Q. 1 What are the aims of the United Nations?

Ans. (a) To keep peace throughout the world; (b) to develop friendly relations between
nations; (c) to work together to help people live better lives, to eliminate poverty, disease
and illiteracy in the world, to stop environmental destruction and to encourage respect
for each other’s rights and freedoms and (d) to be a centre for helping nations achieve
these aims.

R. 2 What are the principles of the United Nations?

Ans. (a) All Member States have sovereign equality; (b) All Member States must obey
the Charter; (c) Countries must try to settle their differences by peaceful means; (d)
Countries must avoid using force or the threat of force to settle disputes; (e) The UN
may not interfere in the domestic affairs of any country and (f) Countries should try to
assist the United Nations.

Q. 3 (a) When did the UN come into existence and (b) Who coined the name “United
Nations” ?

Ans. (a) On October 24, 1945. The day is now celebrated each year around the world as
United Nations Day. (b) United States President Franklin D. Roosevelt. It was first used
in the “Declaration by United Nations” of 1 January 1942 during the Second World War,
when representatives of 26 nations pledged their governments to continue fighting
together against the axis powers.

R. 4 How many Members are there in the UN ?

Ans. Currently, 193 (January 2012)

Q. 5 What are the six official languages of the UN ?

Ans. Arabic, Chinese, English, French, Russian and Spanish.

Q.6 How many countries signed the Charter at the San Francisco Conference in 1945?
Ans. Fifty.

Q. 7 Name the country which did not sign the Charter at San Francisco but is still
considered an original member.

Ans. Poland - which was not able to send a representative.

R. 8 What is the opening statement of the UN Charter? Ans. “We the peoples of the
United Nations determined to save succeeding generations from the scourge of war.” .

R. 9 What is the United Nations Charter and when and where was it signed? Ans. The
Charter is the constituting instrument of the UN, setting out the rights and obligations of
Member States and establishing the UN organs and procedures. The Charter was
signed on June 26, 1945 at San Francisco, USA.

Q. 10 Name the principal Organs of the UN.

Ans. (i) General Assembly; (ii) Security Council; (iii) International Court of Justice; (iv)
Economic and Social Council; and (v) Secretariat.

R. 11 Who are the members of UN General Assembly?

Ans. The General Assembly is composed of representatives of all Member States each
of which has one vote.

Q. 12 What are the functions and powers of the General Assembly?

Ans. Under the Charter the G.A. is the main deliberative organ. Apart from discussing
questions relating to peace, international cooperation, human rights and international
collaboration in economic, social, cultural, educational and health fields, it receives and
considers reports from the Security Council and other UN organs, it considers and
approves the UN budget and apportions the contribution among members, it elects non-
permanent members of the Security Council and the members of Economic and Social
Council, the judges of the International Court of Justice and, on the recommendation of
the Security Council, appoints the Secretary-General.

Q.13 When and how is the General Assembly called in Session?

Ans. The General Assembly’s regular session begins each year on the third Tuesday in
September and continues usually until mid-December. In addition to its regular Sessions,
the Assembly may meet in Special Sessions at the request of the Security Council, of a
majority of the members of the UN or of one 3 member if the majority of members
concurs. Emergency Special Sessions may be called within 24 hours on a request from
anyone of these.

Q. 14 How are decisions arrived at in the General Assembly?

Ans. Decisions on important questions, such as those on peace and security, admission
of new members and budgetary matters require a two-third majority and other questions
decided by a simple majority.

Q.15 Are the decisions of the General Assembly binding on the Governments?

Ans. While the decisions of the GA have no legally binding force for Governments, they
carry the weight of world opinion as well as the moral authority of the world community.

Q.16 How many representatives can each country have in the General Assembly?

Ans. Not more than five.

Q.17 Where is the Headquarters of UN and since when?

Ans. New York, USA, since 1952.

Q18 Who is eligible to be a Member of the UN?

Ans. The Charter declares that membership of the UN is open to all the peace-loving
nations who accept its obligations. The States are admitted by the General Assembly on
the recommendation of the Security Council.

Q19 Does UN Charter provide for the suspension or expulsion of Member States?

Ans. Yes, for violation of the principles of the Charter.

Q20 Can the UN Charter be amended?

Ans. Yes, by a vote of two-thirds of the Members of the General Assembly and
ratification by two-thirds of the Members of the United Nations including the five
permanent Members of the Security Council.

Q21 What is the main function of the Security Council ? Ans. The Security Council has
primary responsibility under the Charter, for the maintenance of International
Peace and Security.

Q.22 Who are the members of the Security Council ? Ans. The Council has 15
members; five permanent members - China, France, The Russian Federation, UK
and USA - and 10 elected by the General Assembly for 2 year terms.

Q23 What is the ‘Veto’ power? Ans. The power to Veto any decision by a negative
vote in the Security Council. It is enjoyed by 4 five permanent members of the
Security Council- China, France, Russia, UK and USA.

Q24 Are the decisions of the Security Council binding on the Member States? Ans. Yes,
the Security Council alone has the power to take decisions which Member States
are obliged under the Charter to carry out.

25 Who elects non-permanent members of the Security Council? Ans. The UN General
Assembly.
26. Can any Member State which is not a member of Security Council participate in the
discussion of the Security Council?
Ans. Yes, but without a vote and if the Member State considers the discussion specially
affects that country’s interests and is invited by the Security Council.

27. Can the Security Council meet elsewhere than at its Headquarters in New York and
has it so far met elsewhere?
Ans. Yes, in 1972 in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia and in 1973 in Panama City, Panama.

28. How is the President of the Security Council elected?

Ans. The members take monthly turn in the presidency in English alphabetical order.

29. What and where is the International Court of Justice?

Ans. The International Court of Justice is the judicial organ of the United Nations. It only
deals with cases brought by nations, not individuals. It consists of 15 Judges. The court
sits in permanent session at The Hague, Netherlands.

30 Name of present Secretary-General of the UN and his country.

Ans. Mr. Ban Ki-moon from South Korea. Assumed office on January 1, 2007 and was
reelected on January 1, 2011. His second term expires on December 31, 2016 Q. 31
Who appoints the UN Secretary-General and what is his diplomatic status? Ans. The
General Assembly appoints on the recommendation of the Security Council. He holds
the status of a Head of the State.

32. What is the tenure of his office?

Ans. Five years, but may be re-appointed.

33 Who was the first UN Secretary-General and when was he elected?

Ans. Mr. Trygve Lie of Norway. Elected on February 1, 1946. 5

34. Name the UN Secretary-General who died in an air-crash?

Ans. Dag Hammarskjold of Sweden, who died on September 18, 1961 during a Congo
Mission.

35 How many Secretary-Generals have so far served the UN ? Name them.

Ans. Eight (8)

Mr. Trygve Lie (Norway)
Mr. Dag Hammarskjold (Sweden)
Mr. U. Thant (Mayanmar) Mr. Kurt Waldheim (Austria)
Mr. Javier Perez de Cuellar (Peru)
Mr. Boutros Boutros Ghali (Egypt)
Mr. Kofi Annan (Ghana)
Mr. Ban Ki Moon (South Korea)

36. There is only one UN Secretary-General who resigned before completing his term.
Who is he ?
Ans. Mr. Trygve Lie of Norway, who was re-elected on December 13, 1951 for a three
year mandate, but resigned in November 1952.

37. Name the UN Secretary-General who later on became the President of his country?
Ans. Mr. Kurt Waldheim of Austria.

38. Only one Latin American became the UN Secretary-General. Who was he and from
where? Ans. Mr. Javier Perez de Cuellar of Peru.

39. Name the only UN Secretary-General who was not re-elected for the second term
and why? Ans. Mr. Boutros Boutros Ghali of Egypt vetoed by USA.

40. Who was the President of the First Session of General Assembly ? Ans. Mr. Paul-
Henri Spaak of Belgium in 1946.

41. Who holds the record for delivering the longest speech at the UN General Assembly?
Ans. Mr. V.K Krishna Menon of India, on January 23, 1957. His speech ran for 7 hours
and 48 minutes over two sessions. 6
42 Only one Indian has so far been the President of the UN General Assembly. Who is
that person ? When and at which session? Ans. Mrs. Vijaylakshmi Pandit. At the eight
session in 1953.

43 When and where did the first meeting of the UN General Assembly take place? Ans.
On January 10, 1946 in Central Hall, Westminster, London.

44 When was the first Veto used, by which country and for what? Ans. On February 4,
1946 by Soviet Union on intervention of British troops in Greece.

45 China’s first Veto as permanent member of Security Council was applied on August
25, 1972, against what? Ans. To stop the entry of Bangladesh into the UN as a Member
State.

46 Mr. Kurt Waldheim’s re-election for the third term was vetoed in the Security Council.
Who applied the Veto? Ans. China

47 What is the significance of the Inter-Allied Declaration? Ans. Signed in London on

June 12, 1941 the Inter-Allied Declaration “to work together, with other free peoples,
both in war and peace” was the first of a series of steps which led to the establishment of
the UN.

48 Give the date and venue of the first meeting of the Security Council. Ans. On January
17, 1946 at Westminster, London.

49 Why and when was the first-Emergency Special Session of the General Assembly
called? Ans. On November 6, 1956 to discuss the Suez Canal Crisis.

50 Give the date of India’s admission to UN

Ans. October 30, 1945.

51 Name the UN Secretaries-General who were awarded the Nobel Peace Prize. Ans.
Mr. Dag Hammarskjold of Sweden for his work in helping settle the Congo Crisis. And
Mr. Kofi Annan along with UN in 200l.

Q. 55 Can a Member-State be penalised for delay or non-payment of dues? Ans. If

Member-States get too far behind with their dues they lose their voting rights in the
General Assembly. However this has never happened.

Q. 56 What is the difference between UN Peace-keeping forces and other Armed forces?
Ans. There are some important differences (a) UN Peace Keepers cannot take sides in a
conflict. (b) Countries in conflict must agree to the presence of Peace Keepers. (c) UN
Peace Keepers are generally lightly armed and cannot use force unless attacked. (d) UN
Peace Keepers may also be civilians and from the police because peace keeping
includes a range of activities includig humanitarian assistance, monitoring elections, and
observing and reporting on a situation.

Q. 57 Who commands the UN Peacekeeping Operations? Ans. Peacekeeping

Operations are established by the Security Council and directed by the Secretary-
General usually through a special representative The UN has no military force of its own
and member states provide the military and persons required for each operation.
Peacekeepers wear their country’s uniform and are identified as peacekeepers only by a
UN blue helmet or beret and a badge.

Q. 58 What is the Universal Declaration of Human Rights? Ans. The Universal

Declaration is a standard, but it is not law. However, several covenants, which include
the main points of the Declaration, were signed in the 1960s and came into force in 1976
after most of the countries had ratified them. These countries are obliged to abide by
them. They also gave the right to the UN to monitor whether or not Governments are
observing their citizens’ Human Rights

59. When was the Human Rights Declaration adopted? Ans. On December 10, 1948 by
the UN General Assembly. December 10 is observed as Human Rights Day around the
world

62. Who are the United Nations Volunteers? Ans. Established by a 1970 resolution of
the General Assembly the United Nations Volunteers (UNV) are the specialists and field-
workers who work in development and humanitarian relief programmes of Governments,
assisted by UN agencies.

64. Why is the World Environment Day celebrated annually on 5th June? Ans. To
commemorate the anniversary of the opening day of the first UN Conference on the
Human Environment in Stockholm in 1972.

67. What and where is the United Nations University? Ans. The United Nations
University (UNU) is headquartered in Tokyo, Japan. Established in 1973 UNU works to
promote scholarly international and scientific cooperation to help solve urgent global
problems.

68. In what way is the UNU different from a traditional teaching university? Ans. It has no
student of its own, no faculty, no campus. It operates through worldwide networks of
academic and research institutions, including its own research and training centers and
individual scholars, to address problems.

71. Name the seventeen agencies, known as “Specialized Agencies” - a term used in
the UN Charter. Ans. (a) International Labour Organisation (lLO). (b) Food and
Agriculture Organisation (FAO). (c) UN Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organisation
(UNESCO). (d) World Health Organisation (WHO). (e) World Bank; International Bank
for Reconstruction and Development (lBRD). (f) International Development Association
(IDA) (g) International Finance Corporation (lFC). (h) Multilateral Investment Guarantee
Agency (MIGA). (i) International Monetary Fund (lMF). (j) International Civil Aviation
Organisation (lCAO). (k) Universal Postal Union (UPU). (l) International
Telecommunication Union (lTU). (m) World Meteorological Organisation (WMO). (n)
International Maritime Organisation (IMO) (o) World Intellectual Property Organisation
(WIPO) (p) International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD) (q) United Nations
Industrial Development Organisation (UNIDO) The International Atomic Energy Agency
(lAEA) and the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade (GATT) do not have the formal
status of a specialised agency.

72. What is the World Bank? Ans. The World Bank is a group of four institutions; The
International Bank for Reconstruction and Development (IBRD), established in 1945, the
International Finance Corporation (IFC), established in 1956, the International
Development Association (IDA), established in 1960, and the Multilateral Investment
Guarantee Agency (MIGA), established in 1988. The Common objective of all four
institutions is to help raise standards of living in developing countries by channeling
financial resources to those countries from developed countries.

73. What was the Bretten Woods Conference? Ans. It was a United Nations Monetary
and Financial Conference of 44 Governments held in 1944 at Bretten Woods, USA. It led
to the establishment of IBRD - the International Bank for Reconstruction and
Development.

74. What is IMF? Ans. The International Monetary Fund (IMF) founded in December
1945 is an intergovernmental organization to : (a) promote cooperation on international
monetary issues; (b) to promote exchange stability; (c) to facilitate balanced growth of
international trade; and (d) to make the general resources of the fund temporarily
available to members to permit them to correct maladjustments in their balance of
payments.

77. Name the first specialised agency of the United Nations? Ans. ILO - International
Labour Organisation. It was established in 1919 as an autonomous institution associated
with the League of Nations. By an agreement approved on December 14, 1946, ILO
became the first specialised agency associated with UN. Based at Geneva in
Switzerland ILO works to promote social justice for working people everywhere. In ILO,
workers, employers and Governments representatives have an equal voice in
formulating its policies.

81. What and when was the first resolution adopted by the UN General Assembly. Ans.
On January 24, 1946, UNGA adopts its first resolution and its main focus was peaceful
uses of atomic energy and the elimination of atomic and other weapons of mass
destruction.

82. What do you know about “An Agenda for Peace”? When and by whom was it issued?
Ans. On June 17, 1992, UN Secretary-General Mr. Boutros Boutros Ghali issued, for
submission to the Member States - An Agenda for Peace. It recommends ways to
improve the UN capacity for preventive diplomacy, peace-making and peace-keeping.

83. What is “An Agenda for Development” ? Ans. It is a blueprint for improving the
human condition. In response to the request of the General Assembly, the Secretary-
General issued this report on May 6, 1994.

85. Name the forerunner organization of the UN and the year of its establishment? Ans.
League of Nations, established in 1919 under the Treaty of Versailles.

86. Where did the University of Peace get established? Ans. The General Assembly in
1980 approved the establishment of the University of Peace, in San Jose, Costa Rica.

87. Which day of the year is celebrated as International Day of Peace? Ans. The
General Assembly has designated 21 September as the International Day of Peace.

91. Why was the Trusteeship Council set-up and why has it suspended its operations?
Ans. Trusteeship Council was set up by the UN to supervise the administration of
Trust Territories and its major goal was to promote self-government or
independence. On 1 November 1994 the Council has suspended its operation with
the independence of Palau, the last remaining UN Trust territory. It will now meet
as occassions required at the request of General Assembly or the Security
Council

92. Who are the Messengers of Peace and Goodwill Ambassadors. Who appoints them.
Ans. They are prominent personalities who have lent their names, talents and time
to support UN programmes. Messengers of Peace are appointed by the UN
Secretary-General. The Goodwill Ambassadors are appointed by a cross-section
of funds. Indian tennis player Vijay Amritraj was appointed UN Messenger of
Peace on February 2001.

94. What are the special powers granted to Security Council under Chapter VII of the UN
Charter? Ans. Under Chapter VII of the Charter, the Security Council is empowered
to take measures to enforce its decisions. It can impose embargoes and sanctions
or authorise the use of military force by a coalition of Member States or by a
regional organisation or arrangement. But the Security Council takes such action
only as a last resort.

95. What is role of United Nations in the field of disarmament? Ans. The UN General
Assembly has two subsidiary bodies dealing with disarrnament issues: the first
committee (Disarmament and International Security) and the Disarmament
Commission. The Conference on Disarmament is the international community’s
sole multinational negotiating forum for disarmament agreements. The
Conference successfully negotiated both the chemical weapons convention and
the comprehensive Nuclear-Test-Ban. Treaty (CTBT). Of late the Conference has
been unable to agree on a substantive programme due to lack of consensus.

96. How does the UN build peace through development? Ans. While the war is the
worst enemy of development, a healthy and balanced development is the best
form of conflict prevention. A central tool of the UN action to consolidate peace is
development assistance. The UN through its various agencies play a role in
stimulating economic recovery and mobilising resources.

100. Who can make the UN a more effective body? Ans. The Member States and the
people of the world by providing the requisite support and political will.