The UN Headquarters
General Assembly
The UN was founded on October 24, 1945 in New York City. The UN sits on 16 acres on the East River waterfront near midtown Manhattan. The land for the UN was donated by John D. Rockfeller. Even though the building is in New York City, the land is international territory. The UN is 70 years old. The UN was created after WWII to have countries work together to avoid future world wars. There are 193 Member States of the UN. The 5 permanent members of the Security Council are the United States, Russia, France, United Kingdom, and China. There are a total of 15 members on the Security Council and the 10 other members are elected for two year terms. The Security Council is responsible for International Peace & Security. They determine when UN Peacekeeping operations are needed.
The General Assembly includes all 193 Member States. The General Assembly is the policymaking group.
The Economic and Social Council has 54 Member States. How many of you have played the “Freerice” trivia program? It is a non-profit website that is owned by the UN. Proceeds suppport the United Nations World Food Programme. I asked our tour guide where the money from Freerice went. She said that all of the money since 2010 has gone to Cambodia for school lunches for children and also money for poor women. If you have a chance, please go to the site. It is a fun way of learning and you’ll be helping the world.
On the tour I was able to see many gifts that countries have donated to the UN. I also learned a lot about the Peacekeeping missions that are ongoing. The UN has been awarded the Nobel Peace Prize 11 times.
What are some other functions you think the UN does?
HAPPY BIRTHDAY UN!
The UN lit in blue for UN day
The UN in 1945, with 51 member states
Many iconic landmarks and other sites were lit up today in blue to honor the United Nations. The UN has a great website and you can find interesting information.
http://www.un.org/en/index.html
Ethan – That is a lot of good information about the UN. Who was the president of the US when the UN was established? Who was the prime minister of England? How do the people at the UN from the different countries communicate with each other if they don’t all speak the same language?
Awesome post!
Daddy
Dear Ethan,
The UN is working on the Millennium Development goals. The are 8 goals that have a target date of 2015. The goals range from providing universal primary education, stopping the spread of diseases, reducing the poverty rate. The UN does a lot of important work.
Would you like to work there for a while after college?
From, Laura
Hey, I think this post is very cool. It is full of cool facts.
Fantastic Post, I Really Like How you Uncluded so Much Information Into It.
-Grace