The United Nations (UN) held a huge celebration on 24 October 2015 to mark 70th anniversary of its establishment. A special annual general assembly was held to mark the historic occasion at its New York headquarters and the Sustainable Development Agenda 2030 for the transformation of the world was given the node at the assembly. The agenda further extended the objectives of Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) that guided the global policy dialogue for the past 15 years towards ending inequalities and promoting prosperity.
The devastation caused by the Second World War and the consequent anxieties over recurring use of nuclear bombs or arsenals in the context of Hiroshima and Nagasaki incidents led to the formation of the United Nations on 24 October 1945.
The United Nations is the successor to the ineffective League of Nations that came into operation in 1920 in reaction to the First World War to resolve international disputes.
The United Nations is established with the dual objectives of maintaining peace and security across the world and promoting worldwide cooperation to solve international disputes of an economic, social, cultural or humanitarian character
Achievements: Pre-Cold War Era
The primary phase of its formation was up to the expectations when it did not allow regional tensions to escalate up to the level of initiating the Third World War. The role of UN was also appreciated and well regarded for its effective handling of the Suez Canal crisis (1956) and the process of decolonisation in Asia and Africa.
Cold War Era
During the Cold War era, the UN was in the maturing phase following its inception. Its main task was to efficiently handle the cold-war era diplomacy and politics between the USA and the USSR and not letting them escalate into full-fledged real war. The laudable feat during this period was the peaceful dissipation of the Cuban missile crisis of 1962 using diplomacy at its best.
Post-Cold War Era
During the 1990s when the UN was relishing the accomplishment of 50 years of its establishment, the disintegration of the USSR and the emergence of the USA as the sole global super power brought a distinct responsibility for it.
It executed its responsibility by not allowing it to drift towards the sole ambitions of the USA and proving its relevancy for the betterment of the poor and marginalised nations. t
he Modern Era
In recent years, its role in promoting international cooperation and resolving international disputes is described as follows:
• Its role is to promote special grouping among the major countries of the world in line with their objectives for mutual cooperation and resolution of international disputes or crisis. Few of such examples are WTO (trade), G20 (to deal with financial crisis) and UNFCC (climate change).
• It played a major role in rehabilitation of millions of Syrian refugees in neighbouring countries like Lebanon, Turkey and Jordan.
• The deployment of peacekeeping and peace-building missions to resolve the disputes in Africa.
• It is effectively playing its role in promoting the concept of development, human rights and influencing the civil society to maximise its potential for the progress of the society and empowerment of the poor and marginalised sections. However, the UN has also drawn criticism from several corners for its inability to contain US-Iraq war and growing imparity in income levels. Particularly, in the case of Israel-Palestine conflict, its failure to arrive at any viable solution has drawn wide criticism
Importance of the United Nations in the Present Scenario
The United Nations still holds importance because of the following reasons:
• The world is still facing consistent nuclear threat.
• The religious, ethnic and regional conflicts are continuously increasing in Africa.
• The poor in the world constitute around one-third of the global population and they are in constant need of support through joint development action by global multilateral agencies.
• The need to eliminate consistent disparities in wealth distribution and achieve balanced and sustainable development worldwide.
• Promoting concerted efforts among nations to tackle growing threats of terrorism from violent non-state actors, such as ISIS, Al Qaeda, etc.
• The importance of the UN get even more significant in achieving global security when it is not possible for a single nation to solve all the problems in the interdependent global world.
Various Reforms that are Needed
The United Nations need to take various organisational reforms to effectively equip itself to tackle modern day challenges such as follows:
• There is a need to expand on a priority basis the present structure of permanent and non-permanent membership of the UN Security Council that still reflects the realities of 1940s.
• It need to give more chance to both the developed and developing countries to express their opinions and have their say in the decision-making of the specialised (WHO, UNESCO, FAO, etc.) and subsidiary agencies (peacekeeping missions).
Conclusion
During the period of 70 years since its inception, the United Nations has successfully transformed itself from a mere organisation into a global institution. It has been able to meet the expectations for playing its part as a global policy agency and a mediator in resolving international disputes. Finally, it has been able to successfully interconnect international community building mutual trust and using diplomacy instead of coercion and aggression to resolve conflicts.