Founded in 1945, the United Nations (UN) is an international organization that currently groups 193 member states (this number has changed over the years). Its main objective is to maintain global peace and security, but it also seeks to:
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help countries work together to resolve economic, social, cultural or humanitarian issues
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fight poverty
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protect human rights
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promote sustainable development
A state is a territorial and political community run by a government and has recognized borders within which the population lives.
The UN adopts non-violent strategies in order to foster world peace. The UN’s rights and responsibilities are defined by a charter.
The Charter of the United Nations is an official document that was created by all member states at the end of World War II and signed in June 1945. Faced with the immeasurable devastation caused by the war, 50 countries, including Canada, met to create the Charter and lay the foundations for better global cooperation to prevent future world wars. It is based on principles that help guide the UN’s actions. These principles include:
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the obligation to resolve conflicts without the use of threats, force or violence
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the obligation to respect state sovereignty
Each member state must follow the principles set out in the Charter in order to serve global interests.
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The UN and its members, in pursuit of the purposes stated in Article 1, shall act in accordance with the following principles:
UN. Charter of the United Nations, 1945.
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The Charter promotes the principle of the sovereign equality of all its members. This means that all member states are equal and have jurisdiction over their own territory. According to this principle, the UN must allow states to manage their own internal political, cultural, economic and social affairs. This means when conflicts arise, the UN is now allowed to intervene on territory occupied by a member state.
Sovereignty is the absolute power of a state to govern itself by making its own laws and enforcing them within its territory. A sovereign state is independent, meaning that it cannot be controlled by any other nation or institution.
However, if these conflicts threaten world peace, the UN can take concrete action to restore peace. Sometimes it may proceed with armed intervention, but only after attempting to negotiate with the country or countries involved in the conflict.
The Sierra Leone civil war, fought between Nigeria and Liberia, lasted over 10 years (1991 to 2002) and left 120 000 dead and thousands of civilians wounded. To resolve the conflict while honouring the Charter, the UN negotiated the first peace agreement in 1996. This agreement resulted in the military dictatorship being overthrown, but did not end the civil war. Since the peace agreement failed to produce concrete results, the UN launched a peace mission in October 1999 to disarm the soldiers of the Revolutionary United Front (RUF), the rebel group responsible for the attacks and killings in Sierra Leone. The Charter allows action to be taken on the ground to protect civilians when their lives are at risk. UN member states sent more than 17 000 peacekeepers into the conflict zone to keep civilians safe. After the UN threatened the RUF with military intervention in Sierra Leone, the war finally ended.
To learn more about this mission, visit the following page:
Two UN institutions exist to discuss and determine actions to be taken in response to conflicts: The UN General Assembly and Security Council.
An institution is an organization governed by rules and laws that plays a specific role in society. This role may be political, social, economic, religious, etc.
Boniface, Pascal. 50 idées reçues sur l'état du monde, 2015, pp. 67.
Brodeur-Girard, Sébastien and collabs. 2009, pp. 188, 198-199
Choquette, Michel and collabs. Enjeux, 2010, pp. 272-273.
Ladouceur, Maude and collabs. Globe, 2014, pp. 208.