The United Nations

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The United Nations (also known as the UN) is a international organisation that was founded at the end of World War II in 1945. The UN was created to promote peace, security, and cooperation between countries, which was especially important at the time as the world was still recovering and in a state of mistrust from the war. Today the UN has 193 members states ranging from across the globe. Today the UN still provides a place where all countries can equally discuss global issues and work together to compromise to a solution for all, these discussions take place in the UN headquarters located in New York City.

The United Nations was created for a number of reasons but the main reason was to stop another war from happening and to maintain international peace. some other reasons it was created was to protect human rights, promote sustainable development, provide humanitarian aid during times of disaster or conflict, encourage cooperation between nations on improving global issues such as climate change, poverty, and disease. 

The UN works through organs. These seperate the UN into sub groups that discuss more particular topics. There are 6 organs including general assembly, security council, ECOSOC, ICJ, secretariat, and the trusteeship council.

The general assembly includes all 193 member states and each of these member states have one vote. This council discusses major global issues, and pass resolutions (which are generally not legally binding).

The security council is responsible for maintaining international peace and security. The security council has 15 members. Out of these there are 5 permanent members and 10 non permanent members. The 10 non permanent members are elected for 2 year terms. The 5 permanent members are china, France, Russia, the UK, and the US. These members have veto power which means if even one of them vote against the resolution the resolution does not pass.

The economic and social council (ECOSOC) coordinations work that focuses on topics related to economic, environmental, and social factors in particular. This council also works with UN agencies and NGOs.

The international court of justices (ICJ) is located in the Hague, Netherlands, and settles legal disputes between countries. It also gives legal advice to UN organisations. 

The secretariat council carries out the daily work of the UN and is led by the secretary general. The secretariat council also organises meetings and supports peacekeeping and humanitarian efforts. 

The trusteeship council helped oversea trust territories after world war II and suspended operations in 1994 after all trust territories became self governing or independent.

There are many organisations working under the UN which work to improve the live of civilians all over the globe. some examples of these agencies include: WHO- which aims to improve global health, UNICEF- who support students globally and work to improve education, UNESCO- who protects culture, education, and science, UNHCR- which helps refugees, and The World Food Program- which provides food during times of crisis emergency.

A decision in the UN is made through a long process. First member states of the council are given an issue to discuss. The countries will then discuss the topic in a formal matter. During this process the members will then begin to propose and negotiate solutions to the issue. Through these proposed solutions a resolution will begin to be written. After this is written the member states then votes on it. If the vote is in favour (unless veto powers are involved) the resolution will be adopted and will guide UN international action (depending on the council). 

Model UN is a educational simulation of the real UN. Students represent countries and think in their perspective instead of their own. Delegates will research their given countries to better understand their values and needs, and then delegates come together to debate an issue. They negotiate together and eventually come to vote on a resolution. 

Some similarities of Model UN to the real UN include:

• Both involve delegates representing countries
• Both focus on solving international problems
• Both use formal debate and diplomacy 
• Both involve negotiation and compromise
• Both write and vote on resolutions
• Delegate will follow a procedure during the conference

Some differences between the UN and Model UN include:

• Professionals represent countries in the UN and in Model UN it is just students
• Model UN is an educational activity whereas the UN involve international organisation
• In Model UN decisions have no legal effect whereas in the UN Some decisions may effect international law and global action
• Model UN councils or groups only last for a few hours to a few days for a conference whereas in the UN these councils are operating year rou