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  3. You hear about the United Nations (UN) constantly in the news, although you might not always realize it. For example: "Peace

You hear about the United Nations (UN) constantly in the news, although you might not always realize it. For example: "Peace

admin2010-08-04  29
问题     You hear about the United Nations (UN) constantly in the news, although you might not always realize it. For example:
    "Peacekeeping" operations are sponsored by the United Nations. Currently, the UN has peacekeeping forces in more than a dozen different countries including Sierra Leone, Ethiopia, India, Pakistan, Cyprus and Lebanon.
    There have been UN weapons inspectors in and out of Iraq for a dozen years. The International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) is a UN agency that inspects the nuclear programs of nations to ensure that nuclear materials are not being diverted for military use.
    The Security Council is a UN organization that makes some of the most important international decisions on the planet.
    The Earth Summit and the Kyoto Protocol were UN sponsored efforts--the largest international environmental efforts ever.
    The Universal Declaration of Human Rights is a UN document ratified by the members of the General Assembly.
    The World Court or International Court of Justice in The Hague, the Netherlands, acts as the judicial portion of the United Nations and hears cases and international disputes from around the world.
    The World Health Organization is a UN program.
    UNICEF is a UN program. Originally, UNICEF helped children affected by WWII.
    Kofi Annan, the Secretary-General of the UN, is often in the news.
    The UN has this remarkable influence because nearly every nation on the planet is a member.
    In this article, you will learn the basics of the United Nations so you can grasp the scope and reach of its operations. The next time you hear about the UN on the news, you will have a much better understanding of this international organization.
                                      What is the UN?
    The United Nations was born on October 24, 1945, shortly after World War Ⅱ (which officially ended on August 15, 1945 ). Its primary goals focus on world peace and the international desire to prevent another world war.
    The UN has 191 member nations--nearly every nation on the planet. All of them have signed on to the UN Charter, which was originally written in 1945 by the representatives of 50 different countries.
                                      Organization
    The UN Charter sets up an organization that includes six "organs." Two of these--the General Assembly and the Security Council--are in the news quite a bit. The others are less visible.
                                      The General Assembly
    In the General Assembly, every member nation gets one vote. Any " important question" for the general assembly requires a two-thirds majority for approval. The usual Important questions include:
    Recommendations on peace and security
    Election of members to organs
    Admission, suspension, and expulsion of members
    Budgetary matters
    All other matters are decided with a simple majority. Many of the proceedings of the General Assembly, are embodied in resolutions.
                                      The Security Council
    The goal of the Security Council, according to the UN Charter, is to focus on peace and security: "[UN] Members confer on the Security Council primary responsibility for the maintenance of international peace and security, and agree that in carrying out its duties under this responsibility the Security Council acts on their behalf... The Members of the United Nations agree to accept and carry out the decisions of the Security Council in accordance with the present Charter."
    The Security Council has five permanent members (Britain, China, France, Russia, and the United States) and ten members elected by the general assembly that serve two-year terms (currently Angola, Bulgaria, Cameroon, Chile, German, Guinea, Mexico, Pakistan, Spain and SyriA) .  Historically, this organization was developed to encourage all of the allies from WWII to participate in the new United Nations when it was forming.
    On important matters, it is necessary to get nine members of the Security Council to agree. However:
    The five permanent members each have veto power, and any one of them can block any resolution of the Security Council.
    The smaller nations on the Security Council often get into extremely uncomfortable positions that can force them to vote in certain ways.
    Unlike the General Assembly, the Security Council is able to actively enforce its decisions. It can use economic sanctions or deploy forces as described in the UN Charter. These may include complete or partial interruption of economic relations and of rail, sea, air, postal, telegraphic, radio, and other means of communication, and the severance of diplomatic relations. Should the Security Council consider that these measures would be inadequate or have proved to be inadequate, it may take employ military forces, which are contributed by the member nations and form coalitions that serve the commanders chosen by the Security Council.
    You can see that, when all members of the Security Council decide that force is needed, the United Nations can bring together an impressive’ arsenal to solve international problems. That is what happened in the 1991 Gulf War.
                                      Other Organs
    The Secretariat, headed by the Secretary-General (currently Kofi Annan), is a bureaucracy that keeps the UN running on a day-to-day basis.
    The Secretary-General has a great deal of power in the UN He can, for example, personally mediate disputes. He can bring matters before the Security Council. He is elected to a five-year term by the General Assembly, but his election can be vetoed by any of the permanent members of the Security Council.
    The Economic and Social Council has 54 elected members chosen by the General Assembly. It makes recommendations in, as the name indicates, economic and social matters.
    The International Court of Justice (the World Court) has 15 judges elected by the General Assembly (with Security Council approval). In this court, nations bring cases against other nations.
    The sixth organ specified by the UN Charter is the Trusteeship Council, but it ceased operations in 1994. Its job was to oversee territories such as those taken from conquered nations in WWII. The last territory either became a nation or merged with a nation in 1994.
                                      Funding
    Funding for the UN comes from the member nations. In the normal operating budget, the US covered 22% of the budget. Other big contributors: Japan (19.6%), Germany (9.8%), France (6.5%), the UK (5.6%), Italy (5.1%), Canada (2.6%) and Spain (2.5%).
    The General Assembly is in charge of ratifying a budget and deciding how much money each nation will pay into the system. Money gets divided into three areas:
    The normal UN operating budget
    The peacekeeping budget
    Voluntary contributions, mostly for humanitarian efforts
The main goal of the Security Council as stated in the UN Charter is to focus on ______.
选项
答案peace and security
解析 参见“The Security Council”一节：根据联合国宪章，安理会的主要任务是维护和平和安全。
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