THE CHARTER OF THE UNITED NATIONS

1. THE CHARTER OF THE
UNITED NATIONS

2. PREVIEW
• History
• Origins of the UN
• Charter of the UN
• Purposes of the UN
• Principles of the UN
• Structure of the UN

3. FIRST INTERNATIONAL ORGANIZATIONS
•1865 The International Telecommunication
Union
•1874 International Telegraph Union;
Universal Postal Union

4. FIRST INTERNATIONAL PEACE CONFERENCE
• 1899 1st International Peace Conference (The Hague):
• 1) the Convention for the Pacific Settlement of International Disputes and
• 2) the Permanent Court of Arbitration (1902)

5. THE LEAGUE OF NATIONS
• Established in 1919 under the Treaty of Versailles
• “to promote international cooperation and to achieve peace and
security”
• 1919 The International Labour Organisation created as an affiliated
agency of the League
• The League of Nations ceased its activities after failing to prevent
the Second World War
• Dissolved in 1946; transferral of functions and property to the UN

6. UNITED NATIONS: NAME
• The term UN was coined by Franklin D. Roosevelt;
• first used in the “Declaration by United Nations” of 1 Jan. 1942 when
representatives of 26 nations pledged their governments to continue fighting
together against the Axis Powers

7. ORIGINS OF THE UN CHARTER
• 1941 The Atlantic Charter
• 1942 Declaration by United Nations
• 1943 The Moscow Conference
• 1944 Dumbarton Oaks Proposals
• 1944 Yalta conference

8. 1941 THE ATLANTIC CHARTER

9. THE ATLANTIC CHARTER
(14 AUG.1941)
• Principles laid down by President Rosevelt and Prime Minister Churchill
• The Charter did not contemplate the establishment of an organization of States
to replace the League.
• The need of creating a collective security system and establishing strong
economic and social cooperation between the States.

10. GOALS OF THE ATLANTIC CHARTER
-No territorial gains, neither by the U.S. nor by Britain.
– Any territorial adjustments that were made, would have to be in accordance with the
wishes of the peoplee involved
– All peoples would have a right to self-determination.
– The trade barriers would be lowered after the war’s conclusion.
– Global economic cooperation and an advancement on social welfare, were to be
made.
– Participants would work to create a world that was free of want and free of fear.
– Freedom of the seas -another goal that the participants would work together to attain;
and,
– Disarmament of aggressor nations was a central goal.

11. DECLARATION BY UNITED NATIONS (1942)
Roosevelt, Churchill, Litvinov (USSR),T. V. Soong (China), signed a short document
which later came to be known as the United Nations Declaration
representatives of 22 other nations added their signatures.

12. DECLARATION BY UNITED NATIONS (1942)
• The original 26 signatories: US, UK, USSR, China, Australia, Belgium, Canada,
Costa Rica, Cuba, Czechoslovakia, Dominican Republic, El Salvador, Greece,
Guatemala, Haiti, Honduras, India, Luxembourg, Netherlands, New Zealand,
Nicaragua, Norway, Panama, Poland, Union of South Africa, Yugoslavia

13. DECLARATION BY UNITED NATIONS (1942)
• the basis of the modern UN.
• The term United Nations became synonymous with the Allies and was considered to be the
formal name that they were fighting under.
• The declaration affirmed "that complete victory over their enemies is essential to defend life,
liberty, independence and religious freedom, and to preserve human rights and justice in their
own lands as well as in other lands, and that they are now engaged in a common struggle
against savage and brutal forces seeking to subjugate the world". The principle of "complete
victory" established an early precedent for the Allied policy of obtaining the Axis' powers'
"unconditional surrender".
• The defeat of "Hitlerism" constituted the overarching objective, The declaration, furthermore,
"upheld the principles of self determination,"

14. DECLARATION BY UNITED NATIONS (1942)

15. THE MOSCOW CONFERENCE (1943)
• The Declaration of the Four Nations (U.S., Soviet Union,
UK, China) recognized:
• “the necessity of establishing ...a general international
organization, based on the principle of the sovereign
equality of all peace-loving States and open to
membership by all such States, large and small, for the
maintenance of international peace and security”

16. DUMBARTON OAKS PROPOSALS (WASHINGTON CONVERSATIONS
ON INTERNATIONAL PEACE AND SECURITY ORGANIZATION (OCT.
7, 1944)
• Representatives of the same 4 Governments met to lay
down the foundations of the future world organization
• Purposes of the Organization: to maintain international
peace and security, develop friendly relations among
nations, promote cooperation in economic and social
matters
• Basic organs: the Assembly, the Council, the Secretariat,
headed by the Secretary General, and the Court of Justice

17. DUMBARTON OAKS PROPOSALS (OCTOBER 7, 1944)
• Another important feature:member states were to place armed forces at the
disposal of the Security Council in its task of preventing war and suppressing acts
of aggression.
• The absence of such force -a fatal weakness in the League of Nations machinery
for preserving peace.

18. DUMBARTON OAKS

19. YALTA CONFERENCE (4-11 FEB. 1945)
•Churchill,
•Roosevelt and
•Stalin

20. YALTA CONFERENCE(11 FEB. 1945)
• “We are resolved upon the earliest possible establishment with our Allies of a
general international organization to maintain peace and security…”
• “We have agreed that a Conference of United Nations should be called to meet at
San Francisco in the United States on the 25th April, 1945, to prepare the charter
of such an organization, along the lines proposed in the formal conversations of
Dumbarton Oaks.”

21. THE SAN FRANCISCO CONFERENCE (APRIL 25
– JUNE 26, 1945)
• Representatives of 50 states met to draw up the UN Charter based on Dumbarton
Oaks proposals by the Big countries (China, the Soviet Union, the UK, the US)
• The Charter – unanimously approved and signed by all the participating States,
original members of the UN

22. THE SAN FRANCISCO CONFERENCE (APRIL 25 –
JUNE 26, 1945)

23. UNITED NATIONS CHARTER
• "The Charter of the United Nations which you have just signed is a
solid structure upon which we can build a better world. History will
honor you for it. Between the victory in Europe and the final victory,
in this most destructive of all wars, you have won a victory against
war itself. . . . With this Charter the world can begin to look forward
to the time when all worthy human beings may be permitted to live
decently as free people." (President Truman)

24. UNITED NATIONS CHARTER
• "If we fail to use it, we shall betray all those who have died so that we might meet
here in freedom and safety to create it. If we seek to use it selfishly - for the
advantage of any one nation or any small group of nations — we shall be equally
guilty of that betrayal. "

25. UNITED NATIONS CHARTER
(WWW.UN.ORG/ABOUTUN/CHARTER)
• Constituting instrument of the Organization
• Rights and obligations of member states
• UN organs and procedures

26. PREAMBLE
• WE THE PEOPLES OF THE UNITED NATIONS DETERMINED to save
succeeding generations from the scourge of war, which twice in our
lifetime has brought untold sorrow to mankind, and to reaffirm faith
in fundamental human rights, in the dignity and worth of the
human person, in the equal rights of men and women and of
nations large and small, and to establish conditions under which
justice and respect for the obligations arising from treaties and
other sources of international law can be maintained, and to
promote social progress and better standards of life in larger
freedom,

27. PREAMBLE
• AND FOR THESE ENDS to practice tolerance and live
together in peace with one another as good neighbours,
and to unite our strength to maintain international peace
and security, and to ensure, by the acceptance of
principles and the institution of methods, that armed force
shall not be used, save in the common interest, and to
employ international machinery for the promotion of the
economic and social advancement of all peoples,

28. PREAMBLE
• “HAVE RESOLVED TO COMBINE OUR EFFORTS TO
ACCOMPLISH THESE AIMS. Accordingly, our respective
Governments, through representatives assembled in the
city of San Francisco, who have exhibited their full powers
found to be in good and due form, have agreed to the
present Charter of the United Nations and do hereby
establish an international organization to be known as the
United Nations.”

29. PURPOSES OF THE UN
• To maintain international peace and security
• To develop friendly relations among nations based on respect for
the principle of equal rights and self-determination of peoples
• To help nations work together to improve the lives of poor people,
to conquer hunger, disease and illiteracy, and to encourage respect
for human rights and fundamental freedoms;
• To be a centre for harmonizing the actions of nations in attaining
these common ends

30. UN PRINCIPLES
• It is based on the sovereign equality of all members
• All members are to fulfil in good faith their Charter obligations
• They are to settle their international disputes by peaceful means and without
endangering international peace, security and justice

31. UN PRINCIPLES
• Members are to refrain from the threat or use of force against
any other state
• They are to give the UN every assistance in any action it takes
in accordance with the Charter
• Nothing in the Charter is to authorize the UN to intervene in
matters which are essentially within the domestic jurisdiction
of any state

32. MEMBERSHIP
• Open to all peace-loving nations which accept the obligations
of the Charter
• The General Assembly admits new member states on the
recommendation of the Security Council
• The Charter provides for the suspension or expulsion of a
member for violation of the principles of the Charter (no such
action has ever been taken)

33. OFFICIAL LANGUAGES
• Arabic
• Chinese
• English
• French
• Russian
• Spanish

34. STRUCTURE OF THE ORGANIZATION
• The General Assembly
• The Security Council
• The Economic and Social Council
• The Trusteeship Council
• The International Court of Justice
• The Secretariat

35. THE END