tell me about…

The United Nations

Text by NANE Éditions/Jean-Jacques Chevron

Translated from the French by Vera Kalm

Illustrations: Pascale Collange

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FOREWORD

Ban Ki-moon

Secretary-General of the United Nations

UNITED NATIONS        NATIONS UNIES

THE SECRETARY-GENERAL

FOREWORD FOR "TELL ME ABOUT THE UNITED NATIONS"
December 2008

It is a great pleasure to present this book, which I hope will serve as a useful guide as you get to know the world of the United Nations.

Tell Me About the United Nations gives a simple, clear and concise account of the history and work of the United Nations. Today, that work is crucial across many areas of common concern, from peacekeeping and safeguarding human rights to building a more prosperous, equitable and sustainable world for all. As we come to the end of the first decade of this new century, the world is increasingly turning to the United Nations to deliver a wide range of services in just about every corner of the Earth.

Nations of the world, as an international community, formed the United Nations over 60 years ago after World War II as an agent of international peace. Challenges facing the United Nations can range from helping victims of conflict and disaster and addressing the needs of the poor and hungry to restoring peace between warring parties and mobilizing the global community to address a new generation of global challenges like climate change and terrorism or securing global goods.

Climate change and global health are only two examples of the kinds of challenges that know no borders and therefore cannot be addressed by a single State or groups of States. As the only organization with a comprehensive mandate to act on such borderless problems, the United Nations is uniquely positioned to create consensus and build alliances. And so the United Nations must rise to meet these new challenges.

As a community of nations, we will rise or fall together depending on our individual commitment and the effectiveness of our local response. Every coordinated effort, no matter how small, can contribute to and form a larger, more powerful response.

I am determined to strengthen the Organization so that it can serve the people of the world more effectively. I hope that this book will help you to better understand the importance of the United Nations. The promise and value of the Organization's work are as relevant today in our considerably more complex and interdependent world as they were over 60 years ago. As enshrined in the Charter of the United Nations, "we, the peoples of the United Nations", have this obligation and responsibility.

A little background...

The United Nations (UN), is a complex, somewhat mythical world which serves as the meeting-ground for political powers from around the world. It is unique among international institutions, considering the vast array of tasks entrusted to it. The UN is involved in all aspects of human activity; it therefore plays an important role in the international community, in spite of the inadequate human and financial resources at its disposal.

After the end of the First World War, there was an initial attempt to secure the preservation of peace by creating an international organization, the League of Nations. Unfortunately, the League did not succeed in attracting the full participation of all the nations of the world and its founders were unable to stop the totalitarian powers whose actions brought about the outbreak of the second, most disastrous armed conflict of this century.

The birth of the United Nations

In 1945, the countries that emerged victorious from the greatest armed conflict in history proclaimed their resolve “to save succeeding generations from the scourge of war, which twice in our lifetime has brought untold sorrow to mankind”. This solemn declaration opens the Preamble to the Charter of the United Nations.

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