My Science School

Millions of Europeans either lost their homes or fled from their homeland after the Second World War. The United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) was created in 1950 to help these homeless refugees. The UNHCR is still at work today protecting refugees, forcibly displaced communities and stateless people.

The UNHCR worked relentlessly for the refugees in Hungary, Africa, Latin America, the Middle East, and South Asia. Currently, this organisation works in a total of 134 countries to safeguard the rights and well-being of people who have been forced out of their homelands. Apart from finding permanent solutions, its work also ensures that everybody has the right to seek asylum and find safe refuge in another country.

 

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The United Nations Industrial Development Organization (UNIDO) was set up in 1966 to promote and accelerate inclusive and sustainable industrial development (ISID). Currently, the UNIDO has 170 member states and the industrial development policies in these countries adhere to the norms of the organisation.

The UNIDO strives to make sure that industrial development in its member states follows the model of sustainable development without causing much burden to the environment. The UNIDO comes under the United Nations Economic and Social Council.

The focus of the works of the UNIDO is as follows:

• Creating shared prosperity


• Advancing economic competitiveness


• Safeguarding the environment


• Strengthening knowledge and institutions

 

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Earlier, if two countries had to exchange mail, they had to come to an agreement with each other known as the postal treaty. This created huge problems as a country had to get into a lot of agreements to make mail services possible.

If there was no treaty between two countries for the direct delivery of mails, senders sometimes resorted to mail forwarders who would transfer the mail through an intermediate country.

The Universal Postal Union (UPU) was established to coordinate postal policies among member nations. The Universal Postal Union was set up by the Treaty of Bern of 1874. Earlier, it was known as the General Postal Union. By joining the Universal Postal Union, each member agrees to the same terms for conducting international postal duties.

 

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People around the world like to travel and explore new lands. Travelling provides lessons in life that no textbooks can offer. While tourism can contribute significantly to the growth of a nation’s economy, it can also damage the environment. Here’s where the work of the World Tourism Organisation comes in.

It focuses on the promotion of responsible, sustainable and universally accessible tourism.

The World Tourism Organization (UNWTO) sees tourism as a major factor of economic growth. Therefore, it offers leadership and support to the tourism sector in advancing knowledge. It also makes tourism policies worldwide that would improve the contribution of tourism to the socio-economic development.

 

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Millions of people around the world go to bed hungry, without having even one proper meal a day. The Food and Agriculture Organisation of the United Nations (FAO) works to defeat hunger. There are poor people in both rich and poor countries.

So, this organisation remains neutral and considers all countries-developed and developing-alike. This is in stark contrast with other policies of the UN like the rules about membership contribution.

The Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) works to modernize and improve agriculture, forestry and fisheries practices in order to ensure good nutrition and food security for all.

Besides, the organisation works to produce up-to-date information about poverty, hunger and challenges to nutrition.

The Food and Agriculture Organisation also works to adopt strategies that would help in producing a higher yield. It also makes sure that nature is not distributed in this process.

 

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More than half of the world population is workers. The International Labour Organisation (ILO)works for everything that is related to labour and conditions of labour.

The ILO was established to provide better working conditions and improve living standards. It works for social justice by promoting decent work environment by setting up international standards of labour.

The ILO was established in 1919 and is concerned with the freedom of trade unions, unemployment, equal wages, and abolishing forced labour and child labour. The International Labour Orgnaisation won the Nobel Peace Prize in 1969 for providing justice for workers and providing technical assistance to poor nations.

 

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Though both the World Bank and the International Monetary Fund (IMF) were created at an international conference at Bretton, they are not the same. Both the organisations have different functions and priorities.

While the World Bank works to reduce poverty, the International Monetary Fund (IMF) strives to bring stability to the world’s monetary system.

The IMF is a firm that checks a nation’s financial health, providing economic assessment every year. It also provides financial aid under several policies. The members of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) work together to improve global financial cooperation, and promote international trade and economic growth.

 

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By the end of the Second World War, many countries were left in utter poverty. Their resources were spent in war and the people were suffering. Considering this situation, 44 countries decided to give shape to an organisation that would offer financial help to the war torn countries.

This organisation would take money donated by governments or other people and distribute it to countries in need. This decision was taken in 1944 and the result was the World Bank.

The World Bank began operations in 1946 and the first loans were given to war torn countries including France, the Netherlands, Denmark, and Luxembourg. The World Bank is an international organisation that provides money to countries to help them improve the lives of their citizens. Apart from loans, the World Bank also gives out grants. The grants are like loans that do not have to be paid back.

 

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“To contribute to the building of peace, the eradication of poverty, sustainable development and intercultural dialogue through education, the sciences, culture, communication and information” – this is the aim of UNESCO.

The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization works primarily to improve and promote education, sciences and culture. This is done in order to increase the universal respect for justice, law, and human rights. Providing quality education for all is UNESCO’s primary concern.

UNESCO has five major programs – education, natural sciences, social sciences, culture and communication/information. The organisation conducts a lot of events that concerns literacy, technical, and teacher-training programs, international science programs, and regional and cultural history projects. It also works for the freedom of the press.

 

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The United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) is successfully providing humanitarian and development aid to children around the world since 1946.

When it began, it was known as the United Nations International Children’s Emergency Fund. The programme started off as an effort to provide immediate relief from hunger to the children and mothers who belonged to the countries that were devastated by the Second World War.

The programme later expanded to provide them healthcare, and the long term needs of women and children in the developing countries.

The funding for the UNICEF comes from governments and private donations. The UNICEF relies on community-level services to promote the health and well-being of children, with special focus on field work.

 

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‘Better health for everyone, everywhere.’ This is what the World Health Organisation (WHO) strives to achieve. WHO is concerned with international public health. It was established on April 7, 1948 and works in collaboration with the member states. Headquartered in Geneva, Switzerland, WHO has 150 offices across the world.

The World Health Organisation works to eliminate communicable diseases like tuberculosis, Ebola and AIDS, and non-communicable diseases like cancer and heart diseases. It is also concerned with nutrition, food security and drug abuse.

WHO also develops reports, conducts awareness programmes and organizes international conferences related to public health. The organisation also assists governments to strengthen their public health services.

 

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There were a lot of discussions by scholars and politicians after the Second World War. These discussions attempted to find the roots of the conflicts that later led to wars.

After a lot of debates and discussions, it was found that poverty, ignorance and justice were the prime causes that led to serious international issues. To tackle these issues, the UN cane up with a number of funds and specialized agencies. These funds and programmes come directly under the General Assembly.

The World Health Organisation (WHO), the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and World Tourism Organisation (UNWTO) are some of the specialized agencies run by the United Nations. Currently, the UN has 17 specialized agencies.

 

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In 1945, the UN Charter formed the Trusteeship Council to look after eleven territories known as trust territories. Earlier, the trust territories had belonged to those powers that were defeated in the Second World War.

Out of the eleven territories, seven were in Africa while the rest were from Oceania. Over time, many of the trust territories gained independence and as a result, the workload of the council decreased. In 1994, Palau, the last of the territories became independent. This left the council without any responsibilities. Therefore, the Trusteeship Council was suspended in 1994 as its mission was accomplished.

 

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The International Court of Justice is the primary judicial organ of the United Nations. It is involved in settling all the legal disputes submitted by the member states. The court would judge crimes like genocide, war crimes and crimes against humanity. No wonder it is called the ‘World Court’.

The International Court of Justice was known as the Permanent Court of Arbitration. Established in The Hague in 1899 to hear international disputes, it worked with the League of Nations before being associated with the UN. It became a wing of the United Nations in 1946. Apart from settling legal disputes, the International Court of Justice also provides advice on legal questions.

 

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Not all the countries in the world are wealthy. Some countries are rich while some others are extremely poor. Such a situation creates a huge gap between these nations. The United Nations Economic and Social Council works to bridge this gap by providing direct financial aid to the poor countries.

The council’s financial aid comes in different forms- loans, grants and advice. The organisation also encourages the wealthy nations to help the poor nations.

Most of the work by the United Nations Economic and Social Council is devoted to the development of backward nations. It works to improve the living conditions, healthcare and education system of the backward countries. It also promotes population control.

 

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