LES COLLECTIONS DU CITOYENINSTITUTIONS
TheUnited Nations
Text by NANE Éditions / Jean-Jacques Chevron Translation by Elisabeth Belchamber
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ADDRESS OF THE SECRETARY-GENERAL, ANTÓNIO GUTERRES, ON TAKING OATH OF OFFICE ON 12 DECEMBER 2016
… The United Nations was born on the ashes of war. Today we are here to ensure peace. … To prevent conflicts, we must address their causes by means of the three pillars of the UN: peace and security, sustainable development and human rights. This must be the priority in all our actions. Prevention means that we must give greater support to countries in their efforts to strengthen their institutions and make their societies more resilient.
It also entails the restoration of human rights as a basic value that must be upheld as such and not merely for political reasons. Everyone, including minorities, must be able to enjoy all human rights – civil, political, economic, social and cultural – without discrimination.
The protection of women and young girls is primordial. Gender equality is essential to the key role they have undeniably to play in consolidating and maintaining peace.
Prevention is not a new concept: it is what the founders of the United Nations asked us to do and it remains the best way to save lives and alleviate human suffering. When prevention fails, we must double our efforts to resolve the conflict. Whether it is a serious crisis, Syria, Yemen, South Sudan or elsewhere, or a long-term dispute such as the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, there is need for more mediation*, arbitration and creative diplomacy. … We must ensure that peace is the common thread between prevention and the resolution of conflicts, maintaining and consolidating peace and development. We must apply the conclusions of the three recent reports as well as the resolutions of the General Assembly and the Security Council. The time has come for us all, inspired by a new concept of the maintenance of peace, to engage in a global reform of the strategy, action and structure of the United Nations concerning peace and security.
… We live a world that is complex. To succeed, the United Nations cannot ride alone. Partnership must be at the heart of our strategy. We must recognise that others also play an essential role, but in the knowledge that only the United Nations has the power of unification.
Words with an asterisk are defined in the Glossary.
Table of contents
A bit of history How does the UN work? The UN “system” What is the purpose of the United Nations? How much does the United Nations cost? The United Nations today and tomorrow
glossary
Collections Useful addresses
We the peoples of the United Nations
DETERMINED • to save succeeding generations from the scourge of war, which twice in our lifetime has brought untold sorrow to mankind, and • to reaffirm faith in fundamental human rights, in the dignity and worth of the human person, in the equal rights of men and women and of nations large and small, and • to establish conditions under which justice and respect for the obligations arising from treaties and other sources of international law can be maintained, and • to promote social progress and better standards of life in larger freedom, AND FOR THESE ENDS • to practice tolerance and live together in peace with one another as good neighbours, and • to unite our strength to maintain international peace and security, and • to ensure, by the acceptance of principles and the institution of methods, that armed force shall not be used, save in the common interest, and • to employ international machinery for the promotion of the economic and social advancement of all peoples, HAVE RESOLVED TO COMBINE OUR EFFORTS TO ACCOMPLISH THESE AIMS • Accordingly, our respective Governments, through representatives assembled in the city of San Francisco, who have exhibited their full powers found to be in good and due form, have agreed to the present Charter of the United Nations and do hereby establish an international organization to be known as the United Nations. Preamble of the Charter of the United Nations
A bit ofHistory
he United Nations Organization is a complex and almost mythical universe where the T political forces of the world meet; an international institution that is unique because of the magnitude of its task. It reaches out to all areas of human activity and plays a large role in the life of the international community despite its somewhat modest financial and human resources.
BIRTH OF THE UNITED NATIONS n 1945, the countries that had been victorious in the greatest armed conflict of history were I “determined to save succeeding generations from the scourge of war, which twice in our lifetime has brought untold sorrow to mankind”. This solemn declaration opens the preamble of the Charter of the United Nations. The Charter of the United Nations was signed in 1945 by 51 countries from all the continents, thus allowing the creation of the United Nations Organization on 24 October 1945. The Charter aims to preserve humanity from armed conflict: to reaffirm faith in fundamental human rights, in the dignity and worth of the human person, in the equal rights of men and women and of nations large and small, and to guarantee the prosperity of all. It is the foundation of...
