Do you guys know what the United Nations is? Guys, let me tell you the story of the United Nations More than 60 years ago, towards the end of the Second World War three wise men met in the city of Yalta, on the coast of the Black Sea in Europe Those three men where: US President Franklyn Delano Roosevelt you know him as FDR British Prime Minister Sir Winston Churchill rarely photographed without a cigar in his mouth and Joseph Stalin leader of the old Soviet Union, which at the time was in control of most Easter Europe Each of them had a different plan in mind, but they also shared a common goal to ensure peace and stability in the world In Yalta, the three men drew plans for the creation of the United Nations which officially came into existence eight months after the meeting in Yalta On October 24, 1945 representatives of fifty countries met in San Francisco and agreed to the creation of the new Organization The United Nations we know today has a total of a 192 member countries and the number may even grow bigger if more countries are going to join But what are the goals of the United Nations? Why was it created? First and foremost, to keep peace throughout the world But also to work together to help people in need and eliminate poverty and hunger and to protect human rights and foster freedom The United Nations is an international body. It is not a country rather a venue where countries can meet and problems can be discussed The United Nations is headquartered in New York City with principal offices in Geneva Vienna and Nairobi and other offices around the world The UN is composed by six principal organs Three of them are very well known the General Assembly, the Security Council and the Secretariat The other trhee are not so well know the Economic and Social Council, also known as ECOSOC the Trusteeship Council and the International Court of Justice, which is based in the Hague The General Assembly is a sort of world parliament where every member country has one seat and one vote big countries like the United States as well as small island countries like Fiji and Saint Lucia All of them have one seat and one vote Ambassadors from all around the world meet in the General Assembly hall throughout the year and every September presidents and prime ministers of all member states travel to New York City to open a new session of the General Assembly and set the agenda of work for the following months While the General Assembly is a large body with 192 seats the Security Council is a much smaller entity It is the executive body of the United Nations and its decisions are binding for all member states It is composed by only 15 members five are permanent and they are China, France, Russia, the United Kingdom, and the United States and the other 10 and non-permanent; they are elected every year by the General Assembly and have a seat for only 2 years And finally, we have the Secretariat which is the administrative body of the United Nations and is headed by a Secretary-General the commander-in-chief of the United Nations In December 2006, the United Nations elected Ban Ki-moon of South Korea as the eight Secretary-General The Secretary-General is a symbol of the United Nations He is the face of the United Nations in the world He is at the same time a super-manager and a diplomat As such, he has to remain impartial and independent in order to protect the interests of the peoples of the world Do you know who was Secretary-General before Ban Ki-moon? Well, the first commander-in-chief of the United Nations was Trygve Lie of Norway He was followed by Dag Hammarskjöld from Sweden than U-Thant from Myanmar and Kurt Waldheim from Austria Javier Perez de Cuellar from Peru Boutros Boutros-Ghali from Egypt and finally Kofi Annan from Ghana The main duties of the Secretary-General are related to the day-to-day work of the United Nations The Secretary-General often meets with presidents and prime ministers and celebrities and makes sure each member country pays its share of the UN budget The money each country pays is used to run the UN and finance its activities throughout the world