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