Category United Nations

By the end of the Second World War, many countries were left in utter poverty. Their resources were spent in war and the people were suffering. Considering this situation, 44 countries decided to give shape to an organisation that would offer financial help to the war torn countries.

This organisation would take money donated by governments or other people and distribute it to countries in need. This decision was taken in 1944 and the result was the World Bank.

The World Bank began operations in 1946 and the first loans were given to war torn countries including France, the Netherlands, Denmark, and Luxembourg. The World Bank is an international organisation that provides money to countries to help them improve the lives of their citizens. Apart from loans, the World Bank also gives out grants. The grants are like loans that do not have to be paid back.

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“To contribute to the building of peace, the eradication of poverty, sustainable development and intercultural dialogue through education, the sciences, culture, communication and information” – this is the aim of UNESCO.

The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization works primarily to improve and promote education, sciences and culture. This is done in order to increase the universal respect for justice, law, and human rights. Providing quality education for all is UNESCO’s primary concern.

UNESCO has five major programs – education, natural sciences, social sciences, culture and communication/information. The organisation conducts a lot of events that concerns literacy, technical, and teacher-training programs, international science programs, and regional and cultural history projects. It also works for the freedom of the press.

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The United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) is successfully providing humanitarian and development aid to children around the world since 1946.

When it began, it was known as the United Nations International Children’s Emergency Fund. The programme started off as an effort to provide immediate relief from hunger to the children and mothers who belonged to the countries that were devastated by the Second World War.

The programme later expanded to provide them healthcare, and the long term needs of women and children in the developing countries.

The funding for the UNICEF comes from governments and private donations. The UNICEF relies on community-level services to promote the health and well-being of children, with special focus on field work.

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‘Better health for everyone, everywhere.’ This is what the World Health Organisation (WHO) strives to achieve. WHO is concerned with international public health. It was established on April 7, 1948 and works in collaboration with the member states. Headquartered in Geneva, Switzerland, WHO has 150 offices across the world.

The World Health Organisation works to eliminate communicable diseases like tuberculosis, Ebola and AIDS, and non-communicable diseases like cancer and heart diseases. It is also concerned with nutrition, food security and drug abuse.

WHO also develops reports, conducts awareness programmes and organizes international conferences related to public health. The organisation also assists governments to strengthen their public health services.

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There were a lot of discussions by scholars and politicians after the Second World War. These discussions attempted to find the roots of the conflicts that later led to wars.

After a lot of debates and discussions, it was found that poverty, ignorance and justice were the prime causes that led to serious international issues. To tackle these issues, the UN cane up with a number of funds and specialized agencies. These funds and programmes come directly under the General Assembly.

The World Health Organisation (WHO), the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and World Tourism Organisation (UNWTO) are some of the specialized agencies run by the United Nations. Currently, the UN has 17 specialized agencies.

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In 1945, the UN Charter formed the Trusteeship Council to look after eleven territories known as trust territories. Earlier, the trust territories had belonged to those powers that were defeated in the Second World War.

Out of the eleven territories, seven were in Africa while the rest were from Oceania. Over time, many of the trust territories gained independence and as a result, the workload of the council decreased. In 1994, Palau, the last of the territories became independent. This left the council without any responsibilities. Therefore, the Trusteeship Council was suspended in 1994 as its mission was accomplished.

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