India and many other countries have been demanding the drastic restructuring of the entire UN System including the UN Security Council. The coming visit of the Indian PM Modi to address the UN General Assembly in September, 2027 , the issue is likely to surface again.
Why India demands restructuring of the UN System?
India has demanded drastic reforms in the UN mainly on the following two grounds:
First, the prevailing structure of the UN set up eight decades ago does not reflect the contemporary realities. France, UK, and Russia continue to be the permanent members, whereas, the countries ahead of them in the term of GDP like japan, Germany and India are denied permanent membership. Unlike the cold war era (1945-91), the present global order reflects multipolarity, which should be reflected in the UN Structure.
Second, the UN structure is not suitable to address the new global challenges like the hybrid wars, violent civil wars, climate change, human rights violations, terrorism and so on. Hence we need a new set up which is capable of solving these contemporary challenges?
The issue is urgent, but the seriousness and will to reform is missing.
In the light of this reform agenda, this article traces the revolution of the UN. its objectives and its main activities.
How the UN has Evolved?
The UN has evolved through a series of steps beginning in 1941. The major events in chronological order are:
1. St James Palace (London) Declaration- June 1941– Signed in London on 12 June 1941, the Inter Allied declaration was a first step towards the establishment of the United Nations.
2. Atlantic Charter, August, 1941- Atlantic Ocean- On 14 August 1941, the US President Franklin Delano Roosevelt and UK Prime Minister Winston Churchill proposed a set of principles for international collaboration in maintaining peace and security on the ship H.M.S. Prince of Wales in Atlantic Ocean.
3. Declaration by the United Nations, 1942- Washington-On 1 January 1942, representatives of 26 Allied nations met in Washington and supported the Atlantic Charter. The name United Nations is derived from this declaration.
4. Moscow Conference, October, 1943- Moscow declaration was signed on 30 October 1943 by the Soviet Union, the United Kingdom, the United States and China. It called for an early establishment of an international organization to maintain peace and security.
5. Teheran Conference, December, 1943- The Tehran Declaration signed on 1 December 1943 the goal of establishing the UN was reaffirmed
6. Dumbarton Oaks (Washington, US) Conference, October, 1944- declaration signed on 07 October after a series of meeting between the leaders of US, UK, China and Russia, the first blueprint of the UN was prepared with its aims, structure and functions. Please note France was not present in last three conferences.
7. Yalta Conference, 1945. On 11 February, the leaders of the US, UK and Russia agreed for the structure of the Security Council as an organ for international peace and Security.
8. San Francisco Conference (25 April to 25 June1945) –The delegates drew up the 111-article Charter of the UN which was adopted unanimously on 25 June 1945 in the San Francisco Opera House.
Please note that the Indian Representative Ramaswami Mudaliar signed this Charter on behalf of India and that is why India is the founding member of UN.
What are the Objectives of the UN?
The UN is governed by the UN Charter, which was signed on 26 June 1945 at San Francisco, US. Charter came into force on 24 October 1945-UN Day.
The UN Charter has 111 Articles and the Preamble, which begins with ‘We the People of United Nation’. The name ‘United Nations’ was suggested by the US President Franklin Roosevelt during the ‘Declaration by the United Nations’made on 01 January 1942 in Washington.
Article 1 mentions four objectives of the UN
1. To maintain international peace and security,
2. To develop friendly relations among nations,
3. To achieve international co-operation in solving international problems, and
4. To be a centre for harmonizing the actions of nations to achieve above objectives.
What are the Principles of the UN
Article 2 mentions the Seven Principles of the UN to be followed by all member states
1. Sovereign Equality of All members
2. All members to fulfill their obligations in good faith.
3. Settlement of their international disputes by peaceful means
4. Refraining from the threat or use of force against other states
5. All members to give every assistance in any action taken by the UN
6. Non-Members of the United Nations also act in accordance with these Principles
7. No intervention by the UN in domestic jurisdiction of member states.
Other Important Organs and Activities of the UN
Security Council: Composition
Chapter V- Article 23- mentions the composition of the Security council and its membership. Names of Permanent members are given in this Article. If India or any new country wants to become the permanent member of the Security council, Article 23 will have to be amended.
Powers of The UN SC
It has two sets of powers: non-binding and binding (Coercive)
1. Article 33 (Chapter VI)- Non-Binding or Pacific Settlement of disputes are mentioned in Article 33 (Chapter VI)
Pacific settlement of disputes under article 33 are: negotiation, enquiry, mediation, conciliation, arbitration, judicial settlement, resort to regional agencies or arrangements, or other peaceful means of their own choice.
2. Binding Measures by the UNSC (Chapter VII)
If the dispute is not resolved by peaceful means as mentioned above under article 33, the UNSC is empowers to take two types of binding measures under Chapter VII
The binding measures are basically of two types:
A. Article 41- Sanctions economic/ military or other
B. Article 42 – Military action- The first UN military action under this provision was taken in Korea war (1950-53). The other example of use of UN Armed actions are: action against Iraq (Gulf war 1991); and action in Afghanistan in 2001(after 9/11).
Please note, the armed action by the UN is different from its peacekeeping forces. Peacekeeping forces are defensive in nature with the purpose of maintaining peace between parties after some agreement, but armed action is the UN’s collective war against the nation which has threatened international peace.
Other important provisions of UN Charter
Article 51- It authorizes the regional security organizations like NATO to take collective security measures (military action) for maintaining peace with two conditions;
1. Such actions should be taken only in self-defence.
2. Such actions should be informed to the UNSC and shall abide by any direction issued by the UNSC. Please note that NATO has flouted these conditions many times.
Article 108- It mentions the procedure of the amendment of the UN Charter
There are two methods of amendment
A. By 2/3 majority of the UN General Assembly and ratified by the UNSC by 9 votes including five votes of permanent members UN SC.
A. A conference of UN member states passes the resolution by 2/3 majority and the same is approved by the UN SC by 9 votes including five votes of permanent members UN SC.
It means non amendment can be made in the charter without the consent of the all five permanent members of the UNSC. That is why it is difficult for India to become a permanent member of the UNSC, because China will always use its Veto against India.
Committees of the UN General Assembly
The UN General Assembly performs its functions with the help of Six Committees
First Committee (Disarmament & International Security): Focuses on disarmament and threats to international peace.
Second Committee (Economic & Financial): Addresses economic growth, finance, and development issues.
Third Committee
(Social, Humanitarian & Cultural):
Handles human rights, social, and humanitarian affairs.
Fourth Committee (Special Political & Decolonization): Addresses remaining political subjects, including decolonization and Palestinian rights.
Fifth Committee (Administrative & Budgetary): Manages the UN budget and administrative matters.
Sixth Committee (Legal): Deals with international legal matters
Languages of the UN
UN has six official languages: English, French, Chinese Russia, Arabic and Spanish. Arabic was added in 1973, used in Naskh script.
UN Declaration on Human Rights- It was adopted by theUN General Assembly on 10th December, 1948. The declaration was drafted by a Committee led by the Eleanor Roosevelt, the wife of American President. India’s Hansa Mehta (A constituent Assembly member also) was also a member of the drafting committee. She suggested that the word ‘All Human Beings’ should be inserted in place of ‘All Men’ as was in the original draft. Her suggestion was included in the final draft of human rights.
Bretton Woods Conference (US 1944). It established three Institutions- IMF, World Bank and GATT. The leader of Indian delegation in this conference C. D. Deshmukh also signed the Bretton Woods Declaration and thus, India became the founder member of the above three organizations.
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