Everyone knows or has heard about the United Nations, at least once. United Nations is a word which comes across in day to day life. But we would have never given it a thought about why in the first place was it made. On the United Nations Day, let’s learn more about it.

United Nations (UN) is an intergovernmental organization which is responsible for & is aimed at maintaining international peace and security, developing friendly relations among nations, achieving international cooperation. It acts as a centre for harmonizing the actions of nations. Being the largest international organization, the UN is the most familiar& internationally represented the powerful intergovernmental organization in the world.

It came into existence on 24 October 1945. In the year 1948, Un General Assembly declared the day to be celebrated as the anniversary of the Charter of the United Nations. The day is focused on fostering the aims and achievements of the United Nations and to gaining their support for ‘its work’.

Why did it begin in the first place?

After World War-II, on 25 April 1945, 50 governments from different countries came together to meet in San Francisco for a conference to prevent future wars. They started drafting the UN Charter, which got adopted on 25 June 1945 and took effect on 24 October 1945, when the UN began operations.

UN began its operation with its foundation existing across 51 member nations, the UN aimed at maintaining international peace and security, protecting human rights, delivering humanitarian aid, promoting sustainable development, and upholding international law. Today, there are around 196 member countries at the UN, representing the vast majority of the world’s sovereign states.

Some Unknown Facts:

1. United Nation provides food and assistance to 91.4 million people in 83 countries. Further, WFP is also planning for developing programs in future to ensure a more stable food environment.

2. UN provides vaccinations for many diseases for more than 45% of nations of the world. It thereby helps in saving 3 million lives every year. For example, the UN Children’s Fund (UNICEF) got in a core partnership with World Health Organization (WHO) initiated Global Polio Eradication Initiative and it has helped to successfully reduce polio cases by over 99% since 1988.

3. United Nations with the help of its peacekeeping forces, help in maintaining peace, & protection of around 71.4 million people who are affected by war, famine and persecution.

4. United Nations, with the help of its 196 member nations works to maintain the global temperature rise below 2oC/3oF which is affecting around 2.1 billion people around the planet.

5. It is the UN which enforces the fundamental human rights protection. It came into existence with the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, the first document to detail the fundamental human rights. It was proclaimed by the General Assembly in 1948. It currently protects & promotes human rights around the globe through 80 treaties and declarations.

6. Even though the UNs Peacekeeping budget is less than 0.5% of global military spending, it currently has more than 102,482 peacekeepers that help in maintain and keeping peace in 14 operations across 4 continents.

7. With the help of its ‘World Food Programme (WFP),’ UN can provide food and assistance to around 91 million people across 83 countries. They are now further aiming to develop future programs to ensure a more stable food environment.

8. The UN along with its agencies helps over 1 million women every month to overcome pregnancy-related complications. UN with its UN Population Fund (UNFPA) commits to work towards making motherhood safer, among other responsibilities.

9. With the help of its diplomacy policies and officials, UN helps in conducting elections in around 67 countries and help maintain peace and avoid conflicts.

10. UN provides life-saving help to refugees and forcibly displaced people who were affected by violence, conflict, and persecution. Currently, there are around 68.5 million people around the world who have been displaced forcibly by violence, war or conflict.

11. On Earth Day 2016, 174 world leaders signed an agreement at the UN headquarters in New York, known as ‘The Paris Agreement’ to fight climate change. It is the agreement signed by the largest amount of countries ever in a single day. The agreement asks UN & member nations to commit to fighting climate change and is built on the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change.

12. With its sustainable development goals, UN brought countries together in 2015 to launch a plan to end poverty in the world by reducing inequalities by 2030 and give a common blueprint for countries to reach a world of dignity for all.

13. United Nations co-ordinates the US $21.9 billion worth of appeal to fulfil the humanitarian needs of 131.7 million people and also helps 2 million women on a monthly basis to overcome pregnancy & childbirth complications.

These are some of the most interesting things that one should know about united nations. Hope you liked the information. Share your views on this with us in the comment section below.