West to a negotiating table over Afghanistan problem, Cambodian Crisis, West Asian Crisis, Gulf Crisis and Gulf War, Nuclear-Arms Race etc. He played a key role in ending the Iran-Iraq War. Dr. Bhutros Ghali also played well his innings and earned the gratitude of the international community.

The Mr. Kofi Annan remained actively engaged in making the UN an active actor in post-cold war era. He tried to play a key role in resolving various international crises. His role during the U.S. led war against Talibans Afghanistan as well as in helping the process of creating an interim government of Afghanistan earned him good praise. He steadfastly tried to secure reforms in the UN Charter.

The present UnGeneral Secretary, Ban Ki Moon has been well discharging the functions of his high office. He has been continuously trying to influence Iran in favour of abandoning its policy of developing nuclear weapons technology.

To conclude, it can be said that the influential and always expanding role of the UN Secretary General has been one of the most important developments in the history of the evolution of the united Nations from 1945 to the present.

ROLE OF THE UNITED NATIONS

To maintain international peace and security has been the prime responsibility of the UN.It has been successful in saving the humankind from a possible Third World War. Ever since its birth in 1945 it has been doing a very valuable work in the direction of protecting and promoting international peace and security and mutual cooperation among nations for securing allround socio-economic cultural development of the people of the world.

The UN has indeed done a fairly good amount of work in the settlement of numerous controversies and conflicts which could have posed a serious threat to the world peace. A detailed analysis of the various conflicts and disputes handled by the UN cannot be reproduced here in detail. We shall deal with those disputes which could pose threat to international peace and security but which, because of the UN efforts, failed to endanger international peace. This aspect of the UNO's work can be better appreciated in the light of the problem and situations it had to tackle for performing its functions .

Following have been the important disputes which the UN could handle as a crisis management international organisation.

1. Indonesian Question.The Indonesian question first came before the UN Security

Council in Jan. 1946, when Ukrainians Challenged the British and Japanese action in

Indonesia. The Ukrainian proposal for investigation was rejected.

In July 1947, Australia and India brought to the notice of the Security Council the fighting between the Netherlands and the Indonesian Republic. The Security Council directed the parties concerned to stop hostilities and the latter issued ceasefire orders. The Security Council also offered its good,  offices to settle the dispute and created a Good Offices Committee for that purpose. As a result of the negotiations conducted by this Committee, a truce agreement was made in Jan., 1948 between the two governments. When in Dec. 1948. the Netherlands broke the truce and restarted the war, the Security Council again asked the parties to stop hostilities. In Jan. 1949, jthe Security Council asked the parties to stop hostilities and also recommendedj the formation of a federal, independent and sovereign republic of Indonesia. Thus, the' sovereign state of Indonesia came into existence due to the actions of the UNO.

2. Treatment of the people of Indian Origin in South Africa. India lodged a complaint with the General Assembly alleging that the Union of South Africa was discriminating against the people of Indian Origin. The Union of South Africa contended that the matter in dispute was concerned with the domestic jurisdiction and consequently, the UNO had no right to intervene. But the General Assembly did not agree to this view and it emphasised that ill-treatment of Indians was bound to result in the straining of relations between the two members of the UNO. So it requested both the parties to settle the matter amicably and report the result. The Union of South Africa was not in a mood to compromise and consequently, the General Assembly directed on 14th May, 1949, India, Pakistan and South Africa to hold a conference. The conference could not be held and the UNO appointed a Committee to report on the matter. The Committee contributed much in lessening the area of tension between India and South Africa. In the fight against the racialism being practices by the colonialist white regime of South Africa, the UN played a positive role. In fact UN efforts were at the back of the adoption of de-apartheidism in South Africa. Eventually South Africa became free from apartheid. In 1990, Namibia became independent largely due to the efforts of the United Nations.

3. The Palestine Question. Of all the disputes referred to the UN, probably the Palestine question was one of the most complex. It was first brought before the UN by Great Britain in April, 1947. Great Britain wanted the General Assembly to take up the future set-up of Palestine. In accordance with the British request the Assembly set-up a Special Committee on Palestine. This Committee in its report recommended that Palestine should be divided into an Arab State, a Jewish State and a special area including Jerusalem under an international government. These recommendations were accepted by General Assembly by a two-thirds vote. The General Assembly named a commission to implement these recommendations. Israel came to be a state but at the same the Arab-Israel conflict emerged on the scene. Since then the UN has been playing an active and vigorous role in keeping the Arab-Israel peace talks on West Asian problem on the track.

4. The UN and Decolonization. One is tempted to credit the UN with resounding success in decolonization. At the time of the outbreak of World War II, there were well over 120 colonial territories, accounting for more than one-third of the World's land and population. As of 1976, the number of dependent and non-self governing territories had got reduced to sixty-three, leaving less than twelve million people under colonial rule and thereafter it began becoming less and less. Now almost the whole world is free from colonialism. The UN decidedly played a key role in securing decolonisation. However, crediting the UN for the birth of the new nation-states is like crediting the obstetrician for the conception as well as for the delivery of children. The success of decolonization has meant success of the Trusteeship Council as a major UN organ. Most of the UN trust territories, with the exception of strategic islands held in trust by the United States, have become independent.

5. The International Protection of Human Rights. A casual look around the globe reveals,  that basic human rights are not respected in many countries. We must not forget that humankind took great steps forward in the 19th century by abolishing slavery and gradually lifting women to equal status with men. The 20th century sponsored the battle against social, ethnic, sexual and linguistic discrimination. Human rights UN Declaration tried to provide minimum standards and freedoms for all the people of this earth.

In 1948, the General Assembly of the UN over-whelmingly adopted the Universal Declaration of Human Rights which gave a big impetust to the movement for the protection and promotion of Human Rightsof the people, This Declaration continues to have a strong and well respected moral authority. Basically it reflects the'wish of the human consciousness for future good behaviour of all national and local level governments working all statesof the World.. After this several Human Rights Conventions have been adopted and today we are witnessing the presence of a strong and healthy global Human Rights Movement.

6. The UN and Korean Problem and UN Peace Keeping Operations. Korea was

liberated in 1945 after the fall of Japan. South Korea was put under the control of the United

States, the Great Britain and China. North Korea was put under the control of Russia. The UN

appointed many commissions for the establishment of a democratic administrative system in

Korea but there was no material result. In June 1950, North Korea invaded South Korea. The

matter was put before the Security Council and the latter directed North Korea to withdraw

from South Korea. As North Korea refused to withdraw, the Security Council passed a

resolution by which North Korea was branded as aggressor and the recommendation was

made to the UN "to furnish such assistance to the Republic of Korea as may be necessary to

repel the armed attack." The resolution was passed in the absence of the USSR. The UN

appointed General Macarthur as its Commander and troops were sent by many members of

the UN to fight under the UN banner in Korea. Efforts were made to bring cease-fire in Korea

but these proved unsuccessful on account of the opposition of the USSR. In July 1953, a truce

agreement was signed and hostilities ended. There was a lot of bitterness but ultimately the

work was done. The UN deserves credit for whatever it did in Korea. It is still trying to keep

the Korean peninsula away from war. Currently, the UN has been involved in peace keeping operation in at least 17 different countries of the world. In May, 1993 multi-party and democratic elections were held in Cambodia under the supervision of the UN peace keeping force. Peace keeping operations in Bosnia-Herzegovina, Angola, Afghanistan and several other areas have been now going on in full swing.

7. Apartheid in South Africa and the UN Efforts. South Africa ended its 34 years of minority white rule on 3rd September, 1984 an era of segregated government that included non- whites but continued to shut out the nation's 22 million Blacks. A new constitution, which triggered sometimes violent opposition from non-whites came into effect on 2nd September. It provided for a segregated mixed-race or "coloured" House of Representatives and a separate ethnic Asian House of delegates to be added to the existing White Parliament. Under the disguise of power sharing the new constitution allowed Indians and Non-whites to select their representatives of two separate parliamentary Chambers. The Blacks, who constituted 70 per cent of the population, had no place in this arrangement. However, under the pressure of world public opinion, the anti=apartheid resolutions of the United Nations and work done by the UN officials, an environment was created in which the White South African regime had to go in for the policy of de-apartheidism, release of Dr. Mandela, power sharing with the Blacks and dismantling of the apartheid structure right from its roots. The UN must be given credit for securing such a change.

8. The,  UN and Kashmir Issue. Kashmir became a major issue before the UN in January, 1948 when India brought this problem before the Security Council, as the armed conflict resulting from Pakistan backed armed infdtration in Kashmir was a serious threat to international peace and security. On the request of India, the UN set up a commission to enquire into the problem. After investigating the situation, the commission recommended plebiscite in Kashmir on the question of accession of the state to India but only after the withdrawl of Pakistani troops from Kashmir. The Security Council passed a resolution to this effect. However, it did not solve the problem as Pakistan failed to withdraw its troops from occupied areas of Kashmir and this prevented India from holding the plebiscite. Thereafter, the UNO found itself unable to resolve the Indo-Pak conflict over Kashmir. After the Simla Agreement between India and Pakistan the UN Role in Kashmir came to a virtual end.

9. Afghanistan Problem (1979) and the UN. On 27th December, 1979, Soviet troops entered Afghanistan and Mr. Amin was forcibly removed from office and executed at the orders of the new President Mr. Babrak Karmal. The Soviet troops in Afghanistan, numbering about 90,000 fanned out towards all directions in order to suppress any opposition to the new Afghan regime. The Afghan army units were disbanded and the country came to be controlled practically by the Russians.

The Afghanistan issue drew the attention of the UN. The General Assembly passed a resolution by an overwhelming majority on 14th January, 1980 calling for immediate, unconditional and total withdrawal of USSR's troops from Afghanistan to enable the people to decide their own future without any outside intervention. But the resolution in the Security Council calling for the withdrawal of troops was vetoed by the USSR. This Russian Veto made the Afghanistan Crisis a big issue in the new cold war. For 8 years the problem defied solution. However, in 1988, an agreement on Afghanistan was reached under the auspices of the United Nations. This agreement paved the way for the withdrawal of Soviet troops from Afghanistan. However, after 1995, Afghanistan again developed an ethnic conflict and this land locked backward country witnessed the emergence of the Taliban Regime (A regime organised and maintained by religious fundamentalists-the Taliban). During their regime 1996-2001, Afghanistan became a centre for the export of terrorism and narcotics to other parts of the world and became a home for men like Osama Bin Laden and his Al Qaeda. After 11 September, 2001 terrorist strikes in the USA, a US-led war against terror (Talibans Afghanistan) was initiated. The war ended the Taliban regime and once again a UN Peace Keeping Force was positioned in Afghanistan. The UN, acting along with the US presence in Afghanistan has been playing a big role in keeping peace as well as in restoring a democratic system in Afghanistan. In fact Afghanistan has been now trying to develop as a democratic country.

10. End of Iran and Iraq War. In 1988 another success came in the way of the United Nations when the efforts of the UN Secretary General Javier Perez de Cuellar resulted in the ceasefire agreement between Iran and Iraq. This agreement ended the long drawn war between these two Asian neighbours.

11. Independence of Namibia 1990. The Four Parties Agreement regarding the grant of Independence to Namibia was another milestone in the recent successes of the U.N. The agreement was signed on the basis of the UN resolution on Namibian Independence. A UN Peace Keeping Force was sent to Namibia for supervising the transfer of power which infact led to the independence of Namibia. In April 1990, Namibia attained full independence and was admitted to the UNO as 160th member. It can be legitimacy described as a success of the UNO.

12. Disarmament and the UN.In the post-war period a race for nuclear weapons between the two super powers acted as a,  major threat to international peace and security. The problem of securing disarmament remained the biggest problem before the UN and infact it is yet to be solved by the UNO. Despite the establishment of Disarmament Commission, no solid and sincere check has been imposed by the UN over the nuclear weapon developing nations. To save humanity from the consequences of nuclear weapons, it has become imperative to bring about a ban on the development of nuclear weapons not only on land and water but also in the sea-beds and outer space also.

ROLE OF THE UNO IN CONTEMPORARY TIMES

In the post-cold war period of international relations, the UN has been emerging as a bigger and more active global actor. Its role as a peace-keeping organisation has increased manifold. The end of cold-war and the subsequent qualitative improvement in the East-West relations has created an environment in which decision-making by the UN Security Council has become easier and efficient. In the days to come, the UN is expected to play even a more vigorous role not only in peace-keeping operations but also in promoting peaceful coexistence and co-operation for all round development among all the nations.

The UN played a key role in securing the liberation of Kuwait, reducing the gravity of Afghan crisis, restoration of peace in Cambodia, Angola, Cyprus, Lawanda, Somalia, Bosnia, and several other places. It got engaged in securing an end of Serbian persecution of Muslims as well as in promoting the cause of international peace.

However, for doing this continuously UNO will have to keep under check the US attempts to make it behave like a USO. The demand for expansion and democratisation of the UN Security Council as well as the demand for reforming the UN Charter with a view to make the UN more capable of discharging its role as the organisation of the whole community of nations. It has a solid world public opinion behind it. The humankind wants the UN to act vigorously for the promotion of international harmony and co-operation as well as for securing global progress and development.

It is now imperative that this international organisation must reflect fully the new realities of international relations. The UNO has now 193 members and its Security Council continues to have only 15 members. Asia stands under represented and African and Latin American states have yet to get representation in the category of permanent members of the Security Council. The strength of the UN Security Council must be increased to at least 25 to 30.

Further, the UN has operational limitations. It lacks adequate funds to meet all its objectives. Behind it lie the deeply embedded narrow nationalism, love for sovereignty, nation-state-psychology and also the perversities of the human race. It is an established fact that the veto power of the five permanent members of the Security Council has been a great handicap in the way of maintaining international peace and security. Any one of the 'Big-Five' can stop the U.N. from taking steps against an aggressor. In the post-cold war and the post-U.S.S.R. era, the U.S.A. has been trying to dominate the proceedings of its most vital organ, the Security Council.

The UN also does not possess any coercive power to punish an offending nation. It does not possess any force of its own which may help the innocent and aggrieved states against an aggression and war. Further, it cannot take any action against big powers who have armed themselves to the teeth and believe that this 'great peace organisation' shall have no authority over them. They make several general promises of good behaviour but remain free to do as they like.

The UN cannot be expected to achieve any major success unless the people of the world or at least those of the great powers, are willing to support its efforts on their behalf. In March 2003, the USA decided to attack Iraq despite the fact that the UNO had not given its approval for such an action. The US war on Iraq has,  decidedly undermined the UN. In fact, despite the fact that the UNO has been engaged in peace-keeping operations in more than 21 different parts of the world, it is still to get the much needed power for meeting all violations and threats to International peace and security. The international order of 21st century has been changing and is boiinid to change more rapidly in future. Unfortunately however, the UN still waits for necessary reforms and the ability to act strongly.

All this suggests that the United Nations needs several reforms in the light of past experience as well as on the basis of the future needs and projections. There is every need for reforming the United Nations for securing as further democratisation of its structure and decentration of its functions. The UN Securing Council must reflect the new realities-193 UN members and the increased importance of Asia, Africa and Latin America in international relations.

However it must be accepted by one and all that it is not the UN that can be held responsible for all its failures as an international organisation. The nations, particularly the super powers and other big powers are to be blamed for the failure of the UN. The selfishness of P-5, the hegemonistic approach of the USA, the inability of the developing countries to unite behind the need to make the UNO free from great power domination, and the procedures problem of securing the incorporation of reforms have to be blamed for the inadequate success of the UNO.

It is by addressing towards the elimination of these defects that the environment for making the UN a reformed international organisation can be secured. The members of the UNO must cooperate to secure desired reforms in the UN Charter as well as to ensure its freedom from every hegemony and major-power domination.

The new era of international relations with freedom from the cold war and alliance politics has been a source of a renewed and more vigorous faith in the United Nations. The future of the United Nations appears to be brighter. For making the UNO really so there is every need to expand the number of permanent members of the UN Security Council by adding two or three more members from Asia, and an equal number from Africa and Latin America and Australia-New Zealand. The UNO is the common possession of all civilised nations. It must reflect this fact really, all the nations must preserve, protect, defend it and strengthen the United Nations.

PROJECTED REFORMS IN THE UNITED NATIONS

In October 1995, the UN celebrated its 50th Anniversary. On this occasion special commemorative meeting of the General Assembly was held. This meeting gave a call for reformation and modernisation of the UN, for firmly dealing with terrorism and other transnational organised crimes including drug trafficking, as well as for ensuring a nuclear weapon-free peaceful world. It also gave a call for removing economic and trade imbalances and for preventing its growing economic bankruptcy. The need for securing adequate presence of developing countries on the basis of an objective criteria was emphasised by India and several other countries.

Proposals for Reforms

In July 1997, the UN Secretary-General came out with a reform package encompassing the following main proposals for reforms of the UN.

(i) The post of deputy Secretary-General be created who should act for the UN chief in

his absence and coordinate cross-sector activities.

(ii) A 40 per cent cut in paperwork be made raising the 25 per cent ceiling established

in March.

(A) Administrative Reforms

(i) 1,000 out of the total of 10,000 UN staff at secretariats in New York, Geneva and

Vienna should be retrenched.

(ii) Creation of New Wings (a) An office for Drug Control and Crime Prevention in

Vienna should centralise international efforts to combat crimes, drugs and

terrorism.

(iii) The UN Development Group at UN headquarters should be created under the UN

Development Programme Chief and it should include the UN,  Children's Fund

UNICEF and the UN Population Fund. This measure is to be aimed at facilitating

cooperation and curb overlapping functions. In the field, the UN development

agencies should share facilities at a UN House in each county.

(iv) The New York based department of humanitarian affairs be replaced by an

emergency relief coordinator office.

(v) A New York Department for Disarmament and Arms Regulation should take up the

issue of reduction of armaments and weapons of mass destruction and arms

regulation and provide support for the Geneva Conference on Disarmament.

(vi) Human rights activities should be consolidated in Geneva in a single unit to be

. called the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights.

(B) Financial Reforms

Savings for administrative streamlining should be diverted towards development through a development dividend.

Mr. Annan felt that in the biennium starting in 2002, the "development dividend" will total 200 million dollars-assuring financial solvency through "revolving credit fund" to up to one billion dollars, financed from voluntary contributions or other means. This measure was needed to tackle the financial crisis largely triggered by Washington's refusal to pay more than one billion dollars in the UN arrears.

(C) Recommendations for Government Action

(i) The work of the UN General Assembly which currently has 165 items on the

agenda be refocused and its full session be shortened by three weeks.

(ii) A ministerial-level commission to examine possible changes by reopening the UN

Charter and the treaties which govern the 28 UN specialised agencies be

established.

(iii) The UN General Assembly in the year 2000 be designated the 'Millennium

Assembly" to discuss the world body's future role. It should be accompanied by a

companion "People Assembly" attended by representatives of civil society.

(iv) The Department of Public Information should be reorganised.

In March, 1997 Mr. Kofi Annan proposed budget cuts for the 1998- 99 budget, consolidating three departments dealing with economic and social issues, streamlining technical support and reducing documents by 25 per cent in 1998, devising a code of conduct by which the world body employees would develop more accountability and professionalism.

The UN reform plan was given "crucial endorsement" by the governments of 16 countries in August 1997. The group of 16 includes Australia, Brazil, Canada, the Czech Republic, Egypt, India, Indonesia, Ireland, Ivory Coast, Jamaica, Japan, Mexico, the Netherlands, South America, South Korea and Sweden. This group was created in 1995 at the time of the 50th anniversary of the UN, with the aim of encouraging the UN reforms process.

The issue of reforms of the UN, particularly the issue of expansion of the UN Security Council is still pending. There is every need to democratise and really globalise the UN Security Council by admitting new permanent and non-permanent members India, Brazil, Germany, Japan, and South Africa are strong candidates for becoming permanent members of the UN Security Council. The strength of Non-permanent members should also be increased. The UN General Assembly has now 193 members. The UN Security Council should correspondingly have at least 25 members may be 11 Permanent and 14 Non-permanent members.

Regarding the proposal for reforms of the UN Security Council, two models were proposed, both with non-veto powers for the new members. Model I proposed the induction of six new permanent members-two each from Asia and Africa, one each from Europe and America and three new non-permanent members. While India, Brazil, Japan and Germany (G-4 Nations) favour this model, countries like Pakistan, Italy, Argentina, Mexico, Spain, South Korea (Coffee Club of 40 middle-level countries) are opposed to it. The USA and China also do not favour it. Model II involves the induction of eight semi-permanent members with renewable term of four years and one new non-permanent member. All countries opposed,  to Model I favour it. It is, however, opposed by G-4 countries. As such, there is still little consensus on the issue of reforms of the UN Security Council.

Reforming and strengthening the United Nations is the need of the hour and the world public opinion has been fully supporting this fact. Today, there are present several global problems needing global solutions through global efforts. The problem being posed by the menace of terrorism, the problems of ensuring the protection of all Human Rights of all the people, the problem of removing the hindrances in the way of sustainable development, the problem resulting from environmental pollution and degradation and the problems resulting from poverty, diseases, ethnic conflicts, violence, war and underdevelopment, are all global problems which can be resolved only through global efforts and under the agencies of the United Nations as the global organisation of all the civilised states. All this demands a strengthening of the United Nations. However, this need demands reforming the administration and working of the UNO. Its Security Council needs democratisation and expansion. Its management must be made more representative, transparent and accountable.

The working of the UN General Assemblies, particularly, its committee system needs to be streamlined. The UN Human Rights machinery must be made more credible and authoritative. The Peace-keeping role of the United Nations must be made healthier and more effective. There is every need for the creation of a peace-building mission within the UNO which should handle the responsibility of guiding and coordinating the process of socioeconomic reconstruction of war-devastated states like Afghanistan, Iraq and others.

All these factors demonstrate fully the need for reforming and strengthening the United Nations. The needs of the present century and the new aspirations of humankind for peace, prosperity, sustainable development and freedom from terrorism, poverty, disease and scarcity demand a reform of the UNO. This world body now must reflect the changes and aspirations which have come to characterise the international community since the birth of the United Nations in 1945.

QUESTIONS FOR REVISION

1. Briefly discuss the events leading to the establishment of the UNO.

2. What have been the objectives, purposes and principles of the UNO? How can a state become its member?

3. Discuss the composition, functions and role of the UNO.

4. What is UN Security Council? Discuss its powers and functions.

5. What is the veto power of the five permanent members of the UN Security Council? Discuss the functions androle of the UN Security Council.

6. Explain the composition and jurisdiction of the International Court of Justice.

7. Discuss the method of election and tenure of the Judges of the ICJ. What is the jurisdiction of ICJ?

8. Write brief notes on:

(i) The Trusteeship Council

(ii) The UN Economic and Social Council

9. Explain the method of appointment of the UN Secretary General. What are his

powers and functions?

10. Discuss the role of UNO in international relations. How far has it been successful in securing its objectives?

11. Discuss the issue of reform of the United Nations. What reforms should be incorporated in the UN Security,  Council.