United nations; What are they doing now?

Question

I would like details on current news in the united nations, up to around 3 years old. I don't know much about the current workings of the UN right now so the more information/links the better.

This is for a social project asking if the united nations is needed. I'm making a political cartoon for this so strongly biased opinions are appreciated!

Answer 1

well as of right now they are probably still twiddling their thumbs as to what to do with Iran. Hmmm...something tells me that they'll just throw more "sanctions" at them and "hope" that it stops Iran's uranium enrichment program. The UN has routinely been worthless throughout the years. They are quick to criticize the United States, but yet they love when we pay the bills....hmmm. You think I'm being harsh? What about Darfur? They've done nothing about that, yet they gripe and complain about Iraq etc. The UN is as corrupt as they come...look at Kofi....and his "Oil for Food" scandal. Ok...I'm done...just my 2 cents worth. :)

Answer 2

The United Nations does a lot of things in many areas of endeavour.
There is the UNHCR which looks after Refugees, housing refugees and displaced persons in numerous countries and assisting in finding other countries to resettle them into, and then transporting them to their new homes.
The UNICEF which is the Childrens Fund. They look after matters concerning food assistance, health assistance, Education issues, Child Rights etc in countries throughout the world.
UNESCO which looks after the economic affairs in many countries.
WHO which looks into health issues throughout the world, works on finding cures for illnesses such as Malaria, SARS, Bird Flu etc., which are cross border issues.
Then there are the numerous smaller agencies that look after the treaties dealing with "Laws of the Seas"; "International Air treaties"; Treaties on "Telecommunications" etc.
Then there is the "International Court of Justice" which deals with the violations of international agreements or other matters when they are brought to their attention. Unfortunately, there have been many instances where violations of agreements have not been brought before the court.
Then there is the "International War Crimes Tribunals".

Most people just think the UN is the General Assembly and the Security Council. It is not, it is a large organisation covering many aspects of international assistance and international agreements.

Answer 3

Getting a lot of money to do jackshit.